Language | Technology | Business December 2009
RRegionegion FFocus:ocus: EEuropeurope I Implicationsmplications ooff iincreasingncreasing EEurope’surope’s ttraderade wwithith CChinahina D Developingeveloping aaudioudio ddescriptionescription iinn GGreecereece E Europeanuropean onlineonline marketingmarketing CCleanlean datadata improvesimproves SMTSMT engineengine resultsresults FFiveive hhundredundred oopinions:pinions: translatingtranslating eeditorialsditorials
0011 CCoverover ##108.indd108.indd 1 111/4/091/4/09 9:03:059:03:05 AMAM THANK YOU FOR 1010 OUTSTANDING YEARS
The Language Technology Experts Governments | Enterprises | Language Service Providers
www.multicorpora.com
002-032-03 AAdsds 108.indd108.indd 2 111/4/091/4/09 9:07:209:07:20 AMAM assertio
LANGUAGE LINK UK LTD
BeatBabel The Art of Localization HLNA Technical Translations B.V
The SDL LSP Partners
All SDL Language Service Provider Partners demonstrate commitment to optimize the quality and value of the service they deliver through the skilled utilization of SDL Translation Technology, including the newly launched SDL Trados Studio 2009.
To choose an SDL LSP Partner please visit: www.lspzone.com/partners
002-032-03 AAdsds 108.indd108.indd 3 111/4/091/4/09 9:07:329:07:32 AMAM Could this be true?
If you have ever thought that Across might be acquired by a language service provider – sorry, you are wrong! Independence is core to our shared business initiatives – and that’s not subject to negotiation. We’ll put our money where our mouth is!
Across takes technology independence so seriously that we are offering a money-back guarantee for LSPs: If we merge with or are acquired by a language service provider within 5 years of your license order, we will pay back all license fees you, as an LSP, spend for Across technology through 2009. No questions asked. Your Across licenses will remain your property.
Across Systems, Inc. Info-Hotline +1 877 922 7677 [email protected] Across Systems GmbH Info-Hotline +49 7248 925 425 [email protected] www.across.net
004-054-05 MMultiCorp-ContentsultiCorp-Contents #108.in4#108.in4 4 111/4/091/4/09 9:11:289:11:28 AMAM AZ_Across_warrenty_1109_Multilingual.indd 1 04.11.2009 8:55:34 Uhr u ti ingua M l L December 2009l Language | Technology | Business #108 Volume 20 Issue 8
■ Up Front ■ Feature Articles ■ 6 Post Editing ■ 25 www.multilingual.com ■ Region Focus ■ News 34 Implications of increasing Europe’s trade with China ■ 7 News — Rocío Txabarriaga ■ 14 Calendar 38 Developing audio description in Greece ■ Reviews — Yota Georgakopoulou 15 The Prodigal Tongue 43 European online marketing — Reviewed by Rachel Schaffer — Paul Sawers and Christian Arno
17 Managing Across Cultures ■ Technology Up Front — Reviewed by Ultan Ó Broin 46 Clean data improves SMT engine results ■ Columns and Commentary — Kirti Vashee 20 Off the Map — Tom Edwards ■ Translation 22 World Savvy — John Freivalds 51 Five hundred opinions: 24 The Business Side — Adam Asnes translating editorials 26 Perspectives — Gianni Davico — Kirk Anderson 28 Perspectives — Terena Bell 62 Takeaway — Nataly Kelly ■ 53 Basics ■ Prospectives 30 The future as seen by seven leaders in the localization industry ■ 55 Buyer’s Guide 61 Advertiser Index
About the cover One of the world’s most recognizable landmarks, the Eiffel Tower, is mirrored on a multilingual graphic-covered Wall for Peace (le Mur pour la Paix) on the Champ de Mars, Paris, an image that echoes the transitioning cultural diversity of this vibrant European city.
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MultiLingual 5
004-054-05 MMultiCorp-ContentsultiCorp-Contents #108.in5#108.in5 5 111/4/091/4/09 9:11:299:11:29 AMAM AZ_Across_warrenty_1109_Multilingual.indd 1 04.11.2009 8:55:34 Uhr Katie Botkin Post Editing European: synonym for hip? MultiLingual #108 Volume 20 Issue 8 December 2009 Editor-in-Chief, Publisher: Donna Parrish Managing Editor: Laurel Wagers Assistant Editor: Katie Botkin Proofreader: Jim Healey We, and by we I mean most of the United States and by extension the rest News: Kendra Gray of the world, have a love affair with Europe. Not so long ago, I witnessed one Illustrator: Doug Jones British kid steal the hearts of several hundred rich southerners over two weeks Production: Sandy Compton, of expensive outdoor fun in Colorado. They were enthralled by his accent, the Darlene Dibble way he wore his shirts, his humor, his sunglasses, how suave he looked on a Cover Photo: Laura Brandon Wmountain bike. Likewise, nearly every college student I ever met planned to gain Webmaster: Aric Spence experience and class by traveling to Europe to intimately examine the antiquated Technical Analyst: Curtis Booker cobblestones after hearty celebration with like-minded individuals. After Data Administrator: Cecilia Spence blowing their money buying sustenance that cost twice as much as back home, Assistant: Shannon Abromeit they returned to describe how much more advanced Europe was, culturally and Circulation: Terri Jadick ideologically, but how annoying to have to pay to use the bathroom. . . . Special Projects: Bernie Nova The readership of this magazine is of course much Advertising Director: Jennifer Del Carlo more astute than that, but Advertising: Kevin Watson, Bonnie Merrell even still, when I overhear Editorial Board passing localization small Jeff Allen, Julieta Coirini, talk of the hippest spots Bill Hall, Aki Ito, Nancy A. Locke, ever, Europe still seems to Ultan Ó Broin, Angelika Zerfaß be the central theme. So Advertising this issue of MultiLingual [email protected] ought to be popular: it’s www.multilingual.com/advertising about Europe. And maybe, 208-263-8178 just maybe, we’ll introduce Subscriptions, back issues, some exciting new European customer service ideas you hadn’t quite [email protected] thought of before. Rocío www.multilingual.com/ Txabarriaga, for instance, In Munich, world travelers leave their mark. subscriptionInformation broaches the subject of Submissions, letters increasing European trade with China and what that means for the language [email protected] industry. Yota Georgakopoulou follows it up with a look at audio description in Editorial guidelines are available at Greece (patterned largely after other European nations). Paul Sawers and Christian www.multilingual.com/editorialWriter Arno fi nish up the focus with an overview of European website iterations. Reprints: [email protected] In keeping with the theme, two Perspectives join regular columns from Tom MultiLingual Computing, Inc. Edwards, John Freivalds and Adam Asnes (on geopolitical correctness, the Baltics, 319 North First Avenue, Suite 2 and user interface, respectively). Gianni Davico gives a personal plea for the Sandpoint, Idaho 83864-1495 USA protection of Piedmontese, a minority language of Italy, and Terena Bell offers anecdotes of European languages in strange places. [email protected] www.multilingual.com In reviews, Ultan Ó Broin critiques global business book Managing Across © MultiLingual Computing, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction Cultures, while Rachel Schaffer explores Mark Abley’s The Prodigal Tongue. without permission is prohibited. For reprints and e-prints, please e-mail [email protected] or call 208-263-8178. We’ve also got our second installment of our annual Prospectives. To wrap things MultiLingual (ISSN 1523-0309), December 2009, is published monthly except Jan-Feb, Apr-May, Jul-Aug, Oct-Nov for up into one tidy package, Kirk Anderson expounds on translating opinion pieces, US $58, international $85 per year by MultiLingual Computing, Inc., and Kirti Vashee gives a summary of a study on using translation memory data for 319 North First Avenue, Suite 2, Sandpoint, ID 83864-1495. Periodicals postage paid at Sandpoint, ID and additional mailing offi ces. machine translation engines. And then Nataly Kelly tops it off with a Takeaway on POSTMASTER: Send address changes to MultiLingual, 319 North crowdsourcing myths. First Avenue, Suite 2, Sandpoint, ID 83864-1495. Speaking of myths, this is where one would insert the joke about Europe’s hipness just being another myth. But I’m hard-pressed to admit this. Because I, MultiLingual is printed on 30% too, feel the allure. ✷ post-consumer recycled paper.
6 | MultiLingual December 2009 [email protected]
0066 PPostost EditingEditing & MastheadMasthead #108.6#108.6 6 111/4/091/4/09 9:13:429:13:42 AMAM Action Week for Global Information Sharing held in Ireland
AGIS ‘09 and LRC agriculture and so on was a matter of some train the students, and organizer
It used to be that you did big things for discussion. TWB and the newly-launched Jesus Torres Del Rey noted that the News money, and small things for love. With Rosetta Foundation are partnering with program isn’t a professional service, translation crowdsourcing, however, “we developers to build what was jokingly though the more it resembles one, can do big things for love,” said Lori Thicke, labeled a “dating site” for NGOs and volun- the better it is for everyone. best known as the driving force behind teer translators. Other possibilities include TWB’s model of operation is to Translators Without Borders (TWB), during programs such as the one the University provide free translation using a full- an evening session of Action Week for Global of Salamanca in Spain is running to train time project manager and various Information Sharing (AGIS) ’09. “I think we its student translators while working with volunteer translators who do the need to bring scalability to this whole various NGOs such as the Red Cross. Silvia extra work after, potentially, a day question.” doing paid work for an LSP. Doing big things for love in a scal- They work with organizations able way was the whole focus of AGIS, such as Doctors Without Bor- a free training and brainstorming ders and Médecins du Monde. event held in Limerick, Ireland, on After what organizers deemed September 21-23, and the fi rst of its was a successful conference, the kind. The conference revolved around next AGIS is scheduled for December the themes of information poverty in 2010 in Goa, India. developing countries, free or reduced- LRC XIV, also held in Limerick on Sep- cost translation for non-governmental tember 24-25, was attached to AGIS and organizations (NGOs) or information began with a recap of AGIS. The focus, websites serving these countries, and “Localisation in the Cloud,” consisted the best way to reach people in a way largely of a more academic spin-off on they could access. some of what AGIS had covered, with Yuliana Hernandez-Anfray speaking about Information poverty, or a dearth of Translators Without Borders during AGIS ‘09. additional discussion on such things as crucial information due to language machine translation, personalization, or technology barriers, is not restricted to Rodriguez Vazquez, a student of the pro- and music localization. Data sharing was also small languages. Kirti Vashee of Asia Online gram, noted that the work was in some cases discussed, along with what was needed to pointed out, for example, that there were better than professional work because of the make it work. “There’s no point sucking a mil- two million webpages in Bahasa Indonesian, security net provided by multiple iterations, lion words out of the cloud if you haven’t got which is spoken by 250 million people. discussion and the students’ sheer commit- the capability to handle it,” said Paul Leahy How to translate content on health care, ment. The main aim of the program is to of Oracle.
Localization World draws global attention in Silicon Valley
LWSV expands business coverage Iris Orriss of Microsoft noted in a Localization World Silicon Valley (LWSV) panel discussion that “we need our 2009, running October 20-22 under the suppliers to think differently about theme “Know-how for Global Success” localization” because most bids are covered usual localization topics as well as based on written words, which does entry into new markets, dealing with low- not take into account voice and multi- ered cost and the fl uctuating economy. media localization. “There needs to be Dave Luhr, keynote speaker on October 21 a shift in strategy.” from global ad company Wieden+Kennedy, Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief advised attendees not to “buy your way into of Wired magazine, joined the a market” by slapping your own label on a conference by video uplink and previous competitor. Based on his company’s discussed the “free” or low-cost success at building from scratch, he said the model of business being imple- winning recipe for a new offi ce in a new mented by such companies as Ryan Keynoter Chris Anderson in New York answering market is 1/3 corporate culture, 1/3 the DNA Air and Flickr, suggesting fi nding audience questions via video hookup. of host city and 1/3 the personality of who- alternate ways of paying for ser- ever works in that particular offi ce. Pick your vices, such as advertising, tourism subsidies Sessions were joined by preconference market carefully, hire people at the top the and upgraded accounts. Along the same workshops and networking in San Jose and locals respect and transplant lower down; lines, Google’s free translator toolkit was at Mountain Winery in nearby Saratoga. this provides the corporate culture and also discussed on October 22, the same day it More conference pictures can be viewed at educates the transplants. released AdWords translation. www.localizationworld.com/lwsv2009/photos
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MultiLingual | 7
007-147-14 NNewsews ##108.indd108.indd 7 111/4/091/4/09 9:25:309:25:30 AMAM News
Business BBeetexteetext IInc.nc. www.beetext.com consulting fi rm focused on content tech- MMultiCorporaultiCorpora R&DR&D Inc.Inc. nologies, has promoted Bill Trippe to vice Sajan Software, Ltd., launched www.multicorpora.com president and lead analyst, content strate- Sajan, Inc., a provider of language transla- NNativeTung,ativeTung, LLLCLC www.nativetung.com gies. Recent hires include Scott Liewehr as tion technology and services, has launched LLanguageanguage ConnectConnect senior consultant, web content manage- Sajan Software, Ltd., a new wholly-owned www.languageconnect.net ment, and Ted Treanor as senior consultant, subsidiary based in Dublin, Ireland, dedi- publishing strategies. cated to advancing cloud-based translation People ■ Lingotek, a developer of collaborative technologies. Vern Hanzlik, former CEO of translation technology, has hired Willem Stellent, has been named president of the Recent industry hires Stoeller as director of account management. new company. ■ VistaTEC, a supplier of localization ■ Moravia Worldwide, a provider of SSajan,ajan, IInc.nc. services, has hired Grainne Maycock as globalization solutions, has hired Bob [email protected], www.sajan.com chief sales offi cer. Myers as chief operating offi cer. The ■ thebigwordGroup, a global transla- company has also hired Rustin Gibbs as Plunet North American division tion and language services company, has solutions architect, and Daniel Johnson as Plunet GmbH, a provider of business man- made Josh Gould chief commercial offi cer. senior business development manager. agement software for translation services and Blanca González is now chief operating ■ McElroy Translation has restructured agencies, has opened its North American divi- offi cer. Other appointments include Dan- the company and hired Olga Pechnenko- sion. The new division will provide pre-sales, iel Myers as chief fi nancial offi cer; Karen Kopp as chief executive offi cer. sales, implementation and training services. Bradshaw as head of global marketing; ■ Burg Translations, Inc., a provider PPlunetlunet GGmbHmbH [email protected], www.plunet.de and Richard Beck as head of information of translation services, has hired Rebecca technology. Morey as marketing coordinator. Offi ce openings, expansions ■ milengo Inc., a provider of localiza- VVistaTECistaTEC www.vistatec.ie ■ Agile Web Solutions Ltd., a provider of tion, engineering and testing services, has tthebigwordGrouphebigwordGroup www.thebigword.com business information, project management hired Kai Resch as part of its senior man- mmilengoilengo IInc.nc. www.milengo.com solutions and software development, has agement team. TThehe GGSDSD GroupGroup IInc.nc. www.thegsdgroup.com opened an offi ce in Bonn. Bertrand Gillert will ■ The GSD Group Inc., a media design and NNet-Translatorset-Translators LLtd.td. www.net-translators.com manage German Agile Web Solutions UG. localization services agency, has hired Chloe DDGG GlobalGlobal www.dg-global.com ■ Beetext Inc., a developer of workfl ow Swain as localization project manager. LLinguaGraphics,inguaGraphics, IInc.nc. management solutions, has opened a Euro- ■ Net-Translators Ltd., a provider of www.linguagraphics.com pean offi ce close to London. translation and localization services, has TThehe GGilbaneilbane GGrouproup www.gilbane.com ■ MultiCorpora R&D Inc., a provider of hired Roy Caudill as business development LLingotekingotek www.lingotek.com software language technology, has expanded manager to be based at the company’s MMoraviaoravia WWorldwideorldwide and relocated its offi ce in Brussels, Belgium. Sunnyvale, California, branch. www.moraviaworldwide.com ■ NativeTung, LLC, a developer of soft- ■ DG Global, a translation and localiza- MMcElroycElroy TTranslationranslation CompanyCompany ware for managing website translation, has tion company, has hired Dana Shulga-Raz www.mcelroytranslation.com announced its offi cial opening. as project manager. BBurgurg Translations,Translations, Inc.Inc. ■ Language Connect, a provider of ■ LinguaGraphics, Inc., a provider of www.burgtranslations.com translation and interpretation services, multilingual desktop publishing, engineer- has opened an offi ce in Munich. Christina ing, design and localization services, has Resources Stüttgen will manage operations. hired Luciano Degaetano to lead the pro- AAgilegile WWebeb SSolutionsolutions LLtd.td. duction of Flash and e-learning projects. ‘Medical Tourism and the www.agile-web.com ■ The Gilbane Group, an analyst and American Hospital’ report Avantpage, a language services provider, has released part two of a report on medical tourism. “Medical Tourism and the American Hospital” deals with the considerations asso- ciated with inbound medical tourism and reasons why hospitals and other health care providers should consider using a professional translation service. Hospitals in the United States have to ensure compliance with federal antidiscrimination laws and other regulations designed to protect the non-English-speaking consumer. At the same time, providers wish to create targeted marketing campaigns for specifi c groups as well as offer a concierge experience for each international patient. AAvantpagevantpage [email protected], www.avantpage.com
8 | MultiLingual December 2009 [email protected]
007-147-14 NNewsews ##108.indd108.indd 8 111/4/091/4/09 9:25:329:25:32 AMAM News
Microsoft presents vendor loyalty and geography or between 31 decision-makers at companies and gov- TDA pilot project fi ndings vertical market and annual translation bud- ernment organizations on their usage of Microsoft has presented the fi ndings from get. In the report, the research fi rm detailed automated translation technology. a recent pilot project using translation memo- the demographic and behavioral character- CCommonommon SenseSense AAdvisory,dvisory, IInc.nc. ries from more than ten TAUS Data Association istics of translation buyers and tracked the [email protected] (TDA) members to train the Microsoft statisti- signifi cant links between these attributes. www.commonsenseadvisory.com cal machine translation engine. The main In another recent report “The Busi- tests were performed on Chinese and Ger- ness Case for Machine Translation,” CSA man languages with customization done for describes the fi ndings from interviews with Sybase iAnywhere. Additional tests were run on Polish and Japanese languages with cus- Letters tomization for Adobe and Dell. Consistently, the BLEU scores went up signifi cantly with Quality assurance (QA) article appreciated — MultiLingual July/August 2009 increases between 22% and 74% compared After reading the article “Measuring QA to improve translation cost and speed,” I agreed to engines trained on Microsoft or general with many points Sonia Monahan raised. From the client perspective, I couldn’t agree more available data only. on her point “defi ning your [own] quality requirements” as a fi rst step to implement a mea- TTAUSAUS DDataata AAssociationssociation sured translation quality system. While there are available QA metric templates, which would [email protected], www.tausdata.org be a great starting point for some companies, it is much more effective to implement your own quality requirements tailored to the clients’ needs to achieve desired quality. Although SKOS standard today’s available QA metric templates would cover most (if not all) of the areas to be consid- The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) ered, it might be found rather generic which could lead to subjective QA measurement and has created a standard to bridge knowledge cause another level of inconsistency. Also, when the quality requirements are clearly defi ned, organization systems such as classifi ca- instead of merely assigning these QA requirements to the QA team, it must be followed by tions, thesauri and taxonomies to linked QA training. This will bring the QA team up to speed with the information that the client data. Enterprises, social networking appli- and translators already shared so that the QA team can understand the content and quality cations, government portals and others requirements better and perform more accurate QA. managing large collections of items, such MoonJu Kim, Apple as books, news reports and blog entries, can leverage linked data capabilities with Correction regarding the cover — MultiLingual September 2009 the SKOS (Simple Knowledge Organization My colleagues at Arabize and I noticed that the cover of the September issue actually System) standard. SKOS provides a model denotes aspects of Farsi and not Arabic in the text written on the headscarf and the back- for expressing basic structure and content ground banner. Although Farsi has many words of Arabic origin and shares 28 letters with of concepts, such as thesauri, subject head- Arabic language, it is a totally different language. ing lists and taxonomies. Mohamed Hassan, Arabize The W3C has also published “Authoring HTML: Handling Right-to-left Scripts as a Working Group Note.” The document describes techniques for the use of HTML markup and CSS style sheets when creating content in Enter languages that use right-to-left scripts, such as Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Thaana, Urdu and Eastern Europe so on. It builds on — but also goes beyond — markup needed to supplement the Unicode bidirectional algorithm and also touches on how to prepare content that will later be localized into right-to-left scripts. WWorldorld WWideide WebWeb CConsortiumonsortium Localization [email protected], www.w3.org Translation Common Sense reports target translation buyers, MT in business Quality Assurance Common Sense Advisory’s (CSA) report Project Management “Targeting Translation Buyers” is based on the analysis of 955 unique client profi les pro- DTP vided by translation salespeople at language service provider organizations in order to +7 (495) 913 6653 identify patterns among buyer groups. Most www.janus.ru, [email protected] respondents were from Europe (49.37%) and Russia x Ukraine x Kazakhstan x Germany North America (33.02%). CSA used the data ISO 9001:2000 certified to spot relationships between items such as
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MultiLingual | 9
007-147-14 NNewsews ##108.indd108.indd 9 111/4/091/4/09 9:25:329:25:32 AMAM News
AskZad markets are part of a $10 billion larger tools, have created Translation Assistant, East View Information Services, Inc., a translation market, forecast to reach $21 an integrated workfl ow for authoring and provider of information products and ser- billion by 2015. translating technical documentation, includ- vices in foreign languages and English trans- RResearchesearch andand MarketsMarkets ing a platform for locating translators and lation, and Arabia Inform have announced www.researchandmarkets.com handling the billing for the work. Client and the North American launch of AskZad, a translator versions are available. digital library of Arabic and English content SDL Global Authoring Survey results OOnTheGoSystems,nTheGoSystems, IInc.nc. www.icanlocalize.com from the countries in the Middle East and SDL, a provider of global information man- North Africa (MENA). Arabia Inform is an agement solutions, has announced the results Globalyzer 3.1 information services corporation aggregat- of the 2009 edition of its annual Global Lingoport, Inc., a provider of software ing, indexing and analyzing media content Authoring Survey. Results show trends in the internationalization tools and services, has from MENA countries. sizes and locations of technical authoring announced the release of Globalyzer 3.1, EEastast VViewiew IInformationnformation SServices,ervices, Inc.Inc. departments in global organizations, interest- offering more refi ned default detection and [email protected], www.eastview.com ing insights into the authoring tools of choice fi ltering on the Globalyzer server. Highlights within the industry and how preferences vary of the release include the new fi le inspector, Research and Markets offers in different regions. improved default rule sets, javascript sup- WinterGreen Research report The survey was conducted among several port enhancements and client-server rule Research and Markets, a web source for industry associations, including the Society set integration. international market research and data, for Technical Communication and the Insti- LLingoport,ingoport, Inc.Inc. has added WinterGreen Research’s latest tute of Scientifi c and Technical Communica- [email protected], www.lingoport.com report “Language Translation Software and tors, as well as other technical documentation Services Market Shares, Strategies, and professionals. There were 235 responses from Language Studio Enterprise Forecasts, Worldwide, 2009 to 2015” to its consultants from industries, technical authors Asia Online Portals (Thailand) Co., Lim- offering. Localization translation services and technical publications managers ranging ited, an international web portal company, based on software at $2 billion in 2009 are from information technology and software has released Language Studio Enterprise, forecast to become $7 billion markets by to aerospace. its second-generation hybrid statistical the end of the forecast period. Software is SSDLDL [email protected], www.sdl.com machine translation platform for enter- becoming much more accurate as it com- prises and language service providers with bines the rules engine, translation memory, Products and Services large-scale translation and localization and statistical technique algorithms that requirements. Several hundred language have been used separately until now to Translation Assistant pairs are supported, including all 23 offi - support translation services. The combina- ICanLocalize, a web-based translation ser- cial European Union languages and a range tion of technologies is anticipated to cre- vice and part of OnTheGoSystems, Inc., and of Asian languages such as Thai, Chinese ate systems that are more accurate. These EC Software, a developer of help authoring and Japanese. AAsiasia OOnlinenline PPortalsortals ((Thailand)Thailand) CCo.,o., LLimitedimited www.asiaonline.net
WhiteSmoke Translator Beta WhiteSmoke, a provider of English writ- ing technologies, has announced the avail- ability of WhiteSmoke Translator in beta mode, a software application for translat- ing single words and whole texts. Based STAR CLM on statistical machine translation technol- ogy and algorithms that learn sentence Take control of translation costs structure and word context, WhiteSmoke with STAR’s Corporate Language Translator produces translations for single STAR CLM STAR Management (CLM). words in 45 language pairs and full texts in ten language pairs. The product will remain beta while improvements are made to the MindReader service based on user queries. Author assistant for dynamic, WWhiteSmokehiteSmoke www.whitesmoke.com context-sensitive reuse of multilingual information at the source, Serna Free Open Source
minimizing communication expenses. www.star-group.net/casestudies XML Editor v4.2 MindReader Syntext, Inc., a software development com- STAR Group – pany, has released Serna Free Open Source Your single-source partner XML Editor v4.2, an open-source edition of its for corporate product communication Serna WYSIWYG XML editor. Serna Free is an XML authoring solution allowing ease of use
10 | MultiLingual December 2009 [email protected]
007-147-14 NNewsews ##108.indd108.indd 1010 111/4/091/4/09 9:25:349:25:34 AMAM News
of XML technology to author XML documents the project or translation memory fi le; and It also allows users to manage interpreting in a familiar environment that resembles a translator list defi ned by languages. assignments online. conventional word processor. mmyL10N.netyL10N.net tthebigwordGrouphebigwordGroup SSyntext,yntext, IInc.nc. [email protected] [email protected], www.myl10n.net [email protected], www.thebigword.com www.syntext.com GlobalVision offers free GCMS 5.0 Acclaro Global Workforce translation/localization audit Sajan, Inc., a provider of language transla- Acclaro Inc., a translation and localization GlobalVision International, Inc., a trans- tion technology and services, has announced fi rm, has introduced its new localization lation and localization services provider, the limited release of its translation man- staffi ng services. Acclaro Global Workforce has launched its Localization Audit service, agement system GCMS 5.0. The new version offers businesses staffi ng solutions by open to high-tech fi rms worldwide. After includes term management, desktop soft- providing experts in website and software completing a survey, companies receive a ware for translators, reviewers and approvers, localization, and in-country quality assur- custom report tailored specifi cally to the web-based reporting tools, and enterprise ance testing and document translation. areas that need to be addressed to improve web services. AAcclarocclaro IInc.nc. translation and localization processes. SSajan,ajan, IInc.nc. www.sajan.com [email protected], www.acclaro.com GGlobalVisionlobalVision IInternational,nternational, IInc.nc. [email protected], www.globalvis.com Xbench 2.8 beta TAUS Search and new widget ApSIC S.L., a provider of technical trans- The TAUS Data Association has launched SDL Trados 2009 lation and software product localization, the new version of its free language search Studio Service Pack 1 has announced the availability of ApSIC engine TAUS Search and a new widget to SDL, a provider of global information Xbench 2.8 beta. Additions include updated enable users to search the world’s translation management solutions, has released the search capabilities and user-defi ned quality memories directly from their desktops. TAUS SDL Trados 2009 Studio Service Pack 1 assurance checklists. Support for more for- Search offers features such as computed (SP1). In addition to numerous updates, mats has been added, such as translation translation, reverse translation, search by SP1 includes SDL Passolo Essential 2009. memories in SDLX and translation fi les in data owner, industry, content type, part-of- SSDLDL [email protected], www.sdl.com Déjà Vu, Idiom and Logoport. speech and so on. AApSICpSIC S.L.S.L. TTAUSAUS DDataata AAssociationssociation LanguageDirector 2.0 [email protected], www.apsic.com [email protected], www.tausdata.org thebigwordGroup, a provider of language services, has delivered version 2.0 of its MadCap Lingo 3.0 AlphaMosaïk multilingual module language management platform Language- MadCap Software, Inc., a multichannel AlphaMosaïk, a consulting fi rm in the fi eld Director. New features include a terminology content authoring company, has released of information technologies, has developed management tool and a fully-automated MadCap Lingo 3.0. Features include a new a multilingual module able to support mul- content management system integration. project packager function designed to bridge tiple languages. AlphaMosaïk defi nes itself as a systems integrator offering a unique front offi ce service for Microsoft’s entire suite of corporate solutions. AAlphaMosaïklphaMosaïk [email protected] www.alphamosaik.com
Google software automatically translates online pages Google, Inc., has released free software that lets website operators automatically translate online pages into any of 51 lan- guages. A “translator gadget” powered by Google Translate offers to transform pages for visitors if the language settings in their browsers are different from the language of a particular website. GGoogle,oogle, IInc.nc. www.google.com
iL10Nz myL10N.net has announced updates to the localization tool iL10Nz. New function- alities include project multilanguage to allow propagation of updates in all project languages; support for XLIFF format; auto- translation of the untranslated string from
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MultiLingual | 11
007-147-14 NNewsews ##108.indd108.indd 1111 111/4/091/4/09 9:25:349:25:34 AMAM News
the gap between authors and translators who technology that combines the workfl ow provider by ESRI Canada, which delivers use other translation memory system soft- and computer-aided translation capabilities enterprise geographic information systems ware and a new TermBase Editor for creating of human and machine translation into one solutions. Trans-IT specializes in the infor- databases of reusable translated terms. application. Organizations can upload new mation technology and telecommunications MMadCapadCap SSoftware,oftware, Inc.Inc. projects, assign translators (paid or unpaid), sectors. www.madcapsoftware.com check the status of current projects in real TTrans-ITrans-IT TranslationsTranslations inc.inc. time and download completed documents [email protected], www.trans-it.ca L10NWorks from any computer with web access. CSOFT International, Ltd., a provider of LLingotekingotek Lionbridge allies with Author-it localization, testing and software devel- [email protected], www.lingotek.com Lionbridge Technologies, Inc., and Author- opment, has introduced L10NWorks, a it Software Corporation have announced a company-sponsored web portal of indus- Clients and Partners strategic alliance to create a unifi ed global try resources that is vendor-neutral and content life cycle solution. The companies available for no charge to users. Syn-Tactic partners with SOMmaps will combine the Author-it enterprise con- CCSOFTSOFT IInternational,nternational, Ltd.Ltd. Syn-Tactic, a consultancy for documenta- tent authoring platform with Lionbridge’s [email protected], http://csoftintl.com tion and localization-related processes and language technology platform. The inte- services, has partnered with SOMmaps, a grated solution will allow organizations to mymojofi ti.com transformer of unstructured data into prob- create, structure, reuse, localize and publish Mojofi ti Project, a global network of peo- lem-solving knowledge by using a specifi c content into multiple languages and mul- ple working to break down language barriers neural network technology. The partnership tiple formats from enterprise sources within worldwide, has launched mymojofi ti.com, a combines language technology and neural a single application. multilingual publishing platform currently networks to create self-organizing maps: LLionbridgeionbridge TTechnologies,echnologies, Inc.Inc. in beta. The platform allows people to pub- graphical representations of automatically www.lionbridge.com lish, share and interact with each other in classifi ed data or document collections. AAuthor-ituthor-it SSoftwareoftware CCorporationorporation native local languages while reaching out to The technology visualizes relationships and www.author-it.com the world in 27 languages through Google’s anomalies and makes it possible to “zoom machine dictionaries. in” on interesting data clusters. LTC awarded two European MMojofiojofi titi ProjectProject SSyn-Tacticyn-Tactic Commission framework contracts contact@mojofi ti.com, www.mojofi ti.com [email protected], www.syn-tactic.com The Language Technology Centre Ltd. (LTC) has won another two framework con- Lingotek crowdsourcing platform Trans-IT selected by ESRI Canada tracts with the European Commission. The Lingotek, a developer of collaborative Trans-IT Translations inc., a translation framework contracts cover language pairs translation technology, has introduced soft- and localization services provider, has been from Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, German, ware-as-a-service collaborative translation selected as the national translation services Greek, Spanish, Finnish, French, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene and Swed- ish into English. The subject matters are transport, energy, telecommunications and information technology. TThehe LLanguageanguage TTechnologyechnology CCentreentre LLtd.td. [email protected], www.langtech.co.uk
GlobalSight integrated with PROMT GlobalSight Corporation, a collaborative, open-source initiative, has released Global- Sight version 7.1.6 integrated with PROMT, an automated translation solution. The new version includes over 15 additional features and several enhancements. GGlobalSightlobalSight CCorporationorporation [email protected], www.globalsight.com PPROMTROMT [email protected], www.e-promt.com
Monotype licenses fonts to Yahoo! Monotype Imaging, Inc., a provider of text imaging solutions, has announced the licensing of its Neue Helvetica and Hel- vetica World designs, along with scalable fonts that support the Simplifi ed Chinese,
12 | MultiLingual December 2009 [email protected]
007-147-14 NNewsews ##108.indd108.indd 1212 111/4/091/4/09 9:25:359:25:35 AMAM News
Traditional Chinese, Japanese and Korean for handheld devices to the US Department languages, in the Yahoo! TV Widget Engine of Defense. Marine Corps Systems Com- Awards and Certifications applications platform for developing rich mand awarded the contract to provide an media applications that connect to the enterprise-level license for the Uku handheld Standards certifi cation internet. training platform. The Marine Corps also ■ Orient Translation Services has received MMonotypeonotype Imaging,Imaging, IInc.nc. contracted with Alelo to develop and deliver ISO 9001:2008 certifi cation. www.monotypeimaging.com a suite of Uku-based culture and language ■ Linguistic Systems, Inc. has received training materials, initially focusing on EN 15038:2006 certifi cation. Asia Online and Moravia Afghanistan and Iraq. ■ in FRENCH only inc./in SPANISH too! Worldwide form partnership AAlelolelo IInc.nc. [email protected], www.alelo.com Translations has received certifi cation in Asia Online Portals (Thailand) Co., Lim- CAN/CGSB-131.10-2008 Translation Services ited, an international web portal company, ITP selects Across Language Server Standard and EN 15038-2006 Standard. and Moravia Worldwide, a globalization ITP Global, a provider of translation and ■ CLS Communication AG has been solution provider, have announced the software localization services, has selected the awarded UNE-EN 15038:2006. formation of a partnership designed to Across Language Server to support its global ■ SDL, a provider of global information provide Moravia’s clients with automated enterprise customers. The centralized transla- management solutions, has received EN translation solutions based on Asia Online’s tion management software platform from 15038 certifi cation. Language StudioTM platform. As part of Across Systems GmbH, a provider of transla- OOrientrient TTranslationranslation ServicesServices the partnership, Moravia was designated a tion management software, will be used to www.orienttr.com “Center of Excellence” for the provision of manage localization projects in all language LLinguisticinguistic SSystems,ystems, IInc.nc. www.linguist.com Asia Online’s statistical machine translation pairs handled by ITP Global across its offi ces iinn FFRENCHRENCH onlyonly inc./inc./ platform and services. in Asia, Europe and the Americas. iinn SSPANISHPANISH too!too! TranslationsTranslations AAsiasia OOnlinenline PPortalsortals (Thailand)(Thailand) Co.,Co., LimitedLimited IITPTP GlobalGlobal www.translations.ca www.asiaonline.net [email protected], www.itp-europe.com CCLSLS CommunicationCommunication AGAG MMoraviaoravia WWorldwideorldwide AAcrosscross SystemsSystems GmbHGmbH www.cls-communication.com [email protected] [email protected], www.across.net SSDLDL www.sdl.com www.moraviaworldwide.com
Translations.com selected by Carlson Wagonlit Travel Translations.com, a provider of language services and translation-related technol- ogy products, has been selected by Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), a provider of busi- ness travel management. Translations.com will provide CWT with a range of language and technology services to support its ongoing global communication initiatives. TTranslations.comranslations.com [email protected] www.translations.com
Clay Tablet and Andrä AG partner Clay Tablet Technologies, an integration software provider, and Andrä AG, a manufac- turer of web-based translation management software, have entered into a strategic part- nership linking ontram to Clay Tablet. ontram enables the browser-based translation and editing of texts, independent of the fi le for- mat of the source documents. CClaylay TTabletablet TTechnologiesechnologies [email protected], www.clay-tablet.com AAndrändrä AGAG [email protected], www.andrae-ag.de
Alelo contracted by DoD Alelo Inc., a developer of learning products for promoting cross-cultural communica- tion, has received a contract award to deliver language and culture training technology
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MultiLingual | 13
007-147-14 NNewsews ##108.indd108.indd 1313 111/4/091/4/09 9:25:389:25:38 AMAM December April Gilbane Conference Boston ACLA 2010 December 1-3, 2009, in Boston, Massachusetts USA. April 1-4, 2010, in New Orleans, Louisiana USA. Lighthouse Seminars, LLC, [email protected] American Comparative Literature Association http://gilbaneboston.com [email protected], www.acla.org/acla2010 ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN 2009 Think Latin America December 2-4, 2009, in Berlin, Germany. April 7-9, 2010, in Búzios, Brazil. ICWE GmbH, [email protected], www.online-educa.com IMTT, [email protected] www.imtt.com.ar/thinklatinamerica/front/index.asp?ID=1 Localization and Translation Thailand December 2-4, 2009, in Bangkok, Thailand.
