Translation and l10n for dummies

Localization Professional | Russian and Ukrainian native IT/Marketing translator | 10+ years in Localization

[transl10n]

Mobile apps localization basis and challenges

Mobile apps is a huge market that can generate a good revenue if expansion to new markets is done properly. Just think about this fact: mobile apps are small (have small wordcount) and require low budget to localize. But it's not always a piece of cake. 

Why to translate?

I think that this is a bit straightforward question, but let's dig into numbers:

1.2 billion people used apps in 2012 and by 2017 mobile apps users number will increase to 4.4 billion.

Analyst estimates for downloads of apps in 2013 range from 56 to 82 billion. In 2017, there could be 200 billion downloads (source: mobiThinking).

Localization Increases Downloads by 128% on Average for iPhone Apps.

So answer comes naturally. But on the other hand, is that it's betternot to do localization at all if it's of low quality.

What languages and platforms?

First of all you need to decide what target markets to cover. By all means, your product will tell you. Talk with your customers, in some cases they can even offer their help in translation or linguistic testing. If we talk about numbers, Spanish, German, French, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian or Arabic can be a great starting point and will cover considerable amount of your prospective users.

You should also decide on the platforms and app stores: Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, iPhone, Symbian, Qualcomm BREW, Sun J2ME etc.

What to localize?

Mobile app strings

App store description

Have a look at how to add localized app descriptions using iTunes Connect and in Google Play.

Don't forget about limitation of app description, so users can get the most important information at the first sight. For example, in Google Play it's 4000 characters.

Metadata and keywords

Keywords and metadata translation is very important because it helps users to find your app. By all means, it’s better to include the most important and relevant keywords first. You may use, for example, Keywords Spy Tool to see what keywords your competitors use for a particular market. Other good tool to get keywords ideas is Google Adwords Keyword Tool.

Screenshots for app store

Consider localization of your app name

By all means, all those elements need a bit of transcreation and copywriting, especially app store description, metadata and keywords, and also DTP and images editing in case of screenshots localization.

Also don’t forget about translation of updates and further support of your app.

Another option is to translate app description and keywords to test if users in a particular country will be interested in your app.

What challenges can you face?

space limitation: solution here is to indicate maximum allowed characters in strings description. And, of course, leave room for expansion (it’s always better to use a liquid layout rather than a layout with fixed widths).

Due to space limit you should be extra-careful with wording, have a look at some great tips from Apple developers on terminology and wording.

lack of context: provide context in form of comments, screenshots, glossaries etc. so translators can do their job properly. There are many other ways to help translators. Also make sure translators use mobile terminology that is consistent across all your apps and with the translation of terms in the appropriate OS.

internationalization: only translation is not enough. You need to take into account also input methods, data and time formats, currencies, support of local input data by the database to name a few.

non-text aspects: always remember about cultural contexts: usage of colors, signs. You can use local photos of people, places and things instead of general photos and do everything so that users feel like at home.

So mobile apps localization can look like a simple task at the first sight but many aspects need to be taken into account so users from other countries can find your app and get really “local” experience when using it.

Further reading:

Apple: Internationalization and Localization - Apple Developer Creating an iTunes Connect Record for an App

Google: Android Localization Checklist  Supporting Different Languages

Microsoft: Guidelines for globalization and localization How to build a localized app for Windows Phone 8

[transl10n]

To continue speaking about internationalisation and localisation you can watch the video about internationalization standard ITS 2.0.

[transl10n]

Gary Lefman "There will be a greater understanding of the need for internationalisation"

I'm glad to get back to blogging after half year break and to present you new interview with Gary Lefman, who works in Cisco and has superpowers in localisation and internationalisation :) You can have a look on his blog.

If you missed other great interviews or want to renew them in your memory, please welcome to the interviews page.

Please tell a few words about yourself. How did you get into internationalisation and localisation?

My response will probably sound very familiar to most people in the localisation industry. The reason I am where I am today, and the reason why I have modelled my life around this industry is simply because of an accident – a disastrous accident – if that makes it seem any less passé.

I was invited to join Cisco in 2000, before I had finished my undergraduate degree, and became a network engineer with a research and development group specialising in telecommunications protocols and switching. It wasn't long before I started to design, build, and manage development labs in England and China.

Somewhere around the time the dotcom bubble had a blow-out, management volunteered me to rectify a tragic cocktail of localisation issues with a prominent voice product. I had never heard of the term localisation, let alone know what it meant at the time, but I threw myself into the project with full gusto – blind and naïve – as a good engineer always should, and solved the problem. Unbeknown to me, then, I had altered the course of a crushed localisation project, which subsequently exploded from four locales into 52 in almost no time at all. Having been thrown to the wolves, and walked away unscathed, I had gained a level of recognition and respect that fuelled my decision to switch to the dark, and far more exciting I might add, side of voice localisation engineering.

With an abnormal thirst for producing truly global products, it was only natural that I should move into an architectural role and focus on developing an internationalisation strategy for the entire engineering organisation. This involved developing an internationalisation support structure for developers and internationalisation champions, and a full training programme to cover all aspects of product and content internationalisation to multimedia localisation. In the meantime I have been working on several projects outside of Cisco.

At the end of 2013 I graduated with first class honours from the University of Limerick with an MSc in Multilingual Computing and Localisation, via the Localisation Research Centre. Not wanting to stop there, I am now working on my PhD with CNGL the Centre for Global Intelligent Content at Trinity College in Dublin. I am also a partner (and CTO) in a fantastic company that redefines localisation education (launches 1 June 2014), and a director for an internationalisation consultancy.

In December 2013 my first book was published, called Internationalisation of People Names. It's a study of human name structures around the world and a model to prevent identity loss within computer systems. Earlier this year I was recognised as a Fellow of the British Computer Society, and a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Great Britain before that. Combine all this with a strong background in internationalisation and localisation engineering, I'd say that I still have a very long way to go, but in the meantime, you can keep up with me on Twitter as @CiscoL10N and in LinkedIn.

