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Post Editing
verything old is new again. It’s been wild, putting together a magazine I’ve put together for over a decade in novel ways. We’ve revamped the news section, in keeping with the daily news we’ve been publishing on our website; we’ve also expanded our geopolitical coverage a bit. Behind the scenes, the staff has changed considerably. And yet we’ve insisted on keeping the things that have always been beloved in our magazine: the sense of goodwill we’ve fostered, the business neutrality, the in-depth exploration of topics. As Marjolein Groot Nibbelink says in our Takeaway, we have big shoes to fill now.
This issue covers Asia Pacific, and we have six articles that touch on China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Southeast Asia, and India. We’ve also included three articles on minority language news, and a piece on Turkey’s descent into dictatorship from the perspective of one refugee.
Enjoy the new, enjoy the old, and as always, let us know if you have feedback. We’re listening, and we’re curious.
#191 Volume 31 Issue 5 September/October 2020
Publishers: Tucker Johnson, Renato Beninatto
Editor-in-Chief: Katie Botkin
Assistant Editor: Bobb Drake
Sales and Advertising: Marjolein Groot Nibbelink
Marketing: Nika Allahverdi
Brand Strategy: Tucker Johnson
Production: Će la vie
Production Assistance: Marjolein Groot Nibbelink
Cover Photo: Katie Botkin
Webmaster: Aleksey Schipack
Staff Writers: Jonathan Pyner, Katie Botkin, Gabriel Karandyšovský, Bobb Drake
Finance: Kristen Glant
Editorial Board
Games: Miguel Á. Bernal-Merino
Standards: David Filip
Business: Aki Ito
Marketing: Nataly Kelly
User Experience: Ultan Ó Broin
Interpreting: Barry Slaughter Olsen
Technology: Jost Zetzsche
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MultiLingual Computing, Inc.
319 North First Avenue, Suite 2
Sandpoint, Idaho 83864-1495 USA
MultiLingual (ISSN 1523-0309), Copyright © 2020 by MultiLingual Computing, Inc., is published bimonthly: Jan/Feb, Mar/Apr, May/Jun, Jul/Aug, Sep/Oct, Nov/Dec.
Contents
Men work in the rice fields in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia.
Focus:
Asia Pacific
Gabriel Karandyšovský
Arle Lommel
Sophia Eakins
Perpetual Aneke
Columns
Marjolein Groot Nibbelink
Maribel Rodríguez | Language Technology Deployment Manager
Enhancing global communications with AI
AI is evolving by leaps and bounds, as seen in recent advancements in machine translation and language quality tools. And businesses are grappling with how humans and machines will work together in this new landscape.
My mission is to create best-fit combinations of artificial intelligence applications plus human processes that drive our clients’ content life cycles.
Recaps
Featured Reader
Would you introduce yourself?
Max Troyer, Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS), associate professor and Program Chair of Translation and Localization Management. I’m also a freelance consultant.
Where do you live?
Monterey, California.
How did you get started in this industry?
I was a software engineer working at Arthur Andersen, which went down in flames thanks to the Enron scandal. Returning home from a much-needed vacation post-Enron, a guy came up to me at the airport and said my French was good for a boy from the Midwest. Later I learned he was an MIIS graduate, and he said I should consider becoming an interpreter and that the best path forward was at MIIS in Monterey. I ended up with a degree in French translation, but with my computer science background, was hooked by the localization industry and never looked back.
How long have you worked in the industry?
I graduated from MIIS in 2005, so I guess this is my 15th anniversary as a localizer!
News
Geopolitics
Federal Police Presence in Portland Highlights Fragmented American Cultures
Katie Botkin
Portland, Oregon, is known for its bicycle culture, its book culture, and its general funkiness. It has a reputation among many of its residents and visitors as a safe city — and indeed, its violent crime rate (5.27 per 1,000 residents) is lower than Dallas, Texas (7.76 per 1,000) and less than half that of Anchorage, Alaska (13.13 per 1,000).
The city is often painted differently in right-leaning media, however — Fox News, for example, recently described the city in terms of “violent protest” that is “destroying businesses, infrastructure and quality of life in Portland.”
News
Industry News
Diligence by Linguists in California Pays Dividends in Relief Bill
An updated AB 2257, which benefits California interpreters and translators, is approved.
