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Everything what you wanted to know about philosophy for global projects, internationalization, localization management, linguistic testing. Guidelines, useful cases and advices for your project from Alconost Translations service.
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LocalizationHow to do a global project
Alexander Murauski
Alconost Inc.
Top 10 languages online
According to http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats7.htm
Regional distribution of Internet users
According to http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
Google Play revenue by region
Growth in Internet user base
Philosophy for global projects
Philosophy for global projects
Make two languages right away at all levels:
• Development
• Design / UX
• Marketing
• Management and business development
• Technical support
• Sales
• HR
If you have two languages, the rest will be easy to add
Internationalization (i18n)
• on-screen text (string resources)
• variables in strings
• formats for display of numbers, dates, times, currencies
• units of measurement
• sort order
• encoding (better to do UTF-8 from the get-go)
• bidi texts
• RTL layouts
• string length
• fonts
• graphics, audio, video
• proper nouns
• politics
• nudity
• religion
Internationalization (i18n)
Worse
String s = 10 + " of " + 10 + " files deleted";
Better
String s = "%d1 of %d2 files deleted";
Guidelines for i18n and l10n
Google Developer Internationalhttps://developers.google.com/international/
Internationalization (i18n) – Google Developershttps://developer.apple.com/internationalization/
Localizing Your Applicationhttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/aa140876(v=office.10).aspx
Microsoft Language Portalhttp://www.microsoft.com/Language/en-US/Default.aspx
Globalization and Localization for Windows Phonehttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff637522(v=VS.92).aspx
Facebook Internationalization Guidance for Developershttp://developers.facebook.com/docs/internationalization/
Adobe Flash Localization Guidelineshttp://blogs.adobe.com/globalization/adobe-flash-localization-guidelines/
Translation + more
Ignore everything but the main case:
saw ad → came to your site → downloaded/bought/registered → uses and pays
What we translate:
• Product descriptions
• Interface
• Barebones landing pages
• E-commerce (important)
Pay-per-click advertising?
Looking for local partners?
Localization management
• Loc managero coordinates with translators and developerso responsible for everything getting translated
• Wiki (loc manager knowledge)o what is translated and into which languageso where resources are storedo where translation memory and glossaries areo who translators areo language-specific nuances:
colons in French, exclamation marks in Spanish length of texts in different languages dots above letters numbers in Arabic informal vs. formal you in Spanish and Japanese
Translation does not delay release
We translate as development progresses – we don’t wait until the week before release.
If something isn’t translated, let it be in the master language. Fix it in the next update.
Asynchronicity guaranteed by the loc manager, ideally by a cloud translation platform with API.
“Notify of new content” form.
For small projects: professional online translation service.
Glossaries
• Special terms, explanations, approved translations
• For games: names of characters, locations, artifacts
A standardized XML format and tools are available, but a Google Spreadsheet is easier.
Glossary is imported into a CAT and if the program sees a term in the source text, it suggests the translation.
Translation memory
Case study: localization for iOS and Android simultaneously. 90% of strings match.
Pluses:
• Quick
• Money saved thanks to repeats
• Consistent translation
• Can change language services provider
Minuses:
• Context – any given word will always be translated the same way (although the opposite is sometimes needed)
• "Disjointed” translation (if segments are at the sentence level and a paragraph is cobbled together from separate sentences)
• Mistakes are repeated
How does the translator work?
Programmers have an IDE and translators have their own tools too (CAT)
• Resource formats
• Segmentation (sentences, strings)
• Translation memory
• Glossaries
• Volume estimation
Desktop CAT tools: Trados, Wordfast, Deja Vu, OmegaT, MemoQ
Cloud platforms: WebTranslateIt, Google Translator Toolkit, crowdin.net
Best translation providers
Criteria: flexible (does not interfere with your work, adapts to your processes), quick, convenient to pay, MLP.
Ask for a test translation and references, ask who the translators are.
"DIY" translation marketplaces.
Translation by users, aka crowdsourcing. Is it worth it? Only when there is a crowd and interest (Facebook, WoT, Twitter).
Linguistic testing
Always test after translation.
Bug reports (screenshots and suggestions for fixes) from localizers.
Usually paid by the hour.
Why translation is so expensive
20 workdays * 2,500 words per day (10 pages) * $0.07 = $3,500/month.
$3,500/month for U.S., Germany or Japan before taxes?
TEP (Translation + Editing + Proofreading) + agency cut.
Total: $0.2/word is the cost of a good translation.
But there are ways to save!
Case study: WebTranslateIt
Situation
• App for iOS and Android (.xml, .strings)
• 10 languages
• Short strings, complex context, many questions about context
• Mandatory proofreading by second translator
• Can retrieve and include still-untranslated resources for beta testing
• Can add strings as development progresses
Solution: WebTranslateIt cloud platform
• Developer added money to account
• Uploaded strings
• Loc manager at localization agency sends their translators to the site
• Translators ask online about all unclear strings
• After the translator is done, the editor goes through and selects the “proofread” check box
• After localization versions are compiled, translators view all screens and make bug reports
API allows integrating translation into the development process:
https://webtranslateit.com/en/docs/api
Case study: quest and screenshots
Goal
• Translatе hidden object game with large amount of text, explanations, static locations, and unambiguous object names
Solution
• Location screenshots in Excel with all strings used in the location (screenshot on left, original and translations on right)
• Glossary of names of objects and characters
Case study: Google Translator Toolkit
Can set up the translation process in Google Translator Toolkit
• All necessary formats
• Translation memory
• Glossaries
• Auto-translation with corrections
• Real-time
http://translate.google.com/toolkit/
Case study: mini-translations in one hour
Alconost Nitro live online translations
http://alconost.com/en/nitro
Get a special coupon and get a bonus for your account – write to [email protected]
Case study: mini-translations in one hour
Thoughts on local partners
Translation by itself doesn’t do much. Promotion is necessary, preferably by partnering with local resellers.
Partner can evaluate translation quality.
If you don’t know what to translate, the partner will say what they need for sales.
Thoughts on multilingual contextual advertising
Barebones landing page +
contextual advertising gives an idea of the local market
When choosing an e-commerce provider, make sure that your users can:
• pay in their own currency,
• in their own language,
• using methods convenient for them.
Localized e-commerce
Contact us
Thank you for your attention!
Alexander Murauski, CEO
Alconost Inc.
http://alconost.com/en
twitter: alconost
e-mail: [email protected]
Always open to scintillating conversation with scintillating people
SMM in different languages
If you are a small company with two languages, one combined Facebook and Twitter feed is OK.
For anything more, start separate accounts.