Can you describe some peculiarities of Internationalisation platform for Cisco products you developed?

Up until five years ago I would have said there was nothing peculiar about internationalisation. Throw in a few standards and best practices, and anything is possible.

But today, with bring your own device (BYOD), and the so-called Internet of Everything, we have really mixed things up. To the point where developers are rushing to produce application programming interfaces but do not consider how the fruits of their labour will be implemented in locales other than their own. This is probably due to a focus on supporting different manufacturer' platforms, more than the people that use them.

With a lot of applications being developed in the USA, there is still too little consideration for the global user. This isn't exactly a peculiarity of a internationalisation per se, because every platform has its qualification and quirk, but it is still a challenge nonetheless.

What is the most challenging in your work?

Changing the mind-set of development teams, convincing them of the real value of internationalisation, is a monumental task. The first barrier is deep-seated common misconceptions that inject ice cold fear into the heart of many developers when we utter the term localisation. It is fear of the unknown and self-doubt that ultimately cause a developer's resolve to crumble.

I believe this challenge can be addressed, to a certain degree, by academic institutions. Schools, colleges, and Universities continue to be oblivious to the need for internationalisation when teaching computing and writing for an audience. They often fail to provide awareness of the world's variety of cultures and how these cultures perceive and interact with systems. Systems that students may one day be developing themselves.

Can you recommend any best practices and tools for proper internationalisation?

Without any doubt, the Common Locale Data Repository (CLDR) is the most quintessential resource a developer should have in their bag of tricks. This thoroughly grounded library of locale data will help enormously in the development of truly global products, and use of programming libraries like the International Components for Unicode (ICU) will make implementation of the CLDR child’s play.

Adopting new technologies and standards, such as the Internationalisation Tag set 2.0 and HTML 5 will also make life much easier for developers and localisers alike.

Developers should also consider moving towards Best Current Practice 47 for finer-grained locale codes that better represent languages and cultures than the simple ISO 638-1 and 3166-1 codes for languages and countries respectively.

As for tools, the most important tool I have worked with is Globalyzer by Lingoport. This is a crucial piece of kit for any developer that performs internationalisation static analysis and captures almost all of the common internationalisation problems. Problems that would otherwise become apparent during product localisation, and ultimately impact the time and cost of software development.

How do you envision the future of localisation industry?

Today, the World Wide Web of information is predominantly accessible in the English language, but this will undoubtedly change. Why? Because advances in the way audio, visual, and textual content is linked to similar content in other languages will help to make all of this content even more available to the Internet. This is inevitable, and, to compound the matter, the vast amount of new information (and disinformation) being added to the Web on a daily basis, means there is going to be an ever-increasing desire to share it with the world. This is where we step in, but it isn't going to be an easy ride.

Things are going to move very quickly when it does happen, and whilst the smaller localisation service providers are lean and agile, the larger, institutionalised, providers are going to be faced with some tough choices if they want the best seats in the show. They will need to develop a culture of adaptation and learn how change direction in a very short space of time. They will also need to know their limits because they will find it detrimental to their business if they attempt to accept every job. I also foresee a lot of new language service providers appearing on the scene. They will be more specialised, focussing only on smaller and more specific domains, such as social media or tourism.

This increase in demand will also impact developers, but there will be a greater understanding of the need for internationalisation. This will accelerate research into more effective internationalisation standards, and better integration of internationalisation into programming languages and software development tools. The result: seamless localisation and localisation workflows. Is this all pie in the sky? Perhaps.

But note that I haven't mentioned machine translation yet. This is because the advances in machine translation will probably continue to be slow and painful. If we haven't cracked it since the 1950s, then we are not going to crack it in the next sixty years because the human brain is a brilliant, yet at the same time wonderfully complicated, organ, and no machine will ever match it.

 Many thanks for your insights, Gary!

[transl10n]

Writing for the Web

As a bloggers and copywriters (in many cases English non-natives) who write content published online it's really important to improve our writing skills in both English and native language. We also need to understand peculiarities of writing for the web and use them to write better more engaging content.

I would like to share some useful resources.

Cleaning Your Copy: Grammar, Style and More (self-directed course from The Poynter Institute, might be interesting for English non-natives)

Writing for the Web: Tips, Tricks and Standards (useful tips for those who write on-line content)

Writing for the Web (on-line course at Open 2 Study, starts on July 1st)

Have fun reading and learning!

Photo above was taken in picturesque Ukrainian highlands, Carpathian mountains, in 2007.

[transl10n]

Alain Dellepiane "We are part of game development and involved in all aspects of it"

Do you know how thrilling and challenging game localization is? Let’s talk about this with Alain Dellepiane, English to Italian game localization director.

Please tell a few words about yourself. How did you get into game localization?

I started as a game localizer ten years ago. I was in England looking for an employer that might need my language studies and I became a localization tester at Take 2 interactive, now mostly known for its labels 2K Games and Rockstar Games.

Initially, the whole localization unit was made by me and a French colleague, so for more than two years I had the chance of editing and testing pretty much everything they published. That summed up to 24+ different titles, an average of one per month, providing a great exposure and learning experience.

Meanwhile, I studied for the IoL Diploma through a distance learning course, which jump-started my freelance translator career once I came back to Italy.

In 2007 I moved to Tokyo for a project and roughly one year later I joined forces with two other translators, becoming a sort of PM/editor/translator hybrid.

What is the most challenging and most rewarding part of your work?

As a freelance game translator, no one really minds how you achieve your results, as long as they are fine. You are free to experiment any kind of literary, technological or management approach: if your text matches expectations, no one will say a word.

This gives you the freedom to gradually evolve your own work style and it’s really rewarding.

However, expectations are constantly evolving too. Being the translator for Tomb Raider in 1996 and in 2013 may nominally be the same job (and localization budgets and schedules are probably not that different) but expectations have undeniably grown.