As reported in a previous online MultiLingual News article on August 10, California’s AB 2257 is an attempt to loosen a previous gig economy clean-up bill. It was authored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, who also championed AB 5, the general workers-rights gig economy bill that went into effect January 1 of this year. AB 5 states that most workers are employees, and as employees, they should be afforded labor protections such as minimum wage laws, sick leave, and unemployment and workers’ compensation benefits — benefits that do not apply to independent contractors. However, actual independent contractors were alarmed by the bill. Interpreters and translators in California were unhappy with AB 5, saying it had devastating effects on their ability to work in the state.
As a result, hundreds of California translators and interpreters formed a coalition to educate their lawmakers on the topic. Since fall 2019, before AB 5 even went into effect, they asked legislators to understand that imposing employee status on interpreters and translators is disastrous. Yesterday, their efforts proved successful.
News
Industry News
Moscow Translation Club Transforms to RATC
The Moscow Translation Club has evolved into the Russian Association of Translation Companies — the localization industry’s newest association.
The Russian Association of Translation Companies (RATC) was officially registered with the Russian Federation government in July, and is on track to join the European Union of Associations of Translation Companies (EUATC).
Active member and co-founder of the Moscow Translation Club (MTC) Janus Worldwide announced the official registration of the RATC, an association that complies with Russian law and begins with 12 companies from across the Russian Federation. MTC members will become primary members of the association, and will be presented in the first RATC board. Margarita Yegorova of MegaText — a translation agency and board member of MTC — will serve as president, supervise activity, and represent the RATC in an official capacity.
News
Short News
RWS buys SDL to Become New Language Services Industry Leader
On August 27, 2020, the boards of RWS and SDL announced a deal that will see RWS buying SDL. In the UK’s largest tech deal of the year, RWS has agreed to pay GBP 809 million ($1.066 billion) to buy SDL. While there are still a few more regulatory steps that need to be taken, including official shareholder votes, the details of the deal have already been released.
As it stands, RWS shareholders will own about two-thirds of the combined business, while SDL shareholders will own the remaining third. Over time, the SDL brand is set to disappear and the whole company will be placed under the RWS brand.
White Paper
TXTOmedia:
Watch instead of read
Probably most of us encounter situations where product, installation or maintenance support is needed. The once-good old paper manual was already forgotten a long time ago, or was not at hand, and browsing a bulky multilingual PDF on a smartphone is probably not everybody’s favorite.
Searching online for the right support brings us often to user-generated videos, which are not always reliant. However, the more specific the topic, the harder to find the right video, especially when you search for videos in your preferred native language. User-generated content is especially preferred for product reviews and suggestions, but here there is a huge opportunity for brands to win back visitors by presenting trusted, reliable product support via video.
But why are these instruction videos not yet widespread as a publishing format within these enterprises yet?
Knowledge Management and Documentation Teams often manage the content in document management systems or Component Content Management Solutions (CCMS). Most of the content is written, it is text and is stored in some XML-format. The output formats are mainly text-based and the people creating the content are writers. In the digital era PDF and HTML-publishing replace paper, but the way the information is displayed has not changed that much; the PDF-files and HTML pages look like digital paper.
TXTOmedia is about to change this. Our technology turns the written XML-based support and installation topics into instruction videos automatically.
TXTOmedia brings text-to-speech in over 50 languages and reuses existing illustrations to create either animations or live action videos on-the-fly.
To create live action videos, existing topics are first turned into video production scripts, resulting in an overview of both reusable and missing video fragments. Once all fragments are available, the video is created or updated on the fly based on the (localized) content from the CCMS, resulting in (localized) videos.
Since the basis for creating the video is an XML file, TXTOmedia is also able to machine translate the content directly to additional languages and provide not only a draft video, but also its associated XML file, which can be edited and improved via the company’s CCMS and additional systems for final editing and approval, before TXTOmedia generates the final version. This way content creators and translators can create and localize video in-context in real time.
For more information please visit
www.txtomedia.com or contact us at info@txtomedia.com.
