Sept/Oct 2019
Sept/Oct 2019
Post Editing
he greatest thing about tech is that it allows us to be more human. I’ve recently been going through my photos, trying to delete the extras to free up space on my hard drive, and I have to smile at how many memories I’ve preserved thanks to tech. A short iPhone video of my tiny niece announcing to her mom that she didn’t want a bike for Christmas, it’s too scary. Snapshots from Poland and Portugal, Buenos Aires and Bali. I’m sorting through old emails, thinking wow, I’d forgotten about this little episode of my own history.
As human beings, our memories, for better and for worse, tend to lose their edge over time. And with tech, we can delete the less fun reminders, and keep the fonder ones.
Our creativity and flexibility are what make us human. If we automate the things we like least, it allows us time for better quality of life. Our authors in our tech issue delve into this concept — training machines to automate things intelligently enough that we don’t have to clean up after them as much, so we spend less time wrangling through the frustrations of errors and ambiguities.
So here’s to tech. May it make us better as a species, and allow us to expand the best parts of our humanity.
#185 Volume 30 Issue 5 September/October 2019
Editor-in-Chief, Publisher: Donna Parrish
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Contents
Focus:
Tech
Hélène Pielmeier
Francois Massion
Olga Melnikova
Jerome Selinger
Jeff Beatty & Staś Małolepszy
Christian Lieske & Felix Sasaki
David Filip
George Zhao & Sharon Lian
Jim Compton
About the Cover:
This colorful wall mosaic mural, depicting industrial technology motifs, is located in a pedestrian underpass on the grounds of the Science and Industry Museum of Chicago.
LinkedIn Update
Libor Safar
Global Digital Marketing | Localization
When a man is tired of LocWorld, he’s tired of life. So I was happy to find #LocWorld40 as exciting as ever. Here are some of my immediate takeaways:
- There’s a hunger for tangible innovation but no one’s quite sure what the next big idea is really going to be, beyond the usual suspects. Incremental improvements addressing specific problems (but not radically changing the way everyone works) attract attention. No surprise the two process innovation sessions got so many people excited.
- The need for common industry standards is acute, with integration and interoperability being a major pain, and one that #TAPICC should help address. Fragmentation is seen as hindering the progress for everyone.
- The scope of those managing #localization continues to expand. They now need to be well versed in #productmanagement or #development. They need to think like international marketers. For all this versatility, they deserve a lot more credit internally than they often get.
- The mood continues to be upbeat, which was great to see. So while discussions about the end of the current economic cycle and what the next downturn may look like abound, it doesn’t currently seem a concern in the industry …
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conversation:
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Recaps
LocWorld comes to Portugal for first time
LocWorld40 was held in Lisbon, Portugal, June 11-13, 2019. Sessions were split between the Estoril Congress Center and the Hotel Palácio Estoril, scene of a 1960s-era Bond movie and a hideout of fleeing European royalty during World War II.
Keynote Isabel Aguilera, voted one of the 50 most influential women in the world by Forbes magazine, spoke June 12 on humanity and the digital age. As connected as humans are currently, and given the rate that life is changing, humans are already hybrids, she argued. “We are digital beings,” she summarized.
She stressed that listening to customers is important in this landscape. What humans want to be reminded of is the importance of their humanity — emotion, ethics. “You are supposed to be good, but you need to get emotion to get the preference of your customer,” Aguilera said. And this is why “everyone is talking about becoming customer-centric.”
Recaps
The Process Innovation Challenge showcases innovative solutions
The Process Innovation Challenge (PIC), held June 12 at LocWorld40, changed its model by pitting six competitors against one another, three relating to process and three to technology. Each competitor had four minutes to present an idea, with a couple of minutes afterward free to answer questions from the onstage PIC dragons — and later from the audience itself.
Istvan Lengyel of BeLazy, Aimee Ansari of Translators without Borders and Harsha Mudumby of Image-Translate offered tech innovations; and Giulia Tarditi of Monase, Benedetta Zamagni of Translated and David Benotmane of Glossa Group offered process innovations.
Tarditi compared translation and creating copy from scratch, and asked “what makes the two acts so dramatically different” on a neurological level. She said the difference lay in the source text — rewriting copy from a “brief” engaged a different part of the translator’s brain. She said the process tool she had developed divided “content in type buckets to direct different process flows.”
Zamagni said her company had to recruit 300 linguists in a month, so they developed an AI-augmented selection process to help. She said there was nothing to fear from tech “as long as we give back to humans all the time and money that we save,” so her company invests the saved time in linguist training.
Recaps
Featured Reader
Would you introduce yourself?
Sue Ellen Wright, Kent State University, Professor Emerita.
Where do you live?
Kent, Ohio (Akron-Cleveland area).
How did you get started in this industry?
I studied German because of my father’s German-American heritage, and I began translating literary works during graduate school in the early 1970s, but trended to sci-tech translation. I came from a family of scientists, engineers and inventors, and was introduced to technical processes as a kid, so it was not difficult to move in this direction. I tell people I became a terminologist at six when my grandmother started teaching me the names of rocks and plants, and it became clear that my family passionately valued knowing about “things” in our natural and human-made world.
What language(s) do you speak?
I am fluent in English and German, but work in French and Spanish as well, which has been a strength in teaching students from many linguistic backgrounds.
Recaps
Third Game Global held in Portugal
The third Game Global Summit was held this year in Lisbon, Portugal, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel on June 18-19, 2019. The conference hosted game localizers and testers from some of the biggest names in gaming.
The conference incorporated traditional sessions along with round tables and some hybrid discussions. It began by asking the attendees (developers, publishers, service providers and others) a couple of questions about where they work and what kind of games they like. When it comes to favorite games, Tetris came out first, with Mario Kart as a close second.
The first major session began with a panel of experts including Bjorn Holste from Square Enix, Robert Masella from Rare (Microsoft) and Matt Wilson from Sony Interactive Entertainment. The panel discussed the different ways that each of their teams implement automation in testing. One of the major topics in this panel was whether or not automation can entirely take over the task of testing.
Recaps
ALC held in DC
The Association of Language Companies hosted their 17th annual conference May 1-4, 2019, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. With over 180 attendees, this was one of their most successful conferences to date.
Conference attendees enjoyed a “Day on the Hill” meeting with their state representatives to discuss key initiatives impacting the language service industries, namely the Dynamex worker classification case. William Rivers and Trey Calvin orchestrated these meetings for ALC members.
The ALC annual conference hosted speakers from all over the globe, touching on various subjects including corporate growth for the language service industry. Attendees learned techniques such as how to develop their business, tips for effective communication and improved contract negotiations. Case studies and success stories were also shared.
News
People
Recent industry hires
- The Translation People, a provider of language translation services, has restructured. Jasmin Schneider has been promoted from operations director to managing director. Sam Bennett has become operations director. Steve Holden has been promoted from financial controller to the new role of finance director in a new management team that also includes business development director Alan White.
The Translation People www.thetranslationpeople.com
- Eurotranslate, a language services company specialized in medical translation, has hired Nigel T. Packer as a business development ambassador for the UK branch of the company.
Eurotranslate http://eurotranslate.rs
- Janus Worldwide Inc., a language service provider, has hired Laszlo Varga as global resource management director.
Janus Worldwide Inc. www.janusww.com
- Language Transactions, a global brokerage service business, has hired Dee Johnson as an account manager.
Language Transactions https://languagetransactions.com
- Janus Worldwide Inc., a language service provider, has hired Dan Valentine as a business development manager.
