We use standards every day, in all aspects of our lives. Some standards have been around for hundreds or even thousands of years. Think, for example, of weights and measures and how their differences and similarities affect us all. Think of electric plugs and outlets and the need to have a universal plug adapter on hand when traveling.
In this article we discuss the meaning of the terms Agile and Scrum in continuous software development and localization.
This article was originally posted on the Wordbee blog. Wordbee are the makers of the translation management system and CAT tool for translators. When we talk about return
To start the ROI calculation, we need to have clear in mind the essential components of the localization process. Because it can be a costly investment, it’s necessary to assess whether a localized product will offer a positive return and have a clear overview of the whole investment.
When we think of localization, we think of content. As a matter of fact, content localization is the last stage of a long and arduous process that starts much earlier, with steps that go from planning, product development and marketing to content development. If all these steps are not carefully harmonized, it can lead to unfavourable results.
Localization requires a careful balance of cultural, linguistic and technical strategies. To help you step up your localization game, the Wordbee team has put together a short list of essential resources, your Hitchhiker’s Guide to the [Localization] Galaxy.
There is no need to start from scratch to harvest terminology: You can start with your translation memories. As a matter of fact, a translation memory (TM) is a trove of valuable terminology that can be mined either manually or semi-automatically. With small TMs, you can browse the segments and select the terms you need using the concordance function. With larger TMs, you may want to work in semi-automatic mode and take advantage of various open-source/free term mining programs.
The British linguist David Crystal has devoted a book (Language Death) to this topic. A language is dead, he writes, when no one speaks it anymore. And when there is only one last speaker of a language, that language is already dead. It’s not a tool of communication anymore, but “more a repository, an archive of a people’s past.” But this doesn’t necessarily mean total extinction.
Here is your worst-case scenario: You’ve just received the deliverables of your latest localization project from your local subsidiary and found they entered an endless amount of corrections and changes in the localized content. After recovering from the shock and discomfort for the extra work (and budget) awaiting you, you begin to wonder: What went wrong and when?
We don’t give the internet enough credit for all that it does for us. From fake news, to unreliable shoddy sources, the World Wide Web has opened up a veritable labyrinth of sources, and it can be hard to know which to trust. The quest to find terminological sources can be equally fraught. How can you possibly know which are reliable and which aren’t? First, you must know what makes a source reliable and then develop a checklist to help you pick the right terminology sources.
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©2023 Isabella Massardo | Italian Translator, Trainer & Web-writer