Calendar AIIM International Exposition and Conference ProZ.com and LISA, www.localizationandtranslation.com April 20-22, 2010, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA. Questex Media Group, Inc. Australasian Language Technology Workshop [email protected], www.aiimexpo.com December 3-4, 2009, in Sydney, Australia. Australasian Language Technology Association 8th International Heinz Nixdorf Symposium www.alta.asn.au/events/alta2009/alta-2009-cfp.html April 21-22, 2010, in Paderborn, Germany. Heinz Nixdorf Institute, [email protected] Impact of Media and New Technologies on Languages http://wwwhni.uni-paderborn.de/symposium2010 December 7-9, 2009, in Minya, Egypt. Minya University, http://alsunconference.scienceontheweb.net ATISA 2010 April 22-24, 2010, in New York City, New York USA. January American Translation and Interpreting Studies Association MATS 2010 www.atisa.org/ATISAConferences.html January 8-9, 2010, in Gent, Belgium. University College Ghent Translation Studies May [email protected], http://veto.hogent.be/actua/mats2010 STC 57th Annual Conference and EXPO Translation Studies in the Japanese Context May 2-5, 2010, in Dallas, Texas USA. January 9-10, 2010, in Kyoto, Japan. Society for Technical Communication, www.stc.org/edu/conference.asp Ritsumeikan University, Global COE Program for Ars Vivendi NAJIT 31st Annual Conference http://translationstudies.net/tsc2010/English%20registration.htm May 14-16, 2010, in Orlando, Florida USA. Training of Trainers for the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters Healthcare Interpreting Profession [email protected], www.najit.org January 25-29, 2010, online. ALC Annual Conference Monterey Institute of International Studies May 19-22, 2010, in Miami, Florida USA. www.miis.edu/academics/programs/translationinterpretationshort The Association of Language Companies, [email protected], www.alcus.org February 5th International Maastricht-Lódz Duo Colloquium Tools and Skills in the Information Age May 19-22, 2010, in Maastricht, The Netherlands. February 8-10, 2010, in Jerusalem, Israel. Zuyd University, www.translation-and-meaning.nl Israel Translators Association LATA 2010 [email protected], www.ortra.biz/translators May 24-28, 2010, in Trier, Germany. Intelligent Content 2010 Research Group on Mathematical Linguistics February 25-26, 2010, in Palm Springs, California USA. http://grammars.grlmc.com/LATA2010 The Rockley Group, [email protected] www.rockley.com/IntelligentContent2010 SpeechTEK Europe 2010 May 26-27, 2010, in London, UK. March Speech Technology Media, www.speechtek.com/europe2010 Worldware EAMT 2010 March 16-18, 2010, in Santa Clara, California USA. May 27-28, 2010, in Saint-Raphaël, France. The Localization Institute and MultiLingual Computing, Inc. European Association for Machine Translation [email protected], www.worldwareconference.com [email protected], www.softconf.com/a/eamt2010
14 | MultiLingual December 2009 [email protected]
007-147-14 NNewsews ##108.indd108.indd 1414 111/4/091/4/09 9:25:389:25:38 AMAM M A
3 4 : 1 3 : 9 15
9
|| 0 /
4 /
Reviews 1 111/4/09 9:31:43 AM MultiLingual The next nine chapters focus (very) loosely on (very) focus The next nine chapters , one of the principal journals of linguistics, and a of linguistics, , one of the principal journals “ROARIFIC: The Power of Language Change,” “ROARIFIC: The Power of in the rest uses Abley the approach introduces shift subsections ten short the book. The chapter’s only thematic topic to topic with at best from all offer many between them, but connections facts and miscellaneous fascinating examples, of an initial consideration From tidbits. historical band Coldplay has how the appeal of the British to the kinds shifts become global, the discussion kind of global this to language change of reactions of sources then on to an overview inspires, reach to the language of in languages, of new words to the change affecting Arabic, to language Yeats, and more. fate(s) of English possible future attitudes (“BOUNCE- and language creation word BACKABILITY: How Words Are Created and Created Are How Words BACKABILITY: in Asia (“THROW AWAY English Organized”); the influ- Asian English”); DICTIONARIES: YOUR RULE the world (“YOUR around ence of English English WILL SOON BE HERE: Global English”); in Japan (“HIPPU HANGU: Language in Japan”); Language Each area of Abley’s expertise is utilized throughout the book. utilized throughout is expertise of Abley’s Each area the influence of Spanish (and other cultures) in Los Angeles (and other cultures) the influence of Spanish (“RADIANTE: Languages in Los Angeles”); the influence of Black Hip-Hop”); and (“EVERY SINGLE TREND: Black English English the influence of new technology (“[email protected]: Lan- the how science fiction has envisioned guage in Cyberspace”); and the Fictional Words (“WHOA, HOW VERY: of English future look at how language contact and and a free-ranging Future”); OZONE: Keeping societal change affect language (“THE SOUL’S Language Real”). interviews can be seen in the many background journalism His of each country he out natives in each chapter: he seeks featured and language experts (notably Brian Joseph, edi- linguists visits; tor of professor of linguistics at The Ohio State University); and artists, and artists, at The Ohio State University); of linguistics professor pro- background travel His of all kinds. and professionals authors interviews chapters: in several used frame vides an organizational by Mark Abley. of English Dispatches from the Future Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008. $25.00, hardcover, 272 pp. The Prodigal Tongue: Spoken Here: Travels Among Threat- Travels Spoken Here: . He has written and edited 12 books, . He has written and edited 12 books, for 16 years, and still writes a column for 16 years, is as varied as Abley’s background: it is a it is background: as Abley’s as varied is The Prodigal Tongue The Prodigal Schaffer Reviewed by Rachel the world of English usage around An exploration Gazette
(2003). He has put all of his areas of expertise to of expertise areas (2003). He has put all of his Dr. Rachel Schaffer has a Ph.D. in linguistics Dr. from The Ohio State University and teaches composition and literature linguistics, at Montana State University Billings. 5 1
Montreal Gazette Montreal d d n i . Mark Abley must have a lot of frequent a lot of frequent have Mark Abley must 8 0 yer miles accumulated. In gathering ma- yer 1 terial for this book alone, he traveled from from book alone, he traveled terial for this and Japan to India and England, Singapore lan- and collecting interviewing natives As a Canadian guage data along the way. added on the he also living in Montreal, In pursuit to Los Angeles. miles traveling both goal of describing how English of his the around affects other languages spoken them, Ab- in turn affected by world and is book an impressive ley has collected in this anecdotes, of facts, number and variety of how a and explanations descriptions — has — English living language popular, the world and, as a result, around spread will inevitably change in the future. fl Abley’s background in writing, travel and lan- in writing, travel background Abley’s Tongue The Prodigal #
s on language for the guage is extensive: he is a poet and freelance writer a poet and freelance he is extensive: guage is man, worked as a journalist as a young extensively who traveled for the including the well-received ened Languages book. work in writing this smorgasbord of a book. Each of the ten chapters focuses on a focuses of a book. Each of the ten chapters smorgasbord and looks in the world of the place of English aspect different Chapter 1, other languages. affected by at how it affects and is
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MM w e i v e R
9 1 - 5 115-19 Reviews #108.indd 15 Reviews
with native speakers in local public spaces. WAITER: Ching cha, milk-tea? For example, the chapter on language in DINER: No, kopi bring, can or not? Japan begins with a Japanese artist giv- WAITER: Can. And? (p. 75) ing Abley a tour of his latest exhibition All such excerpts are carefully translated in Kyoto and discussing his use of English and explained, providing a steady stream words and phrases in his paintings (pp. of tasty samples of the international fla- 101-103), and the chapter on languages vors of World Englishes. in Los Angeles opens, “I was sitting in In addition to their entertainment a faux-Scots diner called John o’Groats, value, many of Abley’s quotes and exam- sipping a weak coffee, waiting to meet a ples illustrate important points and useful friend of a friend and reading a free news- concepts about language attitudes and paper” (p. 122). In addition, his language language change. One point especially background makes him linguistically savvy relevant to an international audience and able to discuss with an accurate and is a reminder that even fluent English authoritative voice complex concepts such speakers may not be familiar with the as creoles — languages of mixed heritage enormous variety of dialectal, colloquial descended from pidgins — and code- and idiomatic features of English used by switching — the use of two languages in native speakers. Abley quotes a request the same sentence or conversation, as in from a Japanese woman frustrated by Abley’s example, written by a Mexican- this kind of problem in her job: “Dear American professor in a memoir, “repente Anglo-Americans, please show us you veo que ALL OF A SUDDEN, como right are also taking pains to make yourselves out of nowhere, estoy headed for the free- understood in an international setting” way on-ramp” (p. 2). (p. 96). In addition, the discussion of Given his international background, it Singlish begun in Chapter 3 introduces makes sense that Abley has a truly global a concept that will be useful to anyone perspective on language and language interested in issues of international change. He incorporates information from communication: linguist Anne Pakir’s linguistics, history, popular culture and concept of glocality, the property held other areas in his discussions and illustrates by those language varieties that “could his points with an abundance of examples maintain strong local differences yet still and samples from English varieties around be widely comprehensible to people in the world. For example, in the chapter other countries,” as in the case of Indian on Asian English, readers learn about the English (p. 73). Comparing the informal rich cultural and demographic history of Singlish to the more formal and “edu- Singapore and how that has influenced cated” Singapore English (p. 72) makes the development of the variety of English it clear that Singapore English is glocal, spoken there, known as Singlish, which a whereas Singlish is not (p. 73). poet interviewed by Abley calls “an abso- The Prodigal Tongue is clearly intended lute slut. It takes words and phrases from for a general audience, readers who while wherever it can” (p. 72). Beyond Singlish not linguists themselves have an active is a broader variety of English known as curiosity about language in general and Englasian, which Abley reports is becom- about the place of English — past, present ing a lingua franca — a shared communi- and future — in the world. It is difficult to cation system — across much of Asia, “a see a cohesive plan of organization both blended idiom composed of ‘vocabulary within and across chapters, with the many from English set into syntax from Chinese, short sections (without headings) forming Hindi, Tamil and other languages’” (p. 74). a patchwork quilt of topics and informa- To illustrate the unique character of this tion, but that means that readers can put dialect, Abley offers the following restau- down the book without worrying too rant interchange, which, he says, “could be much about picking up the thread of the taking place anywhere in the Far East”: discussion later. More important is that the WAITER: You wan’? wealth of information contained in these DINER: Two piece kari gai, two piece pages is both impressive and fascinating: French fry. Faidee-lah. readers will learn something new on every WAITER: Set? page. Abley’s casual and lucid writing style DINER: Doe waan’. makes the information easily understand- WAITER: Dring? Chah? able, and his clever word choice, similes DINER: (Tilts head diagonally from side and metaphors make it highly entertain- to side) ing, as well. One of my favorite LOL (laugh
16 | MultiLingual December 2009 [email protected]
115-195-19 RReviewseviews #108.indd#108.indd 1616 111/4/091/4/09 9:31:469:31:46 AMAM Reviews
out loud — speaking of language change) moments in the book The Prodigal Tongue, overall, makes a good addition to the is Abley’s discussion of The Oxford English Dictionary’s criteria language section of any reader’s library. Abley emphasizes the for admitting new words and usages in the face of the constant inevitability of language change affecting the Englishes spoken stream of innovation found in the language used in online com- within the United States and around the world, and he does a munication: “The OED likes to wait until a word is well established good job of convincing readers that the developments he exam- before granting it admission. Yet, as a dictionary that abides by ines are a good thing for the life and health of the language. historical principles and wants to know the origin of all its entries, “Adapt or die” applies to languages as well as people, and with how can it ignore one of the most widely used means of written the kind of evidence gathered in this book, it is clear that English communication in the world? Online messages are, you might will continue to adapt and be adapted by its users, thus making it say, the primordial linguistic slime out of which words flirt, mate, an indispensable tool for global communication for the foresee- hatch, quiver, evolve and (sometimes) mature” (p. 46). able future. M
Managing Across Cultures
Reviewed by Ultan Ó Broin Another cultural business book covers familiar ground
Having reviewed several “culture” The book is divided into four parts: an introduction books for MultiLingual, I now wearily and why it is important to be able to manage across cultures “with a global mindset”; an examination of shortcut such assignments by estab- what is culture and what is personal style; the explana- lishing early on how much new infor- tion of the seven CW dimensions or “keys”; and doing Hmation is brought to the debate by business with the aforementioned global mindset. immediately looking up the index to So, if you do business globally, are a business leader, determine the extent of references to decision-maker, international market strategist, anyone who encounters international travel or business-related touchstone cross-cultural and anthro- opportunities or challenges, a manager of cross-cultural pological authors Geert Hofstede and and diverse teams, a woman manager supervising global son and Edward T. Hall. Sure enough, business initiatives or are trying to market or advertise in Managing Across Cultures: The Seven to customers from other cultures, then this book is for Keys to Doing Business with a Global you, we are told. Mindset, these references are there The opening part deals with the various drivers and issues of the globalized economy. There is nothing new with more, such as to Fons Trompe- Managing Across Cultures: in all this for the average MultiLingual reader, and the naars. This time authors Charlene M. The Seven Keys to Doing tales of the varied fortunes of Lenovo, McDonald’s, Solomon and Michael S. Schell of the Business with a Global Mindset Starbucks and so on, along with the explorations of RW3 LLC consultancy rely on such by Charlene M. Solomon and global sourcing, global marketing, and global mind- work to inform their “Culture Wizard” Michael S. Schell. McGraw-Hill, set, are already established. However, the reference 2009. $34.95, hardcover, to Ireland as a case in point for understanding the (CW) model, central to their book. The 368 pp. need to work with people from diverse backgrounds model is a “readily understandable is misleading. Ireland’s economic success in the past working model” for business people to understand, owed as much — if not more — to the low corporate tax rate providing seven key cultural characteristics making for for inward investors (originally 10%, now 12.5%) as to an edu- successful management in today’s globalized econo- cated and unemployed workforce. In general, this reality reveals a major issue throughout the book — the ability to disentangle the my, enhancing the bottom line. impact and return on investment (ROI) of cultural awareness and accommodation from other economic or organization variables. For example, although there were serious cultural mismatches at Ultan Ó Broin, MultiLingual editorial board member work contributing to the Daimler-Chrysler demise, it should also and Blogos contributor, works for Oracle in Ireland. be acknowledged that there were other serious problems too, such He has an MSc from Trinity College Dublin for as the lousy gas-guzzling Chrysler product line and the inability research on social exclusion and social networking to innovate. Paying Chrysler executives ten times what Daimler sites and is a researcher into social networking. ones were earning couldn’t help much either.
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MultiLingual | 17
115-195-19 RReviewseviews #108.indd#108.indd 1717 111/4/091/4/09 9:31:479:31:47 AMAM Reviews
Moving on to the core of the book, a good many in between. An understand- States with the “interpersonal” ones of China, the CW model. There are seven key char- ing of this determines the best prescrip- Iran, Saudi Arabia and so on. Trust in some acteristics or dimensions: hierarchy and tive approach to such managerial tasks as cultures is earned, while in some it is egalitarianism; group focus; relationships; decision-making and managing meetings. assumed, and there is a discussion on the communications styles; time orientation; The book reminds us of anecdotes about building and responsibilities of the Chinese change tolerance; and motivation-work/ Chinese, Indian and Japanese workers who concept of guanxi, “a complex series of life balance. The starting point to getting won’t speak during a meeting because connections to individuals and families with a handle on these for any manager is to someone of higher status is present. whom a person is networked,” by way of understand his or her own personal cul- Group focus refers to the importance illustration of the importance of the dimen- tural style, so we’re invited to complete a of the group versus the individual. The sion in winning business. At this point, I questionnaire on each of the seven dimen- use of a citizen of Denmark (as a group wondered about the role of social network- sions, each consisting of five questions that culture) and the United States (as an indi- ing and such relationships; more of that contribute to establishing your position on vidualistic culture) as a case study seemed later, I hoped. I also wondered about the a low/high spectrum for each dimension odd, as Denmark on the individual/group interplay of this personal connectivity with — 35 questions in all — except one dimen- spectrum appears to be quite close to the ethics and procurement guidelines and leg- sion has six questions, not five, not only United States. Perhaps somewhere such as islation, which were not explored. Again, ruining the arithmetic but the validity of Qatar would have been a better contrast. the chapter ends with some guidelines — as the questionnaire about time orientation. There are guidelines provided for dealing all the dimension chapters do — on negoti- Beginning with hierarchy and egali- with hiring, talent management, and col- ating the transition from one end of the tarianism, we’re told this is about one’s laborative and team behaviors as well as dimension spectrum to the other. relationships to power and authority. individuals, which seem reasonable. The communications styles chapter deals Countries (as opposed to cultures) listed The chapter on relationship dimensions with direct countries such as Denmark, on the spectrum range from the egalitarian deals with the relative importance of personal Germany and Israel and the indirect ones ones of Australia, Canada, Israel, Denmark relationships and connections before con- of Brunei, India and Japan, discussing and so on to the hierarchical Iran, Japan, ducting business, contrasting the “transac- things such as context, nonverbal com- South Korea, Saudi Arabia and so on, with tional” countries of Canada and the United munication, avoiding conflict, saving face, body language and personal space. On the time orientation dimension — inci- dentally, I was “off the scale” on that one Multilingual — the high/low poles examine notions of whether a person considers time as a com- and Multicultural modity, if staying on schedule is important, Every year, we translate hundreds of and if managerial credibility depends on millions of words of content into more than 100 languages to help companies the ability to deliver on schedule. reach their clients, wherever they are, Change tolerance deals with change- whatever language they use. We help averse countries (Saudi Arabia, Iran) versus our customers get off the starting block so they can reach local markets the change tolerant (Australia, Canada) and fast, and serve their worldwide clients, managing change and risk, while the moti- preserving and developing the cultural vation/work-life balance dimension is con- identities of billions of people. In any language, for any culture. cerned with the emphasis people in a given society place on achievement and status by hard work versus the focus on personal time and activities — Norway and Saudi Arabia, for example, being more prone to personal time, while China, Japan and the United States were “status” oriented. Many of the countries in between, of course, are concerned with a balance of the two. The final part of the book is about creating a global mindset — the ability to be effective in interpersonal relations, understand local markets and opportuni- ties, recognize talent anywhere, and adjust personal strategies and plans abroad — and takes us back to the dodgy math of the personal cultural profile. There is also a chapter with sensible advice (don’t assume “everyone has more or less the moraviaworldwide.com AMERICAS EUROPE ASIA same proficiency in . . . English”) on man- aging global, virtual teams, the use of
18 | MultiLingual December 2009 [email protected]
115-195-19 RReviewseviews #108.indd#108.indd 1818 111/4/091/4/09 9:31:489:31:48 AMAM Reviews
technology, challenges and so on, and the by these books of the more challenging “Being over friendly can be misinterpreted.”) identification of critical steps for enhanc- issues such as subcultures, the interplay of And why stop at women? Why not deal ing global virtual team success. variables such as age (I believe Gen Y glob- with gays doing business across culture? The book concludes with chapters on ally have a lot more in common with each Or the disabled? Or members of the Jewish techniques and guidelines for hiring, train- other culturally than their parents) and type faith working in Dubai? They’re all business ing and retraining across cultures, “Women of business, and the good old running a mile people, too. Hard questions, no answers. Crossing Cultures,” and “The International from the impact of the issue in the United Finally, I was lost on the advice for ex-pats Assignee Experience.” In general, I found the and re-pats. I could not see why this needs chapters in the final part far more useful and to be included here. interesting than the preceding content about Final criticisms include the notorious cultural dimensions. Managers may find Does anyone in his or conflation of national boundaries with cul- some useful information concerning virtual, her right mind expect to ture, no effective teasing out of the issue of global teams and hiring, and developing and organizational and national culture in any training resources in these chapters. import the staggeringly detail, and not dealing with relatively subtle As far as the readership of this magazine shades of differences between cultures is concerned, I felt that a lot of these “cross- embarrassing — even instead of the extreme cases. What if you’re cultural management” publications out in the United States — in the middle? The omission of the impact there now cover established and common- of social networking and other Web 2.0 sense concepts, a good deal of repackaging, “W-A-L-M-A-R-T” phenomenon on global management at a all dressed up with generalizations (which in morning chant into the time when Facebook is signing up over this case are sometimes acknowledged) and 200,000 new members globally every day, overlaid with the usual anecdotalism. Many German workplace, or any as a way of enhancing communications MultiLingual readers will cringe at the stating culture left me dumbfounded (especially as of the patently obvious. Does anyone in his other place for that matter, the book comes with a discussion forum or her right mind expect to import the stag- and have it work? online at http://book.culturewizard.com). geringly embarrassing — even in the United The book reads very much like a templatized States — “W-A-L-M-A-R-T” morning chant consulting solution, and we’re reminded of into the German workplace, or any other this with the constant need to negotiate a place for that matter, and have it work? States that everyone likes to run a mile from: tiresome © symbol every time the “CW model” Frankly, any business that could not figure race. The issue of women working globally is mentioned. out from the comments of anthropological is an interesting addition, though it appears As long as these “cultural” business giant Michael O’Leary, the CEO of Ryan Air, to break from the seven keys paradigm, books are written, I’ll be happy to review or from casual observation of the success and the advice is not much more than any them, in the forlorn hope that somebody of Lidl or Aldi that Germans actually shop decent travel guide would give you (“Do not might one day say something for MultiLin- around for the lowest priced deal deserves wear excessive jewelry,” “Invite the spouse gual readers that would interest or excite to fail. Then there is standard nontreatment of a male colleague to join you for dinner,” them. Not this time. M
Dear MultiLingual reader, Like many other industries, the translation industry is entering a new era of cooperation and sharing. As evidenced by recent pilot projects undertaken by members of theTranslation Automation User Society (TAUS), our sharing and collaborative model provides a springboard for significant increases (up to 50%) in leveraging, volume throughput and machine translation output quality. However, to make it happen we have to get moving. As your industry organization, TAUS is also making a change. We are moving from ‘What if ?’ to ‘How to.’ In 2010 we are becoming hands-on with data sharing of course, but also with the TAUS Tracker, workshops, how-to guides, an industry leading Language Search Engine, consulting and collaboration networks for vertical industries. In a collaborative and sharing business world, nobody has to carry the weight and the investments alone. In fact, very little happens if you try to do it alone.Therefore - Help us to help you.Together we’ll fuel greater growth and success in the translation industry. Best regards, Jaap van der Meer, Director, TAUS
Contact [email protected] and request the TAUS Annual Plan 2010
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MultiLingual | 19
115-195-19 RReviewseviews #108.indd#108.indd 1919 111/4/091/4/09 9:31:499:31:49 AMAM 220-21 Edwards#108.indd 20 0 - 2 1 20
E d w a r I d | response —ina constructive,diplomaticfashion,ofcourse. it onaglobalscale.Needlessto say, Iletmytongueloosein done “right”thanworryabout who’s actuallygoingtobeusing we livein,it’s considered more importanttogettheproduct constantly interacting-across-national-borders kindofworld a moment. Inthisglobalizing,interconnected, multilingual, about being‘PC.’” Really?Let’s thinkaboutthatstatementfor notion that“I’drather gettheproduct donerightthanworry tural concernsintheircontent.Theirrationale wasbasedonthe would easilycutanyworkpertainingtogeopoliticalandcul- wouldn’t hesitatetoeliminatelocalization.Evenmore, they the scheduleisstressed orcostsare runningoverbudget,they ever-pragmatic project manager wasquicktopointoutthatif who workoutsidethelocalizationfi
s Column # MultiLingual 1 Sadly, thisproject manager’s statementisnotaminority Recently, Iwasinadiscussionwithgroup ofcolleagues inconvenience andcountertoabusiness’goals. by openingupmore localesissomekindofmassive if theimportanceofexpandingaproduct’s revenue thought —basicallyanecessary“evil” ofsorts.It’s as treated bygamedevelopers asacompleteafter- the entire industry’s revenue, localizationisoften try thatrelies uponlocalizationforatleast50%of the industry. Forexample,inthevideogameindus- tion oftengetsmischaracterized bythoseoutside not beanythingtooneworsurprising,aslocaliza- specifi localization andculturalization ofcontent.To the about theperception ofthemotivationbehind tisan politicaldiatribeofanykind,butabitrant ment willbesomethingofarant. No,notsomepar- 0 8 I havesomethingtoconfess:thiscolumn’s install- . i n d Off theMap d
c audiencereading thiscolumn,might
2 0 Geopolitical correctness eebr20 [email protected] December2009 eld, andatonepoint the
in overseas regions. Thesingle-market contentproduction model the originatinglocale,butmadedistributionmuchmore diffi the world.Themodelwasknownformakingproduction easierin when thesolitarymarket’s contentwasreleased elsewhere around offenses andmisunderstandings wouldcontinue tobeperpetuated a thriving,geocentriccareer thatwasfocused onensuringthat a global,multicultural audience.Thesingle-market modelhad victim ofagrowing awareness oftheneedtocreate contentfor ing contentforpublicconsumptionpassedawaythisweek,the century, obituary fortheunlocalizedproduct developmentmodel: local market.So,withthisinmind,I’dliketooffertheoffi how thecontentfi look andfeel;qualityisalsoamatterofend-userperception and expanded furtherbeyondtheproduct mechanicsandgeneral of aproject’s team.However, theconceptofqualitymust be and nooneisdiscountingthecriticalvalue-addofeverymember that theproduct needstoactuallyworkinorder tobesuccessful, value ofproject planningandcore development;weallknow interface functionalityandcodebase.Noonewillquestionthe quantitative listsofsoftware bugsthatpertainchiefl get pastthisantiquateddefi thinking, andIwouldreally lovetoseecontentdevelopers fi ity” ofaproduct and/orservice.Frankly, thisisreally old-school localization isnotabsolutelynecessarytodefi improved overthepasttenyears orso.Thefi remain persistent, eventhoughperceptions seemtohaveslowly about localizationandspecifi and mediadevelopment.Itspeakstoatleasttwofallacies opinion, asI’vecometoexperienceintheworldofsoftware as itsseniorgeopoliticalstrategist. He previouslyspent13yearsatMicrosoft asageographerand consultancyforgeostrategic contentmanagement. Seattle-based Tom Edwards isowner andprincipalconsultantofEnglobe, a Single-market ContentProduction Model: died : earlytwenty-fi ts withtheexpectationsandtraditions ofa nition ofqualityasbeingonly rst century. Thismodelforproduc- cally culturalization thatseemto Tom Edwards rst fallacyisthat