Janus Worldwide Inc. www.janusww.com
- KantanMT, a subscription-based machine translation service, has appointed Carlos Zheng as consultant and agent for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
KantanMT http://kantanmt.com
- e2f, inc., a provider of language services, has hired Scott Schwalbach as vice president of partnerships.
e2f, inc. https://e2f.com
Calendar
August
MT Summit XVII
August 19-23, 2019, Dublin, Ireland
European Association for Machine Translation, www.mtsummit2019.com
gamescom
August 20-24, 2019, Cologne, Germany
Koelnmesse, www.gamescom.global
Translation Forum Russia
August 23-25, 2019, St. Petersburg, Russia
Business Bureau of the Association of Interpreters, http://tconference.ru
September
4th International Translation Technology Summer School
September 2-6, 2019, Antwerp, Belgium
KU Leuven, www.arts.kuleuven.be/transtech-summerschool
Content Marketing World
September 3-6, 2019, Cleveland, Ohio USA
Content Marketing Institute, http://contentmarketingworld.com
ICNLSP 2019
September 12-13, 2019, Trento, Italy
Directorate General for Scientific Research and Technological Development http://icnlsp.org/icnlsp2019
2nd Translation Industry Conference
September 14-15, 2019, Cordoba, Argentina
Translated in Argentina, www.translatedinargentina.com/clint/about-us
White Paper
The Digital Babylonian Confusion
The Babylonian confusion of languages could be regarded as the big bang of the translation industry. Thousands of years later we are faced with a similar confusion: a whole host of digital systems for translation, content, or delivery that cannot freely communicate with each other and do not share a common language. In the days of content marketing and “need it now,” this has to change!
The Localization Side
Localization is a data and task-intensive, time-critical process. The goal is therefore clear: avoid manual tasks whenever possible and implement a seamlessly automated end-to-end workflow. The present situation, however, is best described as “fragmented.” On the translator side, we have Translation Management Systems (TMS), Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) tools, Machine Translation, and so on. On the content creation side, a myriad of enterprise and web content management systems (CMSs) are in use, each with their own concepts, formats, data structures and interfaces. (Better we do not even mention the countless “homegrown” systems that can be found in practically every enterprise.)
It goes without saying that content marketers want their premium content to be available in every necessary language in no time at all. But what data needs to travel between the systems in order to automate this workflow? How does the “payload” need to be organized so it can be easily processed? How do you prioritize content, select strategically and track analytically? In other words: how do you connect the localization world to the content world?
The Content Side
To answer the question of data exchange, most manufacturers have developed interfaces and APIs to connect different systems or to integrate them into the workflow. Most individual CMS integrations only talk to one specific TMS or CAT tool. This is fine as long as you stay with your current technology provider. However, if you wish to add additional technology to your workflow or change to a new translation technology provider, your investments into this automation solution are lost.
Integrations are also typically built as one-offs to serve the current workflow requirements. But requirements change, and technological advancements are moving at the speed of light. In-context review and continuous localization were not as widely required a few years ago as they are in today’s world. Furthermore, with machine translation reaching human parity, we can safely assume that requirements for connectors will change as well. If your connector is developed as a one-off, there is probably not a “hook” to provide the newly required functionality, leaving you no other choice but to build another one-off connector.
Due to this lack of a standard approach and common baseline, the resulting API landscape is in danger of getting out of hand, expensive to maintain, and a nightmare to operate. Some industry initiatives are already trying to define standards or agree on common data models.
COTI
The German Association of Component-Based Content Management Systems developed COTI, the standard for data exchange between authoring and translation systems. This removes a major obstacle to a smooth documentation process. It also makes it possible to automate data exchange and at the same time select resources more flexibly.
COTI consists of three levels of integration that build on each other, starting with “translation packages” (Level 1), using automated import and export packages (Level 2), and creating the prerequisites for direct communication between the systems via API (Level 3).
Levels 2 and 3 are particularly interesting with regard to automation. And since it is a standard, it can be implemented using a standard product. In our case, this is Connecting Content, our automation middleware for the SDL localization product range.
The downside of COTI, at least from a localization point of view, is that it merely standardizes the business metadata required for jobs to travel between the systems. The means of communication is transferred, but not the “payload”, — the actual content that needs to be localized. But still, it is a very big first step, particularly because all German CMS producers have committed to implementing the standard – and many already have. The standard is also being supported by several CAT tools.
TAPICC
The TAPICC initiative by GALA, the Globalization & Localization Association, also tackles the lack of a common baseline. Both the void and the plethora of APIs undermine interoperability and force investments, such as in code maintenance. The TAPICC initiative aims to create a pre-standardization model to address these challenges and lead to just one API needing to be supported, rather than hundreds. It has an open source legal framework and is supported by major industry players and associations. After all, true digital transformation will only become possible when companies can connect their workflows directly to the translation market.
But however well TAPICC might develop, it will probably not solve one basic question: what is the incentive for a CMS provider to provide a TAPICC host functionality? Without pressure from their clients, there probably isn’t one.
Our Solution
That is why Kaleidoscope and Xillio have teamed up to combine their respective middleware platforms to solve this problem based on the close-to-final TAPICC project status.
Xillio has developed a content integration platform, the Localization Hub, with 23 (and growing) connectors. As the Xillio CMS connectors are integrated with a “neutral” middleware platform, your investments made into automation can be reused across the entire translation landscape and not just with your current provider. New features needed to serve the latest requirements can be easily added. The Xillio Localization Hub is in itself the TAPICC host. This means there is no need to wait until all the players in the content management industry provide a TAPICC output.
The Xillio Localization Hub is based on a unified API. This is extremely important for implementation, because once your CMS system has been integrated for localization purposes using this unified API, you can easily add other creators or “consumers” of content into the mix with no additional connectors – and no further investment – required.
Connecting Content, the localization-faced middleware by Kaleidoscope, takes care of the “specialties” of the translation systems and workflows, in particular for SDL Trados Studio, SDL GroupShare, and SDL WorldServer. Connecting Content acts as a TAPICC client or host and receives TAPICC (or other) calls or packages. It automatically creates projects, pre-translates and analyzes them, sends out translation jobs, or uploads them to GroupShare or WorldServer. Localization workflows can be defined in Connecting Content and triggered through the business metadata contained in the TAPICC call. After the localization process is finished, Connecting Content pushes the result right back to the Localization Hub and on into the source CMS repositories.
Conclusion
So there you have it: the combination of the Xillio Localization Hub and Kaleidoscope’s Connecting Content brings an end to the Babylonian interface confusion and makes both your content and translation system ready for whatever the future will bring.
About Kaleidoscope
Taking your content global — with Kaleidoscope your product will speak every language! The combination of decades of expertise, our software solutions developed in-house, and select software from market-leading technology partners has been making this a reality since 1996. Coupled with the full-service approach from eurocom, Austria’s largest and most innovative translation agency, Kaleidoscope offers a unique and unrivaled synergy of language and technology.
www.kaleidoscope.at
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Column
Client Talk
RPMGlobal
Terena Bell
Terena Bell is senior director of communications for Lionbridge. However, this article was written while she was an independent reporter covering translation for The Atlantic, The Guardian, MultiLingual and others.
Welcome to Client Talk, where we ask translation buyers when professional services are worth it and why. By connecting away from the sales environment, we hope to discover what really drives localization purchasing. For the last two years, every issue of MultiLingual has featured a different company. Some companies hire professionals, others don’t, but your challenge is to find the similarities. What patterns do all buyers share? What do their answers tell us about the way clients see our industry as a whole?
The client
Mining software company RPMGlobal is our first Australian profile, based in Brisbane with clients in 125 countries. But don’t let the word “software” fool you — RPM clients don’t mine for data, but rather ore and minerals from the ground.
“Like any other industry,” manager of product internationalization Kirsty Taylor says, “mining has its set of industry terminology that can be quite foreign to those not exposed to it.” And this vocabulary can vary by commodity — as in coal vs. gold; local history and technique; above or below ground.
Column
Community Lives
Bridging industry and academia
Jeannette Stewart
Jeannette Stewart is the former CEO of CommuniCare, a translation company for life sciences. An advocate for the language industry, she founded Translation Commons, a nonprofit online platform facilitating community collaboration.
Teacher/student relationships have taken on many forms throughout history and across the globe. Our younger years are focused on becoming a part of this community, acquiring knowledge and skills… and then what? We transition to the business community and put our knowledge and skills to profitable and satisfying use.
Except the equation is not that balanced, is it? Enterprises may devour the products that education delivers, but is their appetite satisfied? This is a complicated question, and specifically in the language industry, the answer is a tad complicated too. After all, we keep hearing about skills shortages and the difficulties enterprises have in feeding their ravenous machine. So, if this simple process of supply and demand isn’t working, we need to investigate why. We have seen initiatives that attempt to tackle this. For example, under Ulrich Henes’ lead, LocWorld ran the prescient Attracting and Developing Talent (ADT) initiative. Much has been learned from forging links between education and commerce, but the problems are perennial and we need to build stronger and more productive relationships that will satisfy requirements effectively and continue to do so on an ongoing basis.
