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The Role of Translators in the Software Localization Process

In software localization projects, we translators are expected to have complete command of the tools required, know the market and a lot of products, assume our own position in the process, and understand the constraints involved in ever shorter production cycles.

For this reason that most translators working in localization do so through intermediary translation bureaus, which are often specialized localization companies. Here’s what the role of translators in the software localization process is like.

Type of Software Localization We Handle

Software localization has the potential to open up your target market ten-fold. It is very important that all documentation and consumer interface text is translated with accurate technical lingo and nomenclature. International users of computer software have come to expect their software to “talk” to them in their own language.

This is not only a matter of convenience or of national pride, but a matter of productivity. Ultimately, users who understand a product fully will be more skilled in handling it and avoid mistakes. So they will prefer applications in their language and adapted to their cultural environment.

Swedish Translation Services provides Swedish translation and localization of the following:

Software/user interface
Help screens, instructions, menus, shortcut keys
Software manuals
License agreements
Legal and security disclaimers
Warranty arrangements
Marketing material and packaging content
Cultural related content

The Swedish market is on the frontline when it comes to adaptation and usage of new software. Most Swedes know English, but they still want and expect their software to be in Swedish.

The Typical Cycle of Localization

Software localization follows a cycle of comprehension. As translators are virtually never given more than a brief summary of the product specification, we must do a lot of guessing as to what function actually does what and consequently what to call it when we translate.

Often the purpose of a function, dialog box, or command will become apparent to us translators only when we finally get to the help file that explains it. In this case we may have to go back and change the term that was used in the first version of the software translation.

Furthermore, it may not even be the same person doing the software and the help, which complicates matters. Too often the software is already ready for production with no additional changes possible.

One of the attributes that characterize successful and sought-after software translators is precisely the ability to guess correctly about what given software string or dialog box or function actually does, to avoid having to loop back wherever possible. It is here that experience plays an important role.

The Standard Software Localization Process

Analysis of the material and evaluation of tools and resources required
Cultural, technical and linguistic assessment
Creating and maintaining glossaries
Translation to target languages
Adaptation of user interface, resizing of forms and dialogs etc.
Localization of graphics, or other media
Compilation and build of localized files for testing
Linguistic and functional quality assurance
Project delivery

Of these steps, a translator usually participates in glossary creation, translation and linguistic testing.

Software Localization and Translation: What’s the Difference?

Software localization is the translation and adaptation of a software or web product, including the software itself and all related product documentation. Traditional translation is typically and activity performed after the source document has been finalized.

On the other hand, software localization projects often run in parallel with the development of the source product to enable simultaneous shipment of all language versions. Translation is only one of the activities in a localization project. There are other tasks involved in localization, such as project management, engineering, testing and desktop publishing.

Choose Professional Swedish Localization

As you prepare your Swedish software for localization, be sure to choose a professional English-Swedish linguist like me! I have years of experience in meeting the unique linguistic requirements of software localization for the Swedish market.

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Tess

Defining Translation, Localization, Internationalization & More

I know you all probably know what all these terms mean, but the definitions I found for translation, localization, internationalization and transcreation were very interesting. The first three terms were taken from Wikipedia, but transcreation did not exist on Wikipedia yet, also that interesting. They are all very dear terms to me, so here you go:

Translation is the comprehension of the meaning of a text and the subsequent production of an equivalent text, likewise called a “translation,” that communicates the same message in another language. The text that is translated is called the source text, and the language that it is translated into is called the target language. The product is sometimes called the target text.

Translation, when practiced by relatively bilingual individuals but especially when by persons with limited proficiency in one or both languages, involves a risk of spilling-over of idioms and usages from the source language into the target language. On the other hand, inter-linguistic spillages have also served the useful purpose of importing calques and loanwords from a source language into a target language that had previously lacked a concept or a convenient expression for the concept. Translators and interpreters have thus played an important role in the evolution of languages and cultures.[1]

However, localization and internationalization is not separated, which I think they should be. Here is the joint definition:

In computing, internationalization and localization (also spelled internationalisation and localisation, see spelling differences) are means of adapting computer software to different languages and regional differences. Internationalization is the process of designing a software application so that it can be adapted to various languages and regions without engineering changes. Localization is the process of adapting internationalized software for a specific region or language by adding locale-specific components and translating text.

The terms are frequently abbreviated to the numeronym i18n (where 18 stands for the number of letters between the first i and last n in internationalization, a usage coined at DEC in the 1970s or 80s[1]) and L10n respectively, due to the length of the words. The capital L in L10n helps to distinguish it from the lowercase i in i18n
Some companies, like Microsoft, IBM and Sun Microsystems, use the term “globalization” for the combination of internationalization and localization.[2][3] Globalization can also be abbreviated to g11n.[4]

Lionbridge has a good explanation of the difference between the two:

Internationalization readies your product for global markets and ensures it can be localized easily. It is the designing and re-engineering of a product so that it can be localize easily for global markets. It is important to complete internationalization before localization begins; otherwise, you may need to reengineer your product in parallel with localization.

Transcreation is perhaps such a new word that Wikipedia has no definition yet. Here is one definition I found:

Transcreation: Adaptation, mainly used in drama contexts, is defined as “
the ‘freest’ form of translation” and one where “… the SL [source language] culture [is] converted to the TL [target language] culture and the text rewritten” (p. 46).The idea of rewriting a text to adapt it to the norms of the target culture, to the point that little trace is left of its source, seems to be at the root of transcreation, too. Nowadays often used in advertising and the media, transcreation is a portmanteau word made by combining together translation and creation, in order to emphasise the considerable amount of creativity required in the process. (From http://www.airy-eel.blogspot.com)

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