ne theend“qual- born : mid-twentieth : mid-twentieth y touser cial cult cult nally 111/4/09 9:33:39 AM 1 / 4 / 0 9
9 : 3 3 : 3 9
A M Column
is survived by numerous adherents who continue to believe that most people have heard the term politically correct or being PC or localization and culturalization should remain an afterthought. similar variations, but I’d like to provide a little background on this Let’s get one thing clear: any product and/or service that truly loaded terminology. A quick glance at the research shows that the accounts for a global user base is going to yield a return on term politically correct actually goes back at least two hundred years investment and be considered successful in today’s world, which in the United States and has been used in many other countries in in turn implies an integral need for localization. The even more various contexts and with different meanings. However, the nega- successful products and services take that effort a step further to tive connotation really arose in the 1980s and 1990s in association employ culturalization methods that elevate their content from just with right-wing versus left-wing politics. The term, usually abbrevi- “legibility” to deep “understandability.” We realize, of course, that ated as PC, came to represent any insidious attempt to reengineer some content is really easy to localize and sometimes requires little words, terms and concepts in order to absolutely minimize the level effort to push into global locales. For example, strong intellectual of potential offense. By now, in the United States the term PC has properties such as Mickey Mouse pretty much speak for themselves. solidifi ed around a negative meaning. So, when someone uses it in Do you really need to do much to Mickey to localize the appeal of a sentence, it’s almost always intended as a criticism of a specifi c the character? Not really. And yet, Disney is well known for further action. In other words, the action is being taken for the sake of over- culturalizing its brand and its primary icon above and beyond so appeasing a specifi c segment of the population. So given this, you that the content feels as local as possible (clothing Mickey in local can understand that I’d be a bit peeved if someone compares local- Chinese garb for Hong Kong Disneyland or in traditional Japanese ization and culturalization to “being PC.” Not only is this an incorrect outfi ts for Tokyo Disneyland). To some people this may seem gratu- application of the term, but it’s an incredibly ignorant perception itous on the part of a company to try and pass its globally renowned about what localization and culturalization are all about. brands as locally relevant, but they need to understand that many In the end, maybe I’m making too much of one project manager’s local consumers are already attempting to do that on their own, opinion. Maybe I’m being overly sensitive about how my industry as well as make their own local brands globally relevant. and vocation are perceived. I’m certainly open-minded enough to So let’s look on the positive side. Rather than an obituary, I’d recognize my many faults, but at this point in history, I found such like to offer the following birth announcement: a statement to be grossly misinformed. Those who work in content Multicultural Content Production Model: born: early twenty- development must fully grasp the global impact of their products. fi rst century. This model for producing content for public con- We live in a world where content is wholly ubiquitous. As soon as sumption was welcomed to the world with open arms this week. something hits the digital page, it exists virtually everywhere or at The model was the end result of companies and content develop- least everywhere a net connection is attainable. This represents a sig- ers fi nally realizing that to develop any content for today’s global, nifi cant responsibility for content creators, that is, if they care about multicultural audience requires accounting for linguistic and cultural how their work is perceived and interpreted by local cultures and if differences from the very inception of the product to the very end they’re interested in protecting their employers’ potential revenue. of distribution. The parents are enjoying increased revenues and I would never wish ill upon anyone, but I’ve seen far too often that decreased local market backlash. for those who dismiss localization as an integral part of product The second major fallacy of that project manager’s statement is quality or brush it off as “being PC,” a good dose of local market perceiving the extra step of culturalizing one’s content as compa- backlash is all that’s needed for them to snap back to the reality of rable to the popular notion of being “PC.” By now, I’m certain that what it truly means “to think globally and act locally.” M
ANNOUNCING THE 7TH EDITION OF THE GUIDE TO 64#05.#6+10#0&.1%#.+<#6+10 For your FREE copy visit www.lingosys.com
1-800-878-8523
64#05.#6+10r.1%#.+<#6+10r+06'424'6#6+10
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MultiLingual | 21
220-210-21 EEdwards#108.indddwards#108.indd 2121 111/4/091/4/09 9:33:419:33:41 AMAM 222-23 Freivalds #108.indd22 2 - 2 3 22
F r e i v a l I | they canuse.Butnotallfi get callsallthetimeaskingfor recommendations forotherfi business from the largest fi guages localized.Onecompany inLatviagetshalfitslocalization comment onthepositivesornegativesinregion. is auniversal truthwherever you go.”Hence,Vidinadeclinedto it, andpeoplesomeanhecannotbelieveit.Inmyopinionthis so dumbhecannotbelieveit,peoplenice his lifehehasmetpeoplesosmartcannotbelieveit, vorite novelistKurtVonnegut. Hewrote attheageof74thatin and negativesides,butthenagainIhavetoagree withmyfa- the LatviansVidinasaid,“As inanycountrywehaveourpositive language, haveadifferent culture andevenlookdifferent. Of you are inLithuaniaorEstoniawhere peoplespeakadifferent different. You canjustjumpinthecar, andinfourtofi New York, youhardly knowyoulefthome.IntheBalticsit’s from thepeopleinthosecountries. and Germansbehaveabroad, butfrom oureyes,usuallynot looks attherest oftheworld.MuchiswrittenonhowAmericans d
Column s
MultiLingual # Many localizationcompaniescometoLatviagetBalticlan- If youliveinNewJersey anddriveintoConnecticutthen Whither theBaltics Vidina provided additionalinsightonhowasmallculture Bulgaria hadjustjoined. country hadtotranslate some80,000pages,and country joiningtheEuropean Union(EU);each was ahugeamountoflocalizationworkinany and Serbia).Shedidthisin2007 becausethere Albania, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia,Montenegro the Balkans(whichincludesBosnia-Herzegovina, Estonia), andthenopeninganoffi calization fi her workinLatviarunningADVERBUMLtd,alo- 1 0 I recently spoketomyfriendDianaVidinaabout 8 . i n World Savvy d d
2 2 the BalticsorBalkans? Which is it rm intheBaltics(Latvia,Lithuaniaand eebr20 [email protected] December2009 rms thatcomeknowhowtodeal with rm inthelocalizationbusiness, and I
ce inBulgaria — ve hours rms fi John Freivaldsismanagingdirectorofthemarketingcommunications directed totheoneotherLatvian. I didthesamethinginDubuque,Iowa,andimmediatelywas immediately directedAnd metotheotherLatvian familyintown. Virginia, whenItoldmyreal estate agentthatIwasLatvian,she make theirpresence knownregardless oftheodds.InLexington, to knowwhyIwasgoingoutwithaforeigner! AndLatvians from Texas, IlivedinWashington, D.C.,andmymotherwanted of where theygo.WhenIstarteddatingmyfi reserved, reliable, precise andperfectionist,”saidVidina. many years saythatwedohavealotofcommonvalueslikebeing she spokethelanguage.Latvianswhocooperate withJapanfor So, Iguessshehasbeenimpressed andallthankstothefactthat she stillthinksthatweare themosthospitablenationinworld. to startabusinessbetweenLatviaandJapanafterherstudies, she waskeptverybusybyvariouspeople.Sheisactuallyplanning turned intoaverybigthing,andfortherest ofhertimeinLatvia pating discovered thatoneoftheJapanesewasspeakingLatvian,it summer solsticecelebration forLatvians.Wheneveryonepartici- “While oneofthemwasstayinghere, wewenttoaveryspecial program forstudents.Thestudentsstudiedthelanguagehard. a Latviancompanythrough theEUandaJapaneseexchange came tostayforayearinLatviastudyLatvianandwork or anyothersimpleword orphrase inLatvian. not from Latviawhocansay in Latvian,”statedVidina.Latviansappreciate someonewhois we are, whatlanguagewespeakorevencansayaword ortwo the Baltics.“We lovewhenaforeigner knowsabitaboutwho clue abouttheworldoutside.“As strange asthismightseem,it are livingintheshadowofSovietUnion and thushaveno and Estoniadonotlikeitwhenin2009foreigners stillthinkthey rm JFAandthemarketingrepresentativeforhis nativecountry, Latvia. Latvians likemecarrytheirheritageonthesleeveregardless One exampleofthisoccurred whenfourJapanesestudents According toVidina,Latviansandtheirneighbors inLithuania So whatdon’ttheLatvianslike? Paldies John Freivalds (Thankyou), rst wife,whowas Labdien (Hello) 111/4/09 9:35:18 AM 1 / 4 / 0 9
9 : 3 5 : 1 8
A M Column
is very common for foreigners who come regional manager in the Balkans, Maria, tourist destination as Italy or Spain, here to be shocked about what they fi nd,” to say a word or two about what she as since it has already had tremendous said Vidina. Contrary to some outside a Bulgarian thinks about Bulgarians. She growth in tourism since joining the EU, opinion, the citizens of the Baltics are told me that in general there are two and thus living standards are going up creative and orderly; they love technology main things. Bulgarians usually think very fast. As for the current business and all sorts of gadgets; if something is that everything foreign is better, but on there, “I guess we did learn a thing or not developed or sold there, they try to the other hand, most Bulgarians think two because Bulgarians treat us very create something on their own and get it they are smarter than anybody else.” warmly and we do have a perfect team- to work. “Did you know that Skype and Vidina predicts that in the next ten work happening between the Baltics and Kaaza were born in Estonia?” asked Vidina. years or so Bulgaria will be as good a the Balkans,” said Vidina. M Though an outsider had better not make fun of them and they come to- Translation services: Technical translations, Internationalisation and localisation, Terminol- gether in times of trouble, people in the ogy management, Country coordination, Multilingual layout, Publishing – Information pro- Baltics make fun of and complain about each other when times are good. A cur- duction: Technical documentation, Technical editing and proofreading, Technical illustration, rent popular YouTube video is a Latvian Medical Writing, Writing for translation, Documentation and document analysis – Global in- driver in Lithuania driving poorly. OK, so formation management: Information analysis and structuring, Documentation processes, In- the Latvian did get angry and took a stick ternational standardisation, Information lifecycle management, Software development, Project out of his trunk and whacked it on the management and quality assurance – XML documentation applications: Consulting, design other guy’s fender. “Latvians make fun of and implementation, Document type defi nition (DTD), Document management systems (DMS), Estonians, Estonians make fun of Latvi- Product information management (PIM), Data conversion, Database publishing – Medical fi elds: ans, and Lithuanians are making fun of Medical technology and diagnostics, Regulatory affairs and pharmaceuticals, Dental medicine, everyone else, but we still cannot coexist Chemistry – Translation services: Technical translations, Internationalisation and localisation, without each other,” said Vidina. Terminology management, Country coordination, Multilingual layout, Publishing – Information Another Latvian friend of mine recalls production: Technical documentation, Technical editing and proofreading, Technical illustra- that when he was expanding his media business, he was careful not to reveal tion, Medical Writing, Writing for translation, Documentation and document analysis – Global that he was a Latvian fi rm expanding to information management: Information analysis and structuring, Documentation processes, the other Baltic countries. He formed International standardisation, Information lifecycle management, Software development, Project a German holding company and ap- management and quality assurance – XML documentation applications: Consulting, design proached companies as a German fi rm; and implementation, Document type defi nition (DTD), Document management systems (DMS), no one was against a German fi rm buy- Product information management (PIM), Data conversion, Database publishing – Medical fi elds: ing in, but another Baltic fi rm? No way. Medical technologythe andmedical diagnostics, informationRegulatory affairs and companypharmaceuticals, Dental medicine, Finally, be careful of which languages Chemistry – Translation services: Technical translations, Internationalisation and localisation, you speak when in the Baltics. Estonians Terminology management, Country coordination, Multilingual layout, Publishing – Information are Baltic Finns and thus historically production: Technical documentation, Technical editing and proofreading, Technical illustra- actively cooperate with Finland and other tion, Medical Writing, Writing for translation, Documentation and document analysis – Global Scandinavian countries. You still may not want to speak in Russian with Estonians information management: Information analysis and structuring, Documentation processes, given their historical animosity towards International standardisation, Information lifecycle management, Software development, Project Russia, so better go for English, same as management and quality assurance – XML documentation applications: Consulting, design for Latvians and Lithuanians. and implementation, Document type defi nition (DTD), Document management systems (DMS), Product information management (PIM), Data conversion, Database publishing – Medical fi elds: The Balkans Medical technology and diagnostics, Regulatory affairs and pharmaceuticals, Dental medicine, The last, but not the least thing Vidina Chemistry – Translation services: Technical translations, Internationalisation and localisation, remembers when she was still a student Terminology management, Country coordination, Multilingual layout, Publishing – Information and was writing her Bachelor Degree production: Technical documentation, Technical editing and proofreading, Technical illustra- thesis in NYC is someone asking where tion, Medical Writing, Writing for translation, Documentation and document analysis – Global she was from. “I said from Latvia. He information management: Information analysis and structuring, Documentation processes, then asked where is that? And I said in the Baltic States. ‘Ah,’ he said, ‘next to International standardisation, Information lifecycle management, Software development, Project the Black Sea,’ and I said, ‘Not quite. The management and quality assurance – XML documentation applications: Consulting, design Balkans are next to the Black Sea.’” So, it’s ironic that Vidina’s Baltic fi rm is now also in the Balkans, in Bulgaria. Values bring people together – Quality makes the difference. This is quite a different culture, and it took some adjusting. “Bulgarians are very supportive; they almost never say www.mt-g.com no when you ask them to do something. They smile and laugh a lot. I asked our
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MultiLingual | 23
222-232-23 FFreivaldsreivalds ##108.indd108.indd 2323 111/4/091/4/09 9:35:209:35:20 AMAM 224-25 Asnes #108.indd24 4 - 2 5 24
A s n e A s
| technology affectsbusinessesexpanding theirworldwidereach. tionalization software.Heenjoys investigatinghow globalization Adam Asnes isCEOofLingoport,developersGlobalyzer interna- the rightanswerquickly. The problem withanytypeofcode pretty weakUI,butwhattheydiddoisfocus heavilyongetting a different functionalfocus.Andyouknowwhat? Theyhavea code analysistool,whichiskindofacousintoourproduct, just a particularcompanyoutsideourindustry. Itprovided asource with Microsoft’s Development Studio. I thoughtwe’dgoontointegrating engineers usetowritecode.From there is aleadingdevelopmentenvironment nationalization UIwithEclipse,which be focusedonintegrating ourinter- effort, whichIwassure wasgoingto along tostartplanningthenextrelease undertaking forus.We were farenough ready forarelease thatwasamajor At myowncompanywewere getting localization. it matters andrelates particularlytointernationalizationand is attheheartofmostincremental developmentefforts,and doesn’t havelimitedtimeandresources? Isubmitthatquestion not really trueifyouhavelimitedtimeandresources, andwho #
Column 1 0 MultiLingual Then Igottolookingmore closelyat Permit memyreal-world example. “Both,” everyonesays.“Whyare theyexclusive?”Butthat’s quality ofdefaultresults, whichwouldyoupick? interface (UI)improvements andbetteringthe if youhadtochoosebetweenmakingreal user development questiontosomefriendsofmine: 8 . i n A coupleofmonthsagoIpostedasoftware d d
2 4 The BusinessSide vs. user interface Product development eebr20 [email protected] December2009 alternative. elegantly ratherthanthe your codesoitwillwork involves buildingorrefactoring Much ofinternationalization ware inarequested language)andoveremphasized theresults company wasmeetinganinterface demand(providing itssoft- localize andincidentallydidn’t spendmuchtimewithQA.The own, withnotoolsandnotmuch experthelp.Itwentonto localization qualitywithtwoexamplesIgotfrom clients. be nopointtothatUI. valued, butiftheydidn’tfi not thewholepicture. Applehasproven thattheUIisincredibly users, thepatienceforworkingthrough initialresults ishighly as easilypossible.Whenitcomestothemajorityofproduct oper objectionsoutthere, youhavetoprovide thebestanswer support better. programming languages,aswellmakingourJavaScript on defaultrulesets,parsing andlexingforourprimarilysupported just notintegrated withdevelopmenttools—andinsteadwork decided toputtheUIasidefornow—it’s pretty goodactually, are fl “false positive”results. Theseare internationalizationissuesthat analysis product isthatyouhavetoputtimeintodealingwith In caseone,theclienthadinternationalizedquicklyonits Now letmeapplythatsamelogictointernationalizationand Here’s thepoint:inorder todealwithamajorityofdevel- agged, whichare notreally issuesthatneedtobefi the UIisn’timportant.It’s justthatit’s value ofthatdata? ment, whatdoesthatsayaboutthe getting outofapreferred environ- I’m reporting onislessimportantthan really high-qualityresult? Ifthedata tions Iaskedwere: wouldn’tIprefer a tion oftheUIenvironment. Theques- rather thantheeleganceandintegra- what Irefer totheresults experience integration justfornowandfocuson put asidedevelopmentenvironment limited. So,wemadethedecisionto rst takecare ofthedata,there would I shouldmentionthatI’mnotsaying Adam Asnes xed. We 111/4/09 9:41:03 AM 1 / 4 / 0 9
9 : 4 1 : 0 3
A M on the web at www.multilingual.com experience. Most readers of this maga- zine can predict the results. Sure, the product was in the target language, but nobody used it that way. That’s because the application was rife with concatena- tions and answers that didn’t make sense. To the US developers, it looked fi ne. FREE downloadable resources But the very reason they were doing all that work was not really delivered in a MultiLingual “Getting Started Guides” at competitive fashion. They blamed it on the localization company, and I suppose www.multilingual.com/gsg. Choose screen-quality it should take some of the blame for PDFs for slower connections or print-quality ¿ les not better guiding its clients. But that’s for best reproduction. Invaluable resources for an understandably awkward position in clients, novices and professionals in need of which to put your vendors in the fi rst refresher courses. Printed copies of some guides place. This company was faced with lack- are also available (contact subscriptions@ luster sales results on a fi rst localization effort. Now the organization was soured multilingual.com). on going forward with further efforts because of the initial failure. So much of internationalization involves building or refactoring your code so it will work elegantly rather than Subscribe online at www.multilingual.com/subscribe the alternative. There’s always more to good product development than just MultiLingual comes in two great formats: print and digital, and you your UI. Every software product and site can subscribe to either online at www.multilingual.com/subscribe has to present, input, transform, store MultiLingual, the print magazine, is mailed and then present data back again in some changed or archived fashion. Get- nine times a year (eight issues plus an ting the results right so they are trans- annual resource directory/index) for just formed, archived and presented again $58 and includes full access to MultiLin- properly in any language is what good gual, the digital magazine — delivered internationalization is all about. in a new, interactive format with special The second case I have is a large con- features that allow you to read it ofÀ ine. A glomerate client of ours who shared with me the results of its user preferences in digital-only subscription is available for $28. some 28 languages it is supporting. The Subscribe today and start keeping up with software was well internationalized, and one of the fastest-growing industries on the the results were pretty strong in that large numbers of clients were choosing planet. their native locale support if they had the option. However, a few minor locales stood out in terms of users preferring the US English version. We don’t actually know why yet, but my client suspects Stay in touch that it has more to do with a lack of lin- guistic QA (none) and in-country review Keep up to date with all the news, thoughts and trends with for those markets. Now we all agreed MultiLingual. Current news is available at www.multilingual.com/news, that even though these were not top-tier and the free biweekly newsletter, MultiLingual News, delivers this markets, it’s still worth making the effort information to your inbox. to fi nd out what went wrong and work out how to improve it. Want to hear the latest ruminations from our editorial board and Again, the focus is on how to get staff? Blogos (www.multilingual.com/subscribe) is the place to look. the best results experience, rather than And, newest on the list, you can follow us on Twitter at www.twitter looking solely on a UI requirement. You .com/multilingualmag could call it focusing on a more complete picture of the user experience. However, Better yet, let us do the work! You can subscribe to rss news feeds from it’s proof that internationalization and both our news items (www.multilingual.com/updateNews/rssNewsItems.xml) localization are not just simple UI check- and Blogos (www.multilingualblog.com/index.php/weblog/rss_2.0). marks to quickly cross off. M
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MultiLingual | 25
224-254-25 AAsnessnes ##108.indd108.indd 2255 111/4/091/4/09 9:41:049:41:04 AMAM 226-27 PerDavico #108.indd26 6 - 2 7 26
P e r
D a | much diffi text written400years ago,sheorhecanunderstand itwithout the samemanner. Thismeans thatwhenaPiedmontesereads a four centuriesPiedmontesehasbeenwrittenmore orlessin Biblioteca NazionaleUniversitaria ofTurin, andoverthelast the languagewehaveiscalled form atleastfrom thetwelfthcentury. Thefi from French, Provençal andGerman.Ithasbeenusedinwritten western neo-Latinlanguage,withlateradditionsofwords taken els, theater, poetry, magazinesandoffi region. Lastly, itpossessesahugeliterature ofmanygenres —nov- common languageoverarching thevariousdialectsspokenin to theromance reference idioms.Second,ithasa morphology andlexiconare suffi not adialectforatleastthree reasons. First ofall,thephonetics, but meaningfuldifferences. Here are afewrevealing examples: v A Column i c MultiLingual o ■ The Piedmonteselanguagederivesobviouslyfrom Latin,asa from 30to300different languagesspokentoday. noted that,dependingondefi in Italypernumberofspeakers. Ithasalsotobe placing itinthefi 100,000 people.Theseare actuallyhugenumbers, cise number, butmyguessisafi read andwriteitare fewer. There isn’tapre- normal foraminoritylanguage,thepeoplewho million peoplecanunderstand itatleastabit.As stood byovertwomillionpeople,whileanother area ofItaly—isspokenoratleastwellunder- guage ofPiedmont,aregion inthenorthwestern public research institute),Piedmontese—thelan- It is important to point out that Piedmontese is a language and It isimportanttopointoutthatPiedmontesealanguageand The spelling of the language is quite similar to Italian, with small The spellingofthelanguageis quite similartoItalian,withsmall
# 1 According toresearch byIRES(anindependent 0 The 8 . i n d d esetvs Perspectives culty. e
canbeclosedoropen(likein the Englishword
2 6 an endangered language Piedmontese, eebr20 [email protected] December2009 rst spotsinregional languages ciently differentiated withrespect Sermon Subalpin cial documents. nitions, Italyhas gure ofaround rst evidenceof koiné , todayinthe , that is, a , thatis,a that ; Translation Industry in 1995.In2005hepublished Gianni DavicofoundedtheItalian translationagencyTesi &testi in thiscaseitisusuallymarkedwithagrave accent,asin to thevowelinEnglish case, thesound,thoughitvariesfrom region toregion, issimilar cated withthedieresis, asin — toil)orwhatiscalled there isalsothe lish (Center forPiedmonteseStudies,www.studipiemontesi.it). ties ofthisculture. ThemainoneistheCadë StudiPiemontèis associations organize recognition ofPiedmonteseonageneral level.Also,many in thestreets, forexample.Thisisanimportant stepforthe euros toeachvillagethatwillputPiedmontese toponymy that contributestoprotect Piedmontese, giving upto5,000 ment andpromotion ofthelinguisticheritage ofPiedmont) patrimonio linguisticodelPiemonte April 7,2009)called mon peopledoingregarding thismatter? casual users. So,whatare governments,associationsandcom- among theseendangered languagesdespitethenumbers ofits efforts —bytheendofcentury. Clearly, Piedmontese is these willfalloutofuse—withoutsustainedconservation 6,000 languagesexistingintheworldtoday, halformore of is quitecommonlyacceptedinlinguisticsthatoftheroughly neo-Latin language. guage, whichmakesitquitedifferent from Italian,aneastern because, asalready mentioned,itisawesternneo-Latinlan- Italian. Example: ■ ■ ■ On thelegislativelevel,there isanewregional law(dated An importantpointregarding thefuture ofthislanguage:it In general, PiedmonteseisquitesimilartoFrench. Thisis girl Next tothenormal Next tothenormal The faucalorvelar (example: u lun (likeinFrench, forexample, reusa ), abookonthetranslationmarket inItaly. - a Tutela, valorizzazioneepromozione del —moon. courses andeventstoenhancethebeau- —rose); mesmuta n o u -, aconsonantthatdoesn’texistin , there isalsothe (marked the ghërsin L’industria dellatraduzione ; (literally “halfmute,”indi- Gianni Davico o —breadstick). Inthelatter forhistoricalreasons), (Protection, enhance- eu likeintheEng- cun - a —cradle); ( tèila The 111/4/09 9:43:34 AM 1
/ 4 / 0 9
9 : 4 3 : 3 4
A M Column
Barba Tòni and real Piedmontese
In order to better understand the structures Piedmontese, this would have been a feminine of Piedmontese, along with the philosophy noun (le paròle), but as happens most of all of the only way to truly keep it and other in the Piedmontese spoken in vast regions of languages like it alive, let’s examine a piece Piedmont, the feminine plural article is not of poetry. The author Barba Tòni (1921–1999) used, substituted by the masculine one (ël, has written one of the best poems, diffi cult contracted in ‘l when the previous word ends and easy at the same time, in our language. with a vowel). The poem is diffi cult because of the use of As previously mentioned, Tòni was a master some quite refi ned nouns, some of them of his craft. We can fi nd an example in the nonexistent in Piedmontese but borrowed following line: from Latin, Provençal, French and who knows Vòle ‘d giòle, sgajòle dë ‘l viòle a baticòle which other languages. Tòni was indeed where the exact signifi cance of the words a master at playing with words. The title (“Flocks of pilot lights, shouts of joy piggy- itself, Ël Pì-a-mont-tèis, it is a pun between backing grannies”) is not so important, the Piemontèis (Piedmontese) and Pì a mont tèis importance being the assonances and the (more at tense mountain), with reference to rhythm of words. Piedmont lies “at the foot of the the fact that Piedmont etymologically means mountains” of northwestern Italy. “at the foot of the mountains.” But this is Për mostrejlo a coj-lì ch’a l’han ël gran’ maleur also an easy poem for native speakers to ëd pa savilo, ahi Dé, argalejne ‘l boneur. Here is a crucial concept to be pointed comprehend because it can be read with the To teach it to the unfortunates who sadly out: the idea that to understand a language heart more than with the mind. It is a laud do not know it, oh God, a gift of good luck. and a culture fully you have to read all kind of love for a mother tongue or, better yet, we of documents, from the bus ticket to a letter may say a “father tongue.” A venta scrivlo, òh già, e pì da-bin ch’as peul, of condolence, from children’s schoolwork to a scòla dl’arsigneul, un reul d’an pare an fi eul, the most epic poems. Ël piemontèis a venta dissionari a la man, sacrelo con la rima, parlelo. Che meisin-a. Mej che la revalenta. sima dla gòj, la prima. A venta ‘dcò subielo: ti canta e mi i subij, Piedmontese has to be It has to be written, oh yes, as best you can, d’àutri an compagneran, ciulucrìe e ciusij. spoken. What fi ne medicine. Better than a It also has to be whistled: you sing and I cure-all. learning from the nightingale, an aura of father to son, whistle, Here a very interesting feature of this holding a dictionary, consecrating it with others will accompany us, birdsong and language has to be noted. The personal rhyme, whispers. pronoun (a in this case) indeed must come a peak of joy, the fi rst. before the verb: a venta = you have to. Another good idea: if you believe in A venta bisodielo: something, begin today to do something ‘Dcò parlelo ‘n pioranda, sangiutenda j’orassion ant la lenga dj’ëstrachin, dij about it. Then if your idea is sound, other (da ràir), crasà, people will naturally join you. con l’ës-ciandor ancreusa dij sant, lus ëd a valo tant ëd pì, an modelo, arnovelo, j’euj ciàir dë-dsà për ël dë-dlà. A venta ‘dcò balelo, tërlelo: tërla e bala Even speaking it crying, hiccupping It has to be whispered: chè l’angel at argala l’ala, al cel at trambala. (sometimes), prayers in the tongue of the poor, the It has to be danced, skipping with joy: with the profound splendor of the saints, oppressed, skip and dance light in bright eyes. are worth much more, they model us, until the angel offers you a wing that takes renewing us you to heaven. An giuganda a ‘l paròle here for the beyond. Playing with words It doesn’t matter which language you A venta leslo, e tant, dai paco ai dissionari speak. The important thing is to speak it Here the masculine gender of the noun It has to be read, a lot, from country folk to the best you can and as often as you can in paròle (words) has to be noted. In standard dictionaries order to let it prosper and survive.