Many academics attend conferences and language-industry events and business people are often guest lecturers at their courses. Together they create relationships that are crucial in helping develop language programs and tech-tools that fulfill real-world requirements. One very tangible benefit of such initiatives is that the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS) is responding by reclassifying their localization program as a STEM degree (science, technology, engineering and math) curricula that will equip its graduates with skills that our tech-based enterprises require. Effective communication, transparency and a willingness to innovate for change are critical components that will ensure success in this major language-industry venture.
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Focus
Is AI everywhere in the language services industry?
Hélène Pielmeier
Hélène Pielmeier
Hélène Pielmeier is a highly accomplished language services industry executive. Her specialties include project and vendor management, quality process development and improvement, and sales strategy and execution. As an analyst, she provides research and advisory services for CSA Research’s language service provider platform.
Hélène Pielmeier
Hélène Pielmeier
Hélène Pielmeier is a highly accomplished language services industry executive. Her specialties include project and vendor management, quality process development and improvement, and sales strategy and execution. As an analyst, she provides research and advisory services for CSA Research’s language service provider platform.
rtificial intelligence (AI) has become a true buzzword in the language services industry, and just about everywhere else too. From naysayers who frown upon anything related to AI to technology vendors and some language service providers (LSPs) that use AI as a marketing boosterism tool, it is really hard to avoid getting tangled in all the misleading messages you hear out there. When every tool and process is labeled AI, the term loses a lot of its meaning.
So let’s go back to the basics and explain what AI truly is, and then dive into some data to define the actual depth of AI deployments in the language services industry.
Levels of automation
Automation is about using software to define and execute a series of actions that run when instructed to do so or when a trigger or condition dictates (Figure 1).
White Paper
Goodbye, source text!
A source-free translation scenario can maximize usability and increase your app conversion rate
Raise your hand if you have ever wondered why a translated app, website or campaign converts much less than its original content counterpart. As someone who looks at performance data by language, you are probably familiar with the pain of discovering that no matter how much love you have put into them, localized apps just don’t deliver great user experience.
After spending years trying to solve the problem, I wondered if the problem was in the translation act itself, and thus started looking into the connection between translation and the brain. We all say that we want our translators to “transcreate” content, to make it sound as if a copywriter had written it — but what if there was something that prevented translators from accessing the part of their brain they need in order to accomplish that?
Recent neurolinguistics studies show that when you write content from scratch — from a brief, the way copywriters do — you can tap into your right brain, the one that allows you to be creative and insightful. However, this is much harder in translation, since translators are not given a brief, but a source text, which seems to reduce the act of translating to a mere routine job and get whoever performs it stuck in their left brain. But there is a way to reimagine the translation process by removing the source — this frees up translators to fully tap into their right brains and to benefit from the creativity and insight required to create content that truly converts. The results from our latest A/B tests speak for themselves: an 80% increase in conversions when no source is used. Our translators never see the source. What they see is a brief, functional explanation, such as “This button takes users to Payments.”
What is exciting is that, firstly, we have found a way to do this while leveraging existing translation tools, including TMs. Secondly, it can be done at scale without impacting time to market, and, lastly, it delivers huge conversion boosts. Which is why you should consider saying goodbye to the source, and hello to a better conversion rate.
Giulia Tarditi is a visionary on a mission to change the way companies conceive of and execute localization. Currently head of localization for mobile banking app Monese, she has spent the past 11 years advising venture-backed startups on how to unlock the full growth-driving potential of global content. Tarditi’s interest in the relationship between language and the brain has allowed her to develop a forward-thinking approach that saw her winning the Process Innovation Challenge at LocWorld Portugal 2019. Having worked on everything from starting off multiple language sites and apps as a startup to scaling to hundreds of millions of users, she is one of a handful of people who have had the chance to do localization on this scale. To find out what makes Tarditi’s approach a game-changer for companies that want to go global, get in touch at www.linkedin.com/in/giuliatarditi.
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Focus
Intelligent terminology
Knowledge-aware terminology databases can help translators and improve AI
Francois Massion
Francois Massion is managing director of Dokumentation ohne Grenzen (D.O.G) GmbH. He is a visiting professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University and has a teaching assignment in the field of AI and NLU at Shanghai Foreign Studies University. He is a member of the advisory board of the Deutsches Institut für Terminologie.
lthough the term artificial intelligence (AI) was coined more than 60 years ago at a Dartmouth conference in 1956, it has only recently reached the radar screen of translators, interpreters or language workers. Since then, most language professionals have been struggling to assess which effects AI will have on their professional lives.
It is too early to measure the full extent of this transformation, but we know already that the impact of AI will be twofold. On the one hand, AI will revolutionize the work of language professionals by taking over some of their tasks and assisting them in many others. On the other hand, it will create new demands and service opportunities. Translators and other language specialists will be able to augment AI systems with their unique knowledge and skills. This will be particularly the case in the field of intelligent terminologies, aka ontoterminologies and knowledge-rich terminologies, which have become part of the tool landscape. Intelligent terminologies belong to the family of augmented translation technologies that are inspired or driven by artificial intelligence. They model knowledge by creating conceptual networks using relationships. These intelligent terminologies are of great benefit when it comes to discovering knowledge hidden in documents and translations.
Game Global, Level 04
takes place in Silicon Valley
Join us on November 4 & 5 at the Fairmont Hotel
in beautiful downtown San Jose.
Learn more at GameGlobal.events
Focus
Predicting the unpredictable
The future of localization
Olga Melnikova
Olga Melnikova has been in the industry for 11 years, first as a Russian linguist and then as a project manager and localization professor. She holds an MA in translation and localization management and is currently pursuing a graduate degree in computer science with a Canadian university.
e all want to know what the future will bring so that we are better prepared for it. However, it becomes harder to reliably predict the future even a few years ahead. This is because technology is progressing faster than ever.
The advancement of technology in the past several decades has changed everyone’s lives. Many of us still remember the time when we did not have high-speed internet, or even the time when we had no internet at all. This seems unbelievable now, but it was only a couple of decades ago. Internet, social media, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and artificial neural networks in their modern state are all quite recent developments, and we have witnessed our lives change drastically due to these innovations.
Law of Accelerating Returns
Technology is moving so fast that its growth is not linear anymore — it is exponential, as defined by Ray Kurzweil’s Law of Accelerating Returns.
What does it mean for our industry? As for all other industries, no one knows what to expect even in the nearest future.
Focus
A horse with two legs
Continuous delivery and the translation ecosystem
Jerome Selinger
Jerome Selinger is a program manager in charge of implementing the best globalization processes and tools at Pitney Bowes. He mastered in linguistics and computing in Paris, France, and has been in the localization industry for 20 years as a translator, reviewer, localization engineer and project manager.
Jerome Selinger
Jerome Selinger is a program manager in charge of implementing the best globalization processes and tools at Pitney Bowes. He mastered in linguistics and computing in Paris, France, and has been in the localization industry for 20 years as a translator, reviewer, localization engineer and project manager.
icture yourself 20 years ago. You are chasing your IT engineer for installer CDs, picking massive paper user guides off the shelf, and crawling under your desk to check if your software dongle is in place. To further complicate things, you’ve just updated a translation memory on your computer, so you’re asking your team of internal reviewers to stop working and go for a coffee, while you’re zipping the data and emailing it (hello, US Robotics 56k modem!) to your freelancers. And you’re hoping that all the stakeholders involved in the translation process are using the latest and greatest.
If you’ve been in this industry for as long as I have, these images will resonate with you and bring back fond memories. For others, this seems prehistoric. Either way, they illustrate how quickly technology, tools and processes evolve, along with the best practices that go with them.
What constitutes today’s best practices quickly becomes obsolete in tomorrow’s world. Tools and processes are changing and evolving at an increasing speed. In software enterprises, engineering teams adapt faster than localization professionals do — and that includes enterprise localization departments. That creates a gap, which causes workarounds, conversions, delays, and potentially, show stoppers.
Focus
Fluent: Firefox’s new localization system
Jeff Beatty
Jeff Beatty is the head of localization at Mozilla, the makers of the popular open source web browser Firefox. He holds an MS in multilingual computing and localization from the University of Limerick.
Staś Małolepszy
Staś Małolepszy works with hundreds of volunteers around the globe who continue to deliver top quality localization of Firefox in nearly 100 locales to over 400 million users worldwide.