So the freedom and experimentation we mentioned is also a necessity. What was a neat little trick yesterday, is your bacon saver today and may well pay your rent tomorrow.

Sometimes it feels like a constant rush to keep up, and it can get a bit tiring.

Can you recommend some best practices (and/or tools) for proper game localization?

Well, there are as many different approaches to this job as there are translators, and I can’t seriously boast mine as The Right Way To Do Stuff. But I can share the most promising paths I found.

One is Quality Assurance.

Yes, translation is a lifetime struggle for truth, beauty and love, but -in my experience- clients are mostly concerned with getting the damn thing out in a decently working state.

Every time your text is too long, a tag is broken, a menu is referred to with the wrong name, someone has to go and fix it. And it’s usually the same person that will provide the final feedback on your work!

Hopefully, there are many QA tools out there giving you super-human error spotting powers, like finding a single wrong digit among thousands or spotting an inconsistency with a translation done five years ago by someone else and so on.

Personally, I always allocate the last hour before delivery for a quick check with Xbench and no matter how careful we have been, it always spots some little thing. It’s almost annoying!

I guess no one would deliver a translation without running the spell checker first. I now feel the same for QA: it’s that helpful.

The second (and hopefully more inspiring!) path is learning how games work, and use that as a reference for your translation.

Think about movies; a translator knowing a little bit about moviemaking -from script structure, to acting styles, to film cutting- will undeniably offer more effective dialogues, as they will understand the underlying goals and mechanics of what they are working on. I truly believe a good game translator should do the same. And that means knowing games as a player, but also as a developer.

To make an example, consider this episode of the Extra Credits web show about the “Mechanics-Dynamics-Aesthetics” paper on game structure.

At first sight it seems completely irrelevant for a translator, but under the surface, it’s a goldmine of very practical guidelines for any string of text.

What tone should I keep? What kind of terminology should I use? How much can I characterize? It’s all written there, and it’s just 5 pages long!

To make another example, we have been recently involved with a classic one-on-one fighting game with a strong online community.

The most natural approach for a translator would be to focus on lore, characters, and bombastic move names. Like in a book.

Instead, we got in touch with a game journalist who specialized in that specific genre, we double wrapped him in NDA and then worked together in order to shape the core glossary together.

And that paid back in spades, because under all the flamboyance, online fighting has a set of codified rules and techniques that isn’t far away from an international judo championship!

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that translators should embark in long-winded academic research in fields that aren’t strictly theirs. But I do believe that we are part of game development and involved in all aspects of it. From game design, to writing, to audio… if it’s ever written or said, it’s for us. Knowing more about the other fields of game making and understanding how they work essentially boils down to being a good neighbor!

Incidentally, researching localization tools and getting in touch with other fields of the game industry is my mission as a Vice-Chair of the Game Localization SIG of the IGDA, so feel free to join its mailing list if you are interested in hearing more about it!

What would your advice to translators who want to get into game localization?

The big catch-22 is that few people will take you in… unless you already have game localization experience.

It may seem unfair, but this is a young field. There is some consensus on what a professional translation should look like, but we are far from having rules set in stone.

In other words, this is a job that must be learned by trial and error, and precious few can afford to wait for you to do it.

Given my background, it’s not surprising that I see localization testing jobs as the best path, as they give you a great experience and a solid reference for the CV. However, you will also need to be young (ideally under 30) and ready to move abroad (ideally you should already be in countries like England or Canada for the interview!)

Understandably, not everyone can do that, but you can still build some experience on your own.

Take the Humble Indie Bundle 8 that went on sale a couple of weeks ago. It came with 11 titles, 3 with official FIGS translation and one (Dear Esther) you could translate yourself. Great exposure, for less than 6 dollars.

If a potential candidate tackled a challenging translation like Dear Esther and linked a Youtube playthrough on their CV, I would probably check it out even if they have no professional experience.

First of all because it would allow to quickly judge their skills in context, but most importantly because it would prove the most vital skill of all: getting things done.

All your career, you will double as a problem solver. New genres, new platforms, new tools, you will always have to analyze problems, break them down to their essential pieces and come up with a solution. Show that you can do it and you are halfway there.

Good luck!

As a translation superhero, what superpowers would you have?

The Amazing Power of Sleep Deprivation :)

Many thanks for your insightful answers, Alain!

[transl10n]

Localization from developer's perspective

Recently I discovered very interesting short talk by Instapaper creator Marco Arment on localization from the point of view of developer and owner of popular product that can be localized (it's in the chapter 13 of the Accidental Tech Podcast, starting at minute 20:00). Thanks to Ángel Domínguez for sharing! I highly recommend to listen it to understand developers better and be more helpful in making their products really awesome on your market.

So, by all means, "localization is not a trivial thing" – except core translation, developer has to make sure that translated text fits the labels (you've probably heard about text expansion in many languages), introduce support of local date, currency formats to mention a few. Want to know more about this? Have a look at the post Translation and localization in a nutshell.

You need to have to think twice before launching localization of your product, but when done well, you'll get really substantial benefits.

Many developers ask themselves: "is badly translated app better than not translated at all"? And everyone finds his own answer to this question. Many decide that their product deserves to be so awesome in other languages as it is originally and choose localization partner (not just a vendor or the so called language service provider) who can best fit his/her localization needs.

To get product fully localized it also has to contain appropriate language support, which is not one-time task and requires commitment, understanding your audience and product from your partner.

Also things get updated quickly, so you need to have constant localization/translation support from your translation partner, who knows your product, your audience well and accordingly can do high quality job in time.

"Do a super-awesome job or not do it at all" – I also fully support this rule.

So according to Marco Arment translator, of course, has to be native speakers, do translation good (there are many discussions on translation quality, so I won't get into this more deeply). Moreover, he/she has to be good at writing interface text. This is very important aspect, as it is the core adaptation = localization. And this "makes a real difference how people perceive you and your product".