But the real responsibility is with the people. The Piedmontese The natural complement to inclusion is music. Piedmont has language will survive only if Piedmontese people speak to their a large number of groups playing folk music and a long children — and, as a matter of fact, to their neighbors — in their tradition of songs, the main one being La bela bergera (The natural language, every time this is possible. What is indeed, in Beautiful Shepherdess). A good performance can be found at extreme essence, a language? A language is a bridge, a means to www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFwV3SsU9Bg. No other ways to include people who want to be in on the joke or the conversation survive and prosper are possible. The only alternative, of or the information sharing. It is not supposed to exclude all others course, is that this language will become a mere intellectual who are different. pursuit, an esoteric game in the minds of too few people. M
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MultiLingual | 27
226-276-27 PPerer DavicoDavico #108.indd#108.indd 2727 111/4/091/4/09 9:43:359:43:35 AMAM 228-29 PerBell #108.indd28 8 - 2 9 28
P e r
B e | U you hadrequest Texas German? requested bymany clientsintheknow. But howmanyclientshave are warranted, asthevariantsare indisputable andspecifi localize forthe“right”Spanish for ourtarget market.Thesearticles articles inthelastyearthatalladdress theneed tomakesure we through backissuesof language forthefolkswholivethere, it’dbeSpanish thesedays. for anythingwrittenbyWillaCather. all itsScandinavianlanguagedialectsproviding splendiddialogue other peoplewhouseelectricity. Andthenthere’s Nebraska with spoken byMennonites,Lutherans, GermanReformed andloadsof belonged totheAmishgrowing up,butwhich isinreality also familiar withPennsylvania Dutch,theGermandialectIwastaught from France toCanada,thendowntheMississippi.Manyare also Acadian dialectthatslowlydevelopedaspeoplewere pushed l l Column
# MultiLingual 1 And Spanish does seem to get all the attention. A quick glance And Spanishdoesseemtogetalltheattention.Aquickglance No offensetoTexas, butifIwere goingtolocalizeanon-English But Texas German?Imean,really. Most ofushaveheard ofLouisiana(orCajun)French, the in central Texas.” in representative Texas Germanspeechcommunities “an umbrella organization forcarryingoutresearch the Texas GermanDialectProject (www.tgdp.org), in the1840s.”Furtherstudyledtodiscoveryof developed asGermansettlers cametocentral Texas fi never heard ofTexas Germanbefore. Iwentonto and ofmostthingslinguistic,Iwondered whyI’d my attention.AsascholarofallthingsSouthern isville, Kentucky, The headlineforaMay13,2007, articleintheLou- 0 nd thatTexas Germanis“a uniquedialectthat 8 “Uniquedialect,Texas German,takinglastgasp.” . i n d Perspectives d
2 8 in unlikelyplaces Localizing for‘Europe’ eebr20 [email protected] December2009 MultiLingual Courier-Journal will uncover at least four willuncoveratleastfour
certainlygrabbed cally cally and asatelevisionnewsproducer. Previously, Terena workedasafreelanceFrenchinterpreter Kentucky-based translatingandinterpretingcompany. Terena Bell istheCEOofInEveryLanguage,aLouisville, It doesn’tmatterifOhioanssitona localization needtobe? no questionwhere thebiggermarketishere, people. 5,195,182 Texans spokeSpanishastheirprimarylanguage.There’s tive, intheyear2000according tothelastUSCensusconducted, in itsheydayrightbefore World War II.To putthatinperspec- lect Project Ibrought upearlier, 100,000 peoplespokethedialect markets. According toWarren HahnwiththatTexas German Dia- least getmore exposure assuch. Francophone culture andlanguage dialect anditsEuropean motherlanguageare more evident,orat needed here. that’s enoughofanoverlapthataseparate ISOcodereally isn’t German, andviceversa.” Maybeit’s justme,butIcertainlythink understand 95percent ofwhat’s saidbyaperson speakingTexas German soundsalotlikemodernGerman.Aspeakercould “is ahybrid,mostlyGermanbutaltered byEnglish. Spoken,Texas understanding doweneed? don’t buywhattheyunderstand. Butprecisely howmuch of localizationthateventhemostdiffi to buyitfrom themanwhocallsitwhatIdo.There isonerule the samething,butifyou’re wantingtosellmeone,I’mgoing may allunderstand thatacouch,davenportandsofaare really read thelanguagewespeakinwaythatit.Yes, we I wantthesigntodirect meto a davenport We’re allaware oftheacuteneedforaccuracy inourprofession. But still,itbringsupthequestion:exactlyhowprecise does Granted, Texas Germanismostlikelynotspokenintarget With LouisianaFrench, thedifferences betweentheAmerican In thecaseofTexas German,the . IfIliveinKentucky, whenIgointhefurniture store, sofas Courier couch . We allwanttosee,hearand cult client can get: people cult clientcanget:people Terena Bell reports thelanguage and Californians sit on and Californianssiton 111/4/09 9:45:01 AM 1 / 4 / 0 9
9 : 4 5 : 0 1
A M Column
The United States contains 26 different dialects as defi ned by linguist Robert Delaney. Source: Data from a map by Robert Delaney
scholars Jean-Benoît Nadeau and Julie Barlow write in their book Standish’s name for the fi rst time. As many a wise man has said, The Story of French, “[t]he Cajun French dialect is very distinct from the difference between a language and a dialect is an army. We all Parisian French or even Quebec French. The infl uence of English know whose armies came to the Americas, and we all know whose is strong, not only in vocabulary, but in calques such as laisser les armies won: the ones whose languages we speak today. bons temps rouler (let the good times roll). . . . Cajuns preserved But when it comes to localization, the lesson our industry has different archaisms than those found in Canadian French. . . . They still yet to learn is that when we say US English or US insert-other- also developed lively expressions of their own, including lache pas European-language-here, maybe we can be a bit more precise la patate (literally don’t drop the potato, meaning don’t give up).” — not to the point of ludicrousy, but rather to the point of — well The United States is full of local linguistic pockets, with 26 — precision. Localizing for Texas German or Kentucky English might different dialects of English alone as defi ned by linguist Robert not be necessary or even possible, but what about localizing for Delaney (not to be confused with the former relief pitcher for the Southern US English or, as the need grows, Southern US Spanish? Minnesota Twins). According to his map, I grew up in the middle Whenever we have a client call in requesting Spanish for the US of dialect number 17 — nowhere near the border of any other US market, where I work, the fi rst question is “Where?” As it’s been English dialects. But my grandfather would have said Mr. Delaney better said before, US Spanish is a misnomer, often doubling as was wrong. We lived in the country, and Grandpa always swore Cuban Spanish or Mexican Spanish or the ambiguous Latin Ameri- that people in town didn’t talk like us. When I started being bused can Spanish, which is, in itself, riddled with diffi culty. In our offi ce, into the county seat for the sixth grade, I agreed with him. Their when a client requests US Spanish, we ask specifi cally which state, accents and word choices were not the same. At home, we still then look at census data to see which countries the used linguistic patterns straight out of Chaucer (I’m a-goin’ for speakers there are truly more likely to be from, hoping to derive I’m going), and no one in town used the word polecat for skunk. dialect from there. (Skunk in Texas German, in case you’re curious, is die Stinkkatze. But just as each European language has its respective American The word is part of the 5% distinguishing it from German as spo- dialects, each language service provider (LSP) has its capabilities ken in Germany, where they say das Stinktier.) and limitations. You know your clients’ needs best, and if you Of course, it would be ludicrous for a client to request localiza- don’t, I can guarantee they won’t stay your clients for long. Clients tion into Christian County, Kentucky English. It would simply never and LSPs must work together to decide how much precision is in happen. But my grandfather’s observation does a-bring us back to fact needed for the sake of the document and for the business precision. It speaks to that question I raised earlier, the one that relationship we share. Some clients very much want to watch every comes to light when you realize European languages are long past word. Others couldn’t give a rip. being just for Europe — that here in the United States, all joking In the end, no matter what your policies are on the obscurest aside, hundreds of languages are spoken and many of them used of the obscure, there’s only so much any of us can do, no matter to belong to Europe. which dialect we do it in. We all must determine for ourselves, on None of this is new information. You can’t get past kindergarten a case-by-case basis, exactly how precise is precise enough. And without learning about immigration and/or colonialism in some whatever we decide, all those Texas German speakers will just have small way, even if it is only making Pilgrim hats and hearing Miles to live with it. M
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MultiLingual | 29
228-298-29 PPerer BellBell #108.indd#108.indd 2929 111/4/091/4/09 9:45:019:45:01 AMAM Prospectives
ro•spec•tive PPronunciation: pro--spek-tiv Function: adjective 1: relating to or effective in the future 2 a: likely to come about, expected b: likely to be or become
nnual commentaries from language industry A executives regarding prospects for the future
Douglas J. Strock, Vice President [email protected] Global Language Translations and Consulting, Inc. | www.gltac.com
2009 will go into the record books as a terrible year for most thousands of dollars. GLTaC has companies, yet for many language service providers (LSPs), 2009 provided MT and post-edited MT was a growth year. Unlike other corporate expenses such as travel, (machine-aided translation or magazine subscriptions or training, translation is not an option, MAT) services to companies since especially when driven by regulatory requirements. According to 1996 with our FAST-TRANS® and my industry contacts, indications are that 2010 will at least start KWIKTRANS® offerings. off with a strong spending cycle going into the fi rst quarter, but GLTaC is unique as an innovator whether that is sustainable or not remains to be seen. in the area of hazardous materials In many cases, customers are not only asking for lower rates communication. With extensive on translation services, they are setting prices and saying, “Take experience in MSDS translation, we pulled together a large volume of it or leave it!” Rush rate premiums and higher pricing for better multilingual hazard communication content such as GHS, EU R&S and quality work seem to be things of the past in the current economic NIOSH safety phrases. We combined the phrases with physical property environment. At a glance this is shortsighted and may lead to an data on over 1,500 dangerous substances and transportation symbols erosion of the value LSPs offer as a business enhancer. The simple fact remains: If a company can sell a product and make more profi t to create a new multilingual, fully searchable phrase library called ™ with lower quality or no translations, this is what it will do. The Haz-Mart . This subscription-based service is available at question becomes: Will it go back and accept higher rates for www.haz-mart.com better quality when the economy improves? In the end it boils down to service. GLTaC continues to offer the The push is on for providing better translations faster and best service levels in the industry through advanced technology and at a lower cost. Advances continue in machine translation (MT) a superior customer-focused approach. Our customers routinely technology, but the quality still is not suffi cient for highly technical approve quotes in less than ten minutes from submitting their initial work intended for publication. Would you want your patent fi ling request. We are also working on a fully automated MT capability translated by a machine? How about your will? Yet there are areas unlike anything currently available today, which should be available where MT plays a valuable role and can save companies hundreds of early in 2010. Visit us at www.gltac.com to learn more.
30 | MultiLingual December 2009 [email protected]
330-330-33 PProspectiverospective #108.indd#108.indd 3030 111/4/091/4/09 10:53:2410:53:24 AMAM Prospectives
workload as a result of acquisitions, but the resources A r t u r o Q u i n t e r o , C h i e f C o r p o r a t e S t r a t e g i s t to handle the increase won’t materialize. I believe that [email protected] the buyers who focus on strengthening relationships with their suppliers are most likely to be in a strong Moravia Worldwide | www.moraviaworldwide.com position after the recession ends. Substitutes — I think apart from translation mem- As our company approaches its twentieth anniversary in 2010, ory and a smaller contribution from MT, no signifi cant when I look back I am acutely reminded that predicting the future disruptive technology has truly challenged our indus- for any industry is always fraught with peril, and ours is no exception. try business model. There is an opportunity for crowd- But if I take my crystal ball into one hand and good old Porter’s fi ve sourcing to do this to some extent. I don’t see any 1 forces in the other, this is what comes to mind. emerging alternative model, and as long as we continue New Entrants — I see an opportunity for strong strategic investors buying and selling on a per-word basis, it is diffi cult and fi nancial investment in the industry. This should lead to a to see technology alone becoming a driver for change further “cleansing” of our industry. The fi rst companies to go will be in the next few years. I think buyers of localization underperforming businesses or those run by fatigued entrepreneurs. In services will fi nd that content for a new product in a new market that return, new investors will bring fresh and professional managers to our they are considering for localization in, say, Ebolian, will already be industry, pushing the level of execution to a higher plane. published, distributed and rated by online Ebolian communities well Suppliers — More than ever before we all need to fi nd where we before the client anticipated. This will be both a common headache and are truly unique and focus our energy on this particular competitive an opportunity that will be shared between clients and LSPs. advantage differentiator. Those failing to identify their uniqueness Rivalry — My personal guess is that about one in fi ve LSPs will either or act with focus will probably disappear. In addition, technology is disappear or be acquired, and I anticipate that at least two companies enabling easier access to individuals and social networks that compete from the Common Sense Advisory Top 30 list will merge with other for professional translators. I think we will see the rapid expansion of a companies. I expect a continued focus in the industry on business new profession: machine translation (MT) post-editors. performance and positive cash generation. This will defi ne the rivalry Buyers’ Power — Probably the biggest challenges for the coming in the industry and separate the successful companies from the less three years on the buyers’ side will include: 1. Managing their growing successful ones. needs with limited staff; 2. Increased pressure from procurement Whatever happens in the next 12 months and whether I am departments and CxOs (to those buyers who don’t already think they proven right or completely wrong, we at Moravia — and me personally are buying a commodity); 3. Dealing with investments in technology — are truly looking forward to the next exciting phase in the — should companies build or buy the technology infrastructure to development of our industry. support organizational needs? Some companies may increase their total 1 Porter, M.E. “How competitive forces shape strategy,” Harvard Business Review, March/April 1979.
Tobias Scherf, Director of Operations [email protected] PTIGlobal | www.ptiglobal.com Things are tough all over. Despite an tools that require minimal software and Innovative increasing trickle of positive economic support investment from our linguists. We integration news, a tight market continues to test are committed to researching and fi elding potentials business leaders around the globe. The innovative tools and to developing training with machine localization industry suffers as snug a belt materials for the professionals upon whom translation as any other segment. As our clients plot we depend so heavily. (MT). The their recovery strategies and reach for new Localization tools that increase the potential for international markets, they challenge our benefi t for a broader circle of users. PTI- performance industry to provide top-shelf service with Global knows many hands make light work. improvements swift turnaround times at extremely aggres- We strongly support the development of through the use of MT technology continues sive price points. translation tools that focus on shared work- to emerge. However, very few LSPs and At PTIGlobal, we know the future is now, fl ow. We continue to study emerging lin- clients currently leverage this technology and we believe the following factors are key guist tools and search out opportunities to successfully. Barriers to entry such as the to meeting the aforementioned service and integrate project management tasks in an initial need to supply millions of high-qual- price requirements that our clients demand: open environment — within reason. As the ity translation pairs to train the MT system Localization tools that reduce cost and toolbox of CAT features and functions gets for each subject area currently make it diffi - training investment for professional linguists. fuller, the law of unintended consequences cult to leverage this technology on a smaller Our industry often focuses on improving can apply: Too much choice can actually scale. As MT innovation improves, the most workfl ow at the project management level. decrease effi ciency and quality as linguists successful systems will be those that offer At PTIGlobal we know that quality improves spend time pondering the latest widget at the smallest initial investment and provide from the ground up. We focus on making their disposal. Offering SDKs and web ser- the cleanest output in the largest set of lan- things easier for the linguist whenever pos- vices that allow easier data exchange and guages. PTIGlobal continually monitors the sible. In many cases, industry productivity linking of several enterprise systems such as state of the MT art and is eager to bring this improvements require linguists to invest in CRM, CMS and ERP with localization tools technology to bear on mid-sized projects as new tools and training. PTIGlobal utilizes will be crucial. soon as it proves feasible.
sponsored supplement December 2009 MultiLingual | 31
330-330-33 PProspectiverospective #108.indd#108.indd 3131 111/4/091/4/09 10:53:4110:53:41 AMAM Prospectives
Shannon Zimmerman, CEO technology that helps them improve quality, speed and return on investment. [email protected] I’ve often said to our customers and industry visionaries that Sajan, Inc. | www.sajan.com Sajan is a technology company masquerading as a language services company. Historically, we’ve wrapped technology with language After 12 years of leading services because this was the way buyers were conditioned to buy. Sajan in the language translation For years, the Sajan team has delivered consistent value to its clients industry, I can say beyond a doubt under this model. Given the changes in the market, however, we at that the future for our company Sajan are also honing our strategy. and our market is brighter than To that end, Sajan has established a separate company called ever. While I and others have been Sajan Software, Ltd., headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. This new predicting this for some time, entity is the home for our technology offering. While we’ve always corporate enterprises are just now invested heavily in our software to improve the quality of Sajan lan- recognizing the strategic nature of guage services, we feel the time is right to double those efforts and language services and technology. actively market our technology to the entire language translation Translation management is fi nally value chain. Our “industrialization” and market readiness tests have reaching the executive suite. been (somewhat quietly) underway throughout 2009 in a variety Our team at Sajan has always of translation environments, including high volume and highly carried the belief that language automated value chains. Used as a key differentiator for many years translation is an integral and inside our language services business, Sajan Software technology imperative part of global business. Yet, we have often scratched will now be offered externally to clients that may not wish to use our heads wondering why some of our customers view localization the Sajan combined offering. Our vision also includes a unique soft- merely as a necessary evil — a misunderstood service that seems ware delivery model, which is sure to set us apart in this market. undervalued and, too often, oversimplifi ed. Overall, the Sajan and Sajan Software offerings are intended to That being said, investment in translation services has contin- deliver options to our customers and the entire value chain. The mar- ued to grow, despite a global recession, and the reason for this is ket demands fl exibility and transparency, and these will be the pillars clear: enterprises continue to expand their operations around the on which we deliver our solutions. The value and measurable gain our world and understand the benefi ts of content localization. What customers will realize by partnering with Sajan, in turn, should rein- appears to be evolving, though, is the way enterprises think about force to executives the strategic advantage that can be derived from and manage their localization programs and, specifi cally, the world-class language translation services and technology.
Jaap van der Meer, Director [email protected] Translation Automation User Society | www.translationautomation.com Let a thousand MT engines bloom. TDA aims to host at least 20% of the Looking forward, I see a thousand machine translation (MT) output of the world’s human translations or systems blooming. I see fortune for the translation industry and new 20 billion or so new words every year. We solutions for making translation accurate and ubiquitous. And I see only accept and share translation memories hope for a global community that can communicate more easily. Why from legitimate, trusted sources and cat- am I so optimistic? Because the hidden, scientifi c process of improved egorize them by industry, content type, data data effectiveness is joining hands with the visible social trend towards owner and provider to make it easier to run the profi t of sharing. domain-specifi c training and customiza- Human language is incredibly complex. But the more language tion for MT engines. The operative word is data we collect and analyze, the easier it will be to build solutions for “share.” And the fear is “Am I giving away language work, especially translation. more than I get back?” Statistical MT, which exploits formal patterns in language data, is At TDA, we believe in a win-win solution. Translation buyers large and going mainstream. And research is trying to improve it by adding rule- small, LSPs and individual translators will all benefi t in different ways from based techniques to optimize the machine learning process. There are pooling their data and leveraging each other’s assets. Only the solitary now open-source tools to build, analyze and measure these systems. silo owners will lose out. Massive data sharing will renew the industry and But one thing is clear: they need reliable — that is, validated and open it up to new players and new solutions in a spirit of innovation. curated — parallel corpora of specifi c genres, topics, subject domains At TAUS, we shall address these challenges and seize these oppor- and products to work well. tunities. We shall introduce new information services such as the TAUS Not only lots of data are needed, but clean data to optimally train and Tracker online directory of MT engines and open up new advantages for customize MT systems. This critical issue was on the agenda of the fi rst TDA members. Naturally, TAUS and TDA are restricted to supporting their TAUS User Conference held in Portland, Oregon, in late October 2009. members and will not offer any commercial services. But the organizations The bottom line is this: Access to very large volumes of language are dedicated to the greening of the translation industry and to the pros- data helps increase translation productivity and boosts the output pect of faster, better, richer content communication across the planet. quality of MT systems. The TAUS Data Association (TDA) offers an To read the complete article on which this commentary is based, go to industry-owned platform for sharing billions of words collected from www.translationautomation.com/best-practices/let-a-thousand-mt- all its members. systems-bloom.html
32 | MultiLingual December 2009 [email protected]
330-330-33 PProspectiverospective #108.indd#108.indd 3232 111/4/091/4/09 10:53:4310:53:43 AMAM Prospectives
Yves Champollion, Founder and Chief Architect for freelance translators, we are excited to also offer several products that address the [email protected] needs of customers with enterprise-level
Wordfast LLC | www.wordfast.com requirements: • Wordfast Pro — A multiplatform Some industry insiders have compared globalization to a gold (TM) tool designed to handle translation rush. Seeing the competitive advantage associated with operating projects on an enterprise scale. globally, businesses are scurrying to connect with customers in inter- • Wordfast Server — A powerful TM national markets, hoping to get their share of the riches. Following server application that enables companies this analogy, if the businesses are the pioneers and the customers the to share TMs and glossaries in real time gold, we, the localization industry, are those roadside entrepreneurs with linguistic team members anywhere selling picks and shovels. in the world, resulting in savings of up to But unlike the real gold rush in which a lot of hopeful pioneers 30% over desktop TM alone. were left empty-handed, globalization will never cease to be a • Wordfast Anywhere — An entirely smart and profi table strategy for businesses — making localiza- web-based, completely confi dential transla- tion companies the real winners in this story. When business is tion environment through which users can upload TMs, glossaries booming, our industry thrives. When business is slowing down, the and project fi les to a password-protected area on a centralized server services we provide become that much more invaluable. Companies and then access these fi les from any web browser. must fi nd new niches, new markets, new territories; they must While Wordfast remains 100% committed to continually support- export more and, in turn, localize more. And as globalization ing the freelance translators who have always been and will continue becomes a staple of doing business, companies must become to be the foundation of a robust language services industry, we extremely discerning when it comes to the quality, reliability and also acknowledge that there is a signifi cant market for high-quality, cost-effectiveness of language services and related technology cost-effective TM tools on the enterprise level. We hope that by con- tools, which means only the most innovative, fl exible technology tinuing to add groundbreaking new applications to our portfolio of providers will thrive in the long term. products, we can help the so-called gold rush continue for all indus- Founded with a mission to provide elegant and affordable try stakeholders — from the language services providers and freelance localization technology to all stakeholders in the localization process, translators to the corporations that are intelligently communicating Wordfast originally built its business on a translation memory (TM) with their customers all over the world. tool called Wordfast Classic for individual translators. While Wordfast For more information on Wordfast products, visit www.wordfast.com Classic historically has been and continues to be the tool of choice or contact us at [email protected]
Donna Parrish, President [email protected] MultiLingual Computing, Inc. | www.multilingual.com
Collaboration. Sharing. Cloud computing. pending) remains to be seen, but it is something Crowdsourcing. Twitter. All of these terms certainly a highly used and highly debated such as Twit- are common for people in the language topic. ter is active industry today. Some of them did not even A sign of a maturing industry is when it now and can exist until recently. begins to look outside itself to help others. be a powerful Do you get the feeling that we are Translators Without Borders has been working tool, this does all scrambling to keep up? And as we away at this since 1993. This year the Rosetta not mean scramble, the changes continue to come Foundation was offi cially launched, supporting it will be a faster? It has been that kind of year for “not-for-profi t activities of the localization and major infl uence two years from now. Does everyone and especially those in the lan- translation communities through the develop- this mean we shouldn’t adopt and adapt? guage industry. ment and deployment of an intelligent transla- Quite the opposite: we should become The TAUS Data Association (TDA) has tion and localization platform.” In so doing, it increasingly nimble and use whatever tools come into being, offering shared translation works to provide equal access to information and methods are presently available. The memories (TMs) to fellow members. Then, across languages, independent of economic or world seems to have the attention span of once the TMs started getting shared, TDA market considerations. an eight-month-old baby, but when that offered a free desktop widget (another new And now we are all connected in the attention is focused, it is powerful! term!) to anyone, letting us research transla- “social web” via Hi5, Plaxo, Facebook, Xing, What does this mean for you and me? tions from trusted sources on our local LinkedIn, as well as our Twitter followers. We should investigate how to improve our computers. What can we do with this technology? business effi ciencies and bottom lines with The “Wikipedia concept” has fl owed into Where is this going to take us? this new technology. We should look for new translation efforts. Facebook and Google First of all, I think we must remember ways to improve the world with altruistic have both offered free tools for crowdsourc- the times in which we live. New products efforts. And we should stay up to date with ing translations. Whether or not this idea is are hot and common one year and disappear the rapidly progressing language industry by patentable (Facebook’s application is from the horizon the next. Just because reading MultiLingual!
sponsored supplement December 2009 MultiLingual | 33
330-330-33 PProspectiverospective #108.indd#108.indd 3333 111/4/091/4/09 10:53:4410:53:44 AMAM Implications of increasing Europe’s trade with China
Region Focus Rocío Txabarriaga
Is English still the language of business? There is no simple answer to this question, but there is also no Idoubt that China is investing more and more outside its borders, includ- ing the European continent. Compa- nies and governments around the world with no signifi cant economic ties to China in the last decade of the twentieth century are now trad- ing with this giant, some of them Figure 1: Export volumes between Europe and China in 2008. Source: Common Sense Advisory and the European Commission heavily. How then are these coun- tries doing business with China? Is it in English, States and most of the world were contracting. Global reces- the so-called “language of business”? Or is it sion was on the horizon in 2007, and Chinese entrepreneurs saw an opportunity to invest in and outright acquire companies through language services? If the latter is the in multiple verticals around the world, many on the verge of case, who has adapted to whom? Are Chinese bankruptcy at the time of acquisition. Participation in offshore entrepreneurs learning other languages or are infrastructure development contracts, major acquisitions of people in other countries learning Chinese? Are mineral and metal outfi ts and increased imports of Western goods are all a part of the complex economic landscape of a language service providers (LSPs) translating global, powerful China. more from Chinese into European languages or Trade protectionist measures in the United States have vice versa? shifted China’s attention quickly to Europe and several emerg- ing economies such as Brazil and India, with some European It’s the economy, liebe Freunde markets openly courting Chinese investors in an effort to boost Just 20 years ago, trade between China and Europe was spo- exports and increase investments. Chinese investors have radic and statistically insignifi cant. In the fi rst half of 2009, the acquired whole and majority stakes in companies based in European Union (EU) was China’s largest trading partner with a volume of US$224.69 billion, surpassing the United States. China is also the largest recipient of EU exports. Even though China’s accelerated economic presence in Europe and emerging economies has been dubbed by some as opportunistic, the fact Rocío Txabarriaga, a senior analyst at is that China has seen continued and explosive growth through- Common Sense Advisory, has worked for over out most of the past decade — averaging a 10% gross domestic two decades in both linguistic and executive product expansion while the economies of Europe, the United capacities in the language services industry.
34 | MultiLingual December 2009 [email protected]
334-364-36 F TxabarriagaTxabarriaga #108.indd#108.indd 3434 111/4/091/4/09 9:48:339:48:33 AMAM Region Focus
Germany and Italy, among others. At the same time, according production on European soil to be European in origin. In a clear to Eurostat (the European Statistical Offi ce) exports between example of localization by defi nition, some Chinese-owned Europe and 16 Asian countries had grown by around 60% by companies have taken on European-sounding names and main- 2007, before the recession hit in earnest. China is now Europe’s tain most operations in Europe, mainly to leverage European main trading partner, representing a third of total exports and expertise. most imports. Trade operational models between China and the rest of the However, this does not mean that Europe, the international world are certainly changing. While manufacturing in China by lender par excellence of a not-too-distant era, has simply foreign-owned companies continues to be strong, it is no longer capitulated and opened its doors to a fl ood of foreign invest- showing signs of aggressive growth. Higher per-capita income ment. The Chinese have made a deep footprint in European and expenditure in China also mean that the Chinese are now manufacturing, and expansion of the Chinese purchasing power heavily investing at home, as foreign companies have done for outside of its own borders marches on. But even though trading decades. But what does this all mean for the language services has greatly increased, some barriers to entry for both imports industry? and direct investment remain. Europeans, like Americans, are Economic indicators like those previously discussed provide no strangers to well-publicized cases of quality control disasters a general idea of the pulse of stronger Sino-European economic in Chinese-made products and are uncomfortable with China’s relations. Table 1 more fully illustrates their impact on specifi c human rights record. Trade disputes between China and the EU, verticals and presumably the need for language services. including a dispute over intellectual property (IP), also dot the trade panorama. Realities of language transfer The compromise in some cases has centered on a demand to between China and the EU keep business as usual in Chinese-owned companies in Europe. Four years ago, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce acknowl- In other cases, multinational companies have applied Euro- edged an acute lack of qualifi ed translators and interpreters, a pean models of management and quality assurance to ensure major concern as the 2008 Summer Olympics drew closer. The compliance with regional standards and regulations. Directives Chinese government encouraged citizens, especially in Beijing, still require over half of the total of parts and labor used in to learn other languages and take basic courses to become
Vertical Market Recent Examples Language Pairs Affected • In October 2008, Germany welcomed the fi rst commercial freight train from China in Hamburg. The train covered a distance of over 6,000 miles in 17 days — much faster than transit time for ocean freighters. Although the train is not currently running, it is expected to resume operations in the near future. German <> Chinese Cargo, trade shows • Approximately 100 Chinese manufacturers exhibited this year at Intermat, the English <> Chinese and logistics largest European trade show for construction and manufacturing. French <> Chinese • China Foreign Trade Centre Group and Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH are organizing the 2010 four-day SPS Industrial Automation Fair at the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou next March. • China Automobile France started selling Shanghai Tandem Motor’s CEO and UFO models in France, with a planned network of 100 dealerships in the country by 2010. German <> Chinese Negotiations with potential dealer partners began in 2008. English <> Chinese Automotive • Chinese automakers Lifan and Changhe partnered with Italy’s Martin Motors to French <> Chinese launch their cars in Europe, under the Martin Motors brand, with a combined projected Italian <> Chinese sale of 10,000 cars in 2009. The cars’ engines are built in Brazil by Tritec Motors, which Portuguese <> Chinese Fiat Powertrain Technologies acquired in 2008 from Chrysler. • HSBC owns about 19% of BoCom, China’s fi fth-biggest lender. Under current English <> Chinese Banking regulations in China, a foreign bank cannot own more than 20% of a Chinese bank. • Game software maker Think Services held its second GDC China event in October Software 2009 with the goal of strengthening its network in China and establishing new English <> Chinese strategic partnerships with Chinese game developers. Food products • Exports of German wine to China rose by 73% in 2008. German <> Chinese • ZTE, a leading manufacturer of telecom equipment that has become the world’s No. 6 maker of cell phones, on May 22 announced it will receive a $10 billion credit line from Telecommunications English <> Chinese equipment China’s Import-Export Bank to help its overseas expansion; earlier this year the company received a $15 billion credit line from the China Development Bank. • The fi rst Airbus A320 aircraft assembled at the Airbus Final Assembly Line China Heavy machinery/ (FALC) completed its fi rst fl ight in the second quarter of 2009. French <> Chinese transport Italian <> Chinese equipment • Chinese multinational giant Zoomlion owns a majority stake in Italian construction materials manufacturer Cifa.