Fluent: Firefox’s new localization system
Jeff Beatty
Jeff Beatty is the head of localization at Mozilla, the makers of the popular open source web browser Firefox. He holds an MS in multilingual computing and localization from the University of Limerick.
Staś Małolepszy
Staś Małolepszy works with hundreds of volunteers around the globe who continue to deliver top quality localization of Firefox in nearly 100 locales to over 400 million users worldwide.
ne of the constant challenges in developing global software is reducing technical debt and legacy code. Ruthless prioritization takes place when it becomes clear that an organization needs to replace its legacy code with something more efficient and modern. Very often, legacy code that affects internationalization (i18n) and localization (l10n) is one of the last areas of the codebase to be prioritized in this effort. This is the situation we found ourselves in at Mozilla. Firefox and its rendering engine, Gecko, had become bloated and filled with legacy code that needed refurbishing. Thanks to the Firefox Quantum release in 2017, this is no longer the case. However, part of that legacy codebase was i18n/l10n. In fact, prior to 2018, this part of the codebase hadn’t been altered or updated in nearly 20 years. As a result, Firefox had a number of significant i18n/l10n problems:
- Yellow Screen of Death (YSOD): users were confronted with a YSOD XML parsing error when a translated string was malformed, effectively rendering their browser useless.
- English fallback: if a string was untranslated, it would appear in English, whether the user understood English or not.
- Single-locale builds: users struggled to find Firefox in the right language due to there being over 100 different builds of Firefox to choose from for download and install.
- Source strings had global impact: monolingual developers were expected to craft source language strings in syntax that, while natural-sounding in English, affected all target language translations and produced unnatural-sounding translations.
- No pseudolocalization: as a practice, pseudolocalization was nonexistent. I18n problems were discovered manually, often post-release.
- Multiple string formats in one product: requiring developers and localizers to know how to form correct strings in both .dtd and .properties files for one single product, introduced high onboarding costs and a high risk for errors (which would produce YSOD).
- Long wait time for localization updates: users had to wait for the next version of Firefox (between 6-18 weeks) before localization errors would be corrected.
Focus
Wikidata gets wordier
Christian Lieske
Christian Lieske is involved in SAP language technologies. He has worked with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and has contributed to the European Commission’s MultilingualWeb initiative and standards such as the XLIFF. He has a formal education in computer science, natural language processing and AI.
Felix Sasaki
Felix Sasaki’s field of interest is the application of web technologies for representation and processing of multilingual information. He has worked for the W3C and DFKI on internationalization AI. He recently joined the German publisher Cornelsen Verlag as a content architect.
Wikidata gets wordier
Christian Lieske
Christian Lieske is involved in SAP language technologies. He has worked with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and has contributed to the European Commission’s MultilingualWeb initiative and standards such as the XLIFF. He has a formal education in computer science, natural language processing and AI.
Felix Sasaki
Felix Sasaki’s field of interest is the application of web technologies for representation and processing of multilingual information. He has worked for the W3C and DFKI on internationalization AI. He recently joined the German publisher Cornelsen Verlag as a content architect.
ikidata is a nonprofit knowledge base that anyone can edit and use. Because of this, AI can be shaped to a certain degree by anyone.
Backed by the Wikimedia foundation, a vibrant ecosystem helps Wikidata to make a mark on modern content processes. Its coverage (56 million items in April 2019), intuitive tools for end users and powerful interfaces for programmers make it a versatile tool for a large variety of usage scenarios — such as knowledge discovery, content enrichment, terminology work and translation. In autumn 2018 Wikidata enhanced its capabilities to capture information related to words, phrases and sentences in many of the world’s languages.
The galaxy
A look at the start page of Wikipedia at www.wikipedia.org and Figure 1 shows Wikidata in the context of the Wikimedia galaxy. Often, discussions of the Wikimedia galaxy include entities that are not part of the galaxy in a strict sense. A significant example is DBpedia.
Focus
IT context of human language translation
David Filip
David Filip is a researcher in next generation localization project and process management and an interoperability standardization expert. The underlying research was supported by Science Foundation Ireland as part of the ADAPT Centre at Trinity College Dublin. He is a current member of the MultiLingual editorial board.
David Filip
David Filip is a researcher in next generation localization project and process management and an interoperability standardization expert. The underlying research was supported by Science Foundation Ireland as part of the ADAPT Centre at Trinity College Dublin. He is a current member of the MultiLingual editorial board.
reland has been perceived since the 1980s as a global capital of industrial translation and localization. This happened largely because global multinationals such as Oracle, Microsoft, Google and Facebook were happy to headquarter their globalization and internationalization efforts (for Europe, the Middle East and Africa if not globally) in a friendly, English-speaking EU country, a trend becoming even stronger with Brexit.
Yet there is a far wider IT context in which we need to look at human languages and translation, well beyond Ireland or the EU. There’s a rich relationship between human natural languages and reasoning automation ideas that ultimately lead to the formation of computer science in the industrial era.
Human language has abstract semantics and among other things, it allows us humans to make logical inferences. Inferences, or the ability to relate thoughts and make conclusions, form the baseline for interpersonal communication. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, it can be argued that all philosophical and logical developments that eventually led to the creation of computer science were initially founded in the systematic study of language. This happened from antiquity, through medieval scholastics, up through the modern industrial and post-industrial era, when the automation ideas of 17th century philosophers gradually became implementable.
Focus
Emerging technologies and the cost of video localization
George Zhao
George Zhao is CEO of VideoLocalize. A 20+ year veteran in the language industry, his passion is in technological innovations that transform and advance the localization industry. He was elected to the 2017-2018 GALA Board of Directors.
Sharon Lian
Sharon Lian is a project manager at VideoLocalize, and has over ten years’ experience in localization and internationalization. A language and culture enthusiast, she has lived in Paris, Hong Kong and Beijing. She currently lives in Toronto, Canada.
George Zhao
George Zhao is CEO of VideoLocalize. A 20+ year veteran in the language industry, his passion is in technological innovations that transform and advance the localization industry. He was elected to the 2017-2018 GALA Board of Directors.
Sharon Lian
Sharon Lian is a project manager at VideoLocalize, and has over ten years’ experience in localization and internationalization. A language and culture enthusiast, she has lived in Paris, Hong Kong and Beijing. She currently lives in Toronto, Canada.
ou’ve just been asked by a client to dub a short video with a tight turnaround time and a limited budget. How do you tell your client that it’s not possible due to the tight deadline and budget? Or do you?
Emerging technologies are being leveraged to simplify the video localization process. They are making the whole process faster, less expensive and more efficient. Advances in AI and machine learning technologies are now making important inroads in transcription and text-to-speech (TTS) while automation in dubbing can help expedite the post-production process as well. Transcription, TTS and dubbing are essential in video localization, yet they add to the project cost because traditionally they have been done manually. Automating these aspects of the process can and will make localizing a video much more viable than ever before.
Transcription
Manually transcribing speech into text has always been considered the best way to do audio transcriptions. It is perceived as more accurate because manual transcribers can choose to slow the playback speed of the audio or video files so they can type at their own pace; however, it also takes more time and money as human effort is involved. With the advent of AI, it is now possible for machine (automated) transcription to be a faster, reliably accurate and more economical form of audio transcription.
Focus
Past is prologue all over again
What can we learn about the future of the language industry from technology predictions made in 1999?
Jim Compton is a program manager in the Technology Group at RWS Moravia and 20+ year veteran of the localization and globalization industry. His formal education is in journalism, and his hobbies include playing Minecraft and writing/performing 8-bit rock music. He lives in Denver, Colorado.
Jim Compton
Jim Compton
Jim Compton is a program manager in the Technology Group at RWS Moravia and 20+ year veteran of the localization and globalization industry. His formal education is in journalism, and his hobbies include playing Minecraft and writing/performing 8-bit rock music. He lives in Denver, Colorado.
hree years ago in 2016, Erik Vogt (my friend and industry colleague for over 20 years) and I ran a webinar called “Past Is Prologue” where we looked at the state of technology — including localization technology — from 1996. I would describe it as an exercise in hindsight analysis.
What trends were at play then that would ultimately materialize into what would become the present? What predictions were people making then about where we’d be twenty years later, in 2016? How well did those predictions pan out? And most importantly: what insights might we glean about our future from such an exercise?