Calendar
September
The 12th International Conference on Third Language Acquisition and Multilingualism
September 9-12, 2020, Zagreb, Croatia
#LocFromHome: The Online Language Industry Conference
September 9, 2020, Boston, MA, USA
Fall 2020 LSP Sales Process Workshop
September 15-17, 2020, Online
Considering a New Approach to Continuous i18n & L10n
September 17, 2020, Online
Focus
Demystifying the Chinese Language Market
Gabriel Karandyšovský
Gabriel Karandyšovský is the managing editor of Nimdzi Insights.
Demystifying the Chinese Language Market
Gabriel Karandyšovský
Gabriel Karandyšovský is the managing editor of Nimdzi Insights.
hina is a country of tremendous business opportunity, spurred by the sheer size of the domestic Chinese market and by the continuous economic growth displayed by the world’s most populous nation.
The Chinese economic reform, kickstarted in 1978 by Communist Party leader Deng Xiaoping, was a watershed moment for the country’s language services market. The decades that followed have helped Chinese language services providers (LSPs) develop in both number and value. According to the Translators Association of China (TAC), there are over 369,000 companies that list language services among their fields of activity today, and the total revenue value of Chinese companies active in language services represents $5.29 billion.
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Stream sessions and send questions to speakers
Not all presentations are available. See a list at the link below.
Check out the Resource Center for information and games
Visit the Solutions Square exhibit space
Send questions to the exhibitors and download their handouts
Stream sessions and send questions to speakers
Not all presentations are available. See a list at the link below.
Check out the Resource Center for information and games
Visit the Solutions Square exhibit space
Send questions to the exhibitors and download their handouts
Stream presentations from representatives of
Booking.com, Google, SAP, Shopify, Salesforce, eBay, IKEA and more.
Focus
The Online Economic Importance of Japanese
Linguistic quality issues create opportunity for those who rise to the challenge
Arle Lommel
Arle Lommel is a senior analyst at CSA Research.
Arle Lommel
Arle Lommel is a senior analyst at CSA Research.
lthough all languages have their idiosyncrasies that affect their rendering into other languages, a handful stand out as “difficult” for individuals used to working with common European languages. Japanese may not be the hardest major language to deal with for computer-centric translation practices — an honor that probably goes to Urdu — but it certainly ranks high on the list.
Japanese is a huge opportunity by any standard. CSA Research’s analysis of the online value of languages shows that it is the sixth most-important language in terms of its economic potential (Figure 1) and, unlike those above it — with the exception of Chinese — its importance is concentrated in one country, which makes it easier to access than those split across multiple political boundaries. In addition, Japan is a market where English just won’t cut it. As a result, the potential of Japanese is almost pure revenue uplift.
October 14-16, 2020
Hyatt Regency Hotel, Santa Clara, CA USA
For twenty-nine years the Internationalization & Unicode® Conference (IUC) has been the preeminent event highlighting the latest innovations and best practices of global and multilingual software providers. Please join us for our 44th conference! This year’s event is being held October 14-16, 2020 in Santa Clara, California. Recent conferences have provided specific advice on designing software for European countries, Latin America, China, India, Japan, Korea, the Middle East, and emerging markets.
The Internationalization and Unicode Conference® (IUC) is the annual conference of the Unicode Consortium where experts and industry leaders gather to map the future of internationalization, ignite new ideas and present the latest in technologies and best practices for creation, management, and testing of global web, and multilingual software solutions.
Reasons to Attend Include:
- Tutorials and sessions for beginners, to train you and your staff on basic practices and implementation techniques for creating international software
- Learn recommended solutions to difficult problems or sophisticated requirements from industry leaders and experts in attendance
- Find help from tool and product vendors to get you to market quickly and cost-effectively
MEDIA SPONSOR:
For up-to-date information or to register:
VISIT: www.unicodeconference.org/ml
E-MAIL: info@unicodeconference.org
Unicode and the Unicode Logo are trademarks of Unicode, Inc.
All other marks are the property of their respective owners.
Focus
From Specialist to Generalist
The emerging translation market in Singapore
Susan XU Yun
Susan XU Yun is an associate professor and the head of Translation and Interpretation at Singapore University of Social Sciences. She pioneered the certification examinations for professional interpreters and translators in Singapore. These examinations are compulsory for translators and interpreters working in public services in Singapore. She is the author of Translation of Autobiography: Narrating Self, Translating the Other.