Table 1: Examples of Sino-European trade: recent examples and languages affected. Source: Common Sense Advisory
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MultiLingual | 35
334-364-36 F TxabarriagaTxabarriaga #108.indd#108.indd 3535 111/4/091/4/09 9:48:349:48:34 AMAM Region Focus
translators and interpreters. However, the are largely a relay exercise. Information of translation in the near future between number of competent Chinese translators is fi rst transferred to English and then to Chinese and Portuguese, Russian and is still minuscule compared to the gar- a third target language. In the process, Hindi/Urdu. Arabic <> Chinese projects gantuan volumes of information being something is inevitably lost in transla- are also poised to be more frequently generated, not to mention the increasing tion. The translation cycle also doubles, requested. number of language combinations. which means twice the price. Some LSPs ■ The most common way for Chinese English is still the most popular lan- see this phenomenon as an opportunity to companies to market their products in guage to learn, making the availability increase profi ts, but because localization the EU is through distributors or dealers. of qualifi ed linguists in other languages is still an afterthought for many compa- These relationships need to be brokered negligible in both regions. People in the nies, cost is always a concern. Thus, only and established, with interpreters help- export-import arena are thus forced to essential, regulatory or IP documentation ing at the onset and translators added to communicate in English, with varying gets translated. The patent translation the equation once the regulatory process levels of fl uency and risk for miscom- business is now larger than ever, but this (such as homologation of Chinese autos) munication. As Leonard Orban, the EU is considered to be highly specialized is under way. Commissioner for Multilingualism recently translation, so the supply of expert trans- ■ Quality control issues still plague expressed during a seminar in Stockholm, lators to handle it competently is largely some Chinese imports. Accusations of IP “if you speak your mother tongue, you insuffi cient. right infringement are also commonplace. say what you wish; if you speak another Legal processes require the translation of language, you say what you can.” Nego- When opportunity a great deal of documentation, so subject tiations, an integral part of trade, are knocks, pay attention matter specialization will be increasingly thus the fi rst level of risk encountered by Many of the largest global translation demanded of LSPs. trading parties. Interpreters may be on and localization companies have had a ■ The main verticals in which the hand to facilitate exchanges among presence in China for many years now, EU is trading with China are agricultural business people, but how many of them either by setting up a Chinese subsidiary machinery and products, autos and auto are knowledgeable in, say, bulldozer or by way of acquisition. Even more LSPs parts, aerospace, chemicals, food, logis- engines? plan to set up offi ces in China. Numer- tics and transportation services, heavy Many Europeans are already fl uent in ous industry events have also taken place machinery, metals, mineral resources and other European languages, and many in China since 2004, starting with small pharmaceuticals. Chinese do speak adequate English, but meetings (mainly academic translation In the 1990s, American politicians when it comes to other levels of bilin- events) to large events such as the LISA frequently talked of “a new world order.” gualism, the numbers are reduced in Forum Asia in 2006, Localization World At the time, this phrase referred to the end many cases to a few academics and, of Shanghai in 2007 and the XVIII FIT World of the USSR, the German reunifi cation, course, the immigrant population. Few Congress in 2008. and what both of these events represented language schools offer Mandarin or Can- Even so, much work remains to bring politically to the United States. In today’s tonese in Europe; the best option for the translation and localization busi- new world order, economic factors rule those with a need to gain some fl uency is ness in China up to the level of maturity a globalized world. They can make or to self-study or hire a private tutor. For enjoyed by its counterparts in Europe. break societies. Governments and private Europeans in need of school-based The time when direct human-provided institutions should do more to encourage instruction in those languages, study-in- language transfer between Chinese and and fund foreign language and transla- China programs advertised in Western European languages other than English tion/interpreting education in order to European languages are the norm. becomes commonplace is still far into the improve their standing in the global At the same time, in both China and future. In the meantime, those who can landscape. After all, quality translation, the EU, the number of registered LSPs be fi rst at offering direct quality transla- localization and interpreting services are has tripled in the past two years. In the tion at enterprise level volumes will set crucial to maintaining actual world order, EU, when it comes to LSPs for Chinese the standard. Incorporating tools such be it political, social or economic. M and other non-European languages, it is as machine translation and multilingual References immigrants or fi rst-generation heritage authoring will help make the most of speakers who have most recently set up the services offered by these pioneering Colliander Lind, Anne-Marie, and translation shops in countries such as LSPs. Strategic planners for both buyers Nataly Kelly. “Nordic Languages Remain Germany and France. The typical LSP and LSPs should pay attention to the fol- at Risk in Spite of E.U. Linguistic Diversity Policies.” Common Sense Advisory, Inc., offering direct translation to and from lowing opportunities: 2009. www.globalwatchtower.com/ Chinese is a one or two-person outfi t, ■ Chinese-owned companies are now 2009/09/09/nordic-language-survival capable of handling a small volume of building machines or carrying out large Sargent, Benjamin B., and Donald A. documentation and noncomplex web construction projects across the world, DePalma. “The Language Competency localization projects. The same is true for from Germany to Australia and from Continuum and Chinese LSPs.” China, where translation companies num- Angola to Mexico. Common Sense Advisory, Inc., 2009. ber in the thousands, but the vast majority ■ Other powerful non-EU economies www.commonsenseadvisory.com/Research/ is comprised of individual translators. are trading heavily with China: Brazil, Report_Abstracts/090805_QT_language_ Because English language combina- Russia, India (known collectively with competency_continuum_and_chines/ tions still rule, enterprise-level translations China as BRIC). Expect an increased volume tabid/1741/Default.aspx
36 | MultiLingual December 2009 [email protected]
334-364-36 F TxabarriagaTxabarriaga #108.indd#108.indd 3636 111/4/091/4/09 9:48:349:48:34 AMAM
Europe Showcase
5,400 Translation Localization with Language Industry Agencies and 17,500 Certifi cation System (LICS) Freelance Translators a French Touch
With a passion for the French language, ® Need more translation projects? Baguette Translations is the partner of choice for LICS , the Language Industry Certification System, your localization needs. Headquartered in Paris, is a new international platform, offering quality • Download directory of 5,400+ Baguette serves the IT, health care and engineering certificates for language service providers worldwide. translation agencies! industries and provides: LICS is a pioneer and market leader in certification Want more translators to work for you? • Full software and website localization: according to the European Standard EN 15038:2006 GUI, user guides and help files “Translation services — Service requirements” and • Download database of 17,500+ in community interpreting services. freelance translators! • Translation of corporate information, IFUs, white papers For more information, please refer to www.lics-certification.org www.TranslationDirectory.com • DTP and quality assurance • Consulting on cultural issues TermNet — International TranslationDirectory.com Baguette Translations Network for Terminology Lviv, Ukraine Paris • New York • Jerusalem Vienna, Austria [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] www.translationdirectory.com www.baguette-trans.com www.termnet.org • www.lics-certification.org
New Members at Your Turkish SEPROTEC SEPROTEC Multilingual Solutions welcomes Localization Partner on board Rocío Cava as international business Teknik Translation Agency is dedicated to development manager and Miguel Ángel Sevil as How to Be providing high-quality translation services for its commercial and marketing director. World Savvy multinational customers in the following language Rocío has joined SEPROTEC Multilingual Solutions combinations: from English, German, French, to coordinate the international development of International Marketing Communications Italian, Spanish and Dutch into Turkish. the company, directing the sales campaigns of the Market Research Our specialization includes IT, electronics, different international delegations. Miguel Ángel Marketing technical and medical translations, telecommunica- has taken on his position with the objective of tions, commerce and business. Quality-oriented coordinating and developing SEPROTEC’s marketing and flexible service, responsiveness and on-time policy and strengthening the synergies between the delivery ensure permanent customer satisfaction. different services offered by the company.
JFA Marketing Teknik Translation Agency SEPROTEC Multilingual Solutions Dubuque, Iowa USA Izmir, Turkey Madrid • Barcelona • London • Paris [email protected] [email protected] Munich • New York • Hong Kong www.jfamarkets.com www.tekniktranslation.com [email protected] • www.seprotec.com
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MultiLingual | 37
3377 FFocusocus SShowcasehowcase ##108.indd108.indd 3737 111/4/091/4/09 9:50:459:50:45 AMAM Developing audio description in Greece
Region Focus Yota Georgakopoulou
The introduction of audio description (AD) in everyday language is that of written utterances. However, the defi - into the world of Greek media has created the nition of text as a communicative occurrence also applies to spoken emergence of a niche in the job market: the train- utterances and, further, to what has come to be described in recent years as audiovisual texts. Ting of new professionals and the development Interlingual subtitling and dubbing constitute the two clas- of principles for this new fi eld of audiovisual sic examples of audiovisual text types that have been thor- “translation.” In 2008, an important initiative oughly analyzed and discussed in the last couple of decades. Little attention has been paid, though, to the audio described was undertaken in the fi eld by the Institute of text. AD itself is as old as people narrating visual information Audiovisual Media in Greece, which set up a to other people, and though the practice of AD as a technique workshop on AD in order to raise awareness on of “translating” fi lm for the blind and people with low vision the subject among industry players. The work- has existed since the early 1980s, it was only in the beginning of the twenty-fi rst century that it has been included in transla- shop triggered a discussion on the lack of rele- tion curricula at universities and is being researched as part of vant experience in Greece and on the guidelines translation studies with relevant publications seeing the light and standards by which audio describers need to of day. Today, audio-described material on television, in the be recruited and trained. At the same time, ERT, cinema and on DVDs is on the increase, and several European countries, the United States, Canada and Japan are benefi t- the Greek state broadcaster, procured a bid for ing from this service. In the United Kingdom there has been accessible television programming, program- legislation obligating television broadcasters to provide AD ming accompanied by subtitles for the hard of for part of their programming since 2001, while the European Parliament and the European Council have issued Directive hearing, AD and sign language. 2007/65/EC requiring member states to encourage the media The technological advances that took place in the end of the service providers in their jurisdiction to make their products twentieth century and that continue to shape multimedia commu- more accessible to people with a visual or hearing disability. nication in the twenty-fi rst century have furnished translation and According to this Directive, “Member States shall bring into linguistic studies with a plethora force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions nec- of new phenomena to discuss essary to comply with this Directive by 19 December 2009 at Yota Georgakopoulou holds and describe. The notion of text the latest” (“Directive 2007/65/EC,” 44). It remains to be seen a Ph.D. in subtitling from the as the vehicle for translating whether this will mean that any member states will also adopt University of Surrey. She is the any act of communication is legislation related to making audiovisual products accessible managing director of the undergoing profound changes. to people with disabilities as an obligation rather than just as European Captioning Institute. The traditional concept of text a recommendation.
38 | MultiLingual December 2009 [email protected]
338-428-42 F GeorgakopoulouGeorgakopoulou ##108.indd38108.indd38 3838 111/4/091/4/09 9:55:399:55:39 AMAM Region Focus
AD is defi ned as a description of the its coherence for a visually impaired per- one of ERT’s digital channels, is dedicated visual elements of an audiovisual pro- son (VIP). to access services, ensuring that most of gram, delivered via the audio channel, ■ That the person writing the AD its programs are accompanied by Greek for the benefi t of the blind (congenitally script is able to edit down the informa- sign language interpreting and teletext blind or with acquired blindness) and tion available to the minimum amount subtitles for the deaf and hard of hear- people with low vision. It is meant to necessary for the fullest possible compre- ing. AD was also advertised as one of the provide them with the main components hension of the image and the director’s services the channel aimed to incorporate to understand the program: the action, intent so as to comply with the time into its schedule. This was not made pos- the characters, their movements, their restrictions present. The necessary infor- sible until ERT, cofunded by the Euro- body language, the scenery, the cos- mation that needs to be included in an pean Regional Development Fund, issued tumes and so on. The recorded text is AD is the where (place), the when (time), a tender in early 2008 for the creation of inserted between the dialogue. It should the who (character description) and the accessible digital programming. not interfere with important music and what (actions). ERT’s announcement was coupled sound effects, and it is mixed with the ■ The language in which the AD with a workshop on AD, set up in Janu- original soundtrack. script is written is particularly important. ary 2008 in Athens under the auspices of The benefi ts AD presents to the blind The person writing the script needs to the Hellenic Audiovisual Institute. This or people with low vision go without have a rich vocabulary so as to best uti- was instrumental in publicizing AD, and saying. It enables them to follow the lize the time available for the description it formed the venue in which AD was storyline more fully without the help and be imaginative in his or her choices. introduced to the Greek public in terms of another person to explain things to AD scripts can easily become fl at due to of history, target audience, international them. Thus, they may enjoy a fi lm at repetitiveness, with occurrences of the standards and relevant legislation in the cinema, a program on television or verb walk or look, for example, so a suc- effect in the EU, technical specifi cations, exhibits at a museum as fully as pos- cessful describer will utilize the language software and hardware used, the pro- sible, experiencing them in a similar way potential to the full in order to fi nd dif- cess followed for the production of AD as sighted people. AD is also of benefi t ferent expressions for the same thing, material in other countries and the cost to sighted people in cases where visual perhaps also specifying the manner in involved, recruitment and training of information is not available, as, for which something is done and shifting professionals, transfer of know-how and example, in cultural and natural spaces the emphasis in each case as required. To best practices. The speakers comprised or to elderly or sick people whose visual achieve this, one may make use of fi gu- a wide array of representatives from abilities are deteriorating. Furthermore, rative language devices such as meta- PRISMA+, the European Broadcasting AD tracks can be used in the same way as phors and similes. Union, companies producing AD soft- audio books as another way to “watch” a ■ The fi nal consideration has to do ware and hardware, organizations and fi lm while driving or a soap opera on the with the voice of the person narrat- companies that produce and record AD television while busy with chores. ing the AD. The voice used needs to fi t scripts, universities offering courses in AD is an intersemiotic type of trans- the program material, must have clear AD, as well as representatives of organi- lation, as one moves from the visual articulation, and should ideally be of zations of people with disabilities putting (images) to words (writing the script), the opposite sex to the one used for the forward their thoughts and expressing which could happen in the same language narrator in the program (if any) to avoid their needs and wishes. (intralingual) or in one language that confusion. To date, there are no provisions for AD is meant to be translated into another The idea of AD in the Greek media at institutional levels in Greece. The only (interlingual). The restrictions AD is char- was introduced back in 2006 when ERT legislation on accessibility in Greece is Law acterized by have to do with the amount launched its digital platform. PRISMA+, 2328/95, which in Article 3, paragraph 20, of time available between dialogues to deliver the AD, as well as by the fact that the language is shaped by the narrative function. Although AD is analyzed and researched as a separate text type, the AD script in itself does lack certain textuality features, such as coherence. Moreover, it enjoys a close intertextual relationship with the fi lmic text. A successful AD is accomplished by adhering to four basic principles: ■ That the person writing the AD script actively “sees” the image to be described. The writer needs to compre- hend the purpose of the director of a fi lm and focus on the individual visual ele- ments that make up the storyline of the program and are crucial in maintaining
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MultiLingual | 39
338-428-42 F GeorgakopoulouGeorgakopoulou ##108.indd39108.indd39 3939 111/4/091/4/09 9:55:409:55:40 AMAM Region Focus
stipulates that the minimum requirements AD for broadcast purposes, however, guidelines provided by ERT as part of the for all television stations in Greece are to involves a different methodology and tender documentation, ECI researched exist- include in their programming a fi ve-min- different software and hardware to live ing AD guidelines and compiled a working ute news broadcast daily and a 30-minute AD. As the United Kingdom is the Euro- document for AD guidelines in Greek. The informative, entertainment or educational pean leader in the area of AD, it was to guidelines consulted were the Independent program per fortnight accompanied by the United Kingdom that ERT looked for Television Commission Guidance Standards Greek subtitles for the deaf and hard of importing know-how. Representatives of on Audio Description, the German guide- hearing and Greek sign language inter- UK companies offering AD services were lines proposed by Benecke and Dosch, the preting. AD in Greek has so far only been asked to present their working models Spanish standard, the French AD charter offered live at theatre performances by on AD at the workshop organized by (Morisset & Gonant), the Canadian guide- Very Special Arts (VSA) Hellas, the Greek the Hellenic Audiovisual Institute last lines as explained in Joe Clark’s web pages, affi liate of Very Special Arts, an interna- as well as the AD guidelines followed by the tional nonprofi t organization aimed to National Captioning Institute (NCI), ECI’s provide people with disabilities the oppor- mother company in the United States. tunity to participate in and enjoy the arts. Recruitment of staff took place in tan- Aside from its other activities, VSA The notion of text as the dem with setting up internal AD guidelines Hellas started offering AD for the theatre at ECI. The need for audio describers in in 2001, and an average of fi ve theatre vehicle for translating any Greek was advertised at universities and performances is audio described per year. colleges teaching and training students VSA Hellas has also audio described short act of communication in the principles of audio description. ECI fi lms at the fi rst fi lm festival dedicated to is undergoing profound maintains close ties with various institu- people with disabilities that took place in tions both in the United Kingdom and in Greece in 2007 and the broadcast of a fea- changes. Greece and offers placement programs to ture fi lm that took place at the Lighthouse their students. Thus, it was mainly gradu- of the Blind. All performances are live. ates of AD courses, as well as professional subtitlers, who were recruited to form the body of audio describers trained to work on January. ECI, having a branch in Athens the programs for which ECI undertakes to since 2006, also participated, sharing provide AD in Greek. its experience in English AD and its In preparation for writing AD scripts in proposed plan for engineering produc- Greek, ECI’s staff researched AD scripts in tion of AD scripts in Greek. The lack of English for various program types so as to professionals to work in the fi eld was familiarize themselves with the strategies stressed during the workshop, and the used and the prioritizing of information need for training and certifi cation was applied in different types of texts. Further discussed. It was also noted that recent training of staff was provided by enlisting Greek graduates of postgraduate studies the services of NCI’s AD department, which on AD in English in the United Kingdom is a leader in AD services in English in could form the core of professionals to the United States. A template method was offer their services in this niche in the developed, whereby the fi rst few episodes Greek market. A solution to the gap of programming ECI received to audio in the area of educating and training describe into Greek were sent to NCI’s AD professionals in AD in Greece was pre- department together with notes regarding sented by Athens Metropolitan College, the action that took place in the fi lm. NCI which as of 2008 offers an MA course created AD scripts in English, and these Are you looking for in audiovisual translation into Greek in were then adapted in the Greek language professional MEDICAL collaboration with Roehampton Univer- by ECI’s employees, who did so by adhering sity, including a module on AD. to the Greek AD guidelines that had been translators for your projects? ECI produced and implemented a compiled, reviewing them along the way ACP Traductera´s team of doctors, phar- working model that was comprised of and amending them as necessary. After macists and medical experts can handle all your projects into CEE languages. research, recruitment, training, voicing following this working model for a few
THE EUROPEAN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT THE EUROPEAN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND OF INDUSTRY THE MINISTRY FUND AND THE CZECH REPUBLIC SUPPORT TRADE OF FUTURE. YOUR INVESTMENT IN and testing of produced material. As the programs, ECI’s staff was ready to produce fi rst few AD requests for Greek started its own AD scripts directly into Greek. coming through, this model was put to Despite the fact that all AD script writ- practice in order to ensure the highest ing seems to be based on the same basic quality standards in producing AD in principles, as outlined in the beginning of Greek, as the company geared up for this article, several differences evolved full-time production in 2009. in practice in different countries. Dur- In absence of an offi cial standard for AD ing the previously mentioned exercise, guidelines in Greek, bar the few general several conclusions were drawn as to
40 | MultiLingual December 2009 [email protected]
338-428-42 F GeorgakopoulouGeorgakopoulou ##108.indd40108.indd40 4040 111/4/091/4/09 9:55:419:55:41 AMAM Region Focus
the differences between the English and plus adverb or a present participle, which “priests dressed in black robes with long Greek languages when it comes to AD. is — again — a wordier alternative. beards.” This information was purposely These can be summarized as follows: ■ Language in AD is shaped by the left out in the Greek AD script, as a Greek ■ English is a concise language, known narrative function, which follows differ- audience is well familiar with the appear- for its vast vocabulary, which is used to ent conventions in each language. For ance of Greek Orthodox priests. So, the maximum effect in AD scripts. Given the instance, Greek written texts are charac- time allocated to their description could constraints of AD, translating English AD terized by long and complicated sentence be used more effectively to focus on other scripts into Greek typically results in a constructions, but not when these texts information in the program. degree of “translation loss” that is typical are aimed to be read aloud. In terms of Once the AD script is ready, it is of all English into Greek translation text syntax, fewer ideas seem to be expressed rehearsed, checked and sent to the voice types where spacio-temporal restrictions in a single sentence in Greek AD scripts, talent who will be used for the record- apply. For instance, the plasticity of the and there is a preference for short coor- ing. We have chosen to record the AD at English language allows describers to dinated sentences as opposed to long the studio of a well-known post-produc- create adjectives out of two words joined subordinated sentences in English ones. tion facility that we partner with, while together, thus providing the maximum ■ When translating an AD script from using professional actors for the voicing amount of information in a very short one language to another, extra-linguistic of the scripts. Doing the recording at a space. This often requires a much longer considerations need to be taken into post-production facility allows for the version in Greek, so this type of informa- account, such as the audience’s knowl- use of a superior quality recording tion may be edited out. Also, English is edge and expectations. Therefore, culture- engine with an experienced sound engi- particularly rich in verbs that encode a specifi c elements may be necessary for neer to handle the controls and offers general action and the manner in which description in one culture but not in added fl exibility when it comes to things this action is carried out (for example, another. For instance, one of the programs such as “cleaning” the AD track, speed- verbs describing various ways of seeing). for which we created templated AD scripts ing or pitching the sound if necessary In Greek such verbs are more sparse, and featured Greek Orthodox priests, who and so on. Using professional actors and the alternative is to use a general verb were described by our US colleagues as voice-over talents with experience in
Translation Services in all Languages
såååYEARSåOFåEXPERIENCEåINå%UROPEAN å!SIANåANDå!MERICANåMARKETS såå$OCUMENT åSOFTWAREåANDåWEBSITEåLOCALIZATION såå%XPERIENCEDåANDåQUALIlåEDåTRANSLATORSåANDåEDITORS såå-ULTILINGUALåTERMINOLOGYåMANAGEMENT såå/NLINEåPORTALåACCESSåTOåTRANSLATIONåTOOLS såå/VERååCOMPANYåOFlåCESåWORLDWIDE
KERN Global Language Services in Europe, Asia and America Tel: 1 (888) 775 5376 www.e-kern.com · [email protected]
Germany: +49 (0) 69 75 60 73 0 · United Kingdom: +44 (20) 78 31 56 00, Netherlands: +31 (0) 20 520 0740 · France: +33 (0) 1 53 93 85 20
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MultiLingual | 41
338-428-42 F GeorgakopoulouGeorgakopoulou ##108.indd41108.indd41 4141 111/4/091/4/09 9:55:449:55:44 AMAM Region Focus
reading audio books for the recording familiar with live AD at theatre perfor- has his or her own working group for instead of audio describers with a good mances, but an introduction to the ser- assessing the quality of the material and recording voice was a conscious deci- vice and the company was provided of the accompanying service. At this sion we made, as it enables us to offer nevertheless. Each workshop was fol- point, programming has already been the highest standards of quality to our lowed by a round table discussion with fi lmed or is in the editing process, shows clients, as well as a large variety of our staff. The feedback we received was are already being subtitled and audio voices to choose from. Also, this work- most valuable and helped us better pri- described, and several of them have ing model allows us to match a voice to oritize the information that is important made their way to ERT’s accessibility different program types — for example, to our audience. For instance, we discov- committee. The start date for the broad- using a younger, edgier voice for a fast- ered that VIPs place more value on infor- cast of these programs was set to October paced documentary on weddings or a mation regarding people’s expressions 2009, after which user feedback began softer, fairytale-like voice for a children’s than settings, but that they would still to be gathered. program. like as much information as possible to Developing AD in a new language In order to ensure that our AD scripts be provided for each scene. An interest- is not an easy task. Fortunately, in the in Greek have the intended effect and ing comment made was in relation to the case of Greek, we have the experience serve their purpose to the maximum, the time period that is specifi ed in AD scripts, of other countries to build on, and we fi nal test to put them through was audi- and where sources of visual information can ease our way into it. However, the ence reception. Due to the logistics were coming from. For example, are the groundwork that needs to be laid is involved, it was not possible to follow lights in a house switched on, or is the extensive and delving into this line of the ideal working model of Germany, sunlight glittering in the pool? In general, work requires serious effort and pro- where a blind person sits together with the response from attendees was extremely fessionalism if the end result is to be a the audio describers going through every positive, and we expect to receive more high-quality product. script they produce. However, we selected interesting information in the upcoming Providing AD is not just a job; it is a representative programs of different workshops. service, and this is in line with the view genres and invited members of Greek The last step in the process before the of a high expectation of lifestyle for all. organizations for the blind to watch actual broadcast of the programs is the We all hope to make AD widely known them at our offi ces. We asked for repre- report from the accessibility committee in Greece once the programming gets sentatives of all degrees of blindness, that checks the quality of the material broadcast so that end users demand it in genders and age groups, as well as people delivered as part of the tender and a more organized and systematic way, with different educational backgrounds, reports back to ERT. It is composed, and other broadcasters, following ERT’s so that their feedback would be truly among others, of one representative of example, eventually provide access ser- representative of the blind population in the Greek Association for the Deaf and vices for their programming. M Greece. Most of the blind people who one representative of the Panhellenic attended the workshops were already Association of the Blind, each of whom References Benecke, Bernd, and Elmar Dosch. Wenn aus Bildern Worte warden. Durch Audio-Description zum Hörfi lm. Munich: Bayerischer Rundfunk, 2004. Bourne, Julian, and Catalina Jiménez Hurtando. “From the Visual to the Verbal in Two Languages: A Contrastive Analysis of the Audio Description of The Hours in English and Spanish.” In Media For All: tmmix® Subtitling for the Deaf, Audio Description, and Sign Language. Ed. Jorge Diaz-Cintas, Pilar Orero and Aline Remael. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2007. 175-87. “Directive 2007/65/EC of the European The lossless TMX-engine Parliament and of the Council of 11 • Legacy translation data to standard TMX December 2007 amending Council Directive 89/552/EEC on the coordination of certain • Easily switch translation tools and vendors provisions laid down by law, regulation or • Preserves all existing metadata administrative action in Member States • Enriches TMX with new metadata concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities.” Offi cial Journal of • Embeds existing conversion processes the European Union L 332 (18/12/2007). • Prepares data for SMT http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/ LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2007:332:0027:0045: • Reduces 90% of processing time EN:PDF 05 Panhellenic Association of the Blind >ˎ˞˪ˢ˨˨˛˪˦ˬ˯˺˪ˡˢ˰˩ˬ˯7˲˳˨˻˪]. www.pst.gr/central.aspx?sId=97I260I74 mix 7I323I396223 For more information about tm visit grafidata.nl Piperou, Eleni. VSA Hellas. Telephone interview, 30 March 2009.
42 | MultiLingual December 2009 [email protected]
338-428-42 F GeorgakopoulouGeorgakopoulou ##108.indd42108.indd42 4242 111/4/091/4/09 9:55:469:55:46 AMAM M A
0 4 : 7 1 : 0 43 1
9 || 0 /
4
Region Focus / 1 111/4/09 10:17:40 AM
8%
ied
if
s
s
la
C
13% ip
h
rs
o
ns
o
Sp MultiLingual
se
n
po
s
re t
ec
ir
D
15% 15%
ng i
et
g
tar
s
rk
o
emographic tw
e
Use of search, email, and video display advertising is significantly increasing D
N
d A
25% 25%
26% te
ia
Behavioural targeting Behavioural Affil
35% Source: European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA)
advertising y
41% Video Video
Displa
il 46% a
Figure 1: Online marketing methods (2009). m E Christian Arno, founder and managing 64%
ected in its annual translation and interpreting spend,ected in its annual translation and interpreting director of Lingo24, graduated from Oxford 64% of respondents cited their objectives for using these formats is a combination of 64% of respondents cited their marketing and 17% direct marketing and brand advertising, 19% use for just direct use for brand advertising alone Search 64% of respondents cited their objectives for using these formats is a combination of 64% of respondents cited their marketing and 17% direct marketing and brand advertising, 19% use for just direct use for brand advertising alone University with a degree in French and Italian. Formats, tools and buying mechanisms for Formats, tools and buying mechanisms online Q15/16. Which of the following formats, tools and buying mechanisms are you increasing use of within your interactive use of within and buying mechanisms are you increasing Q15/16. Which of the following formats, tools or combination? brand advertising these direct marketing, marketing strategies and are your objectives for using Respecting linguistic diversity is one of the core values of the speaker point of view, German has plurality with almost 20% German has plurality with point of view, speaker of the EU population speaking it as a mother tongue, followed by English and Italian each with 13% and French with 12% 1). (Table EU, refl which comes in at over one billion Euros. The multilingual model Paul Sawers, communications executive at Lingo24, Sawers, Paul studied communication and multimedia and has worked as a freelance writer. - rst century business. European online marketing European Arno Sawers & Christian Paul
3 4
ts all” solution covering every industry sector and d d n i .
C S Online marketing is one of the most powerful is one of the most powerful Online marketing A
8 0 1 Research conducted by the European Interactive Advertising Advertising Research conducted by the European Interactive campaign, from the Every facet of every online marketing A whole the waters are even murkier. With foreign markets, to some degree by over English is spoken tools available to twenty-fi and cus- A virtual bridge connecting company builds mutually benefi online marketing tomer, and sellers cial relationships between the buyers mod- makes of the world. It is, simply put, what ern business tick. #
s r www.multilingual.com December 2009 Association (EIAA) indicated that 64% of European marketers of European marketers Association (EIAA) indicated that 64% engine optimization intended to increase their use of search (Figure 1), with 70% (SEO) in targeting new customers in 2009 increase their overall of advertisers stating their intention to But the perennial problem of how best internet spend this year. to via the web isn’t one that’s likely to target domestic markets be resolved anytime soon, given that there’s no such thing as a “one size fi consumer demographic. Also, trends are forever changing. banner ads to the e-newsletters, must be carefully constructed with the target audience in mind. What looks engaging, clever gurus might slip through the and salient to a team of marketing sand through a sieve. consciousness of the cyber-surfer like array of cultural and linguistic complexities faces those seeking In Europe, to tap into international markets. there are over 200 indigenous languages, 23 in the 27 European Union of which are spoken (EU) member states. Some of the languages are hence the in more than one country, spoken disparity. half the population of the EU. From a native
e OO w a S
F
5 4 - 3 443-45 F Sawers #108 ASC.indd 43 Region Focus
Separating numbers Following on from that last point, such seemingly trivial issues
Québéquois have the potential to cause major confusion. For example, in the Although the scope of this article is confi ned to European parameters, United Kingdom decimal commas are conventionally used in it’s worth noting briefl y that the variations between Canadian French numbers as thousands separators, with a dot used as the decimal (Québéquois) and the French in France are particularly striking. The separator (1,000,000.00), but in many parts of Europe, such as most noticeable differences derive from the systematic translation of English terms into French rather than importing English terms directly Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Italy and Sweden, these are reversed into the language as Anglicisms, which happens more commonly in (1.000.000,00). Some countries, such as France, Croatia, Poland and France. Finland, don’t use any thousands separator at all (1 000 000.00). So weekend, for example, becomes fi n de semaine in Canada, while In Sweden, colons are used as decimal separators with money in France it is simply le weekend. only (21:43 kr), while The Netherlands use a decimal point in place of a decimal comma for the thousands separator in currency (€1.000.000,00), but a space for other numbers (1 000 000,00). adopted by the EU is worth following for companies needing to There are many such examples within the relatively small reach out to international markets in their native tongues. confi nes of Europe that serve to highlight the importance of businesses properly localizing their website and other market- French forms ing collateral for international markets. The differences between English and French are obvious, even to monolinguists, but the differences between French in English French (France) French (Swiss/Belgian) France and French in Switzerland or Belgium aren’t always that obvious. Indeed, for the most part, there isn’t a great deal of dis- seventy soixante-dix septante tinction among the different European French dialects, but from huitante eighty quatre-vingts a marketing standpoint, there is no room for complacency. (only in some regions) When targeting French-speaking markets outside France, it’s important to involve local translators, if not during the transla- ninety quatre-vingts-dix nonante tion process, then certainly at the fi nal checking/proofreading breakfast petit déjeuner déjeuner stage. This will help to identify any of the linguistic and gram- matical nuances that exist between the different dialects, thus lunch déjeuner dîner averting a potential translation faux-pas. dinner While this is by no means a comprehensive analysis of every dîner souper (evening meal) nuance, Table 2 highlights some of the key French dialectal differences. post offi ce box boîte postale (BP) case postale (CP)
German groupings Table 2: French dialectal differences. Similarly, when targeting Germanic markets, it’s important for marketers to be wary of some of the key differences between European online marketing the German used in Germany and, for example, the German Search is playing an increasingly important part in many used in Switzerland. businesses’ domestic online marketing strategies, and know- Switzerland doesn’t use a ß (Eszett) symbol, opting for ss ing how to transfer this approach into the lucrative European instead. Furthermore, the use of present perfect (Perfekt) for markets is crucial. past events is much more frequent in Switzerland than in Ger- It may make sense that the key search terms that get a busi- many where past simple (Präteritum) is preferred. This applies ness ranked highly, say, on Google UK should be translated and particularly to marketing texts where the reader is addressed incorporated into the text on a company’s foreign language directly. website. But this is often not enough in itself. There is an argu- With some nouns the Swiss use a different grammatical ment that says keywords shouldn’t be translated at all, as the gender (das E-Mail instead of die E-Mail), while Swiss Germans direct dictionary translations aren’t always what international tend to write numbers with a prime (23’000,00) and not with a consumers use to search for products or services online. dot (23.000,00) or a space (23 000,00). To help illustrate this point, consider this scenario. A UK car insurance company that has dedicated a considerable amount Language Native speakers Total speakers of resources to ensure it ranks highly on Google.co.uk for the search term car insurance decides it wants to launch a campaign English 13% 51% to target French markets. A literal and not-incorrect translation German 18% 32% of car insurance into French would be l’assurance automobile. However, Google’s keyword tool indicates that this term yields French 12% 26% very few results. A little research into the key search terms actu- ally used in French search engines reveals that people tend to Italian 13% 16% use variations of this term, such as assurance auto or assurance Spanish 9% 15% voiture. By taking just a few minutes to research the keywords that consumers actively use to search for car insurance abroad, Table 1: Top fi ve European languages. a major problem can be averted.