The second option is to concentrate more on the low price and choose "unknown" translation "vendor". Initially this discussion was started because of Google announcement on the recent Google I/O conference about the build-in support of Android apps localization. BTW, interesting presentation Developing for a Global Audience: Tools for Internationalization & Localization. The initial pilot involved six vendors (including Trusted Translations, Inc. and One Hour Translation). Looking forward to testing this system on Play Market from developer's account. In such case translation quality can be assessed, for example, by user ratings.

Of course, every model which has demand, has right to exist and it's developers/clients to decide what is the best for his/her product. Еverybody can find his/her niche – be it premium-class translation/localization partners or nameless bottom-chain people.

And closing point from Marco Arment: "Hope, those guys are doing great job with translation, because I can't read it".

The photo above is from my recent journey. It spotlights Chervonohorod Castle, Ukraine, built in the early 17th century. I call it "place of power" and return every year to visit it.

[transl10n]

Ukrainian Translation Industry Conference (UTIC) 2013: impressions and insights

So this weekend I attended long-awaited and first big translation conference in Ukraine. I mostly attend IT conferences and events (like ZFConf, IT Jam, Microsoft Blogfest, Oracle Day), so this was new interesting experience: to see many colleagues, to meet and communicate with interesting people, to feel community spirit which solo translators sometimes lack.

So conference brought a lot of new meetings, inspiration and insights, helped to define and adjust direction of professional growth and development.

Here are some takeaways from the conference I want to share (sorry, if the author isn't indicated):

- @hansfens: TEP model might be collapsing now -> again we have mentions about small pieces of content that are instantly coming and need to be returned quickly.

- @renatobeninatto: The translation industry is not fragmented. It's pulverized.

- @Jeromobot: Translators and interpreters are faceless -> if end-user don't feel that he/she readers a translation, translator did a good job.

- Sergei Kornienko: if you value your clients more than the money you get from them, you will be more successful.

- Gordon Husbands from @WordbankLtd: translation is the cheapest part of going global. Companies receive translation costs back in the form of increased number of customers and sales.

- @renatobeninatto: Translation companies should add value to the process. An agency does not add value, it just shuffles projects.

- @hansfens: We must connect and network. Share knowledge and help promote the language enterprise.

- Hans Fenstermacher on current industry trends: quality is often assumed, so selling on quality is difficult.

- Elena Rudenko from @EleksL10n about models of localization business: focus on translation, focus on platform, partnership relations.

Vendors want to be partners but they don't act as partners. They should be a part of solution to be considered as a partner.

- Translation is like vine - not everybody buys the most expensive one, most people buy wine of average quality -> (But nobody forbids to occupy a niche of the most expensive and high quality wines :)

- Freelance is more a business than a professional activity (Oleg Rudavin) -> agree and we should act and build our business accordingly.

- Freelance translation is like a one-man show :) (Oleg Rudavin)

And two posts about UTIC in tweets from Sergey Rybkin: first day and second day.

Enjoy!

P.S. I was also speaking on the conference about web-services localization and plan to post English translation of slides.

[transl10n]

Jessica Rathke "Your services are boring. The outcomes you deliver are interesting."

After a short break I continue series of interview with great professianals in translation and localization industry, who can cover different aspects: from project managemet to editing and even sales.

Today we are doing to talk with my marketing guru Jessica Rathke.

Jessica has 20+ years of sales, sales management and marketing experience in the language services industry in the US and Europe. She is currently Managing Director at L10N Sales & Marketing, a London-based sales training and consulting company that helps translation companies improve sales performance, increase revenues and profitability

Can you give a few advice on how freelance translators can differentiate themselves on the market?

There are several ways this can be done, but my general recommendation is to make it easy for potential customers to find you. Listing yourself on Translator Café or ProZ is helpful, but you are still being lumped in with many other suppliers.

1) At very least I suggest creating a website so potential customers can find and get to know you: what your specialities are, how you work and any special things you do to ensure your customers are happy, testimonials & references, contact information. Your website doesn’t need to be complicated and can be done very cost-effectively with WordPress. There are plenty of people out there who can design a website for very little money or, if you feel inclined, you can do it yourself. When I went into business for myself, I initially created my own site and it sufficed for a while. I eventually invested a few hundred euros to make it much more professional looking, because I had no real interest in becoming a WordPress expert.

2) Make sure the content is focused on what you deliver for your clients, rather than the services you provide. They know you are a translator. You don’t need but a few sentences to explain this. Use the rest of your website to tell customer what business benefits they will derive from the translations you provide. For example, do you help your customers expand into international markets, help people understand how to use something, convey clear branding, help ensure compliance from your client’s employees, enable rapid deployment of their products? Get out of your shoes and into those of your customer. This in itself will differentiate you. Your services are boring. The outcomes you deliver are interesting.

3) Although you have a lot of work to do and deadlines to meet, try to do a bit of networking where your potential customers are. Learn what’s going on in THEIR lives. This will help you tailor your services to help them do THEIR job better. This should inform your branding/messaging. Even if you only network on Twitter or LinkedIn Groups (not localization groups, but groups where your customers spend time) this will help you get your name out there and also help you know what’s going on with people you want to work with.

What marketing methods can freelancers apply to find direct clients, especially in localization?  

I’ve answered this in part with your first question. The big thing with winning direct clients is to help the customer make the connection between your services and how this helps them achieve their business objectives. In software localization this is straightforward. The client is usually expanding into new markets or updating an existing product. How you can help them achieve this more quickly is one key way to win their confidence. Clients will want to understand that you understand their business, technology, how the technology works so they have happy users. As far as marketing to these people, it really comes down to making direct contact and explaining the business benefits (aka sales)…assuming you have a website and references in place. Finding the decision maker takes research. Developing them takes time as well, both directly and indirectly. Directly you’ll have to rely on phone and email. Never expect a response. It’s up to you to make the business case for switching to your service. This is why focusing on what your client is trying to achieve is so important. Otherwise you’re just viewed as another translation supplier. This only scratches the surface really. I could write a book on this! One much overlooked way to increase your business is to expand your relationship with existing customers. Make sure they are aware of everything you can do (they may have forgotten or been completely unaware). As always, focus on how you can help your customers.