From Specialist to Generalist
The emerging translation market in Singapore
Susan XU Yun
Susan XU Yun is an associate professor and the head of Translation and Interpretation at Singapore University of Social Sciences. She pioneered the certification examinations for professional interpreters and translators in Singapore. These examinations are compulsory for translators and interpreters working in public services in Singapore. She is the author of Translation of Autobiography: Narrating Self, Translating the Other.
ultilingualism in Singapore necessitates translation activities in everyday life. Public discourse needs to be translated from English into three other official languages — namely, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil — to connect with citizens of these respective ethnic groups. Though translation services are not mandatory in the private sector, businesses seem to proactively engage customers through multilingual communication.
“The translation market and developing economies: A preliminary study of ASEAN countries,” published in 2013, points to a market in Singapore that is “driven by foreign, not local, demand” and “derived from external trade-related activities.” More often than not, translation or language gaffes detected in official documents have caused public outcry, alerting the public to substandard translation practices that result from lack of standardization and regulation.
White Paper
Introducing Memsource Translate
Unlocking the full potential of Machine Translation
Machine translation (MT) has transformed localization. Recent advances in MT technology have dramatically improved the quality of translations. Together with the high speed and low cost, MT has become an increasingly attractive proposition for enterprises and LSPs. For many it is already a reality.
Adopting and using MT optimally is not without difficulties. One obstacle is navigating through the large number of options available today. The MT landscape is dynamic, with new engines being continuously released, and existing engines improved all the time. Competitive and constant innovation has helped MT make tremendous strides in quality but it has also made it more difficult for users to find their optimal engine.
At Memsource, we have been exploring new ways for users to go further with MT. Our platform currently supports more than 30 different engines with our internal data showing a steady rate of adoption and general quality improvements for most engines year on year. However, in order to avoid the hassle of engine testing and implementation, most users tend to rely on one engine exclusively, losing out on the gains achieved by other engines for specific language pairs and content types.
We have found that in more than 70% of all translation projects, a better performing engine could have been used.
This is why we have developed Memsource Translate, an AI-powered machine translation management solution that automatically selects the optimal MT engine for the user’s content and language pair based on past performance data.
Testing MT engines is normally a costly and time-consuming process. For many users, keeping up to date with the latest engine developments is prohibitively expensive, and taking advantage of them impossible. Memsource Translate offers a unique solution to this problem.
Automatic and data-driven engine selection saves time and money by choosing the best performing engine for every task. The algorithm will consider not just the language pair, but also the type of content you are translating, all in real-time and using continuously updated performance data. Memsource Translate is fully integrated with existing workflows in Memsource, with features such as automatic domain detection further reducing the need for human input.
Memsource Translate makes managing multiple engines, convenient as customers can use, track, and pay for multiple engines all in one place. Users can immediately start translating with three fully managed engines, or add their own generic or customizable engines.
By using the best performing engine for every translation, users can expect higher output quality, which can significantly reduce the need for costly post-editing. Memsource Translate includes the innovative machine translation quality estimation (MTQE) feature, which uses AI algorithms to automatically identify MT output quality at segment level, allowing users to efficiently allocate post-editing resources.
Memsource Translate helps you unlock the full potential of MT, ensuring the best possible quality for your translation, all while simplifying the process of testing and engine management. Transform your localization today with Memsource Translate.
Learn more at
memsource.com/translate
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Focus
Cracking SEO in Asia Pacific
Don Shin
Don Shin is the CEO and founder of 1-StopAsia, a translation agency dedicated to Asian languages. He has a BA in Korean language and literature and extensive experience as a translator and interpreter.
Gergana Toleva
Gergana Toleva is the global marketing manager at 1-StopAsia. She has 12 years of experience in sales prio r to working as a marketing professional. Gergana holds an engineering bachelor’s degree in Automation, Information, and Control Techniques from the University of Food Technologies in Bulgaria.
Gergana Toleva
Gergana Toleva is the global marketing manager at 1-StopAsia. She has 12 years of experience in sales prio r to working as a marketing professional. Gergana holds an engineering bachelor’s degree in Automation, Information, and Control Techniques from the University of Food Technologies in Bulgaria.
hen we started compiling information for this article, the situation around the world was much different than it is now. While most of it is still valid, it’s quite interesting to reflect on how rapidly things have changed, and what shifts the past five months have brought. Yet two facts are quite clear at the moment:
Fact 1: The East is not as far away from the West as we once thought.