I think it’s a perfect subject for reexploration here in the technology edition of MultiLingual in 2019, as we find ourselves on the cusp of a new decade.
So, we’ll explore the technology landscape back in 1999, especially as it was applicable to the language industry. We’ll look at what the technologists and pundits of the time were predicting and see how they did. Eerily accurate? Hilariously off-target? Something else entirely?
Then, through this process, we’ll try to extract learnings that we can bring along with us as we venture into the next decade.
buyer’s guide
European Language Industry Association (Elia)
Elia is the European not-for-profit association of language service companies with a mission to accelerate our members’ business success. We do this by creating events and initiatives that anticipate and serve our members’ needs in building strong, sustainable companies, thereby strengthening the wider industry. Elia was founded in 2005 and has since established itself as the leading trade association for the language services industry in Europe.
Elia Brussels, Belgium
Email: info@elia-association.org
Web: http://elia-association.org
Globalization and Localization Association
The Globalization and Localization Association (GALA) is a global, nonprofit trade association for the language industry. As a membership organization, we support our member companies and the language sector by creating communities, championing standards, sharing knowledge and advancing technology.
Globalization and Localization Association
Seattle, WA USA
+1-206-494-4686
Email: info@gala-global.org
Web: www.gala-global.org
SYSTRAN Software, Inc.
For more than four decades, SYSTRAN has been the market leader in language/translation products and solutions, covering all types of platforms from desktop to internet to enterprise servers. To help organizations enhance multilingual communication and increase productivity, SYSTRAN delivers real-time language solutions for internal collaboration, search, ediscovery, content management, online customer support and ecommerce along with automatic speech recognition and optical character recognition. SYSTRAN is the leading choice of global companies, defense and security organizations and language service providers. SYSTRAN is the official translation solutions provider for the S-Translator, a default-embedded app on the Samsung Galaxy S and Note series.
Languages: 130+ language combinations
SYSTRAN Software, Inc. San Diego, CA USA
+1 858 457 1900
Email: marketing-americas@systrangroup.com
Web: www.systrangroup.com
Game Global
Born from LocWorld’s successful Game Localization Round Table, Game Global gathers the main stakeholders in game globalization (from design to testing) in the same place and time to share their endeavors, successes, practices and research in a collaborative manner. The goal of this two-day event is to help improve the gaming industry through networking, sharing insights and learning. Game Global is steered by an advisory board of high-level professionals from the industry. Check our website for details on upcoming and past conferences.
Localization World, Ltd.
Sandpoint, ID USA
(208) 263-8178
LocWorld
LocWorld conferences are dedicated to the language and localization industries. Our constituents are the people responsible for communicating across the boundaries of language and culture in the global marketplace. International product and marketing managers participate in LocWorld from all sectors and all geographies to meet language service and technology providers and to network with their peers. Hands-on practitioners come to share their knowledge and experience and to learn from others. See our website for details on upcoming and past conferences.
Localization World, Ltd.
Sandpoint, ID USA
208-263-8178
Global DTP
Global DTP s.r.o., based in the Czech Republic, offers professional multilingual desktop publishing and media engineering solutions to the localization industry. Over the past 15 years, Global DTP has become one of the leading DTP/multimedia companies. We have been delivering high-quality and cost-effective services for at least eight of the top 20 LSPs and many other companies/agencies. Due to our extensive experience in localization and knowledge of the prepress, media and publishing industries, our team of 20 in-house professionals handles more than 1,000 projects every year. Our core services are multilingual desktop publishing, multimedia and eLearning engineering.
Global DTP s.r.o. Brno,
Czech Republic
+420 3 574 709
Email: info@global-dtp.com
Web: www.global-dtp.com
Hornet Design Studio
Since 2005, Hornet Design Studio has been focusing on delivering quality services in a timely manner. A highly skilled team of professionals is always ready to meet expectations of even the most demanding clients. Looking to achieve that goal, we develop and expand. Therefore we now offer not only DTP but also multimedia, eLearning and voiceover services.
Languages: All
Hornet Design Studio
Bydgoszcz,
Poland
+48525290553
Email: office@hornetdesign.eu
Web: http://hornetdesign.eu
Quality Training in Localization & Global Marketing
The Localization Institute is the leader in educational advancement in the field of localization — the adaptation of products and services for international markets. We organize comprehensive, vendor-neutral conferences (LocWorld and Brand2Global), seminars and round tables where participants gain insights that help their companies better succeed in international business. In addition, The Institute has partnered with top universities and professional associations to develop comprehensive certification programs in localization project management, quality management, internationalization and global digital marketing.
The Localization Institute Madison, WI USA
608-826-5001
Email: kris@localizationinstitute.com
Web: www.localizationinstitute.com
MA in Translation and Localization Management
The Middlebury Institute offers the most comprehensive MA in Translation and Localization Management in the US. Employers rely on us as their go-to source for localization management talent. Our hands-on courses in language, technology and business develop highly marketable skills. Our faculty combine academic expertise with years of professional experience and continue to be active in their respective fields. Students spend their second year gaining real-world experience through a professional practicum. Our location’s high concentration of localization companies and proximity to Silicon Valley gives students numerous opportunities to engage professionals in the field, find internships and explore full-time job networks. This four-semester, 60-credit degree is a STEM-designated program.
Languages: Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish
Web: go.miis.edu/tlm
STAR Group
Multiple Platforms
STAR is a leader in information management, localization, internationalization and globalization services and solutions such as GRIPS (Global Real Time Information Processing Solution), STAR CLM (Corporate Language Management) including Transit (Translation & Localization), TermStar/WebTerm (Terminology Management), STAR MT (Corporate Machine Translation), STAR WebCheck (Online Translation Reviewing) and Mind-Reader (Authoring Assistance). With more than 50 offices in 30 countries and a global network of prequalified freelance translators, STAR provides a unique combination of information management tools and services required to manage all phases of the product information life cycle.
Languages: All
STAR AG (STAR Group headquarters)
Ramsen, Switzerland, +41-52-742-9200
Email: info@star-group.net
Web: www.star-group.net
STAR Group America, LLC Lyndhurst, OH USA
216-691-7827
Email: lyndhurst@star-group.net
ACP Traductera
ACP Traductera is a translation agency based in the Czech and Slovak Republic. Our local experience in Central Europe and strong focus on appropriate language use makes us a reliable partner for providing high-quality translations into Central and Eastern European languages. We offer document translation service, review, revision, legal certification of translated documents, copywriting, SEO translation, website, game and software localization, DTP, prepress review, MT post-editing and more. ACP Traductera has been awarded the ISO 9001 certificate by TÜV NORD. Our translation process is in compliance with standard ISO 17100. The team of more than 1,300 professional translators, proofreaders, graphic designers, IT engineers and experienced project managers is our most significant asset.
ACP Traductera Czech Republic
+420384361300
Email: info@traductera.com
Web: www.traductera.com
ADAPT Localization Services
ADAPT Localization Services offers the full range of services that enable clients to be successful in international markets, from translation into all business languages through linguistic and technical localization services, prepress and publication management. Serving both Fortune 500 and small companies, ADAPT has gained a reputation for quality, reliability, technological competence and a commitment to customer service. ADAPT is certified under ISO 17100. Fields of specialization are the medical, life sciences, IT/telecommunications and technology sectors. With offices in Bonn, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Stockholm and a number of certified partner companies, ADAPT is well suited to help clients achieve their goals in any market.
Languages: More than 50
ADAPT Localization Services Bonn, Germany
49-228-98-22-60
Email: sales@adapt-localization.com
Web: www.adapt-localization.com
Total Solutions for Your Business
E4NET is a total localization solutions provider including translation, DTP, recording, and specialized in Asian localization covering all major Asian and regional tier 3 languages. We have 20+ years of successful localization production experience with major projects for IBM, Microsoft, SAP, Oracle, HP, LG Electronics, Panasonic and more. E4NET is now providing patent translation services to the Korea Institute of Patent Information and translating life science projects including clinical protocols and reports. We are continuously developing and applying innovative technologies such as machine translation and associated customer services throughout our production process to maximize production/service efficiency. ISO 9001: 2015, ISO 27001 certified.