44 | MultiLingual December 2009 [email protected]
443-453-45 F SawersSawers #108#108 ASC.inddASC.indd 4444 111/4/091/4/09 10:17:4110:17:41 AMAM Region Focus
waste of money. However, the disparity between the web’s dominant language and other search languages creates another opportunity for those seeking to tap into international markets. The saturation of key search terms on non-English language websites is nowhere near what it is on English language websites. The upshot of this is businesses can rise rapidly in foreign search engines for high-ranking search terms. Thus, the car insurance company from the United Kingdom, in theory, should fi nd it less effort to build its French language website to rank highly for assurance auto on Google.fr than it did for car insurance on Google.co.uk.
A multifaceted approach Targeting European markets through online marketing requires a multifaceted approach. A multilingual marketing strat- egy should underpin any international Figure 2: Top languages spoken by global internet users. campaign, but localization takes this a step further and ensures that linguistic Similarly, in some markets it won’t be French and Russian consumers are four and cultural nuances don’t hamper necessary to translate key search terms times less likely than Spaniards to buy progress. By using inappropriate tone, at all. In Germany, for example, English from an English-language site. terminology and style, core messages are terminology is often used, especially The main lesson to be learned from often lost and overall confi dence in a with technical and web-related subjects. this may be rather obvious. Any business brand diminishes. It’s clear that keyword So, a website design company that that is marketing itself abroad should research and SEO are important parts of ranks highly in the United Kingdom for only ever do so in the language of its website localization, and any business the term web design would be fi ne to target market. Anything less can actually that fails to properly localize its website incorporate the English phrase into its be counterproductive and, ultimately, a is missing a very simple trick. M German-language website. Language saturation Besides English, the main European DO MORE WITH THE POWER OF languages on the internet are German, French, Spanish and Portuguese, although the latter two are boosted considerably due SYSTRAN to their proliferation in Latin America. Over 460 million internet users com- Enterprise Server 7 municate in English to a native standard. However, there are over 1.5 billion internet users across the globe, meaning that the vast majority of web users are Translate more for less with a powerful hybrid MT native speakers of a language other than Reduce costs engine combining the strengths of rule-based and English. Improve effi ciency statistical MT. Although the majority of web pages Achieve quality ›› 52+ language pairs on the internet are written in English, translations over half of all Google searches are in ›› Self-learning techniques for users to train the languages other than English. Research software to any domain by Common Sense Advisory has shown ›› Customization tools to manage dictionaries and TMs streamline post-editing that consumers are four times more ›› APIs for easy integration with enterprise applications likely to buy from a website that is writ- ten in their own language. Overall, more Viisiit us onlliine att www.ssysttransofft.ccom than half of all consumers only buy from websites written in their native tongue. Curiously, this research also showed that
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MultiLingual | 45
443-453-45 F SawersSawers #108#108 ASC.inddASC.indd 4545 111/4/091/4/09 10:17:4110:17:41 AMAM Clean data improves SMT engine results
Technology Kirti Vashee
Asia Online recently conducted a study of the engine development. More data is not always better. Smaller issues involved in sharing translation memory amounts of high-quality data can produce better results than large amounts of relatively dirty data. Terminology consistency (TM) data for developing statistical machine trans- is an important driver for better quality. Efforts made to stan- lation (SMT) engines. Three Translation Automa- dardize terminology across multiple TM data sets will likely yield A signifi cant improvements in SMT engine quality. Data cleaning tion User Society (TAUS) members from the same and normalization, plus terminology analysis and standardiza- sector in the IT industry contributed TM and tion, is a critical fi rst step to having success with any project that glossary data to facilitate and enable this experi- combines TM for developing SMT engines. ment. SMT engines were built using this TM data and other parallel bilingual texts and glossaries. Data overview As SMT is a “data-driven” technology, it is important to Extensive analysis was performed to better understand the understand the data involved. The following charts describe the best way to consolidate the data and created a total of 29 sepa- data that was used in the study. There are at least three data char- rate SMT engines. The engines were created by combining the acteristics that matter to the SMT training process: data volume, data from the three companies in various confi gurations with data quality or cleanliness, and terminological consistency. subsequent comparisons of the output quality of each engine The data was cleaned and partially normalized in order to using the BLEU and the F-Measure metric. Great care was taken ensure the engines delivered were of the best possible quality and to ensure that the key input into the measurement systems was representative of the data provided. Two key sets of engines were consistent and clean and also to ensure that the fi nal BLEU built. The fi rst was original raw TM data without cleaning. This scores were meaningful and indicative of likely real-life results left the data exactly as provided by each company. This included from different training data. mismatched lines, format tags, some lines not having a transla- While the results described in the study refl ect the very specifi c tion and other “dirt” (as considered by SMT) within the data. data used, many of the observations should hold true in general, It is important to understand that TM data often contains and these guidelines will help with all TM data consolidation metadata, tags and formatting information necessary for optimal projects. The study also provided some guidance for determining performance in specifi c TM tools; however, these same elements how much data is needed to develop a useful SMT engine. are not suitable for the SMT training process, which focuses on Some important issues were highlighted by this study. First of extracting linguistic patterns. Characterization of TM as “dirty” all, data quality matters and all TM data is not equally good for should not be interpreted as a pejorative and negative judgment SMT engine development. Data quality assessment should be an of the data. It simply means that the particular TM data is not important fi rst step in any data consolidation exercise for SMT well suited for use as SMT training material in its raw state. In general, it is necessary to clean, normalize and prepare most TM data to maximize its benefi t and utility for SMT engine development purposes. Secondly, there was data processed by automated data cleaning Kirti Vashee, vice president of sales, tools and processes. Raw TM data that was considered inappropri- Americas and Europe for Asia Online, ate as SMT training data was discarded and missing segments is a seasoned IT sales and marketing were either translated or removed. Systematic “dirt” was detected executive and an SMT evangelist. and removed. The net result was characterized as a “clean” set
46 | MultiLingual December 2009 [email protected]
446-506-50 VVashee#108.inddashee#108.indd 4466 111/4/091/4/09 10:26:0910:26:09 AMAM Technology Tools Showcase
of data. It should be noted that the level Common source data problems of effort required to completely clean While much of this data can be con- and normalize the data was not possible sidered high quality for TM optimization within the scope of this experiment. High- purposes, it often needs to be adjusted quality SMT systems are developed with to ensure that the SMT training process large and clean normalized TM assets. The does not “learn” metadata as linguistic Trusted Windows limited data volume was an issue in all data, or “learn” erroneous patterns. cases evaluated in this study. Each com- Common problems found in the data Software Translation Tool pany provided data; however, none had included: suffi cient volume to build a production- ■ Encoding problems and inconsis- Translate your Win32, Microsoft .NET, Java quality system on its own. Even when tencies in the data. and XML software files into different languages combined, there was not quite enough ■ Large volumes of formatting tags quickly and easily with RC-WinTrans, used by data to build a high-quality production and other metadata that have no linguis- successful businesses worldwide since 1993. SMT engine, although consolidating the tic value but which can impact system Complete localization environment supports data did improve the quality signifi cantly. learning. WYSIWYG display and layout editing for For some engines, Asia Online’s baseline ■ Punctuation differences and dia- Win32/.NET files; dictionaries; automatic data was integrated into the TAUS member critic inconsistencies across the TM. translation and related operations; quality dataset to improve vocabulary coverage ■ English words appeared in the French assurance checks; source file changes indication and fi ll linguistic pattern gaps. translation. This may be valid in a TM, but and preview; secure project database update; will result in English being embedded in external translation accessories plus many other Training data: quality the French training data and make it pos- issues and normalization sible for the SMT engine to think that features and functions to make your software The training data provided by all English is French! international and expand your market. three companies varied in quality from ■ Excessive formatting tags and HTML very clean to relatively dirty in terms of (often representing images) embedded in Schaudin.com suitability for SMT training. “Dirty” data segments. Gross-Zimmern, Germany had extra tags, variables, inconsistent ■ Frequently the French translations Seattle, Washington USA variable formats, missing segments and had bracketed terms that were not pres- [email protected] • www.schaudin.com mismatched segments. “Clean” data had ent in the English source. few tags, consistent variable formats and ■ Frequently the capitalization did well aligned translated segments. Much not match. of the data in this study could be cleaned ■ Terminology was sometimes incon- with automated tools built for the task. sistent, with different terms being used However, due to the volume of data with through the data for the same concept errors, segments fl agged by the tools as or meaning. possibly problematic were validated and ■ Large number of variables in many corrected by human efforts, even though different forms embedded in the text. Vari- automated corrections had already been able forms and formats are inconsistent. attempted. Efforts were made to apply an ■ Multiple sentences in one segment. AlignFactory equal level of human correction effort While this is valid, the job of word align- for all three data sets. ment becomes more complex. Higher All three data sets had issues that needed quality SMT word alignment can be Complement your existing TM and to be addressed before they were useful for achieved when these are broken out into full-text search software with this powerful training within a SMT environment. For their individual segments. alignment tool. example, segments that had identical data, ■ In French text, there are frequently Start aligning with speed and accuracy product codes or segments that were of no abbreviations when there should have and increase the performance of your use as SMT training data were removed. been a complete word. existing tools. Other common tasks were also performed, ■ Words missing on either side. such as normalizing punctuation. In French, for example, there was a mixture of « » and Testing and evaluation • AlignFactory “ ” characters. These were normalized to A Test Set was developed to measure • AlignFactoryLight the correct form for French « ». the system output quality after the SMT During this cleaning process, the auto- engines were built. This Test Set was • AlignRobot mated cleaning tools were refi ned to be deliberately kept away from the training able to handle some of the new error data so that it would be a true refl ection patterns and formats discovered. This of how the engine would translate mate- upfront data cleaning effort is critical to rial never seen before. We prepared three Terminotix Inc. success with SMT and is recommended Test Sets of 1,000 segments for compari- Ottawa, Ontario Canada for any attempt to develop SMT systems son against all engines. A fourth Test Set [email protected] with shared TM data. was prepared using the combination of www.terminotix.com
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MultiLingual | 47
446-506-50 VVashee#108.inddashee#108.indd 4477 111/4/091/4/09 10:26:0910:26:09 AMAM Technology
all the other three Test Sets. The Test data that would be typical of the type of SMT training) affects that of combined test was a more dif- Test Set A of data to be translated by Data Set A. others when merged. fi cult test and was expected to ■ The consistency of termi- Test data that would be typical of the type score lower. Test Set B nology needs to be managed. The key measurement is BLEU of data to be translated by Data Set B. Unmanaged terms result in (Bilingual Evaluation Understudy). Test data that would be typical of the type inconsistent translations. However, for fi nal evaluations, Test Set C of data to be translated by Data Set C. ■ A large number of vari- both BLEU and F-Measure were ables in the training data affect used to give as much informa- All the above Test Sets combined into one the fl uency of the translation Combined Test Sets set. This provides for an average score tion as possible with respect A, B and C across the engines when tested. as the engine is unsure how to to each engine’s quality. More reorder words. With a custom detail on interpreting the BLEU Test developed from three TAUS members’ glossaries and TM data. system specifi c to one company, score can be found on the Asia this can be managed well and Online website. that cleaner data produces better systems, addressed to actually improve quality, It should be understood that the “best” that more data is not necessarily better, but when combined with multiple com- result is not necessarily the highest scor- and that data quality and data consis- panies’ data this can become an issue. ing system. The best systems will produce tency matters. Raw un-normalized data The way to solve this issue is to either the most robust results with new and produced lower quality engines than use data with the variable value included previously unseen material as judged by engines built on cleaned data. Raw un- or simply add more data overall so that humans. In most cases this is the com- normalized data produces unpredictable the vocabulary is covered. bined system with baseline data. Higher results. Data Set B would need further The three data sets varied in terms of BLEU scores represent better quality sys- cleaning to make it more consistent with cleanliness or readiness for SMT training. tems. The results were that Data Sets A the other data sets, but even this data Data Set B in particular had a very large and C produced signifi cantly better results set benefi ts from the light cleaning that amount of formatting tags in the data that than Data Set B. was done. We estimate that the overall greatly infl uenced the training. benefi ts of sharing data would have been Combining the Asia Online English to Detailed observations greater had this been done. French Baseline with the three companies’ from the study Raw, “dirty” data consolidation is un- data sometimes produced higher scores as The Asia Online team analyzed the likely to benefi t most companies except the baseline fi lled some vocabulary gaps output and while the results were mostly perhaps where the terminology is highly that existed in the custom domain system. what was expected based on the data consistent across shared data sets. Raw However, when there are great differences used, some results stood out more than data consolidation brings a number of in linguistic styles between the baseline expected. Combining clean TM data sets issues. Combining the three data sets and the training/test data set; there may in a single domain produces better SMT highlights these issues well: be no real benefi t to using the baseline. engines than using the data uncombined. ■ The quality of data needs to be Slightly lower scoring systems can often As a whole, the tests clearly demonstrate controlled. Lower quality TM (in terms be the most robust. Even though the BLEU
48 | MultiLingual December 2009 [email protected]
446-506-50 VVashee#108.inddashee#108.indd 4488 111/4/091/4/09 10:26:1010:26:10 AMAM
Services Showcase
Medical Translations Localization Is More Than Translation . . . MediLingua is one of Europe’s few companies specializing in medical translation. Global challenges require flexible and We provide all European languages (36 today professional service providers. Take advantage and counting) and Japanese as well as the of our experience and know-how and make your How to Be usual translation-related services. Our 250-plus product a worldwide success! SAM Engineering translators have a combined medical and was established in 1994 and provides localization World Savvy language background. services to IT organizations as well as translation International Marketing Communications and engineering services to vertical industries We work for manufacturers of medical Market Research devices, instruments, in-vitro diagnostics and through its network of translation partners, software; pharmaceutical companies; medical specializing in the translation of business Marketing publishers; national and international medical applications and technical documentation. organizations; and medical journals. SAM Engineering GmbH is located in Muehltal, Call or e-mail Simon Andriesen or visit our near Frankfurt, Germany. For more information, website for more information. see www.sam-engineering.de MediLingua BV SAM Engineering GmbH JFA Marketing Leiden, The Netherlands Muehltal, Germany Dubuque, Iowa USA [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] www.medilingua.com www.sam-engineering.de www.jfamarkets.com
Europe’s No. 1 Greek Localizer Your Polish More Than Quality Professional globalization requires experi- Since 1986, EuroGreek has been providing high- Production Center quality, turnkey solutions, encompassing a whole ence. Over the past two decades, we have Since 2000, Ryszard Jarza Translations has developed into a top international company range of client needs, for the following language been providing specialized Polish translation, combinations: specializing in the precise tuning of your localization and DTP services, primarily for life documentation and texts to the standards and • English into Greek sciences, IT, automotive, refrigeration and other mentalities of the German-speaking world. • Greek into English technology sectors. • German into Greek Our strength lies in our work for well-known • French into Greek We work with multilanguage vendors and software and hardware manufacturers. Furthermore, we also offer traditional transla- All EuroGreek’s work is produced in our Athens directly with documentation departments of tion services for the business, technology, legal production center and covers most subjects: large multinational customers. We have built a brilliant in-house team made up of experienced and medical sectors. Our team of competent • Technical linguists and engineers, who guarantee a employees provides the very best quality • Medical/Pharmaceutical high standard of quality while maintaining within the respectively agreed time frame, • IT/Telecommunications even if matters are a little more urgent. • Economics/Legal flexibility, responsiveness and accountability. All EuroGreek’s work is fully guaranteed for quality and on-time delivery. Ryszard Jarza Translations Rheinschrift Übersetzungen, EuroGreek Translations Limited Wroclaw, Poland Ursula Steigerwald London, UK • Athens, Greece [email protected] Cologne, Germany [email protected] • www.eurogreek.com www.jarza.com.pl [email protected] • www.rheinschrift.de
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MultiLingual | 49
446-506-50 VVashee#108.inddashee#108.indd 4499 111/4/091/4/09 10:26:1110:26:11 AMAM Technology
scores may sometimes be slightly lower, Continuing improvement and would be gained by ensuring that all data it is likely that the systems with baseline evolution of the SMT systems that is used is appropriately normalized data will be more robust and will be While there can be defi nite benefi ts and categorized along linguistic lines at able to handle more variations and dif- to data sharing, without understanding the time of ingestion. Asia Online ran all ferences in new source material. Based the relative cleanliness and quality of the data from each company through a on actual system output analysis, our the data, data sharing is not necessarily quality analysis check and made adjust- recommendation for the system that is benefi cial. ments where appropriate to ensure that most likely to produce long-term benefi ts While TM data may often be problem- the quality measurements were consistent from continued enhancement efforts is atic for SMT in its raw state, some of what and meaningful across the three compa- the combined data together with the Asia is considered “dirt” to SMT can be cleaned nies in the data set. We recommend each Online baseline. through automated tools. However, these company involved with consolidated TM Normalization is needed for each data tools cannot correct situations when the initiatives should perform a quality check set to obtain the best results. Runtime translations themselves are of a low qual- prior to contributing data. translation glossaries can be leveraged ity. This issue has also been highlighted Terminology standardization is another to achieve similar results. When runtime by Don DePalma who wrote that “our factor that stands out. Commonality in ter- translation glossaries were used, the recent MT research contended that many minology is likely to produce immediate quality of the output was always higher organizations will fi nd that their TMs are and direct positive impact to the quality as the terminology was specifi c to the not up to snuff — these manually created of the SMT systems produced. That said, data set being run. memories often carve into stone the terminology standardization may not be Data Set A had less data than the aggregated work of lots of people of ran- realistic for many. In such cases, glossa- other data sets, but the data was cleaner dom capabilities, passed back and forth ries can be used to ensure the company- and better suited for SMT. Even with among LSPs over the years with little specifi c terms are given precedence. Each less data, Data Set A was able to score oversight or management.” company should ensure that it has its higher than Data Set B which had twice TAUS Data Association has instituted preferred terminology available for use as much data, but whose raw TM data some fi lters to ensure that irrelevant and with a machine translation platform; was relatively unsuitable for SMT train- incorrect data ingestion is minimized. otherwise, data from other companies that ing. Data Set B also had far more termi- This effort to expand this quality assur- have a higher statistical density is likely nology variations due to homonym use ance will defi nitely help to reduce some to overpower their preferred terminol- when compared to the other company’s of the problems described in this study. ogy. We would recommend that all users data and thus lacked the consistency However, cleaning large repositories of interested in consolidating TM develop necessary for SMT optimization. Data Set TM data is likely to be a long and tedious key term glossaries that can be used with C fared better overall as its terminology task that would benefi t from a very SMT systems to ensure that the systems was relatively consistent throughout, so broad-based community crowdsourcing use their preferred terminology. fewer terms were extracted. This consis- effort. tency together with larger volumes of While all the companies involved with Best practices summary relatively clean data produced the high- sharing TM data are likely to benefi t, those ■ Identify TM data by source before est quality systems. Use of Data Set B in with the dirtiest data are likely to gain consolidation. its raw state can reduce the quality of less benefi t in developing SMT engines ■ Make a quality assessment of each overall translations when combined with using combined data. The impact of un- data set. the other data. The experiments suggest normalized raw data can be reduced using ■ Identify high frequency problem it should not be used unless it is carefully appropriate automated tools and pro- patterns and develop correction strate- cleaned and normalized for best results. cesses. However, more long-term leverage gies during training data preparation. ■ Run data through a comprehensive cleaning and normalization process and discard data that is not trusted. ■ Develop a terminology standardiza- tion strategy. ■ Develop long-term linguistic asset development and management strategies. ■ Find high-quality monolingual con- tent in target languages. ■ Understand that ongoing human feedback is the key to producing high leverage systems. ■ Understand that developing a high- quality SMT system is an evolutionary process and that there is a direct rela- tionship between the volume of ongoing corrective feedback and overall raw MT system quality. M
50 | MultiLingual December 2009 [email protected]
446-506-50 VVashee#108.inddashee#108.indd 5500 111/4/091/4/09 10:26:1210:26:12 AMAM M A
8 1 : 8 2 : 0 51 1
9 || 0 /
4
Translation / 1 111/4/09 10:28:18 AM MultiLingual . On many occa- and searching for Times La Opinión in translationed is a relative term, and I’ve had to local on cult to capture the passion of its take nd myself reading through the minutes of nd myself reading through the minutes , at least in general terms. If this weren’t the nd it diffi nd myself translating about the day’s breaking local La Opinión Kirk Anderson is a freelance translator based The local angle is impossible to fake. To understand, write and To The local angle is impossible to fake. example, enlightened California’s recent budget debacle, for In viewpoints are something else that is hard to fake. Political in Surfside, Florida. ATA-certifi from French and Spanish into English, and Eng- of journalism, law, international trade and wine. of journalism, law, lish into Spanish, he specializes in the translation case, I might fi national issues such as immigration reform or the 2008 presi- dential race, or even local education funding or budget woes. But politics extend far beyond one’s personal beliefs, especially the form of a political editorial. when they take sions, I’ll fi news that has yet to be covered by the still just one voice in an extremely diverse city, and its opinions city, still just one voice in an extremely diverse don’t always coincide with those of local television background by reading local blogs, streaming news sources. or radio news or digging up other online them through the eyestranslate about local issues, you have to see have to go to primaryof the people who live them, and you often on local school boardsources. When translating an opinion piece issues, for example, I fi websites. It’s alsoboard meetings or scanning parent association important to realize that of government andlearn the ins and outs and idiosyncrasies county and state levels. administrative bodies at city, of a two-thirds major- me to the fact that the state’s requirement in this in the minority, ity to pass a budget allows the party power capable of case the Republicans, to wield fairly awesome a standstill. And while virtually bringing state government to big headlines, I also this relatively minor legislative detail made more mundane governmental details straight, like have to keep the fact that what in my home state of Florida is called the House On of Representatives is in California called the State Assembly. anything for granted. the local level, I’ve learned not to take this regard, I’m lucky that my worldview largely coincides with that of ’s La , the larg- La Opinión ne translators ’s daily editorial in La Opinión helps, but isn’t nearly suf- , Southern California’s Latino nite range of issues, but they alsonite range of issues, La Opinión La Opinión Five hundred opinions: Five hundred editorials translating Kirk Anderson Los Angeles Times
1 5
d (www.impre.com/laopinion). I haven’t translated every (www.impre.com/laopinion).
d n i Some time in 2007, I got a call from Henrik Reh- Some time in 2007, . 8 0 1 Since I started teaching translation in 1997, I’ve used edi- One of the primary challenges for me, as a translator based in After providing a few sample translations, I was ultimately After providing a few sample translations, English. The idea was to expand the reach of theEnglish. The idea was to expand readers andpaper’s editorial to English-language the state and beyond. in the city, decision-makers a course on theI had been periodically teaching at Floridatranslation of journalism and advertising done some writ- International University and had in the past, anding for a variety of publications was intrigued. binder, editorial page editor of binder, est Spanish-language daily published in the Unitedest Spanish-language daily published over 120,000. HeStates, with a daily circulation of had plans to publish #
n cient: yes, it is the major voice of the local community, but it’s cient: yes, it is the major voice of the local community, o fi aim to persuade, provoke and engage, not only the paper’s target aim to persuade, provoke audience — in the case of editorial team provides valuable support and feedback. torials as sample texts to translate in the classroom. I’ve often found that in a relatively short text, editorials pose a very broad range of translation problems. Editorials are often tricky texts to translate. Of course, they are designed to express the opinion of a periodical on a virtually infi community — but also policymakers and community leaders. community — but also policymakers Miami, is staying on top of news in another major Hispanic city, that I know more about local Los Angeles. My wife often jokes politics in California than I do in Florida, and she’s probably right. Reading the www.multilingual.com December 2009 selected for the job in late 2007. Since then, I estimate that by selected for the job in late 2007. translated over 500 the time this article comes out, I will have online editions of editorials published in both the print and Opinión editorial during this time — a number of other fi have also contributed — but I think I’ve probably shouldered the bulk of the work. And I haven’t done it alone: s
r SS e d n A
2 5 - 1 551-52 Anderson #108.indd 51 Translation
In general, good editorials — at least the ones written by including time to let it settle. These editorials often represent newspapers themselves — lead readers through a logical argu- major challenges, especially when they coincide with the break- ment, often presenting pros and cons or other evidence, rebutting ing news of the day, which has yet to be covered in print. opposing arguments, and guiding the reader toward a certain In terms of nuts and bolts, translating editorials poses some perspective. Yes, by their nature, editorials have a certain bias: interesting challenges. As in all journalism, checking sources they are designed to persuade, but in the hands of professional is essential, and I often fi nd myself scrambling to track down journalists, they are also meant to be fair-minded presentations original quotations or titles in English that were included in of issues, presented as a service to the community. translation in the Spanish editorial. These could be quotes from True political editorials are no different, but in this day of political fi gures such as Governor Schwarzenegger or Attorney polarized and polarizing politics, many texts presented as edi- General Holder, or from government studies on health care or torials also have ulterior motives. Underlying their goals of per- immigration. Another key element of the translation process is suasion are manipulative techniques including misinformation, creating authentic journalistic English that doesn’t sound like sensationalism and unverifi ed claims, among others, that depart a translation. As most in the language services industry know from what could be considered ethical journalism. Although I well, English is a bit more concise than Spanish, so the English have had occasion to translate texts that are more propaganda editorial should be shorter than its Spanish equivalent. How than journalism, this has never been the case with La Opinión’s much shorter depends on the specifi c text in question, but I’ve editorials. While at times their opinions may certainly be impas- taken to monitoring the shrinkage in word counts as an indica- sioned, La Opinión embodies old school journalistic fairness. It tor of how much I’ve been able to tighten up the English text. Of is critical to bear this in mind as a translator and keep personal course, this gives me no real insight into the quality of the text, opinions from creeping into those of the paper. but it does seem to be a good gauge of conciseness or pithiness. Purely political editorials can work on a number of levels: When the English word count ends up too close to the original municipal, county, state and federal on one hand; and electoral, Spanish, I know that I have to look for spots where I can tighten executive, legislative, judicial or administrative on the other. up the language before letting it gel a while and coming back to Politics in California also has its own peculiarities: state proposi- it for a fresh look before delivery. tions, initiatives, referenda, city and county ballot measures. As One of the greatest challenges I face as translator of La Opinión’s a translator, it is essential to be engaged at each of these levels editorials is the responsibility of rendering into English one of the and see how they are being addressed locally in order to truly major voices of the US Hispanic community. Nowhere has this understand what you are translating. You cannot be convincing responsibility weighed on me more heavily than in the translations otherwise. I would be lying if I didn’t admit that this can often of editorials that are clearly historically signifi cant. This chal- require signifi cant research, especially when translating brief lenge fi rst dawned on me early in the 2008 presidential campaign, recommendations on a number of complex ballot initiatives that when La Opinión was among the fi rst Spanish-language media can leave much unsaid. Take, for example, one of the recom- outlets to endorse Barack Obama, fi rst as Democratic nominee mendations on state propositions appearing in the May 17, 2009, and subsequently for president — a bold decision for which they edition of La Opinión. The original Spanish read as follows: took more than a little heat. By the time Obama’s election victory Proposición 1D: No came around, the words were getting quite heavy. Editorials on the El programa First 5 de preescolaridad es exitoso y debe seguir fi nancial crisis, corporate bailouts, the war in Iraq and the long, extendiéndose. No es justo que se quiera usar para alivianar el hard campaign trail were draining. But most of all, acting as the défi cit fondos destinados a este fi n. Es más, la Proposición 10, English-language voice of a community that I essentially only live que creó este programa, prohíbe específi camente que se use para in as a foreign observer — and in the case of Los Angeles, only otros propósitos el dinero obtenido por los impuestos al tabaco. virtually — made me second-guess myself more than once. To fi gure this one out, I fi rst went and read the original language While I’ve always been a conscientious translator, I think on the ballot, but found I had to dig even further. I had to fi gure translating editorials has given me a new level of textual insight. out what the First 5 program was and then dig all the way back to While on one hand, texts about Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination Proposition 10, a 1998 ballot initiative, to learn that a cigarette and subsequent confi rmation as the country’s fi rst Hispanic tax was funding this early childhood development and school- woman on the Supreme Court fi lled me with Latino pride, others readiness program. The fi nal version went to print as follows: like the editorial on the death of Senator Ted Kennedy allowed Proposition 1D: No me to reconnect with a decade of my life lived in Boston and The First 5 preschool program is successful and must continue express the paper’s sentiments in an equally authentic, but to me expanding. It is not fair to use funds earmarked for this purpose at least, much more personal way. to try to cut the defi cit. What’s more, Proposition 10, which With this realization came an even deeper one that as a created this program, specifi cally prohibits the money collected translator living on that line between cultures, I’m constantly through tobacco taxes from being used for other purposes. put in that awkward position of speaking for others, assuming In this day of information overload, even the most respon- their values as my own. This forced me to revisit my own take sible local citizens or political junkies are challenged to keep up on what it means to be Latino or Hispanic in the United States with all the issues at any given time, so it is inevitable that issues and what role language plays in this defi nition. But most of all, it come up in editorials about which I know nothing or simply have made me realize that translating opinions is what all translators no opinion of my own. These may be ultra-local neighborhood do, whether they translate editorials or not; and irrespective of issues or even larger regional issues that have yet to pop up on whether they share those views, good translators can fi nd ways my personal radar. Regardless, however, I’ll have to translate an to internalize them and bring forth an authentic translation of editorial, researching it and reviewing it in a matter of hours, their intent. But, of course, that’s just my opinion. M
52 | MultiLingual December 2009 [email protected]
551-521-52 AAndersonnderson #108.indd#108.indd 5252 111/4/091/4/09 10:28:1910:28:19 AMAM Basics Basic terminology
This section offers terminology, abbreviations, acronyms and other resources, especially as related to the content of this issue. For more definitions, see the Glossary section of MultiLingual’s annual Resource Directory and Index (www.multilingual.com/resourceDirectory).
audio description (AD). A term used to describe the controlled authoring. Writing for reuse and translation. descriptive narration of key visual elements in a video or Controlled authoring is a process that integrates writing multimedia product. AD makes the visual images of media with localization so that the text can be written for reuse accessible for people who are blind and visually impaired. and at the same time written for efficient translation. The visual is made verbal. In AD, narrators typically describe creole language. A stable language that originates from a actions, gestures, scene changes and other visual informa- mixture of various languages. The majority of creole languages tion. They also describe titles, speaker names and other text are based on English, Portuguese, French, Spanish and other that may appear on the screen. languages — their superstrate language — with local or immi- Balkans. A geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern grant languages as substrate languages. The lexicon of a creole Europe. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains, usually consists of words clearly borrowed from a superstrate which run through the center of Bulgaria into eastern Serbia. language, except for phonetic and semantic shifts; on the other hand, the grammar often has original features and may differ Baltic states. The Baltic states are three countries in substantially from those of the superstrate language. Northern Europe, all members of the European Union: crowdsourcing. The act of taking a task traditionally per- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. After centuries of foreign formed by an employee or contractor and outsourcing it to an domination, the Baltic countries were reestablished as undefined, generally large group of people, in the form of an independent nations in the aftermath of World War I in open call. For example, the public may be invited to develop 1918-1920. new technology, carry out a design task, refine an algorithm, or cloud computing. A style of computing in which dynami- help capture, systematize or analyze large amounts of data. cally scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture). An XML- a service over the internet. Users need not have knowledge based architecture for authoring, producing and delivering of, expertise in or control over the technology infrastructure technical information. This architecture consists of a set of in the “cloud” that supports them. The term cloud is used as design principles for creating “information-typed” modules at a metaphor for the internet, based on how the internet is a topic level and for using that content in delivery modes such depicted in computer network diagrams and is an abstrac- as online help and product support portals on the web. tion for the complex infrastructure it conceals. globalization (g11n). In this context, the term refers to computer-aided translation (CAT). Computer technology the process that addresses business issues associated with applications that assist in the act of translating text from launching a product globally, such as integrating localization one language to another. throughout a company after proper internationalization and content management system (CMS). A system used to product design. store and subsequently find and retrieve large amounts of data. glocal. Derived from the combination of the words global CMSs were not originally designed to synchronize translation and local. The word refers to the creation or distribution of and localization of content, so most of them have been part- products or services intended for a global or transregional mar- nered with globalization management systems. ket, but customized to suit local language, laws and culture.