How much time should you spend on marketing your services and how do you measure results?

As a freelancer (not translator) myself, I find it challenging to strike a balance between working (billable hours) and marketing (developing the business). When you’re doing one, you’re not doing the other. But you must do both! In my mind, at least an hour a day should be devoted to developing your business. Whether it’s writing a blog, finding interesting things to tweet about, updating your website, emailing or calling potential customers. This works out to 5 hours a week. It’s not a lot of time and maybe it’s done later in the evening, at weekends or other off times (like I do). Some weeks, when I’m really busy with customers I do none. Other times, when not a lot is going on I’ll do 30 hours. If you’ve never done it before, then initially it’s going to take a time investment and/or some money for someone else to do it on your behalf. There are many translators who are very active in social media and have created very strong branding and images for themselves on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook (for example Erik Hansen, RainyLondon, TessTranslates, LinguaGreca). They may be in a better position to say exactly how much time they spend doing marketing and (possibly) direct sales. Measuring results is interesting. The most obvious is winning a client and counting the revenue you’ve generate. There are incremental things that you can measure such as number of blog posts, how may blog posts were commented on, tweeted about, number of decision makers identified, number of decision makers contacted. It could be the number of direct clients you have as LinkedIn contacts…and from that, how may ultimately become customers.

Can you suggest some other services (except traditional translation, interpreting, editing, proofreading) that are becoming in demand those days in localization industry?

Other services This is a loaded question really. It all depends on what you can or want to do. I’m an advocate of broadening services if it’s within your capability or you feel compelled to become an expert at some ancillary service or want to be an SME in some other subject area, then do it. But only do it if you think it provides value to your customers.

If it doesn’t, then it’s unlikely to help you and you may become frustrated if your customers aren’t interested or don’t appreciate it. IMO it’s better to specialise and become very well known for that. It makes it easy for customers to understand what you do and what you stand for. Being all things to all people makes this very difficult. LSPs face the same issue. Focus on what you do well and on the projects you like to do and for the kinds of clients you like to work for. Make this clear and this is what you will attract. Get rid of business you don’t want or like or that you can’t make any money doing. There is no shortage of work out there. A scarcity mentality is a self-fulfilling prophesy. Just because a client wants you to reduce rates doesn’t mean you have to. You may well lose that project, but it will also free up your time to find and win more profitable work. Let price buyers buy from price sellers! I would also suggest being open to new possibilities. The topic of MT and post-editing is a hot one and I am loathe to bring it up. However there is a market for it and people who aren’t opposed to it are likely to do well. In the end, finding out our client’s needs, how they use translations (in all its forms, problems they are facing, business issues they want to solve should suggest other services that can expand your business.

 Many thanks for practical guidance, Jessica!

  Google

[transl10n]

12 lessons for freelancers from the authors of REWORK

I just swallowed this book in a few days of my vacation! It contains valuable advice not only for people who are building their own products but for a broader audience of self-employed entrepreneurs. It is really a handbook, one can read it over and over again.

Here you can find a "mind-mapped" contents of the book for reference.

And below are my shore takedowns in context of building freelance translation business:

1. Planning is guessing

So true! I'm not making some New Year's resolutions, I just define directions in which I want to work and evolve. Can you remember what you think two years ago about the future and how it turned out to be? 

2. Why grow? 

We don't need to be ashamed that we are very small, in many cases 1-person businesses (and don't have to emulate big respected company), small is actually good, it gives you flexibility and more personal approach.

3. Workaholism is a crime for freelancer, who can know it better than you, who learn things from bitter experience. Prioritize and cut off or outsource unnecessary tasks that take so much of your valuable time.

4. Make a dent in the universe 

Don't be just a replaceable person in the translation chain, provide a value to you clients. Don't sit and wait for the change – be the change.

"If you're going to do something, do something that matters."

As my favorite Gary Vaynerchuk said: "There is no REASON in 2012 to do things you hate.  None.  NO REASON TO DO WHAT YOU HATE.  Promise me you won’t.  Because trust me, you can lose just as much money being happy as hell. ;)"

BTW, a great talk, highly recommended to watch.

5. No time is no excuse

Again Gary: 

As you know there is never a perfect time, because perfect time is NOW.

6. Less mass

Optimize your processes and workflow. I discovered the power of the cloud: I use Dropbox for sharing and collaborating on files, Freedcamp for time tracking and managing projects, Asana for tasks management, PhraseExpress, TextExpander (for Mac) for frequently used text snippets etc.

7. Making the call is making progress

Don't postpone. If you started checking email, answer messages right away.

If you're not sure about some term while translating, don't put it off, ask the client, PM etc.

Then your brain won't have to store everything and will be more open for new ideas.

8. Sell your by-products

You can share your experience in a book. You can organize trainings, webinars.

Besides, translators can consider related services that are currently in need, like community management, copyrighting, localization testing, social media management to mention a few.

9. Interruption is the enemy of productivity

That's why I try to do the most important tasks in the morning when everybody are sleeping and I try to disable all sources of interruptions, like IMs, Facebook, Twitter during daytime work.

10. Go to sleep

Dear friends-freelancers, people really need sleep, believe me :) And money that can be earned instead of sleeping is not worth of it in the end.

Besides, when you cut your sleeping time, your brain become damaged, you get more stubborn and your creativity level is down.

11. Long lists don't get done

That's where procrastination and all other no-accomplishment things appear. Break down long lists into a small ones and what is most importantly – prioritize tasks. I'm using Wunderlist to get my tasks sorted and scheduled. I'm reviewing tasks list in the evening and in the morning to see the overall progress and to remember my priorities. 