Languages: 60+
E4NET Co., Ltd. Seoul, South Korea
82-2-3465-8532
Email: l10n@e4net.net
Web: www.e4net.net
ES Localization Services
Since 1994, ES has provided full-fledged language services to industry leaders mainly in software localization, translation, DTP, engineering, QA, testing and voiceover areas. The company has a solid customer base and is proud of its successful past assignments which led to long-term collaborations. With 51 permanent staff in the production offices in Turkey and Egypt for Turkish and Arabic languages, ES is a reliable, experienced, value-added regional supplier for direct clients and MLVs worldwide. It is the first Bureau Veritas certified ISO 17100 localization company in Turkey, specializing in IT, automotive, finance, life sciences, gaming, consumer products and more.
Languages: Turkish, Arabic
ES Localization Services Istanbul, Turkey; Cairo, Egypt
90-216-326-8764
Email: contact@estr.com
Web: www.estr.com
EuroGreek Translations Limited
Established in 1986, EuroGreek Translations Limited is Europe’s leading Greek localizer, specializing in medical, technical, financial and legal translations from EN/DE/FR/ES to EL and EL to EN. Our aim is to provide high-quality, turnkey solutions, encompassing a whole range of client needs, from translation to localization, desktop publishing and testing. Our DTP department covers all Latin and Cyrillic alphabet-based languages, in addition to Greek, at very competitive rates. All of EuroGreek’s work is produced in-house by a team of 30 highly qualified specialists and is fully guaranteed for quality and on-time delivery.
Languages: Greek to/from English; French, German, Spanish to Greek
EuroGreek Translations Limited
Athens, Greece
30-210-9628-559
Mobico – by Saltlux Inc.
Mobico is the new brand name of Saltlux’s technical communication services, and is also the name of the predecessor company to Saltlux, established in 1979 as Korea’s first TC business. What started as a small enterprise concentrating on creating Korean manuals and East Asian language translations evolved into a one-stop service provider for all your needs in the world of business today, including multilingual translation, localization, DTP, TW and MTPE. The relentless pursuit of progress and perfection results in the use of state-of-the-art technology and processes, which in turn lead to superior translation quality with shorter turn-around times and therefore to greater customer satisfaction.
Languages: More than 70 languages
Saltlux, Inc. Seoul, South Korea
+82-2-2193-1725
Email: sales@mobico.com
Web: www.mobico.com/en
ORCO S.A. Localization Services
Founded in 1983, ORCO celebrates this year its 35th anniversary. Over the years, ORCO has built a reputation for excellence and gained the trust of leading companies, such as Oracle, IBM and Carrier for the localization of their products. Our core business activities include technical, medical, legal, financial, marketing and other translations, software and multimedia localization, as well as localization consulting. We cover most European languages and our client list includes long-term collaborations with international corporations, government institutions, banks, private enterprises, NGOs and the European Union. ORCO is certified according to ISO 17100 and ISO 9001 quality standards.
Languages: Greek and European languages
ORCO S.A Athens, Greece
+30-210-723-6001
Email: info@orco.gr
Web: www.orco.gr
RWS Moravia
RWS Moravia is a leading globalization solutions provider, enabling companies in the IT, consumer electronics, retail, media and entertainment, and travel and hospitality industries to enter global markets with high-quality multilingual products and services. RWS Moravia’s solutions include localization, testing, content creation, machine translation implementations, technology consulting and global digital marketing services. Our customers include eight of Fortune’s Top 20 Most Admired Companies, and all of the “Fab 5 Tech Stock” companies from 2017. Our global headquarters is in Brno, Czech Republic, and we have local offices in Europe, the United States, Japan, China and Latin America. To learn more, please visit us at www.rws.com/moravia.
Languages: over 250
RWS Moravia
USA HQ: Thousand Oaks, CA USA
+1-805-262-0055
Europe HQ: Brno, Czech Republic
+420-545-552-222
Transphere Global Solutions Limited
As an outstanding language service provider, Transphere has adhered to its mission — “spread innovative ideas all over the world” — and is committed to providing domestic and foreign customers with personalized language services and solutions by relying on its 20-plus years’ industry experience and worldwide native language resources. With the company’s service areas covering multilingual translation and DTP, technical writing, multimedia, patent translation, and more. Transphere can definitely assist enterprises in implementing their global development strategies. With a global perspective, Transphere devotes itself to providing every client with truly reliable language solutions through improving management, optimizing workflows, upgrading service models, and expanding the service scope.
Transphere Global Solutions Limited
Chengdu, Si Chuan, China
+86 028 8619 9638
Email: global@transphere.com
Web: www.transphere.com
Vistatec
We have been helping some of the world’s most iconic brands to optimize their global commercial potential since 1997. Vistatec is one of the world’s most innovative, progressive and successful localization solutions providers. Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, with offices in Mountain View, California, USA. Think Global.
Languages: All
Vistatec
Europe: Dublin, Ireland, 353-1-416-8000
North America: Mountain View, CA USA
408-898-2364
Email: info@vistatec.com
Web: www.vistatec.com
VideoLocalize.com
Multiple Platforms
Video localization is complicated. It involves not only translation processes and graphic engineering, but also voiceover and audio/video editing as well. The challenge is how to keep control of the budget while meeting client expectations. VideoLocalize is the answer. Videolocalize.com is a cloud-based online platform designed for video localization. It is the brainchild of Boffin Language, an Asian-language service provider led by cofounder George Zhao. VideoLocalize’s mission is to make video localization faster and more cost-effective.
Boffin Language Group Inc. Toronto, Canada
+1 (647) 802 8223
Email: george.zhao@boffin.com
Web: www.videolocalize.com
Joint National Committee for Languages
The Joint National Committee for Languages and the National Council for Languages and International Studies (JNCL-NCLIS) represent the interests of over 140 member organizations, associations and companies in virtually all aspects of the language enterprise — education PreK-20, research, training, assessment, translation, interpreting and localization — to the US government. The mission of JNCL-NCLIS is to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to learn English and at least one other language.
Joint National Committee for Languages – National Council for Languages and International Studies
Garrett Park, MD USA, 202-580-8684
Email: info@languagepolicy.org
Web: http://languagepolicy.org
Translation Commons
Translation Commons is a nonprofit US public charity powered by translators. We are a volunteer-based online community aiming to help our language community thrive and bridge all the sectors within our industry. We facilitate cross-functional collaboration among the diverse sectors and stakeholders within the language industry and instigate transparency, trust and free knowledge. Our mission is to offer free access to tools and all other available resources, to facilitate community-driven projects, to empower linguists and to share educational and language assets.
Translation Commons Las Vegas, NV USA
(310) 405-4991
Email: krista@translationcommons.org
Web: www.translationcommons.org
Translators without Borders
Originally founded in 1993 in France as Traducteurs sans Frontières by Lori Thicke and Ros Smith-Thomas to link the world’s translators to vetted NGOs that focus on health and education, Translators without Borders (TWB) is a US nonprofit organization that aims to close the language gaps that hinder critical humanitarian efforts worldwide. TWB recognizes that the effectiveness of any aid program depends on delivering information in the language of the affected population.
Languages: 190 language pairs
Translators without Borders
CT USA
Kaleidoscope
Taking your content global — with Kaleidoscope your product will speak every language! The combination of decades of expertise, our software solutions developed in-house, and select software from market-leading technology partners has been making this a reality since 1996. Coupled with the full-service approach from eurocom, Austria’s largest and most innovative translation agency, Kaleidoscope offers a unique and unrivaled synergy of language and technology.
Kaleidoscope GmbH Vienna, Austria
004 31 253 5352
Email: info@kaleidoscope.at
Web: www.kaleidoscope.at
Consoltec
Multiple Platforms
Consoltec offers FlowFit-TMS, a web-based translation management system that helps you simplify and optimize your projects, while reducing your administrative costs. FlowFit can also be used for many other project types. FlowFit provides fully customizable web portals for clients, providers and project management. Get an accurate overview of your teams’ workload in real time and select the best available providers. Manage your clients, contacts and internal/external providers effectively with the new CRM features. Use Timesheet to track the time spent on projects and tasks. Connect seamlessly to your favorite CAT tools (memoQ, SDL Studio, LogiTerm) and get comprehensive reports that provide enhanced insight on production, productivity, costs and translation memory efficiency.
