subject: What Can A Localization Vendor Offer? [print this page] A significant advantage to using a localization vendor is the vendors experience and access to translation professionals: The heart of the localization process resides with the translator. Setting aside the time involved in evaluating and selecting translators, the challenge lies in developing the evaluation and selection criteria.
Localization vendors are uniquely able to determine the best translators for your project: This means that the agency might assume additional work and time, to ensure that translators best qualified for the project are assigned.
Localization vendors have clout that you likely dont have: Only a handful of companies have localization departments whose structure and activities mirror an agencys. Chances are, you dont schedule translations on a continuous basis. We do, and that equates to leverage when competing for resources.
Localization vendors know which matches were made in heaven and which were not: Translators are human. They are professionals and are justifiably proud of their skills. However, they also have individual philosophical approaches to their craft. They might or might not work well with othersor at least with some others. The best translator for the project and the best reviewer for the project might clash on issues of style, word choice, or even personality. You likely will discover this when faced with pages of complete rewrites, passionate outbursts, and conflicting opinions. We know from experience which combinations of personnel will yield effective reviews and efficient processes. Additionally, in worst-case scenarios, we can call in any number of additional consultants to serve as tiebreakers.
Localization vendors have access to additional resources: Again, translators are human. They can fall ill, have family emergencies, or overcommit. How quickly would you be able to reassign work if one or more of your resources dropped out of the picture? What if the scope of work suddenly increased? An agency should have the resources available to ramp up and save your project.
Localization vendors can filter questions and manage the exchange of information: Do not underestimate the time involved in fielding translator questions and exchanging information. It is frequently the most time-consuming part of the localization process. Apart from handling the purely administrative task of distributing informationwhich may involve midnight phone calls to Russia, plus knowing which courier delivers to that small town in Argentina in fewer than five days, and knowing when the translator traveling in Mexico will check in at a cybera localization vendors editorial department is likely able to field many of the questions that inevitably arise.
The probability and volume of translator questions, missing and essential reference materials, and revisions to source text can be expected to increase exponentially with the number of translators, reviewers, and editors working on the project.
Localization vendors can organize and manage your in-country review: In-country reviews can go smoothly. However, experience shows the following:
Your expectations from in-country reviewers what you actually receive
Do not rewrite/editorialize source text. Six additional paragraphs of translated text that do not correspond to the source text
Use revision tracking. A rewritten document with no change tracking
Do not rename electronic files. A file named document.doc with no indication of the language/locale of the sender
Do not handwrite revisions. Several blotchy faxed pages with microscopically small handwritten comments
Send a finished electronic file as an email attachment. Two, or possibly three, separate emails from different individuals in Spain, all of whom disagree with the others changes
Coordinate your review with your colleagues and send only one edited document. A text-format email written in the target language, lacking accents, and containing a general critique of quality with no specific suggestions
This is the moment when you might find yourself wishing that you had partnered with an agency. Almost no one who isnt a full-time localization manager has enough time for the tasks associated with in-country review. It is part of the job of the localization vendor to warn you before its too late.
Localization vendors have access to tools and have experience using them: A localization tool specialist can bridge the gap between theory and practice. The specialist develops an ongoing relationship with the product support staff, helping ensure that tools are utilized properly and that problems are solved quickly and efficiently.
Localization vendors have localization-savvy graphic arts professionals on site: Practitioners of multilingual desktop publishing occupy an important niche in the graphic arts industry, and deservedly so. The graphic challenges inherent in localization are beyond the experience of most art departments, challenges involving text expansion, font support, varying operating systems, and culturally appropriate graphics. Having such professionals on board and available during the planning and execution of the project can make the difference between a successful project and one that fails to deliver on time. These professionals have the experience to ask the right questions. For example, an experienced localization graphic artist will know that simply checking that Arabic reads from right to left does not necessarily mean that it is displaying correctly. Would your graphics department know that?
Localization vendors have editorial resources who are trained to detect problems in target language text: Your localization provider will have an editorial staff trained in the stylistic conventions of target language text and in reviewing such text for omissions and additions. English-speaking proofreaders and editors might introduce errors into a finished product by assumptively removing spaces before colons in a French translation, or by changing the words in a Spanish subheading to initial caps, or by converting commas back into English decimal points in many languages.
Once you have made the decision to collaborate with an agency, how should you go about selecting one? That is a separate discussion altogether, but briefly, beyond pricing, turnaround time, and references, it is worthwhile to explore the following issues: What is included in the price per word?
Will you be working with someone who understands you?
If you are a project manager, will there be a counterpart at the agency? Will the counterpart be available to you on a continuing basis?
Can the vendor provide the reporting metrics you require? What type of project-tracking tools does the vendor use, and how quickly and effectively can the vendor provide updates?
What kind of post-project support is available?
Your vendor should be willing and able to assist you in ensuring that the end user is satisfied with the linguistic quality, the interface, and usability.
Aunes Oversettelser AS has been in the business for 26 years, and we are specialized in technical translations. We are specializing in the Nordic languages, and can offer services into Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Icelandic. The premier translation agency for Norway and the Nordic region! Technical translation services for businesses in the Nordic countries and translation agencies world-wide.
