It’s happened: the most populous country in the world has almost reached peak smartphone saturation among internet users. 788 million people are mobile users, a whopping 98 percent of the country’s total user base,” Statista notes. This “illustrates just how efficient China has proven at rolling out network coverage as well as how mobile technology has become an indispensable facet of everyday life in the country.”
Localization
Terminology Glosses: Hikikomori and Ikigai
Let's talk about Japanese. In Japanese, the personal pronoun 私 (watashi, I) becomes 私たち (watashitachi, we) thanks to the suffix たち (tachi, mark of the plural). Moving up one level towards syntax, we then realize that the word order in Japanese is subject-object-verb. These two features alone should suffice to...
Localizing a job board
The mission of any job board is to create a platform where employers, candidates and recruiters can connect. I thought that localizing a job board would not present much of a challenge, but I was pleasantly surprised with the knowledge that I gained.
Are You A Startup Sherpa Or A UX Rockstar? Don’t Believe A Word
Shopping Around For Sherpas Check out this superb article by linguist, lexicographer, columnist, and self-described “all-around word nut” Ben Zimmer (@bgzimmer) in The Atlantic. Ben discusses the cultural misappropriation of words and how sherpas, ninjas, and gurus crop up everywhere: Why Do Supreme Court Nominees Have ‘Sherpas’? Ben argues that this kind of contrived lexical exoticism hides the complex cultural...
Haven’t an Iota About Fintech Localization? Try Cryptocurrencies
Money, Money, Money Meets Its Waterloo Apologies to ABBA fans about the cheesy introduction. But, mamma mia we need to talk about cryptocurrencies! The Chips Are Down For Fintech I enjoyed a must-read Medium article from Graham Rigby of Iota Localisation Services about the challenges of Fintech localization. Graham talks about how Fintech localization is different from...
Traditional versus Simplified Chinese
The word “Chinese” refers to a group of spoken languages which are as different to one another as French, Portuguese or Italian and to three distinct written languages: Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese and Classical Chinese. These written forms of Chinese are written and read by speakers of all of the different spoken Chinese languages.
The Irish Language: A Cereal Troublemaker Hits the Gaeltacht
I joined my son (aged 13) for breakfast and asked him if he knew the Irish for "cereal". Officially, the term would be "gránach bricfeasta" or similar, but he simply said, "calóga" (which basically means "flakes"). But I immediately thought he said "Cellógga", my Dublin urban Irish ear already tuned into expecting to hear brand names and slang as terminology.
The market for multimedia localization services in 2018
Multimedia has become an effective and efficient way of connecting with the target audience. Multimedia content includes audio, video, flash movies, animation, eLearning content, rich media and interactive materials. Multimedia localization is the process of modifying media such as audio or video with the aim of adapting to the preferences and the needs of people in various geographical regions across the globe.
Why NOT to localize GDPR implementation
Suddenly your inbox is filling up with updated privacy policy notices from every company you have ever offered your name or email to. It’s worth taking a look at what they say — you’ll be surprised how obvious most of it sounds. While large multinationals have hired a small army of specialists to gracefully implement said rules, small businesses are scrambling to grasp the scope and find the time. Mostly because, sometime mid-April, they first heard of this and realized it applies to any company possessing the data of an EU citizen.
Reaching a global audience to maximize your startup’s potential
The pace of globalization is quickening. Startups today have a wider audience at their fingertips than ever before. Technology can help with this, and the next issue of MultiLingual, on startups, will cover this when it goes live in a few days.