Fact 2: Globalization is never going to be the same in terms of travel and the worldwide movement of people.
What is the optimal machine translation engine for your content?
Find out which MT engines perform the best for different language pairs and domains in our new MT Report.
Focus
How to Win in India: A Localizer’s Guide on Where to Start
Siobhan Hanna
Siobhan Hanna is managing director of global accounts at Lionbridge. She has held key roles in operations, solutions, and account management across multiple verticals, including artificial intelligence, localization, games, and entertainment.
Siobhan Hanna
Siobhan Hanna is managing director of global accounts at Lionbridge. She has held key roles in operations, solutions, and account management across multiple verticals, including artificial intelligence, localization, games, and entertainment.
icture this: your company’s new website is ready to launch. You’ve worked on it for months, everything is good to go, and then the boss tells you the company’s expanding into India. And not just expanding — not dipping its toe into the market for exploratory sales — but full-fledged launching across the whole country. This means you’re now in charge of making sure your product and marketing material are fully localized and coordinated for simultaneous shipment. You’ve never been to India, and don’t really know much about the country, so the first thing you do is hop online. The Indian national census tells you 122 languages are spoken there — 22 of them officially recognized by the constitution — so where do you start?
Focus
Dispatch on India’s newest translation association
Multilingual speaks to Sandeep Nulkar, CEO of BITS, and one of the driving figures in the recent formation of India’s Confederation of Interpreting, Translation and Localisation Businesses (CITLoB). So far, the association has a newsletter, and is planning to start webinars soon.
Tell me more about CITLoB. How and when did it come about?
Nulkar: Actually, this has been something that we have been toying with for a long time. Honestly, there wasn’t much happening because — as you might be aware — the internal industry in India is very fragmented. There is a lot of insecurity and people don’t want to be part of anything that they have to pay for, which was challenging. As a company, we just took it upon ourselves to start doing things on our own because the association wasn’t happening.
Focus
DiDi’s Localization Journey out of China
Jasmine Bao
Jasmine Bao is globalization program manager at DiDi. She is responsible for DiDi’s localization tools, operation and platform. She helped the transition from in-house translators to localization project managers, created the localization pipeline, and led the team to standardize the localization process.
Jasmine Bao
Jasmine Bao is globalization program manager at DiDi. She is responsible for DiDi’s localization tools, operation and platform. She helped the transition from in-house translators to localization project managers, created the localization pipeline, and led the team to standardize the localization process.
ot many Chinese technology companies have successfully expanded abroad, and DiDi, an app-based ride-sharing service first developed in China, is among the few who have. DiDi’s localization team faced many challenges when moving beyond the Chinese market, but managed to overcome these hurdles and pave the way to becoming a truly global enterprise.
At the beginning of the journey, the localization team often received negative feedback from internal stakeholders regarding process, speed, efficiency, and quality.
Geopolitics
The Descent
Turkey went from democracy to dictatorship in a matter of months, and has stayed that way. One refugee explains how it happened.
Katie Botkin
Katie Botkin is the Editor-in-Chief of MultiLingual magazine. She grew up in a deeply religious US microculture, and has taught English on three continents.
Katie Botkin
Katie Botkin is the Editor-in-Chief of MultiLingual magazine. She grew up in a deeply religious US microculture, and has taught English on three continents.
t is 2018. Emre Alpsoy sits at a bar on the Greek island of Zakynthos, watching a soccer match. He has traveled by ferry from Athens, and tomorrow, he’s boarding a plane bound for Amsterdam. He has a fake visa in his passport; maybe it will work, maybe it won’t. He needs to get to Germany, he says, so he can begin life again. He’s been accepted as a refugee in Greece, but unfortunately, there’s not much opportunity for him here.
In Turkey, he taught Ottoman language and literature at a university. Spoken by peoples of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Turkish was heavily influenced by travel and multiculturalism. After all, the Ottoman Empire sat at the crossroads of the Eastern and Western worlds for six centuries. During the peak of Ottoman rule, words of foreign origin outnumbered native Turkish words: Arabic and Persian loanwords comprise up to 88% of the vocabulary in Ottoman literature.