www.multilingual.comw m n a m December e m 20090 MMultiLinguali g | 533
553-543-54 BBasicsasics ##108.indd108.indd 5353 111/4/091/4/09 10:29:5810:29:58 AMAM BasicsBa cs
gross domestic product (GDP). The basic measure of a computer that learned how to translate from vast amounts country’s economic performance is the market value of all of translated text. final goods and services made within the borders of a nation time to market. The length of time it takes from a prod- in a year. The most common approach to measuring and uct being conceived until its being available for sale. Time to quantifying GDP is the expenditure method: GDP = private market is crucial in industries where products are outdated consumption + gross investment + government spending + quickly. (exports – imports). translation. The process of converting all of the text internationalization (i18n). Especially in a computing or words from a source language to a target language. An context, the process of generalizing a product so that it can understanding of the context or meaning of the source handle multiple languages and cultural conventions (currency, language must be established in order to convey the same number separators, dates) without the need for redesign. message in the target language. localization (l10n). In this context, the process of adap- translation memory (TM). A special database that stores ting a product or software to a specific international lan- previously translated sentences which can then be reused guage or culture so that it seems natural to that particular on a sentence-by-sentence basis. The database matches region. True localization considers language, culture, cus- source to target language pairs. toms and the characteristics of the target locale. It fre- translation unit (TU). A segment of text that the trans- quently involves changes to the software’s writing system lator treats as a single cognitive unit for the purposes of and may change keyboard use and fonts as well as date, establishing an equivalence. The translation unit may be time and monetary formats. a single word, a phrase, one or more sentences, or even a machine translation (MT). A technology that trans- larger unit. lates text from one human language to another, using Unicode. The Unicode Worldwide Character Standard terminology glossaries and advanced grammatical, syntac- (Unicode) is a character encoding standard used to repre- tic and semantic analysis techniques. sent text for computer processing. Originally designed to quality assurance (QA). The activity of providing evi- support 65,000, it now has encoding forms to support more dence needed to establish confidence among all concerned than one million characters. that quality-related activities are being performed effec- tively. All those planned or systematic actions necessary to Resources provide adequate confidence that a product or service will satisfy given requirements for quality. QA covers all activi- ORGANIZATIONS ties from design, development, production and installation American Translators Association (ATA): www.atanet.org; and to servicing and documentation. its Language Technology Division: www.ata-divisions.org/LTD return on investment (ROI). In finance, the ratio of Project Management Institute: www.pmi.org money gained or lost on an investment relative to the Translation Automation User Society (TAUS): amount of money invested. The amount of money gained or www.translationautomation.com lost may be referred to as interest, profit/loss, gain/loss or PUBLICATIONS net income/loss. Ethnologue: Languages of the World (15th edition), Raymond G. search engine. A program designed to help find informa- Gordon, Jr.: www.ethnologue.com/print.asp tion stored on a computer system such as the World Wide The Guide to Translation and Localization, Web or a personal computer. A search engine allows a user published by Lingo Systems: www.lingosys.com to ask for content meeting specific criteria — typically those Index of Chinese Characters With Attributes, George E. Bell, containing a given word, phrase or name — and retrieves a 2006: www.multilingual.com/eBooks list of references that match those criteria. Globalization Handbook for the Microsoft .NET Platform, Parts I - IV, search engine optimization (SEO). A set of methods Bill Hall, 2002-2006: www.multilingual.com/eBooks aimed at improving the ranking of a website in search Translation: Getting It Right, published by the ATA: engine listings. SEO is primarily concerned with advancing www.atanet.org/docs/getting_it_right.pdf the goals of a website by improving the number and posi- Translation: Standards for Buying a Non-Commodity, published by tion of its organic search results for a wide variety of rel- the ATA: www.atanet.org/docs/translation_buying_guide.pdf evant keywords. REFERENCES statistical machine translation (SMT). A machine trans- CIA World Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/ lation paradigm where translations are generated on the the-world-factbook basis of statistical models whose parameters are derived Omniglot — Writing Systems & Languages of the World: from the analysis of bilingual text corpora. SMT is the trans- www.omniglot.com lation of text from one human language to another by a Unicode, Inc.: http://unicode.org
545 | MultiLinguall n a Decembere m 20090 [email protected] m l u o
553-543-54 BBasicsasics ##108.indd108.indd 5454 111/4/091/4/09 10:30:0010:30:00 AMAM Buyer’s Guide ASSOCIATIONS 55 AUTOMATED TRANSLATION 55 CONFERENCES 55 NoBabel Suite maintains a familiar work environment. With ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS 55 ASSOCIATIONS NoBabel you lower costs and increase productivity. KCSL Inc. 150 Ferrand Drive, Suite 904, Toronto, Ontario, M3C 3E5 INTERNATIONALIZATION TOOLS 56 Canada, 416 -222-6112, Fax: 416-222-6819, E-mail: customer_info @kcsl.ca, Web: www.kcsl.ca See ad on page 16 LOCALIZATION SERVICES 56 LOCALIZATION TOOLS 58 PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS 58 Globalization and Localization Association Description The Globalization and Localization Association SPEECH TECHNOLOGIES 58 (GALA) is a fully representative, nonprofit, international TAUS Data Association TRANSLATION SERVICES 58 industry association for the translation, internationalization, Description TAUS Data Association (TDA) is a not-for-profit localization and globalization industry. The association gives member organization bringing together the translation memo- TRANSLATION TOOLS 60 members a common forum to discuss issues, create innova- ries (TMs) and terminology of the global translation industry. WORKFLOW SOLUTIONS 61 tive solutions, promote the industry and offer clients unique, The resulting Language Data Exchange Portal is a high quality, collaborative value. open and secure language database for the benefit of all. We Globalization and Localization Association 23 Main Street, work on the basis of reciprocity — you store language data in developed the world’s first Collaborative Translation Platform. Andover, MA 01810, 206-329-2596, Fax: 815-346-2361, E-mail: the platform and in return get access to the TMs and glossa- The software platform incorporates translation memory [email protected], Web: www.gala-global.org ries of the wider industry. The data is organized by industry storage and retrieval, terminology management, machine domain, company, product line and language pairs, enabling translation, project management and workflow engine, all you to conveniently search and retrieve what you require. sitting on top of a massive data warehouse of centralized lan- TAUS Data Association Oosteinde 9-11, 1483 AB De Rijp, The Netherlands, 31-299-672028, Fax: 31-299-672028, E-mail: jaap@ guage data. We deliver our software to our customers in a tra- translationautomation.com, Web: www.tausdata.org See ad on page 19 ditional enterprise software install and software-as-a-service (SaaS) model via the web. In many ways, we’re enterprise Translation Automation User Society software with a social twist. We’re focused on delivering com- Description TAUS is a networking community of users, devel- CONFERENCES mercial grade productivity software to companies to engage opers and practitioners of translation services and technolo- their social and customer networks. gies. TAUS organizes industry meetings, publishes reports, Lingotek 15 Scenic Pointe Drive, Suite 325, Draper, UT 84020, and provides research and consulting in the area of translation 877-852-4231, 801-727-1580, Fax: 801-727-1581, E-mail: sales@ automation and strategies. The organization is directed by lingotek.com, Web: www.lingotek.com See ad on page 63 Jaap van der Meer. Translation Automation User Society Oosteinde 9-11, 1483 AB De Rijp, The Localization World Netherlands, 31-299-672028, Fax: 31-299-672028, E-mail: jaap@ Description Localization World conferences are dedicated translationautomation.com, Web: www.translationautomation.com to the language and localization industries. Our constituents are the people responsible for communicating across the UTOMATED RANSLATION boundaries of language and culture in the global marketplace. TextBase meets Translation Memory A T International product and marketing managers participate in Multiple Platforms Localization World from all sectors and all geographies to Languages All Unicode languages Description MultiCorpora meet language service and technology providers and to net- provides language technology solutions to enterprises, LSPs work with their peers. Hands-on practitioners come to share and governments. As the independent language technology their knowledge and experience and to learn from others. See expert, MultiCorpora empowers organizations to better man- our website for details on upcoming and past conferences. age linguistic assets and transform translation expenses into Localization World Ltd. 319 North 1st Avenue, Sandpoint, ID 83864, reusable assets regardless of whether organizations outsource Human Language Technologies 208-263-8178, Fax: 208-263-6310, E-mail: info@localizationworld their translations or handle them internally. MultiTrans is a cli- Multiple Platforms .com, Web: www.localizationworld.com ent-server application that pioneered the Advanced Leveraging Languages Arabic, Bahasa, Dari, Dutch, Egyptian dialect, TM concept that features hassle-free document pair align- English, Farsi/Persian, French, German, Hebrew, Iraqi dia- ment, recycles previous translations with context and provides lect, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Pashto, Polish, Portuguese, ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS an on-the-fly view of how ambiguous terms were previously Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Tagalog, Traditional translated. The Translation Bureau of Canada, international Chinese, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu Description AppTek is organizations such as UNESCO, and corporations such as a developer of human language technology products with Toys“R”Us, Fidelity, Kraft, HSBC and Pfizer have selected a complete suite for text and speech (voice) processing and MultiTrans as their multilingual asset management solution. recognition. AppTek’s product offerings include hybrid (rule- MultiCorpora 102-490 St. Joseph Boulevard, Gatineau, Quebec, based + statistical) machine translation (MT) and automatic Across Systems J8Y 3Y7 Canada, 819-778-7070, 877-725-7070, Fax: 819-778- 0801, E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.multicorpora.com speech recognition (ASR) for a growing list of more than Multiple Platforms See ad on page 2 23 languages; multilingual information retrieval with query Languages All Description Across Language Server is the and topic search capabilities; name-finding applications; and world’s leading independent linguistic supply chain tech- integrated suites providing ASR and MT in media monitor- nology. It provides a central software platform for corporate ing of broadcast and telephony speech, as well as handheld language resources and translation processes. The all-in-one and wearable speech-to-speech translation devices. enterprise solution includes a translation memory, a termi- AppTek 6867 Elm Street, Suite 300, McLean, VA 22101, 703-394-2317, nology system, and powerful PM and workflow control tools. Fax: 703-821-5001, E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.apptek.com It allows end-to-end processing so that clients, LSPs and STAR Group translators collaborate seamlessly. Open interfaces enable Multiple Platforms the direct integration of CMS or ERP solutions, among oth- Languages All Description STAR Group was founded in ers. Across clients access the Language Server via LAN, WAN Switzerland 25 years ago with the exclusive focus of facilitat- or web, or as a hosted service. Across customers include ing cross-cultural technical communications in all languages. Volkswagen, HypoVereinsbank, SMA Solar Technology and The company has grown to be the largest privately held mul- hundreds of other leading companies. tilingual information technology and services company in the KCSL Inc. Across Systems Im Stoeckmaedle 18, D-76307 Karlsbad, Germany, world with 42 offices in 32 countries. Its advanced technol- Languages All Description KCSL has developed many suc- 49-7248-925-425, Fax: 49-7248-925-444, E-mail: international@ ogy developments have propelled STAR to its current market cessful commercial products including international spell and across.net, Web: www.across.net See ads on pages 4, 64 position. Core services include information management, grammar checkers, electronic references, and multilingual translation, localization, internationalization, globalization, search engines. Licensing to hundreds of entities, including publishing and consulting. Core technologies include Tran- Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and the Canadian government, sit (translation memory), TermStar/WebTerm (terminology has created a worldwide user base of over 200 million peo- management), GRIPS (corporate technical communication ple. Integrating natural language processing, multilingual platform), MindReader (corporate author assistance), STAR search, and statistical methods, NoBabel™ Translator is a James (corporate process management), i-KNOW (corporate major breakthrough in computer-aided translation. Without Lingotek Collaborative Translation Platform learning platform) and SPIDER (electronic publication). human interaction, NoBabel creates new translation memo- Multiple Platforms STAR Group Wiesholz 35, 8262 Ramsen, Switzerland, 41-52- ries (TMs) as well as cleans, grades and increases leveraging Languages Supports all language pairs Description Lingotek 742-9200, 216-691-7827, E-mail: [email protected], Web: of existing TMs. Automatic and accurate, the easy-to-use is a software company in Salt Lake City, Utah. We have www.star-group.net See ad on page 10
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MultiLingual | 55
555-615-61 BBuyer'sGuideuyer'sGuide #108.indd#108.indd 5555 111/4/091/4/09 10:36:0510:36:05 AMAM Buyer’s Guide
packages, translation memories, automatic formatting and INTERNATIONALIZATION TOOLS desktop publishing. GrafiData can also utilize IT solutions that improve the process. Grafi Data Keulenstraat 16, 7418 ET Deventer, Overijssel, The Neth- erlands, 31-570-609797, Fax: 31-570-609850, E-mail: info@ Beijing E-C Translation Ltd. grafi data.nl, Web: www.grafi data.nl See ad on page 42 Languages Asian Description Beijing E-C Translation Ltd., TextBase meets Translation Memory one of the largest localization and translation companies in Multiple Platforms China, focuses mainly on software and website localization; Languages All Unicode languages Description MultiCorpora technical, financial, medical, patent and marketing transla- provides language technology solutions to enterprises, tions; and desktop publishing services. We use TRADOS, LSPs and governments. As the independent language tech- SDLX, CATALYST, TTT/PC, STAR Transit, Robohelp, Frame- nology expert, MultiCorpora empowers organizations to Maker, PageMaker, InDesign, QuarkXPress, MS Office and iDISC Information Technologies better manage linguistic assets and transform translation other graphic and DTP tools. Having more than 150 full-time Languages Spanish (all variants), Catalan, Basque, Galician expenses into reusable assets regardless of whether organiza- employees located in Beijing, Taipei, Singapore, Seoul, Shang- Description iDISC, established in 1987, is a privately-held tions outsource their translations or handle them internally. hai, Hong Kong, Shenyang and Chengdu, we can handle translation company based in Barcelona that focuses on MultiTrans is a client-server application that pioneered the English/German into and from Simplified Chinese/Trad- localization into all variants of Spanish (European, Latin Advanced Leveraging TM concept that features hassle-free itional Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Thai. We guarantee that American, USA and Neutral) and the other languages spoken document pair alignment, recycles previous translations with clients’ projects will be handled not only by native speakers, in Spain (Catalan, Basque and Galician). Services range from context and provides an on-the-fly view of how ambiguous but also by topic specialists. Clients can expect and will receive translation and localization to engineering, testing, DTP and terms were previously translated. The Translation Bureau of high-quality services, on-time delivery and low cost. consulting. Specialization fields are software localization, Canada, international organizations such as UNESCO, and Beijing E-C Translation Ltd. 2nd Floor, Hua Teng Development technical and telecom documentation, ERP, automotive and corporations such as Toys“R”Us, Fidelity, Kraft, HSBC and Building, No. 23, Xi Huan Bei Road, BDA, Beijing Economic- related marketing material. We have all commercially avail- Pfizer have selected MultiTrans as their multilingual asset Technological Development Zone, Beijing 100176, P.R. China, 86- able tools and experience using many different proprietary management solution. 10-67868761, Fax: 86-10-67868765, E-mail: service@e-cchina customer platforms and solutions; internal workflow portal- .com, Web: www.e-cchina.com MultiCorpora 102-490 St. Joseph Boulevard, Gatineau, Quebec, based tools to reduce management costs and increase quality, J8Y 3Y7 Canada, 819-778-7070, 877-725-7070, Fax: 819-778- consistency and on-time deliveries; and continuous support 0801, E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.multicorpora.com to the client PMs and process optimization to achieve the best See ad on page 2 project results and establish long-term honest partnerships. iDISC Information Technologies Passeig del progrés 96, 08640 OCALIZATION ERVICES Olesa de Montserrat, Barcelona, Spain, 34-93-778-73-00, Fax: 34- L S Binari Sonori 93-778-35-80, E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.idisc.es Description Binari Sonori is a leading provider of interna- tional media localization services since 1994, with a unique team of project managers, studios, engineers and selected Search industry events at linguists spread over 30 countries worldwide. Solid proce- dures and transparent relationships with clients guarantee www.multilingual.com/calendar ADAPT Localization Services high quality of text, audio and video, timeliness and flexibil- Languages More than 50 Description ADAPT Localization ity. We are accustomed to working for global companies that Services offers the full range of services that enables clients need to reach a broad range of markets with their media and to be successful in international markets, from documenta- entertainment products. Specialized support for any media tion design through translation, linguistic and technical localization activity, from effective audio localization to inter- localization services, pre-press and publication management. national content creation. Highly professionalized one-stop Serving both Fortune 500 and small companies, ADAPT shop supporting today’s media localization projects. has gained a reputation for quality, reliability, technological Binari Sonori srl Viale Fulvio Testi, 11, 20092 Cinisello Balsamo, Milano, Italy, 39-02-61866-310, Fax: 39-02-61866-313, E-mail: translate competence and a commitment to customer service. Fields @binarisonori.com, Web: www.binarisonori.com See ad on page 12 of specialization include diagnostic and medical devices, IT/telecom and web content. With offices in Bonn, Germany, Stockholm, Sweden, and Barcelona, Spain, and a number of certified partner companies, ADAPT is well suited to help cli- ents achieve their goals in any market. ADAPT Localization Services Clemens-August-Strasse 16-18, 53115 Bonn, Germany, 49-228-98-22-60, Fax: 49-228-98-22-615, E-mail: EuroGreek Translations Limited [email protected], Web: www.adapt-localization.com Language Greek Description Established in 1986, EuroGreek See ad on page 13 Translations Limited is Europe’s number one Greek local- izer, specializing in technical and medical translations from English into Greek and Greek into English. EuroGreek’s aim is to provide high-quality, turnkey solutions, encompassing a whole range of client needs, from plain translation to desk- top/web publishing to localization development and testing. Over the years, EuroGreek’s services have been extended to Alliance Localization China, Inc. (ALC) cover most subject areas, including German and French into Languages Major Asian and European languages Description Greek localization services. All of EuroGreek’s work is pro- ALC offers document, website and software translation and duced in-house by a team of 25 highly qualified specialists localization, desktop publishing, and interpreter services. and is fully guaranteed for quality and on-time delivery. We focus on English, German and other European languages EuroGreek Translations Limited to and from Chinese, Japanese, Korean and other Asian London 27 Lascotts Road, London, N22 8JG UK Athens EuroGreek House, 93 Karagiorga Street, Athens 16675, languages. We use TRADOS, CATALYST, SDLX, Transit Greece, 30-210-9605-244, Fax: 30-210-9647-077, E-mail: production@ and other CAT tools, as well as DTP tools including Corel- eurogreek.gr, Web: www.eurogreek.com See ad on page 49 Draw, FrameMaker, FreeHand, Illustrator, InDesign, Page- Maker, Photoshop and QuarkXPress. Our customer-oriented approach is supported by strong project management, a team of specialists, a large knowledge base and advanced method- ologies. We always provide service beyond our customers’ expectations at a low cost and with high quality, speed, dependability and flexibility. Alliance Localization China, Inc. Suite 318, Building B, Number 10 GrafiData, TMMIX Xing Huo Road, Fengtai Science Park, Beijing 100070, P.R. China, 86- Description GrafiData brings decades of experience to local- 10-8368-2169, Fax: 86-10-8368-2884, E-mail: customer_care@ izing your documentation. We offer solutions for multilin- allocalization.com, Web: www.allocalization.com gual publishing by efficiently applying various translation
56 | MultiLingual December 2009 [email protected]
555-615-61 BBuyer'sGuideuyer'sGuide #108.indd#108.indd 5656 111/4/091/4/09 10:36:0810:36:08 AMAM Buyer’s Guide
for various industries, including top-notch software engi- Ireland, China, Japan and throughout Europe. To learn neering and testing and DTP for all languages, including more, please visit www.moraviaworldwide.com bidirectional and double-byte ones. The company is proud Moravia Worldwide New markets for your of its unique problem-solving skills and minimal support USA 199 East Thousand Oaks Boulevard, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360, products and solutions requirements. The company offers all European and Asian 805-557-1700, 800-276-1664, Fax: 805-557-1702, E-mail: info@ languages as well as many rare languages through its offices moraviaworldwide.com, Web: www.moraviaworldwide.com Janus Worldwide Inc. and established long-term partners. With its production site Asia 86-25-8473-2772, E-mail: [email protected] Languages Russian, ex-USSR and Eastern European lan- in Moscow, Russia, Logrus provides a winning combination Europe 420-545-552-222, E-mail: [email protected] guages Description Janus provides translation, localization, Ireland 353-1-216-4102, E-mail: [email protected] of quality, experience and affordability. With over 14 years DTP and linguistic consulting for Russian, Ukrainian and Japan 81-3-3354-3320, E-mail: [email protected] in business, the company has received multiple awards for other European languages. Our deep expertise, flexibility, See ads on pages 18, 31 excellence from its long-time customers, including IBM, diversity and exceptional value of services are recognized by Microsoft, Novell, Oracle and others. many industry-leading customers and partners worldwide. Our uniqueness is a solid team of the best professionals in all Logrus International Corporation Suite 305, 2600 Philmont Ave- nue, Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006, 215-947-4773, Fax: 215-947-4773, relevant areas — localization engineers, language specialists, E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.logrus.ru QA officers, DTP and software engineers, and more. We do it end-to-end — from servers to handhelds, from ERP to auto- motive solutions and from interface specifications to legal Promova notices. Janus is ISO 9001:2000 certified. Company activities Languages Major European languages into Russian and including translating, localizing, DTP and linguistic consult- Ukrainian Description Promova is a translation and local- ing were subjected to audit. Loquant Localization Services ization company based in Ukraine providing a full scope of Janus Worldwide Inc. Derbenevskaya nab., 11B, Offi ce 113, Moscow language-related services including translation, localization, 115114, Russia, 7-495-913-66-53, Fax: 7-495-913-66-53, E-mail: Languages English, Brazilian Portuguese Description Loquant [email protected], Web: www.janus.ru See ad on page 9 bases its operations on the experience of its founders and QA check, DTP, linguistic testing, copywriting and consult- collaborators, professionals who closely follow the ongoing ing. We focus on large-scale, long-term projects for clients evolution of technology and the latest processes in interna- with unique requirements. We offer professionalism and ISO tionalization and localization of information. Adhering to 9001-certified quality, integrate best-technology solutions on rigorous processes that were developed by the software local- the market, and ensure effective management and best time- ization industry during the last few decades, Loquant is able frames while adhering to even the tightest budgets. to prepare the most diverse products for the primary world Promova Velyka Goncharivska 9, 18, Kharkiv 61052, Ukraine, 38-057- markets. To do this, Loquant counts on the best project man- 760-14-13, Fax: 38-057-372-89-27, E-mail: [email protected], Lingo Systems, Translation & Localization Web: www.promova.com.ua Languages 170+ Description Lingo Systems, powered by agers, native translators, engineers and desktop publishers to Language Line Services, provides customer-focused sole-source guarantee a quality control recognized internationally by the solutions for global companies in 170+ languages. We special- main international standards organizations. ize in the translation and localization of technical documen- Loquant Localization Services Rua Luís Carlos Prestes, 410/114, 22775-055, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 55-21-2104-9597, Fax: 55-21- tation, software, multimedia applications, training materials, 2104-9597, E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.loquant.com e-learning solutions and online applications. Other globaliza- tion services include quality assurance testing (hardware and software), integration of content management solutions, inter- PTIGlobal pretation (170+ languages), cultural training and assessment, Languages All commercial languages for Europe, Asia and and internationalization consulting. Lingo Systems has never the Americas Description PTIGlobal is committed to de- caused a late release. No other firm makes this claim. For a free veloping ongoing, long-term partnerships with its clients. copy of our award-winning book, The Guide to Translation and This means a dedication to personal service, responsiveness, Localization — Communicating with the Global Marketplace, high-quality output, and sensitivity to clients’ cost goals and visit www.lingosys.com or call 800-878-8523. MO Group International Languages 40+ Description MO Group International, based timelines. Backed by over 30 years of experience in techni- Lingo Systems 15115 SW Sequoia Parkway, Suite 200, Portland, OR cal translation, PTIGlobal provides turnkey localization 97224, 503-419-4856, 800-878-8523, Fax: 503-419-4873, E-mail: in Brussels, Belgium, is a firm dedicated to supporting inter- [email protected], Web: www.lingosys.com See ad on page 21 national business needs. We understand the multilingual services in 30 languages simultaneously for software, web requirements of achieving international success and provide applications, embedded devices, wireless applications and you with the tools and services to achieve your unique business gaming technology. Projects employ our expertise in end-to- goals. In particular, we specialize in multilingual search engine end project management; internationalization consultation; optimization (SEO) and translation and localization of soft- glossary development; native language translation; multilin- ware, technical documentation, websites and games. We hire gual web content management; translation memory mainte- leading people from around the world to manage our diverse nance; localization engineering; linguistic and functionality LinguaGraphics — Multilingual DTP; Web, range of solutions and provide first-class customer service. MO testing; desktop publishing, complete multilingual video and Flash and Software Localization; Engineering Group International is the first multilingual SEO company to audio services, as well as onsite managed services. Languages All, including Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Farsi, enter the localization industry and offer the combined benefits PTIGlobal 4915 SW Griffi th Drive, Suite 200, Beaverton, OR 97005, Greek, Hindi, Hebrew, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Lao, of SEO and localization to our diverse client base. 503-297-2165, 888-357-3125, Fax: 503-297-0655, E-mail: info@ ptiglobal.com, Web: www.ptiglobal.com See ad on page 31 Punjabi, Russian, Thai, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese MO Group International Gulledelle 94, 1200 Brussels, Belgium, 32- Description LinguaGraphics is a leading provider in the 2-771-19-12, Fax: 32-2-772-20-97, E-mail: [email protected], area of multilingual desktop publishing and web/soft- Web: www.mogi.eu.com ware/Flash localization engineering. Our seasoned DTP professionals and localization engineers are working with the latest tools on top-of-the-line equipment to produce a wide range of projects in InDesign, FrameMaker, QuarkXPress, Photoshop and Flash. We specialize in typesetting high-end SAM Engineering GmbH marketing and communications-type material in difficult Languages All Description Global challenges require flex- and rare languages at very competitive rates. For a quote on ible and experienced service providers. Take advantage of your next project, please visit us at www.linguagraphics.com. Moravia Worldwide our experience and know-how and make your product a You have our word that we will never compromise on qual- Languages All Description Moravia Worldwide is a lead- worldwide success. Products and services can only be mar- ity and do the utmost to make your project a success. ing globalization solution provider, enabling companies keted successfully if they have been localized to the local and LinguaGraphics, Inc. 194 Park Place, Brooklyn, NY 11238, 718- in the information technology, e-learning, life sciences cultural conditions of the target country. Our team of expe- 623-3066, 718-789-2782, E-mail: [email protected], Web: and financial industries to enter global markets with high- rienced project managers coordinates translators, software www.linguagraphics.com quality multilingual products. Moravia’s solutions include specialists and DTP experts, ensuring that the individual localization and product testing services, internationaliza- localization processes are performed professionally for our tion, multilingual publishing and technical translation. clients. Using tried-and-tested project management methods Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Sun Microsystems and the latest TM technology, our team ensures that dead- and Symantec are among some of the companies that lines are met and budgets adhered to, while also providing depend on Moravia Worldwide for accurate, on-time local- the highest standards of quality. Logrus International Corporation ization. Moravia Worldwide maintains global headquarters SAM Engineering GmbH Kirchstrasse 1, D-64367 Muehltal, Germany, Languages EE, EA, ME, WE, rare languages Description in the Czech Republic and North American headquarters 49-6151-9121-0, Fax: 49-6151-9121-18, E-mail: sam@sam- Logrus offers a full set of localization and translation services in California, with local offices and production centers in engineering.de, Web: www.sam-engineering.de See ad on page 49
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MultiLingual | 57
555-615-61 BBuyer'sGuideuyer'sGuide #108.indd#108.indd 5757 111/4/091/4/09 10:36:1110:36:11 AMAM Buyer’s Guide
PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS
VistaTEC Tek Translation International Languages All Description VistaTEC is a leading provider Languages All Description Tek provides localization solu- of globalization services and specializes in the localization tions that are tailored to the life sciences, IT and manufactur- and testing of enterprise, mobile and desktop applications. ing industries. Delivering services through our collaborative VistaTEC provides translation, technical consulting, engi- Projetex: Project Management Software project management system, the Tek OneWorld Platform, neering and testing during the design, development and we streamline the localization process resulting in reduced marketing cycles of software products. VistaTEC has head- for Translation Agencies ® cost. Powered by SAP , this flexible, on-demand platform quarters in Dublin, Ireland, and satellite offices in the United Windows provides the sophisticated business intelligence you need States. Additional information on VistaTEC is available at Languages English, Bulgarian, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese to help you get more out of your globalization strategies. www.vistatec.ie (Taiwan), Dutch, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Pol- Since 1961 we have helped customers meet their global VistaTEC ish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Romanian, Russian, business goals by providing specialized, easy-to-customize Europe VistaTEC House, 700 South Circular Road, Kilmainham, Slovak, Spanish, Ukrainian Description Projetex 7.0 is a lead- solutions. Today, we are using new technologies to ever Dublin 8, Ireland, 353-1-416-8000, Fax: 353-1-416-8099, E-mail: ing project management and workflow solution employed by improve that same customer focus and care. Contact us: [email protected], Web: www.vistatec.ie 300-plus small and medium-sized translation agencies around [email protected]; [email protected]; riodejaneiro USA East 2706 Loma Street, Silver Spring, MD 20902, 301-649-3012, the world. Managing directors, project managers, accountants, @tektrans.com; [email protected]; gothenburg@tektrans Fax: 301-649-3032, E-mail: [email protected] in-house translators, human resources managers and sales .com; [email protected]; [email protected] USA West 131 Shady Lane, Monterey, CA 93940, 831-655-1717, managers dramatically increase their efficiency with Projetex. Fax: 831-372-5838, E-mail: [email protected] Tek Translation International C/ Ochandiano 18, 28023 Madrid, See ad on page 50 Current deployments range from 2 to 100 workstations, with Spain, 34-91-414-1111, Fax: 34-91-414-4444, E-mail: sales@ tested capacities of up to 500. Use does not require additional tektrans.com, Web: www.tektrans.com components. It includes built-in AnyCount (word and char- acter count software) and CATCount (computer-assisted translation tool for easy word count). Reasonable pricing, fast implementation and free technical support are included. Advanced International Translations, Ltd. Suite 1, Tolstogo 15 Street, WhP 01033 Kyiv, Ukraine, 380-44-288-11-45, Fax: 380-44-288-11-52, E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.projetex.com Languages All European and major Middle Eastern and TOIN Corporation Asian languages, including local variants Description WhP, Languages Japanese, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, a major supplier for the industry-leading corporations, PEECH ECHNOLOGIES Korean, Malay, Thai, Vietnamese and European languages localizes software, documentation and web content. WhP S T Description TOIN is a solidly established Asian MLV with has been benchmarked “Best Localization Vendor” by more than 45 years’ experience. Our services encompass trans- Compaq. Clients specifically appreciate WhP’s dedication lation, localization engineering, DTP, MT post-editing, work- to high quality and strict respect of deadlines and, conse- flow/process consulting and project management. TOIN offers quently, entrust WhP with their most sensitive projects. global reach and exceptional strength in Asia, with headquar- WhP also helps many fast-growing companies to get their ters in Tokyo and additional operations in the United States, first localization projects smoothly off the ground. WhP’s Europe, China and Korea. The company has been helping flexible and open workflow technology adapts to any pro- AppTek Global 1000 companies in industries such as automotive, IT, duction process. WhP’s high standards satisfy the most telecommunications, life sciences, e-learning, computer soft- Languages Arabic, Bahasa, Dari, Dutch, Egyptian dialect, demanding globalization requirements. English, Farsi/Persian, French, German, Hebrew, Iraqi dialect, ware/gaming, semiconductors and consumer products. WhP Espace Beethoven BP102, F06902 Sophia Antipolis Cedex, TOIN Corporation Italian, Japanese, Korean, Pashto, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, France, 33-493-00-40-30, Fax: 33-493-00-40-34, E-mail: info@ Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Tagalog, Traditional Chinese, Japan Shiba 1-chome Building, 1-12-7 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo whp.fr, Web: www.whp.net, www.whp.fr 105-0014 Japan, 81-3-3455-8764, Fax: 81-3-3455-6514, E-mail: Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu Description AppTek is a developer [email protected], Web: www.to-in.co.jp of human language technology products with a complete North America Minneapolis, MN, 612-926-0201, E-mail: aki-ito@ OCALIZATION OOLS suite for text and speech (voice) processing and recognition. to-in.co.jp, Web: www.to-in.com L T AppTek’s product offerings include hybrid (rule-based + sta- Europe London, UK, 44-20-8644-8685, E-mail: michael-stephenson tistical) machine translation (MT) and automatic speech rec- @to-in.co.jp, Web: www.to-in.com China Shanghai, 86-21-3222-0012, E-mail: [email protected], ognition (ASR) for a growing list of more than 23 languages; Web: www.to-in.com multilingual information retrieval with query and topic search capabilities; name-finding applications; and integrated suites providing ASR and MT in media monitoring of broadcast and telephony speech, as well as handheld and wearable speech- Software Localization Solutions by Schaudin.com to-speech translation devices. Windows AppTek 6867 Elm Street, Suite 300, McLean, VA 22101, 703-394-2317, Languages All languages supported by Microsoft Description Fax: 703-821-5001, E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.apptek.com Make your software multilingual with the extensive function- Ushuaia Solutions ality, convenient quality control features and advanced transla- Languages Spanish (all varieties), Portuguese (Brazil) Des- tion support found in Schaudin.com’s RC-WinTrans software RANSLATION ERVICES cription Ushuaia Solutions is a fast-growing Latin American T S localizer, used by successful businesses worldwide since 1993. company providing solutions for translation, localization This tool makes it possible to quickly and easily translate soft- and globalization needs. Ushuaia Solutions is focused on ware GUI elements (for software created with Windows Win32, being creative and proactive to meet tight time frames with Microsoft .NET, and Java software development platforms), a high-quality level and a cost-effective budget. Customizing while ensuring that the software continues to run properly in its processes, Ushuaia assures project consistency and tech- other languages. RC-WinTrans can be used by all the members nical and linguistic accuracy, thus reducing clients’ time- of your team, even those with little knowledge of software lo- Biro 2000 — Your partner for Eastern to-market. Ushuaia combines state-of-the-art technology calization, and provides them with everything needed to man- European languages with top-notch experienced native translators, editors and age, exchange, translate and check software data. Languages Eastern European languages Description Biro software engineers. Our mission is to work together with our Schaudin.com Software Localization Solutions 2000 is located in the heart of Europe (Slovenia). We’ve been clients, thereby creating a flexible, reliable and open relation- Europe Ritterseestrasse 29, 64846 Gross-Zimmern, Germany, 49- in business since 1992. Our clients come from all areas of ship for success. 6071-951706, Fax: 49-6071-951707 industry, but for the past few years our work priorities have Ushuaia Solutions Rioja 919, S2000AYK Rosario, Argentina, 54- USA 6900 California Avenue SW, #503, Seattle, WA 98136, 206- 341-4493064, Fax: 54-341-4492542, E-mail: info@ushuaia 935-5070, Fax: 206-935-5075, E-mail: [email protected], Web: concentrated on the following areas of expertise: life sciences, solutions.com, Web: www.ushuaiasolutions.com See ad on page 8 www.schaudin.com See ad on page 47 legal, IT, cell phone, automotive and technical industries. Our work has focused on Eastern European languages. We work according to the EN 15038 standard. We utilize the following programs in our work: MemoQ server, Trados SDL Synergy, Participate in discussions about the global language Across Language Server and Transit XV. Biro 2000 d.o.o. Jerebova ulica 14, 1270 Litija, Slovenia, 386-1-513- industry at www.multilingualblog.com 18-20, Fax: 386-1513-18-21, E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.biro2000.si See ad on page 48
58 | MultiLingual December 2009 [email protected]
555-615-61 BBuyer'sGuideuyer'sGuide #108.indd#108.indd 5858 111/4/091/4/09 10:36:1310:36:13 AMAM Buyer’s Guide
translations in fields such as biochemistry, mechanics, medi- financial services industries. To learn more about us, please cine, pharmaceutics, oil and gas, and telecommunications. visit www.e-kern.com Today, we are capable of taking on virtually any translation/ KERN Global Language Services localization project from English into Brazilian Portuguese, USA 230 Park Avenue, Suite 1517, New York, NY 10169, 212-953- and we treat each and every customer with the maximum 2070, Fax: 212-953-2073, E-mail: [email protected] CETRA Language Solutions care and attention. Our clients’ trust is our greatest asset and Europe Kurfuerstenstrasse 1, 60486 Frankfurt/Main, Germany, 49- our greatest pride! 69-7560730, Fax: 49-69-751353, E-mail: [email protected] Languages All Description CETRA gives you peace of mind China Right Emperor Commercial Building, Unit B, 11/F, 122-126 because it delivers high-quality, on-time, cross-cultural com- Follow-Up Rua Visconde de Pirajá, 351, Sala 815, Rio de Janeiro, Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong, SAR China, 852-2850-4455, munications and professional, friendly, responsive service. RJ 22410-003 Brazil, 55-21-3553-7223, Fax: 55-21-3553-7223, Fax: 852-2850-4466, E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.e-kern.com CETRA follows the ASTM Quality Assurance in Translation E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.follow-up.com.br See ad on page 41 and Language Interpretation Services standard guides. As a member of the US delegation to ISO, CETRA is actively involved in developing an international translation qual- ity standard. CETRA is involved in the language industry at the highest level, with the company president serving in leadership positions at the American Translators Association, American Foundation for Translation and Interpretation, LinguaLinx Language Solutions, Inc. and Fédération Internationale des Traducteurs. ForeignExchange Translations Languages All Description LinguaLinx is a full-service trans- Languages 42 languages and growing Description Foreign- CETRA, Inc. 7804 Montgomery Ave., Suites 8-10, Elkins Park, PA lation and localization agency specializing in the adaptation 19027, 215-635-7090, 888-281-9673, Fax: 215-635-6610, E-mail: Exchange is the global leader in providing translation services of marketing and communications materials into most of the [email protected], Web: www.cetra.com to life sciences companies. We work with many of the biggest world’s languages. Our enterprise language solutions range pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, from glossary development and maintenance to translation biotech companies and CROs. Our proprietary Multilingual memory deployment and global content management. In Compliance Process combines expert linguists, best-of-breed today’s highly competitive global environment, it is becoming technology and measurable translation quality in a process that increasingly difficult to differentiate one translation agency is both robust and completely scalable, ensuring your projects from another. We stand apart by taking the most proactive are finished on time and within budget. For more informa- approach to quality in the industry, utilizing stringent project tion on how we can help meet your translation requirements management procedures, offering one of the most aggressive CPSL or for a quote on your next translation project, please contact rate structures available and applying a sincere dedication to Languages All Description CPSL enables international com- us directly or visit our website at www.fxtrans.com providing the best possible service. panies from different industry sectors to effectively commu- ForeignExchange Translations 411 Waverley Oaks Road, Suite 315, LinguaLinx Language Solutions, Inc. The LinguaLinx Building, 122 nicate their products and services to global audiences. Our Waltham, MA 02452, 866-398-7267, 781-893-0013, Fax: 781- Remsen Street, Cohoes, NY 12047, 518-388-9000, Fax: 518-388- services cover the full life cycle of multilingual general and 893-0012, E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.fxtrans.com 0066, E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.lingualinx.com technical content, starting with its creation, the linguistic and cultural adaptation through to publishing in different for- mats and means of communication. Among our services are translation, web and software localization; DTP, electronic publishing and printing; interpretation, technical writing and consultancy. CPSL is an ISO-approved company pro- viding high-quality language solutions to more than 1,000 Medical Translations Only companies on three continents, many of them leaders within Hermes Traducciones y Languages All European languages and Japanese Description their industries. Servicios Lingüísticos, S.L. MediLingua is one of the few medical translation specialists CPSL Edifi cio Imagina, Av. Diagonal, 177, 3º, 08018 Barcelona, Spain, Languages Spanish, Portuguese (Continental and Brazilian), in Europe. We only do medical. We provide all European lan- 34-902-363-085, 214-432-6114, Fax: 34-933-000-040, E-mail: English, French, Italian, German and other languages guages (36 today and counting) and Japanese as well as transla- [email protected], Web: www.cpsl.com See ad on page 11 on demand Description Established in 1991, Hermes tion-related services to manufacturers of devices, instruments, Traducciones is a leading Spanish translation company, in vitro diagnostics and software; pharmaceutical and bio- specializing in software and hardware localization and technology companies; medical publishers; national and also undertaking a broad range of other translation pro- international medical organizations; and other customers in jects. Comprehensive in-house translation teams include the medical sector. Projects include the translation of docu- translators, reviewers and linguists with an expertise in mentation for medical devices, surgical instruments, hospital Spanish and Portuguese, a knowledge of CAT tools, and equipment and medical software; medical information for a commitment to deliver cost-efficient, reliable and high- patients, medical students and physicians; scientific articles; Eriksen Translations Inc. quality services to customers. Hermes Traducciones is a press releases; product launches; clinical trial documentation; Languages All Description Eriksen Translations Inc. is a lead- member of the International Committee for the creation medical news; and articles from medical journals. ing provider of multilingual services, including translation, of the European Quality Standard for Translation Services. MediLingua Medical Translations BV Poortgebouw, Rijnsburger- interpreting, typesetting, project management, web localiza- Hermes Traducciones also organizes university courses on weg 10, 2333 AA Leiden, The Netherlands, 31-71-5680862, Fax: 31- tion and cultural consulting. For over 20 years, Eriksen has localization and translation. 71-5234660, E-mail: [email protected], Web: www .medilingua.com See ad on page 49 helped a broad range of organizations in both the public and Hermes Traducciones y Servicios Lingüísticos, S.L. C/ Cólquide, o private sectors excel across print, desktop and web environ- 6 - planta 2 - 3. I, Edifi cio “Prisma”, 28230 Las Rozas, Madrid, ments in the domestic global marketplace. With a worldwide Spain, 34-916-407640, Fax: 34-916-378023, E-mail: hermestr@ hermestrans.com, Web: www.hermestrans.com See ad on page 39 network of over 5,000 linguists, a commitment to leading technologies, and an in-house staff dedicated to tailoring our proven project management process to the individual needs the medical information company of each client, Eriksen is your globalization partner. Eriksen Translations Inc. 32 Court Street, 20th Floor, Brooklyn, NY mt-g — the medical information company 11201, 718-802-9010, Fax: 718-802-0041, E-mail: [email protected], Languages All Description mt-g is the leading provider of Web: www.eriksen.com translations and global information services dedicated to the KERN Global Language Services medical science. We specialize primarily in medical technol- Your language partner ogy and diagnostics, regulatory affairs, dental medicine and Languages All Description KERN Global Language Services other specialist medical fields. We offer a range of professional services covering translation, information production, global is a leading provider in the area of global communication information management and XML documentation applica- with over 35 offices worldwide. With more than 30 years of tions. At its head office in Ulm and its branch in Munich, 36 experience, our services include translation and interpreting salaried staff deliver solutions for information processes in in all languages; software, multimedia and website localiza- Follow-Up Translation Services medical science. More than 680 medical and pharmaceutical tion; terminology management; multilingual desktop pub- Languages English, Brazilian Portuguese Description Our experts in over 100 countries are engaged in translating, pro- lishing; and individual and corporate language training in all company was founded in 1989, with the purpose of offer- ducing, managing and documenting medical information. major languages. KERN has established itself as a preferred ing pure translation work in technical and scientific areas. mt-g medical translation GmbH & Co. KG Eberhard-Finckh- Along the way, we have developed several other skills in the insourcing and outsourcing solution provider for language Strasse 55, 89075 Ulm, Germany, 49-731-17-63-97-0, Fax: 49- translation world, which involve specialized knowledge of services. We serve clients in all industry sectors, including 731-17-63-97-50, E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.mt-g.com IT resources and localization tools. We also master patent the automotive, medical, pharmaceutical, chemical, IT and See ad on page 23
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MultiLingual | 59
555-615-61 BBuyer'sGuideuyer'sGuide #108.indd#108.indd 5959 111/4/091/4/09 10:36:1510:36:15 AMAM Buyer’s Guide
of products on international markets. Established in 1994, financial services; food and agriculture; high-tech and manu- Skrivanek has managed to dominate the European transla- facturing; and hospitality and leisure, as well as government tion market, creating a network of 53 branches covering and nonprofit organizations. Using a total quality manage- 14 countries. Its well-stocked staff of professional transla- ment process and state-of-the-art software and equipment, tors, experienced project managers and dedicated software our team of foreign language professionals delivers the high- Neotech engineers and DTP specialists has enabled Skrivanek to pro- est quality translations in a cost-effective and time-efficient Languages From major European languages into Russian, vide outstanding quality translation and localization services manner. Ukrainian, Kazakh and Azeri Description Neotech is the larg- in any conceivable language and volume, creating an enviable TripleInk 60 South 6th Street, Suite 2600, Minneapolis, MN 55402, est translation company in Russia and CIS countries, offer- clientele representing major leading corporations in various 612-342-9800, 800-632-1388, Fax: 612-342-9745, E-mail: info@ ing a full range of linguistic services to global corporations. industries. Skrivanek’s quality of service is backed by EN ISO tripleink.com, Web: www.tripleink.com Neotech is the first translation company on the Russian 9001:2001 certification. market that has certified its quality management system to Skrivanek s.r.o. International Project Management Centre, Na international ISO 9001:2000 standards. Neotech’s key areas Dolinách 22, CZ 147 00 Prague 4, 420-233-320-560, Fax: 420-241- of expertise are in the oil and gas industries, auto manufac- 090-946, E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.skrivanek.com turing, information technologies and telecommunications. The business techniques introduced and applied by the com- pany currently serve as the best practice within the transla- tion industry. Neotech is leading the drive to continuously The Polish Language Specialists develop translation market standards and to implement new Languages From major European languages into Polish levels of business and interpersonal communications into the Description Wratislavia Translation House Sp. z o.o. is a translation industry within Russia and abroad. Polish translation agency established in Wrocław in 2005, Neotech 23/1 Matrosskaya Tishina, Moscow, Russia, 7-495-787- SpanSource comprised of 15 in-house translation professionals and in 3331, Fax: 7-495-787-1189, E-mail: [email protected], Web: www Languages Focus on Spanish and Portuguese, other lan- cooperation with numerous seasoned, properly selected and .neotech.ru guage combinations through partners Description Span- prepared translators. Our comprehensive service portfolio Source provides translation, localization and related services includes translation, editing, proofreading and project man- from Western European languages into all regional vari- agement in the following fields: IT, technical, legal, finan- eties of Spanish as well as other language combinations cial and business. We are experts in SAP translation — SAP through our network of select SLV partners. Our domain systems, documentation, training materials — and related focus is on software and hardware, heavy machinery and services, including preparation of documentation using automotive, legal and financial, medical and life sciences, SAP Tutor. Graphic services include DTP, transcreation and Rheinschrift GbR oil and gas, corporate training and educational materials. graphic preparation. Our strict quality procedures and us- Language German to/from major European languages Our comprehensive service portfolio includes unparalleled age of CAT tools allow us to deliver high-quality products Description Professional globalization requires experience. desktop publishing and multimedia localization engineer- within tight deadlines. Over the past two decades, we have developed into a top ing support for e-learning materials. Our in-house staff of Wratislavia Translation House Sp. z o.o. ul. Powstan´c´ow S´l. 28/30, international company specializing in the precise tuning of 35 includes project managers, senior linguists, desktop pub- 53-333 Wrocław, Poland, 48-1-33-50-512, Fax: 48-71-33-50-511, your documentation and texts to the standards and mentali- lishers, software engineers and graphic designers, who prove E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.wth.pl ties of the German-speaking world. Our strength lies in our to be fundamental in SpanSource’s centralized, customer- work for well-known software and hardware manufacturers. centric approach. Furthermore, we also offer traditional translation services for SpanSource SRL Santa Fe 1264, 1ºB, Rosario, S2000ATR Argentina, RANSLATION OOLS the business, technology, legal and medical sectors. Our team 54-341-527-5233, Fax: 54-341-527-0035, E-mail: info@span T T of competent employees provides the very best quality within source.com, Web: www.spansource.com the respectively agreed time frame, even if matters are a little more urgent. Rheinschrift Übersetzungen Best & Steigerwald GbR Rolshover Strasse 99, 51105 Cologne, Germany, 49-221-80-19-28-0, Fax: 49- 221-80-19-28-50, E-mail: [email protected], Web: www .rheinschrift.de See ad on page 49 TextBase meets Translation Memory Multiple Platforms Languages All Unicode languages Description MultiCorpora Syntes Language Group, Inc. provides language technology solutions to enterprises, Languages All Description Syntes Language Group is a LSPs and governments. As the independent language tech- leading quality provider of customized language solu- nology expert, MultiCorpora empowers organizations to tions to business, government and professional clients. We better manage linguistic assets and transform translation deliver a full line of services in translation, interpreting and expenses into reusable assets regardless of whether organiza- conference coordination; product, software and website Translation and localization into Polish tions outsource their translations or handle them internally. localization; desktop publishing; multimedia production MultiTrans is a client-server application that pioneered the Language Polish Description Ryszard Jarza Translations and voiceovers; and consultation in both project-specific Advanced Leveraging TM concept that features hassle-free is an established provider of specialized Polish translation, and long-term planning for the incorporation of foreign document pair alignment, recycles previous translations with localization and DTP services, primarily for life sciences, IT, language elements into your business. For 19 years, we’ve context and provides an on-the-fly view of how ambiguous automotive, refrigeration and other technology sectors. We offered proven expertise in all major fields of industry, terms were previously translated. The Translation Bureau of work with multilanguage vendors and directly with docu- delivered by accomplished, experienced professionals. All Canada, international organizations such as UNESCO, and mentation departments of large multinational customers. of this means that you get the ultimate in customer care corporations such as Toys“R”Us, Fidelity, Kraft, HSBC and Our in-house team (12 full-time specialists) is comprised and the best value for your project dollars. Pfizer have selected MultiTrans as their multilingual asset of experienced linguists with medical, engineering and Syntes Language Group, Inc. 7465 East Peakview Avenue, Centennial, management solution. IT backgrounds. We guarantee a high standard of quality CO 80111, 888-779-1288, 303-779-1288, Fax: 303-779-1232, while maintaining flexibility, unparalleled responsiveness MultiCorpora 102-490 St. Joseph Boulevard, Gatineau, Quebec, E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.syntes.com J8Y 3Y7 Canada, 819-778-7070, 877-725-7070, Fax: 819-778- and reliability. 0801, E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.multicorpora.com Ryszard Jarza Translations ul. Barlickiego 23/22, 50-324 Wroclaw, See ad on page 2 Poland, 48-601-728018, Fax: 48-71-3414441, E-mail: info@jarza .com.pl, Web: www.jarza.com.pl See ad on page 49
TripleInk Multilingual Communications Languages All major commercial languages Description As a multilingual communications agency, TripleInk has provided SYSTRAN industrial and consumer products companies with precise Multiple Platforms Skrivanek s.r.o. translation and multilingual production services for audio- Languages 52 language combinations Description SYSTRAN Languages All, with a focus on Central and Eastern Europe visual, online and print media since 1991. Our experience in is the market leading provider of language translation soft- Description Skrivanek is a world leader in providing a wide adapting technical documentation and marketing commu- ware products for the desktop, enterprise and internet that range of language services, specifically translations span- nication materials covers a wide range of industries, includ- facilitate communication in 52 language combinations and ning a multitude of languages and the effective localization ing biomedical and health care; building and construction; in 20 domains. With over three decades of expertise, research
60 | MultiLingual December 2009 [email protected]
555-615-61 BBuyer'sGuideuyer'sGuide #108.indd#108.indd 6060 111/4/091/4/09 10:36:1710:36:17 AMAM Buyer’s Guide
and development, SYSTRAN’s software is the choice of lead- effective consultation of terms and texts. The most robust document management and integrates translation software, ing global corporations, portals and public agencies. Use of alignment tool on the market. More consistent use of ter- financial accounting systems and existing software environ- SYSTRAN products and solutions enhances multilingual minology and phraseology in-house and by freelancers. ments for LSPs, translation and documentation departments, communication and increases user productivity and time- Internal and external repetition detection and pretranslation. organizations, institutions and government agencies. Plunet savings for B2E, B2B and B2C markets as they deliver real- The web version allows access to your terminology, bitexts BusinessManager impresses with its significant time and time language solutions for search, content management, and documents by translators, writers and subcontractors money savings, unrivalled high adaptability to individual online customer support, intra-company communications from anywhere in the world. workflows, optimal quality control and effective project, and e-commerce. Terminotix Inc. 240 Bank Street, Suite 600, Ottawa, ON, K2P 1X4 time and contact management. Functions include quotation SYSTRAN Software, Inc. Canada, 613-233-8465, Fax: 613-233-3995, E-mail: termino@ costing, order/job/workflow management, schedule manage- North America 9333 Genesee Avenue, Plaza Level, Suite PL1, San terminotix.com, Web: www.terminotix.com See ad on page 47 ment, document management, invoicing, financial reports, Diego, CA 92121, 858-457-1900, Fax: 858-457-0648 contact management and customer acquisition. Europe Paroi Nord - La Grande Arche, 1, Parvis de la Défense, 92044 Paris La Défense Cedex, France, 33-825-80-10-80, Fax: 33-1-46-98- Plunet GmbH Prenzlauer Allee 214, 10405 Berlin, Germany, 49-30- 00-59, E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.systransoft.com WORKFLOW SOLUTIONS 322971340, Fax: 49-30-322971359, E-mail: [email protected], Web: See ad on page 45 www.plunet.de
PDFs of all previous
Solutions for Translation, Terminology, Plunet BusinessManager Getting Started Guides Full-text and Bitext Management Multiple Platforms Windows and Web Languages All Description Plunet BusinessManager is the are available at Languages Windows: All Roman alphabet; LogiTermWeb- complete management solution for the translation and Plus: Unicode Description A single software package to documentation industry. On a web-based platform, the sys- www.multilingual.com/gsg manage your terminology and databanks. Efficient and tem includes business management as well as process and
BACK ISSUES
Back issues of MultiLingual are available for purchase. A complete list of articles in each issue and an online order form may be found at www.multilingual.com/backIssues.php. Back issues are $10 each, including postage.
FUTURE ISSUES
The 2010 Resource Directory and Editorial Index 2009 will be published in January 2010. Industry vendors may go to www.multilingual.com/annualDirectory to reserve a free line listing in the 2010 directory and also fi nd advertising information. The digital version will be searchable with live links in all ads and listings as well as links to all 2009 editorial items. Current subscribers will have access to all 2009 issues of MultiLingual and may effi ciently search and access information.
ADVERTISER INDEX
ACP Traductera 40 KCSL Inc. 16 SDL 3 Across Systems GmbH 4, 64 KERN Global Language Services 41 SEPROTEC Multilingual Solutions 37 ADAPT Localization Services 13 Lingo Systems 21 STAR Group 10 Baguette Translations 37 Lingotek 63 SYSTRAN Software, Inc. 45 Binari Sonori srl 12 MediLingua Medical Translations BV 49 TAUS Data Association 19, 32 Biro 2000 d.o.o. 48 Moravia Worldwide 18, 31 Teknik Translation Agency 37 CPSL 11 mt-g medical translation GmbH 23 Terminotix Inc. 47 E4NET 56 MultiCorpora 2 TermNet — International Network EuroGreek Translations Limited 49 PTIGlobal 31 for Terminology 37 GLTaC, Inc. 30 Rheinschrift GbR 49 TranslationDirectory.com 37 Grafi Data 42 Ryszard Jarza Translations 49 Ushuaia Solutions 8 Hermes Traducciones 39 Sajan, Inc. 32 VistaTEC 50 Janus Worldwide Inc. 9 SAM Engineering GmbH 49 Wordfast 33 JFA Marketing 37, 49 Schaudin.com 47
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MultiLingual | 61
555-615-61 BBuyer'sGuideuyer'sGuide #108.indd#108.indd 6161 111/4/091/4/09 10:36:1910:36:19 AMAM Nataly Kelly
Myths about crowdsourced translation Takeaway
Crowdsourced translation. Community trans- lation. Collaborative translation. These topics savvy suppliers think, “Now, here’s an opportunity to make my — what Common Sense Advisory refers to col- LinkedIn profi le — and the services or products I sell — available lectively as CT3 — are currently on the tip of the to a bigger market.” C ■ Myth #2: For-profi t companies should always pay for industry’s tongue. Yet we have been tracking these professional human translation. Companies will do what they developments now for several years. can with the resources they have at their disposal. In some cases, In December 2007, Common Sense Advisory wrote in “Collab- human translation does not make business sense — in most cases orative Translation” that embracing a crowd mentality would be because it takes too long. When a community is being built by its an easy conversion for some, but that many would put up strong users and content is being created every second, a translate-edit- resistance to this emerging practice. Our prediction came true proof process simply does not work. By the time it reaches the when LinkedIn recently attempted to explore the feasibility of editing stage, the source text has expanded or changed. Like try- CT3. Freelance translators scoffed and scolded, and the Ameri- ing to make a circle fi t into a square-shaped mold, many of the can Translators Association led a battle cry against the social companies that now use CT3 have tried the “translation process networking site. of yore” and failed. The model just doesn’t work in some cases. After holding multiple colloquia on the topic in 2007 and ■ Myth #3: Any and all translation work can be handled 2008, we found that the companies embarking on the CT3 through CT3. Wrong. Crowdsourced, community and collabora- journey were not doing so to save money. They were doing so to tive translation are complex and require many factors to be suc- enter new markets and speed up the translation process. Now, cessful — for example, money, engineering resources, planning nearly two years later, a study by the Localization Industry Stan- and a community of individuals who are on board with the idea. dards Association confi rms our fi ndings. If any of those pieces are missing, the effort can fail. Just as the Thus, I would like to clear up a few of the CT3 myths that still translate-edit-proof process is not suited to every project, CT3 pervade the industry: is not a one-size-fi ts-all method either. Will a software provider ■ Myth #1: Crowdsourcing threatens translation suppli- allow its user community to view its highly-guarded release ers. In reality, suppliers are their own biggest threat. Why? The material prior to launch? Is a medical device manufacturer nature of the profession is changing, but unenlightened ven- going to gamble on its patent application by handing it off to a dors refuse to evolve. We hear from companies every day that crowd? We highly doubt it. are willing to pay language professionals to post-edit machine translation output, help them with quality assurance and review community-driven translations. Instead of jumping at Nataly Kelly is a senior analyst at the market research fi rm Common the chance to master these new skills that their clients require, Sense Advisory with a specialized interest in interpreting services. suppliers often refuse the work on supposed moral grounds. Her book, Telephone Interpreting: A Comprehensive Guide to the Organizations — like organisms — either adapt and evolve into Profession is the fi rst full-length book ever published on the topic. more complex forms or become extinct. In the LinkedIn situa- tion, instead of crying, “Waaah! I want my 15 cents per word!” To offer your own Takeaway, write to [email protected]
62 | MultiLingual December 2009 [email protected]
6622 TTakeawayakeaway ##108.indd108.indd 6622 111/4/091/4/09 10:38:0810:38:08 AMAM Takeaway
Back to the big picture. Content is growing at an astound- only resource available. And a bilingual student at the university ing rate. There are not enough translators in the world to keep across town was most likely doing the same exact thing. up with it, so people who speak some Millions of students — and research- languages have access to information ers, scientists, engineers — all over the that others do not. To take just one world face similar challenges. They want example, a 2008 study showed that Crowdsourced, community to learn, contribute to and advance the English was the publication language and collaborative translation world’s collective knowledge. But how of 62.4% of biomedical articles indexed can they, when their participation is by PubMed from 1967 to 1976. From are complex and require many blocked by the language barrier? Tech- 1997-2006, English made up 89.3% factors to be successful – for nology, that’s how. CT3 is a practice that of those articles. Instead of expanding is changing the information landscape. access to multilingual populations, cer- example, money, engineering Machine translation, speech technology, tain scientifi c communities are actually terminology management, authoring reducing their reach. resources, planning and a tools and translation memory sharing This issue is something that I community of individuals who also help expand access to knowledge by experienced fi rst-hand. When I was eradicating language barriers. a graduate student in Latin America, are on board with the idea. The most important thing to remem- many important readings for my ber about CT3 is this: it simply cannot courses were written in English. So, work without people. In other words, if I spent countless hours translating texts into Spanish in order a for-profi t business does not have enough community members to enable some of my fellow students to fully participate in psyched up about its products, it won’t be able to use CT3. If a the class discussion — sometimes formally at my computer, but social issue cannot round up enough support for a given cause, more often, a quick “gisting” spoken aloud in the hallway. While no community translation will happen. So, what is the lesson for not ideal — and certainly not compensated — there simply was the industry regarding CT3? Let the people decide when, how no other option. People needed the information, and I was the and if they want to use it. They’re going to anyway. M
www.multilingual.com December 2009 MultiLingual | 63
6622 TTakeawayakeaway ##108.indd108.indd 6633 111/4/091/4/09 10:38:0910:38:09 AMAM Always a step ahead!
Open Interfaces Across v5 Enterprise Language Technology meets Business Intelligence. Solution
Across Systems adapts the concepts of Business Intelligence for a new generation of translation management software. With Across v5 you » exploit full potential of your valuable language resources » gain full control of processes and workfl ows » collaborate with language service providers in a smooth linguistic supply chain.
Volkswagen and hundreds of other leading global organisations have already migrated to enterprise solu- tions from Across Systems. Call us today to learn how you can benefi t from the all-in-one and end-to-end solutions for enterprises of all sizes, as well as for language service providers.
Across Systems, Inc. Info-Hotline +1 877 922 7677 [email protected] Across Systems GmbH Info-Hotline +49 7248 925 425 [email protected] www.across.net
6644 ##108.indd108.indd 6464 111/4/091/4/09 10:41:4910:41:49 AMAM AZ_Across_V5_11-09_Mulitlingual.indd 1 04.11.2009 8:55:59 Uhr