Localization services and it's process

Localization is the process of adapting a product and services that has been previously translated into different languages to a specific country or region. The word localization is derived from Latin word “locus” which means place and the English term “Locale”, is a place where something happens or is set. It is the second phase of a larger process of product translation and cultural adaptation (for specific countries, regions or groups) to account for differences in distinct markets, this complete phenomenon is known as localization.

The term internationalization is also somehow related with localization means one product or service goes for the international market as per the demand of that specific language. And localization includes how we can introduce any product or services into the various local markets. In the various localization and internationalization services includes various phase of translation services which are mentioned below in detail. The main purposes of these services are to meet the exact importance and expectations of any language and functionality needs of local users or the end users. As always we discuss in detail regarding the quality, so here also one of the most important points is that the quality of the translations.

In this world, there are so many companies which are provided various types of localization services, but very few of them are providing the genuine one. Because it was a part of company business policy and they are not follow the reader expectations and customer fillings. Some company are translating as its word to word, those are completed wrong because all the language are some different grammatical rules and those things are flowed by translator.

Localization companies normally work with native language translators experts and who have specialization in a specific field to execute the needs of their client’s requirement. Only the professional translators have a comprehensive knowledge about a specific domain with deep understanding. For gathering more information on localization services, it is required to research and go on different phases of localization services.

Types of Localization Services:-

There are various types of localization services are present in this world. On the basis of different fields and domain, here is the detailed classification:-

Localization services are very much important in this competitive edge to expand the market and strengthen our image so that our potential liability will get reduced. Please be always remembering that localization services are the modification of a business, product, content, or such kind of things so that it satisfies both the language and cultural differences of the targeted market.

-Arnab Bhattacharjee

Understand the circumstances: - Error may occur after translation

First Mistake. Do not use someone who is not a translator.

If you think that anyone who speaks a second language can translate well and accurately. In fact, translation requires a domain specialized skill set that is not so easy to find. A translator must have very good knowledge of both source and target languages. They should have skill to write something in the target language, having excellent attention to detail. They must also have broad general knowledge across a range of fields and excellent command over reference materials (bilingual & specialist dictionaries, thesaurus, etc.).

While choosing a translator we need to look for specific translation qualifications having particular domain knowledge and solid experience.

2^nd Mistake. Using someone translating into their second language.

Quality translation requires excellent writing skills; command over particular domain and these are first developed in the education system and then honed with experience. It is not possible for someone to become a talented and error-free writer if his/her education wasn’t conducted in that 2^nd language.

There are lots of word which is complex to understand if you are not native in that language. That’s what can happen when people translate into their 2^nd language.

3^rd Mistake. Using a translator who is out of their depth

General Translators cannot translate Technical, engineering, legal, accounting and medical terms efficiently. So, a translator should have expertise to a particular field and other areas where their knowledge is limited in particular fields all need to be distributed with by translators experienced in those fields. To have an accurate quality and natural sounding translation the translator must command the specialist terminology and writing style of that particular domain.

4^th Mistake. Inadequate checking and editing.

Translating doesn’t appear to be an exceptionally common thing for the human brain to do. Translation is not an easy task to translate a sentence in one language and easily express that content well in another language. That’s why expert translators see their first endeavor as just a draft translation, to be thoroughly checked and then polished to make a precise and characteristic sounding translation.

Thorough checking procedures are therefore important. Inexperienced translators sometimes hand over their first attempt as a final translation. Doing so may also contain omissions and/or errors. Now a days professional translation company have their own procedures to produce a quality translation to their clients according to their need, generally a native speaker of the source language, to provide a safety check of the initial translator’s ‘final’ text.

5^th Mistake. Imposing a dead line that is too tight.

We often estimate less time for translating a document. As a guideline, we need to allow 1½ to 2 hours translation time per 300 word or page, if there is more technical and difficult terms then we need to allow more time for translation.. Qualified and experienced translators can put their final translation aside for at least a couple of hours after completion and then re-read it checking solely for quality of expression.

The short time pressure the less time there is for checking, which may cause to increases the chances of omission and/or error and is much more likely to produce a somewhat affected final text.

6^th  Mistakes. Ignoring the language of target audience.

People typically overlook the variant language are utilized with dialects. For example, for Chinese, do you require Cantonese or Mandarin? Both are written differently. The same as the spoken language, the written is also a little different and natives of each will notice the difference. So, you need to ensure the translator doesn't produce a text that sounds 'foreign' to the target market.

7^th Mistake. Not using a professional translation service

Professional translation companies like us offer two key benefits. We have a thorough and proven translation quality management procedure to provide a quality translation of your documents. In fact, if you are not using a professional service means you may be effectively playing with quality.

FAQ's and Thoughts of Translators

I am project manager at Somya Translators Pvt. Ltd in India.

I mostly get questions from the translators and clients what kind of project can you translate and how can I get entry into a particular domain for translation in the linguistic industry for language translation, so I would like to write   FAQ‘s with answering for you all. If there is something you have to know about this topic then feel free to leave questions in comments.

Q. What exactly do you do in Translation Company?

Ans- It is not easy to say in short. As I have mentioned above I am project manager at Somya Translators Pvt. Ltd. A project manager is responsible for successful delivery of a project ‘on schedule, within the budget, and according to previously agreed quality standards with the Clients. In the translation profession, a large project requires many translators. This increase the risk as well as cost on a project. Thus a project manager will be required to plan the budget and track the workflow to make sure its outcome will meet the client’s requirements.

Q. Can a translator translate any kind of translation project?

Ans- Kind of...but not every project.  Let say’ if there is a video game project to translate. Every translator can’t do translation of video game due to the technical terms used in video game project. There is wide variety of technical words and material. Game translation is a complex and still trial work. If you got a work for game translation than you must aware of  it  that, words in games work on three different levels: the software/hardware level (files/memory units/controllers), the game metaphor level ("items", "rooms", "levels") and the narrative layer ("Sorry Mario, the Princess is in another castle").

A general translator can translate general documents like, Conversation, certificate translation, proposals, business correspondence, instruction manuals, iPhone apps, and more.

Q. How many words do your translators translate every day?

Ans- It’s totally depending on the projects, type formatting and experience of the translator. Generally our translator translates in between 2500 to 3500 words in a day.

Q. What should a good freelance Translator do?
Ans- Reply mails promptly, especially when project managers are looking for availability.  Check in with project managers alternatively.

Q. What types of files should I send?
Ans- Our server currently accepts files in .doc, .docx, .pdf, .rar, .txt, .wpd, or .zip formats.
What is translation project delivery TAT (Turnaround Time)?
It’s totally depending on the length of the Document and Complexities. For example our average delivery time is

•    up to 500 words - 6 hours
•    1,000 to 2,000 words - 36 hours
•    Over 2,000 words - 1,500 words per day.

Q. What about the Large projects having more than 1, 00,000 words?

Ans- Obviously yes, we have done lots of project related to game translation, Medical Translation, software translation, legal translation etc. with successful delivery in the time frame. We use up to 20 translators in the meantime, and have supervised projects that required an output of 50,000 words in a day (approximately 200 pages per day).