12. Build an audience

This can be applied in terms of networking and marketing. 

If you want your clients to knock on your doors, make yourself visible. Twitter and LinkedIn profiles, as well as professional blog with good and regular content, are the “must have”!

So those were my small conclusions after reading Rework. Please share your thoughts on the issues raised and be sure to grab a copy of Rework and dive into reading :)

[transl10n]

Always wondered what is localization? Check out video from The Media Show.

Do you belive that localization belongs to weird media jobs :)?

[transl10n]

"I recommend each developer to find localization model which fits exactly his apps" (Oleksiy Oliynyk)

I would like to present you a new story from Oleksiy Oliynyk, independent Android developer (and my good friend), who shares his experience of apps localization.

So a few words about Oleksiy:

Oleksiy is an independent developer, he builds applications for Android. One year ago he quit his day job and from that moment on he works hard on developing his apps, but all the efforts are worth of it! Oleksiy is also an avid traveller, he recently travelled to Georgia, Armenia and Iran.

So let's see how independent developer of Android apps copes with internationalization and localization.

Do you do internationalization of your apps in the development phrase?

As a rule I’m starting localization process after the first release. This is because physically I don't have enough time to deal with functionality of the program and its localization. So usually I put all efforts to ensure that the program works well. After release I decide whether it is worth to do localization and what target languages to involve​​. Besides, after the release you can see from what country people use you app and you may decide what languages it’s better to localize into. And that is one more reason why it’s better to start localization after the release.

How do you localize your apps: with the help of translation agencies, freelancers or your community? And into what languages are your apps localized?

In all cases I made localization with the help of community. People like to use app in their native language so they are ready to help with translation. They understand that if they will help in localization – it will be released in the nearest update. App localization contains translation of words, phrases or sometimes several sentences – it's not so complicated as translating books for example, so non-professionals can do it easily. And it doesn't take a lot of time – that's why people are ready to help. Currently some of my apps are localized into Danish, Hebrew, Ukrainian.

Did you have any technical difficulties while implementing localization on Android platform?

It is actually easy to implement on Android platform. That's why developer can concentrate his efforts on translation. Technical process is comfortable. While building the interface you use certain strings from the file with ‘key-value’ structure which contain them. You need just to include translation file into your project. Your app recognize system language and select appropriate file with strings.

Does localization help your business to grow? If so, can you provide some examples of your app market expansion due to localization?

Of course, it does! If two apps are doing the same things but one of them is in native language – people will definitely choose the second one. For example, after localizing Shopping List app into Danish number of Danish users increased more than twice, and their percent among all users also grown up to 25%.

Do you use some localization resources, can you recommend any?

Recommendations for Android developers are highlighted by Google here. It’s must read. You can also check this tutorial.

What advice can you give to developers regarding localization of their apps?

I recommend each developer to find localization model which fits exactly his apps. Of course it’s important to adjust the strategy depending on the results after first try. Good luck! ;)

[transl10n]

Games, gamification and localization

Recommended if you like games and localize them:

- Indie Game: The Movie: interesting and some kind of inspiring movie about independent developers and how they create awesome things.

- Gamification course on Coursera: really interesting! Gamification is the application of game elements and digital game design techniques to non-game problems, such as business and social impact challenges.

- The Game Localization Handbook by Heather Maxwell Chandler and Stephanie O'Malley Deming: I just started reading it, seems to be solid book, like A Practical Guide to Localization by Bert Esselink.

Happy watching, reading and learning!

[transl10n]

"Translator and editor are equally responsible for quality of the final text" (Oksana Tymoshenko)

My next interviewee is Oksana Tymoshenko, experienced editor, proofreader and my good ex-colleague.

A few words about her:

Oksana has about 5 year of experience in editing and proofreading. Currently she works in translation and localization company Logrus, Ukraine. Oksana edits texts translated from English to Ukrainian and Russian, she works mainly with IT, telecommunications and marketing materials. If you have some questions or just want to say hi, you can drop her a line at [email protected]

- What are some of the greatest challenges in your work?

You must concentrate attention permanently during the working day – this makes editor’s work extremely laborious. Lots of things must be kept in mind simultaneously. Besides general meaning of text these include grammar, orthography, punctuation, style, very often glossary and client’s stylistic requirements. That is during review you should see text from different angles and monitor its correctness on different levels (meaning, style, grammar, orthography, punctuation etc.). The process might be particularly complicated if translator was not attentive enough and made lots of mistakes.

Since the editor is the latest person to review a text he/she is the one to bear utter responsibility for the end result.

Finally editor has to be erudite and competent in different domains around target text – would it be hybrid hard drives, digital photography, or online games – one would never be able to catch mistakes knowing nothing about the text being reviewed.

Almost for each text it takes additional time to learn how certain device or application functions before putting our hands on it. That’s the price of providing high quality results.

- Can you describe some common mistakes translators do? And give advice how to improve translation?

Incorrect transfer of the meaning is the most common mistake. It is sad to say but very often translators are not enough competent in a subject domain and the final sentence or paragraph doesn’t convey the same meaning as the original even though all words are translated properly. Sometimes a translator might even create a combination of words that mean nothing more than nonsense. 

The worst case is when a translator makes too literal translation, which is no more valuable than a machine translation.

I would suggest thinking about the meaning of the text first, imagining the situation to let correct words come into mind. As a translator you should understand that it is not words that need to be translated but the idea behind text, therefore it is best to abstract yourself from the text and try to catch the core meaning.

I would also suggest having the text read second time after a short period of time before handling it for editing – I’m pretty sure you will notice lots of mistakes and will be able to fix them.

Stylistic mismatch is another common mistake.

You should always remember who is the reader and the goal of a text – to give understandable and clear instructions, interest somebody in certain product or service, or more realistically character and describe behavior of a personage in a game. It influences the structure of sentences and logical accents.