Consoltec Montreal, Québec, Canada
(+1) 514 312-2485
Email:
info@consoltec.ca
Web:
www.consoltec.ca
Localize
Localize offers a full-featured, cloud-based content and translation management system that features advanced translation workflows, allowing content managers and translators to propose, review and publish translations with ease. For companies without in-house translators, we provide access to high-quality, on-demand translations through our network of professional translators. Our easy to install plugin fits neatly into your existing technology stack. The technology powering the Localize Platform was built from the ground up to minimize the need for engineers in the localization process. This reduces costs by enabling nontechnical personnel to manage the localization workflow. Getting started is easy. Start your free trial today!
Languages: All
Localize San Fransisco, CA USA
(415) 651-7030
Email:
sales@localizejs.com
Web:
https://localizejs.com
Memsource
Memsource is a leading cloud-based translation management system that enables global companies, translation agencies and translators to collaborate in one secure, online location. Internationally recognized for providing an easy-to-use, yet powerful CAT tool combined with a TMS, Memsource processes two billion words per month from over 200,000 users around the world. Manage your translation projects in real-time in an intelligent platform that accepts over 50 file types and offers REST API, out-of-the-box CMS connectors and powerful workflow automation to save time and money. Join localization professionals from around the world who rely on Memsource to streamline their translation process. To start your free 30-day trial, visit www.memsource.com.
Languages: All
Memsource Prague, Czech Republic
+420 221 490 441
Email:
info@memsource.com
Web:
www.memsource.com
Across Systems GmbH
With its smart software solutions, Across Systems assists enterprises and translators worldwide in successfully processing their translation projects. Customers from diverse industries use the Across Language Server and the Across Translator Edition to tackle their daily localization challenges. The use of the Across translation management system enables the implementation of transparent translation processes with a high degree of automation and maximum information security. All who are involved in the project can be integrated in the overall process and work on the basis of the same data. This saves time for what matters – the creation of high-quality content in multiple languages.
Languages: All
Across Systems GmbH Karlsbad, Germany
+49 (0) 7248 925 425
Email:
info@across.net
Web:
www.across.net
Plunet BusinessManager
Multiple Platforms
Plunet develops and markets the business and workflow management software Plunet BusinessManager — one of the world’s leading management solutions for the translation and localization industry. Plunet BusinessManager provides a high degree of automation and flexibility for professional language service providers and translation departments. Using a web-based platform, Plunet integrates translation software, financial accounting and quality management systems. Various functions and extensions of Plunet BusinessManager can be adapted to individual needs within a configurable system. Basic functions include quote, order and invoice management, comprehensive financial reports, flexible job and workflow management as well as deadline, document and customer relationship management.
Plunet GmbH Berlin, Germany
+49 (0)30-322-971-340
Email: info@plunet.com
Web: www.plunet.com
Smartcat
At Smartcat we believe the translation industry should be better for everyone. We connect linguists, companies and agencies to streamline the translation of any content into every language on demand. Our platform helps you build and manage translation teams, and puts your translation process on autopilot from content creation to payments. The unique features of Smartcat are our marketplace, where you can find translators for any language with one click; our CAT tool, translation using an AI-assisted platform, a team management with full control of your team, suppliers and content and payment automation: pay vendors easily across the globe. You can start experiencing the next generation of translation technologies and boost your translation business efficiency from day one.
Languages: All
Smartcat Cambridge, MA US
Email:
support@smartcat.ai
Web:
www.smartcat.ai
Smartling
Smartling Translation Cloud is the leading translation management platform and language services provider to localize content across devices and platforms. Smartling’s data-driven approach and visual context capabilities uniquely positions brands for efficiency. Seamlessly connect your CMS, code repository, and marketing automation tools to Smartling’s TMS via prebuilt integrations, web proxy, or REST APIs. No matter the content type, Smartling automation tools help you do more with less. Smartling is the platform of choice for B2B and B2C brands, including InterContinental Hotels Group, GoPro, Shopify, Slack, and SurveyMonkey. The company is headquartered in New York, with offices in Dublin and London. For more information, please visit Smartling.com.
Smartling
New York, NY USA
1-866-707-6278
Wordbee Translator
Multiple Platforms
Wordbee is the leading choice for enterprises and language service providers that need to save money and make their company run more efficiently. Wordbee has the most complete feature set of any cloud solution: project management, portal, business analytics, reporting, invoicing and a user-friendly translation editor. Tasks such as project and workflow setup, job assignment, deadline calculation, multiple phase kick-offs and cost management can all be automated in the collaborative translation platform. Also, the Beebox connects CMSs, DMSs or any propriety database source with the TMS of the translation vendor or internal translation team.
Languages: All
Wordbee Soleuvre, Luxembourg
+352 2877 1204
Email:
info@wordbee.com
Web:
www.wordbee.com
XTM: Better Translation Technology
Multiple Platforms
XTM is a fully featured online CAT tool and translation management system available as a pay-as-you-go SaaS or for installation on your server. Built for collaboration and ease of use, XTM provides a complete, secure and scalable translation solution. Implementation of XTM Cloud is quick and easy, with no installation, hardware costs or maintenance required. Rapidly create new projects from all common file types using the templates provided and allocate your resources to the automated workflow. XTM enables you to share linguistic assets in real time between translators. Discover XTM today. Sign up for a free 30-day trial at www.xtm-intl.com/trial.
Languages: All Unicode languages
XTM International Gerrards Cross, United Kingdom
+44-1753-480-469
Email:
sales@xtm-intl.com
Web:
https://xtm.cloud
Multilingual Creative Content
Don’t let the emotion get lost in translation. When they don’t speak your language, we help you go beyond just talking to your audience and empower you to make an authentic connection. We know that your messaging and content are carefully crafted in their source language. And we commit equal effort in developing in-language solutions for you. If you want to truly connect with audiences around the world, we will help you. Some content needs more than just translation. aLanguageBank excels at transcreation, and working with your creative teams. We also have extensive experience with more traditional services such as translation, transcription, audio and video localization, subtitles, and voiceover. So how can we improve your multilingual creative content today?
Languages: All
aLanguageBank New York, NY
212-213-3336
Email: hello@alanguagebank.com
Web: www.alanguagebank.com
birotranslations
Founded in 1992, birotranslations specializes in life science, legal, technical, IT and automotive translations into all East European languages (Albanian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Estonian, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Ukrainian). We have a long-term partnership with the world’s top 100 MLVs and many end-clients all around the globe. With our experienced project managers, extensive network of expert linguists and usage of the latest CAT tool technology, your projects will be delivered on time, within budget and with the highest standards of quality. For more information, please contact Mr. Matic Berginc (details below).
Languages: Eastern European languages
birotranslations Ljubljana, Slovenia
+386 590 43 557
Email: projects@birotranslations.com
Web: www.birotranslations.com
GlobalWay Co., Ltd.
As an industry-leading localization company in Korea, GlobalWay has been providing incomparable professional localization services with exceptional quality to partners all around the globe since 2003. We are here to offer language solutions including translation, voiceover, testing, DTP, and engineering services. Our highly qualified in-house linguists in each field of expertise, experienced engineers, and project managers will add value to your growing business. GlobalWay and its long-term global partners are ready to support you on the road to success. Are you looking for a reliable partner? Our doors are wide open for you. Should you need more information, please feel free to contact us.
Languages: 50+ more languages including Korean, English, Chinese, Japanese, German, Russian, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian.
GlobalWay Co., Ltd. Seoul, South Korea
+82-2-3453-4924
Email: sales@globalway.co.kr
Web: www.globalway.co.kr
Your Partner in Asia and Beyond!
With our headquarters in Korea, our production offices in Vietnam and China, and our sales office in the US, we are in an excellent position to be your Asian language localization partner. For localizing projects from English or German into Asian languages, such as Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian and Burmese, you can trust our professional translation services for IT, software, marketing/transcreation and technical projects. Since our establishment in 1990, we have been at the forefront of the localization industry as one of the Asia Top Ten and the No. 1 LSP in Korea (by CSA Research). ISO17100 certified since 2014.
Languages: More than 54 languages including Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian.
HansemEUG, Inc.
Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
+82-31-226-5042
Email: info@ezuserguide.com
Web: http://hansemeug.com/en
HeterMedia Services Ltd.