Bad orthography and punctuation also happens often enough.

I recommend translators to pay special attention to commas in complex sentences and commas with parenthesis (in case of translation into Ukrainian or Russian). A common mechanical mistake for translator is to separate an adverbial modifier on the beginning of a sentence and a comma, thus mimicking English punctuation. It is a good idea to proofread your own translation when finished translating and to have automatic spellchecking always turned on.

Using dictionaries and punctuation reference materials is also a great habit for a translator.

- Who should be more qualified – editor or translator? What do you think?

Translator and editor are equally responsible for quality of the final text even though their contribution is applied at different stages. Translator’s job is to ensure correctness and clearness of sentences, accordance between target and original, and glossary compliance.

The editor’s job is usually not only to proofread the text but also improve it by following language standards, terminological base, client’s stylistic requirements, and ensure the text is coherent and easily readable so that end users or consumers would never suspect it has been translated.

Sometimes if translator doesn’t do their best, editor has to rewrite the text, thus he has to work on correct formulating of sentences instead of “polishing” it. Of course this results in worse quality and the need of second proofreading, which rarely happens because of limited timeframes and budget. That’s why the quality of the text depends on the efforts of both.

- Can you name some professional traits of editor, like noticing errors on the big boards, in public places etc.?

Yeah …<laughs>… I notice mistakes everywhere – on big-boards, marketing materials, light-boxes, on signs in public places. Oral speeches of our politicians deserve a separate article on the subject. Very often reviewers collect slip-ups though lots of these are not understood by common people due to lack of knowledge of native language in masses – an average citizen would feel the text a little annoying or uncomfortable to read but would not understand why is that.

Due to the sphere I work in I often find myself wondering about texts in any device or gadget I take in my hands – I inspect the quality of localization in user interfaces and manuals before getting acquainted with the functions of the equipment.

Another characteristic feature of a reviewer is perfectionism – they seek for perfection and spare no efforts and time to improve the text.

- What is your dream project?

I would love to participate in an online social project (like app that helps people with disabilities) in Ukrainian.

Thanks a lot for your interesting answers, Oksana!

[transl10n]

Those are the days of our lives (looking back at 2012) 

Before going to Rome for a winter holiday I want to share with you some personal bits about this year.

- I re-organized and automated my activities: I now use time-tracking system, tasks manager, finances management spreadsheet, text snippets manager. Previously I didn't really pay much attention to this, but it is really important to keep track of everything and evaluate your progress. (More details are coming in the next blog posts.)

- I'm performing tasks not only of a translator/editor, but also do copywriting, community support and management, market research, social media posts adaptation, linguistic testing to mention a few. This diversity of responsibilities enables me to learn new skills and to expand the range of services that I provide. And also to communicate with the "end-users", learn from them, give them the hand of help which is really inspiring.

- I'm in the continuous search of new awesome direct clients (and I'm sure that sooner or later Universe will hear my messages and they will knock on my door).

- I rethought my attitude towards blogging. Now I'm trying to make it more organized and structured and still have a lot of plans in terms of "technical" and design improvement of the blog.

- Finally I re-launched my German learning in Goethe institute. And also take a course in Python programming (will see how it goes).

- I can't but mention my journey to India, it was a great experience that showed completely different way of living and thinking. It was really exciting and eye-opening. 

- And, of course, people — they bring light and wisdom into my life, make it more full and enjoyable.

So I’m wishing you a nice holiday season, my dear readers, and let all your dreams and desires come true!

The photo above was taken in a sunny Goa, India, one of the richest Indian states know for its beaches and world heritage architecture, and also good IT development.

[transl10n]

Oleksandr Pysaryuk: "Every day I deal with small pieces of content that needs continuous localization"

I'm happy to host an interview with one more great localization professional Oleksandr Pysaryuk.

Oleksandr is a Localization Manager at Achievers, the world's best multi-purpose Social Recognition and employee engagement solution. He has twelve years of experience in translation and software localization, both in the language services industry and on the client side. Before joining Achievers, Oleksandr worked at Research In Motion in Toronto, Language Scientific in Boston, and Logrus International in Kyiv. He holds an MA in linguistics and translation, and taught translation theory, practice and technologies courses at Chernivtsi University in Ukraine. (His LinkedIn and Twitter profiles).

- Can you please tell a few words about yourself. How did you get into translation and localization?

Translation is something I’ve been doing since I was 16. I studied Linguistics at Chernivtsi University in Ukraine, and in my 2nd year of school I came across a book by Ghelly Chernov on simultaneous interpreting. And that was probably the beginning of my big fascination for the profession of a translator and interpreter.

After I graduated, I spent three and a half years teaching translation at that university, and was doing two more jobs at the same time: I was managing translation services team at a bodybuilding and powerlifting federation and also overlooking translation operations at a local language service company.

Pure localization of software started for me in 2006 when I joined Logrus International where among other great things we were localizing Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007 into Ukrainian.

In 2007-2009, I was with Language Scientific in Boston where I was managing all types of projects: from software localization through voice over and dubbing to medical translation, you name it, and worked with some very smart people.

For about 4 most recent years, I was a Localization Analyst with Research In Motion, the maker and marketer of BlackBerry smartphones and solutions. It was a most interesting localization journey indeed. I was deeply involved in everyday localization management (enterprise and consumer software localization, translation management technology implementation and training, quality and workflow management), as well as acted as an advisor and a consultant.

Since very recently, I am managing all things localization related at Achievers. The company (and me including) is passionate about employee rewards and Social Recognition™. We create software that helps engage employees and inspire performance globally. Together with some fiercely intelligent people, I am making sure the company is strong in local markets and walks and talks the local language.

- Is localization education mandatory or necessary skills can be acquired when performing actual projects (for PMs, engineers, translators/editors)?

I am sure translation skills and the editor’s gut feel for the language come with extensive formal translator education. And I believe technical translation takes a lot of specialization, and needs subject matter expertise and experience in the field. To be professionally successful, this is necessary, and bordering on mandatory.

Project management fundamentals are an excellent framework for working with any projects including in localization. PMP certification, for example, frames for you a way of thinking; it organizes you and gives you the PM lingo. However I think project management certification is not exactly a prerequisite. Two important skills of a project manager are communication and planning. Self-study and development as well as on-the job experience should focus on that.

Localization engineering is a very specialized field, and engineering training is necessary. For some reason however, some great localization engineers I have known had no engineering background but learned these skills on the job. Paradoxically enough, their background was usually Biology :) Most of what I know about localization engineering I learned when doing hands-on work, and learning from my colleagues who generously shared their knowledge and skills with me. But again, to be successful, engineering training is necessary.

The big and short answer is - it all depends. Today there are schools where you can get a degree in localization, and that is a great opportunity. Add field work to that, and your expert skills become an invaluable asset. While I believe in learning by doing, the answer to me personally tilts more towards “mandatory”.

- How do you think, is translation/localization becoming more like a commodity (with the development of automated translation platforms and web-services)?

Developments in translation technologies are not at all making translation/localization a commodity. After all, it’s people who operate machines. People provide great services and creative solutions. I can’t do without technologies that help me translate and manage localization: translation memory, terminology management, term extraction tools and features, machine translation, quality assurance, concepts like corpora in some advanced TEnTs. All of the above and more, be they cloud-based, server or local, only helps me provide the specialty service, which is the opposite of commodity.

- What is your opinion regarding machine translation. Will our world become dominated by C3PO-like translators :)?

Machine translation in various ways is integrated into the operations of languages service suppliers and buyers. It is suited and can be customized for certain types of text, for certain quality requirements. Different solutions work for certain types of languages better. And so on. Machine translation is the reality. It is a tool that helps you when you need it. And you should always have an option to turn it off when you don’t. Like that robot.

- What advice on best practices to translation technology makers can you give?

Some very interesting developments are happening now in the field of internationalization, and tools that support collaboration between localizers and developers (see @Lingoport).

I am a big fan of Kilgray Translation Technologies, and the features and options in memoQ are to me like a candy store to a kid. There is so much interesting and cool stuff under the hood that I use every day.

Both these example systems are complex. They seem simple, sleek and usable on the surface. To quote Don Norman, the advocate of human-centered design, “Simplicity is in the mind” and all systems in the world are utterly complex. A musical instrument might look simple, but learning how to play it takes years of practice. To come up with the mental model that simplifies the complex system of a musical instrument takes deep knowledge of that system and constant practice within it.

I am sure same is true with translation technologies. The best way to get intimately close to them is to learn more about how they work, by working with them. And the best practice for technology makers is not to simplify their tools but to keep adding features and complexity and then strive to design models of use so that users are able to navigate the environments with ease.

- What, in your opinion, are the main trends in localization industry?

Some trends are well summarized in a recent blog post by @kvashee here.

Let me instead tell you about what I do now, and what trends I see behind it.

I work in the field of employee rewards and Social Recognition™. It is a field of knowledge that requires development and stabilization of terminology. For me it’s not just figuring out how to translate certain terms and provide them as glossaries to translators, but first to do necessary cross-cultural research, conduct a usability study for whether particular concepts exist in target languages, how they are used and practiced, or what alternatives exist if they do. As new fields of knowledge emerge, usability study, usability testing, new and advanced practices in terminology management will be a trend.

Every day I deal with small pieces of content that needs continuous localization. Whether it’s about changes in software or larger pieces of text based content, my job is to design a workflow that supports that. This is a trend in content development, and meeting such demand by creating solutions around it, not only for translating but for managing and monitoring change, is a trend on the service and technology supplier side today.

Smaller and agile software development companies more often prefer to work directly with individual translators, or small teams of translators. I am anticipating a trend among language service providers to offer managed translation or moderated translation services, with scalability built into the offering.

SaaS companies whose products are web-based are setting requirements that make conventional processes not applicable or obsolete. Such companies are looking for example for visual localization and in-context translation.

Customization of processes and workflows to support the global growth and internationalization of services and products is also a service that I see emerging. It can be some very specialized consulting and professional services on anything from global business to global design practices.

Many thanks for sharing your experience and insightful answers, Oleksandr!

[transl10n]

When it's better to let go

Letting go clients can be hard, easy, frustrating. But if it takes more efforts that one can spent on the client – it’s high time to let it go.

A true story (I’m sure some of you may also experienced): I had a client (with rather good rate) who was giving work from time to time (which was also rather interesting) but all tasks were small and accordingly the total amount was not big. Nevertheless, as the tasks were interesting I kept working with them. But after a while I noticed some pattern: when they had another task required to be completed by me, they swore that I’ll be payed for the previous task (payment for which was due several month ago). First I believed them but after I walked twice in the same water my patience run out and I decided that my time is more valuable than several dozen bucks.

And, guess what, today in the morning I received from them a proposal for cooperation :) Woohoo) (Probably their HP didn't notice me in the translators DB). It is a good indication that I can be found easily on the Internet.

My lessons from this story:

- to take some pre-payment (not sure how this can be applicable to small amounts)

- always be on the alert.

(P.s. I can’t say that the client was that bad, they proposed me other payment solutions which isn't available in my country or take too much time to actually receive money.)

What are your thoughts on this? Did you have some similar experience and what actions did you take?

I'm trying out new posts format: to post in the article some photo from the places I've been, pls let me know you feedback about this (if it may be interesting for you or not). So the first photo goes from Lviv, Ukraine, very beautiful and rather old city filled with coffee odor.

[tradutora]

I think that building a longtime relationship with the translator (your very special, not easily replaceable translator) really pays off as s/he is gaining ever more experience and knowledge of your company. In the end it all boils down to the ancient advice about treating your translator as you wish to be treated yourself.

Translation Tribulations (via tradutora)