HeterMedia Services Limited is a subsidiary of HM International Holdings Limited, which is a listed company in HKEx (Stock Code: 8416). We are ISO 27001 certified to deliver best-in-class BPO solutions, covering financial and marketing collateral printing projects as well as value-added services, such as language services, desktop publishing, website design, ebook and app production, video and electronic marketing presentation material production. We aim to fulfill the transformation needs of the diversified clientele, which include listed companies and multinational financial institutions such as fund houses and insurance companies. We work around the clock to provide comprehensive one-stop solutions to our clients; you can rest assured that we will handle your projects without hassle.
HeterMedia Services Inc.
Hong Kong, China
+852 21211555
Email: enquiry@hetermedia.com
Web: www.hetermedia.com
iDISC Information Technologies
iDISC, established in 1987, is an ISO 9001 and ISO 17100 certified language and software company based in Barcelona with branches and teams in Mexico, Brazil, USA, Argentina, Bolivia and Guatemala. We have dedicated teams for web content, software localization and translation of technical, business, automotive, biomedical and marketing documents. Our software development engineers and translation teams provide high-quality and on-time production solutions that are cost-efficient, flexible and scalable.
Languages: Spanish (all variants), Portuguese (all variants), Catalan, Basque, Galician, Valencian, K’iche’, Quechua, Aymara, Guarani
iDISC Information Technologies, S.L. Barcelona, Spain
34-93-778-73-00
Email: info@idisc.com
Web: www.idisc.com
Medical Translations Only
MediLingua is one of the few medical translation specialists in Europe. We only do medical. We provide all European languages and the major languages of Asia and Africa, as well as translation-related services to manufacturers of devices, instruments, in vitro diagnostics and software; pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies; medical publishers; national and international medical organizations; and other customers in the medical sector. Projects include the translation of documentation for medical devices, surgical instruments, hospital equipment and medical software; medical information for patients, medical students and physicians; scientific articles; press releases; product launches; clinical trial documentation; medical news; and articles from medical journals.
Languages: 45, including all EU languages
MediLingua Medical Translations BV
Leiden, Netherlands
+31-71-5680862
Email: info@medilingua.com
Web: www.medilingua.com
Rheinschrift Language Services
Outstanding localization requires world-class experience. Rheinschrift gives your business a native voice in the German-speaking world. We offer more than 20 years’ experience providing translations and localizations for software and hardware manufacturers as well as for the sectors of business, technology, legal matters and medicine/medical applications. Our services also range from glossaries, post-editing, project management and desktop publishing services to many other related services. Rely on Rheinschrift to deliver the most competent translations and meet your deadline, whatever it takes.
Languages: German to/from major European language
Rheinschrift Language Services Cologne, Germany
+49 (0)221-80-19-28-0
Email: contact@rheinschrift.de
Web: www.rheinschrift.de
The Language Group
The Language Group provides a full suite of language solutions. If you have any language related issue, we have a solution for you. We have been ranked one of the fastest growing language companies in the United States and are ranked in the Inc. 500 in 2018. We also have the honor of being the best place to work in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. We are experts at on-site interpreting and phone or video remote interpreting. Our service offerings include translation of medical, legal, manufacturing and government content. We provide transcreation, website localization as well as subtitling and multilingual voiceovers.
Languages: 200 including ASL
The Language Group Virginia Beach, VA USA
757-431-9004, 800-654-7481
Email:
info@thelanguagegroup.com
Web: http://thelanguagegroup.com
Translated.
Professional translation services made easy. Crafted by expert humans, powered by technology, efficiently delivered. We have delivered 1.2 million translations in 150 languages to 134,091 clients in 40 macro-domains since 1999, powering the globalization strategy of the most demanding clients. We work hard to make translation services more effective, by enhancing our production processes with great technologies and talented people. A perfect example is T-Rank™, the system that instantly matches your content with the most qualified translator for the job. We offer a wide range of linguistic services that cover all your future needs: Google Ads translation, software localization, subtitling, and APIs to integrate human translation. We open up language to everyone.
Languages: 150 languages and 40 areas of expertise.
Translated Rome, Italy
+390690254001
TripleInk Multilingual
Communications
As a multilingual communications agency, TripleInk has provided industrial and consumer products companies with precise translation and multilingual production services for audiovisual, online and print media since 1991. Our experience in adapting technical documentation and marketing communication materials covers a wide range of industries, including biomedical and health care; building and construction; financial services; food and agriculture; high-tech and manufacturing; and hospitality and leisure, as well as government and nonprofit organizations. Using a total quality management process and state-of-the-art software and equipment, our team of foreign language professionals delivers the highest quality translations in a cost-effective and time-efficient manner.
Languages: All major commercial languages
TripleInk Minneapolis, MN USA
612-342-9800, 800-632-1388
Email: info@tripleink.com
Web: www.tripleink.com
24translate
As a leading international translation services provider, 24translate has been connecting small and medium-sized companies with the rest of the world for two decades. When expanding into new markets, global leaders such as tesa, Swisscom and FARO regularly rely on our technology and professional expertise. Striving to provide maximum support for the international growth strategies of our clients, we have developed a unique translation automation platform: 24|contenthub. 24|contenthub not only facilitates the integration of all the systems and service providers employed, but also enables companies to map their complete translation workflows in one place — global communication has never been easier.
24translate Hamburg, Germany
040 480 632-0
Email:
service@24translate.de
Web: www.24translate.de
Wratislavia Translation House
Sp. z o.o.
Wratislavia Translation House Sp. z o.o., established in 2005, is an ISO 17100-certified company with its headquarters in Wrocław. We provide customized translation and localization services in large-scale projects for clients worldwide. Our areas of expertise include IT and new technologies, the automotive industry and many more. We are experts in SAP translation — SAP systems, documentation, training materials. Since 2010 we have been a certified SAP Language Service Partner. Our services are provided by an in-house team of 15 translation professionals and numerous freelance translators specialized in various industries. Our experienced project managers, strict quality procedures applied and modern CAT tools allow us to deliver high-quality services in compliance with confidentiality policies.
Languages: Polish to/from major European languages
Wratislavia Translation House Sp. z o.o.
Wrocław, Poland, +48 71 33 50 523
Email: wth@wth.pl
Web: http://www.wth.pl
memoQ
memoQ is a technology provider that has been delivering premium solutions to the translation industry since 2004. For almost 15 years, memoQ has been dedicated to delivering innovation through diverse developments that today help hundreds of thousands of freelance translators, translation companies and enterprises worldwide. Having simplicity and more effective translation processes in mind, memoQ combines ease of use, collaboration, interoperability and leveraging in one single tool. Discover a new world with memoQ, and let our team help optimize your translation processes and make your business more successful.
Languages: All
memoQ Budapest, Hungary
+3618088313
Email: sales@memoq.com
Web: www.memoq.com
SDL plc
SDL is the global innovator in language translation technology, translation services and content management. Over the past 25 years we’ve helped companies deliver transformative business results by enabling powerful, nuanced digital experiences with customers around the world. SDL is the leading provider of translation software to the translation industry and SDL Trados Studio is recognized globally as the preferred computer-assisted translation tool of government, commercial enterprises, language service providers and freelance translators.
Languages: All
SDL plc
Maidenhead, United Kingdom
+44-1628-417227
Advertiser Index
Column
Takeaway
Sean Hopwood
Sean Hopwood is the president and CEO of Day Translations, Inc. He has a deep love for languages, soccer and new technologies. He spends whatever time is left from his busy schedule to write about business management.
Exploring the best startup hubs
The world’s best startups are not concentrated in one or a few countries or continents. In the internet age, successful businesses can spring up from anywhere, provided that they get the needed funding, government support and talented managers and employees. This provides a ripe opportunity for the localization industry.
Acknowledging the importance of startups in growing and sustaining economies, governments worldwide have been implementing initiatives that foster startup growth. One of the best government initiatives is the establishment of startup hubs. Those seeking new places for establishing new businesses might be highly interested to find these hubs.
The fundamental goal of a startup hub is to provide the ideal conditions for starting and growing a business. It is a place, usually a city, whose government offers a variety of perks and support to help new businesses flourish, and has the right infrastructure and people to foster business success. A startup hub becomes fertile grounds for the development of new products, services, technologies, systems and workers. Its ultimate goal is to create economic activity that leads to increasing wealth and uplifts everyone.
Thanks for reading our Sept/Oct 2019 issue!