New decade…
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Telephone: +30 210 9628 559
Email: production@eurogreek.com
www.eurogreek.com
working with us
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London Office | 590 Green Lanes – London – N13 5RY – UK
Athens Office | 93 Karagiorga Street, Athens 166 75, Greece
Telephone: +30 210 9628 559
Email: production@eurogreek.com
www.eurogreek.com
Our Specialized Services
Service Languages
+ 54 languages
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Our Specialized Services
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Marketing Content Authoring
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Tech
Back to Basics: Developing a Common Language to Automate Regulatory Data
Back to Basics: Developing a Common Language to Automate Regulatory Data
Duncan van Rijsbergen
Duncan van Rijsbergen is associate director of regulatory affairs at Iperion, a globally operating life sciences consultancy firm.
Duncan van Rijsbergen
Duncan van Rijsbergen is associate director of regulatory affairs at Iperion, a globally operating life sciences consultancy firm.
igital transformation in complex regulated sectors can be a challenge. Many life sciences companies are stuck struggling with how to ensure high-quality, consistent data can be shared across systems. One of the main issues is the lack of a common vocabulary to describe the data. Here are some practical action points to get companies started on their data quality journey.
Life sciences companies are increasingly focused on the need for digital transformation. They face basic issues such as getting up-to-date, consistent data to communicate across functions and systems.
“Plunet provides flexible business and translation management support for our company’s continuous and long-term growth.“
Claudia Mirza, CEO, Akorbi Inc.
The Business and Translation Management System | www.plunet.com
The Business and Translation Management System | www.plunet.com
Language
Indigenous Radio Stations Provide Comfort During Pandemic
Angelica Cabral
Journalist based in the Bay Area. She has her bachelor’s from Arizona State University. Her work has appeared in Slate Magazine, The Bold Italic, The Mary Sue, The Arizona Republic, and more.
Angelica Cabral
Journalist based in the Bay Area. She has her bachelor’s from Arizona State University. Her work has appeared in Slate Magazine, The Bold Italic, The Mary Sue, The Arizona Republic, and more.
OVID-19 shifted priorities for everyone, bringing to light which businesses might not have a future — or which may have their operations reduced after the pandemic is over. Starbucks and Victoria’s Secret, for example, have both closed stores around the country.
On the other hand, the pandemic has also shown what is essential — what people really and truly want in their daily lives. For many indigenous communities, this means fighting to keep their radio stations alive, proving just how much they need and want their own source of media.
Global Content Solutions
Tel: +353 1 416 8000
Language
A Creole Call
for Localization
Sophia Eakins
Sophia Eakins is a PhD candidate in linguistics at the University of Michigan and a former marketing content specialist for Lionbridge. She holds dual bachelor’s degrees in linguistics and French from Wellesley College.
A Creole Call
for Localization
Sophia Eakins
Sophia Eakins is a PhD candidate in linguistics at the University of Michigan and a former marketing content specialist for Lionbridge. She holds dual bachelor’s degrees in linguistics and French from Wellesley College.
hen the 2018 Category 5 Hurricane Michael threatened to devastate the Florida Panhandle, the US government needed to quickly communicate evacuation plans and safety guidelines to millions of inhabitants at risk. However, many were non-native English speakers. A lack of local translation resources made connecting with the Vietnamese, Filipino, and Haitian populations especially challenging. Localization to the rescue! Within 24 hours, Lionbridge teams translated the safety information into four different languages: Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and Haitian Creole (Kreyòl).
Everyone needs to be communicated with in a manner they understand, regardless of what language they speak. Of course, fulfilling that need for some communities can be more challenging than for others. Consider, for example, the difficulty of localizing for India’s diverse linguistic landscape of 22 official languages, 121 major languages and thousands of minor languages and dialects. Like in India, where the majority of languages are rarely localized into, creole languages are regularly overlooked in the world of translation.
Language
The Alphabet that Keeps the People from Vanishing
An Interview with the Creators of ADLaM
Perpetual Aneke
Content writer at Translation Commons, Perpetual Aneke is currently enrolled in translation studies (MA) at University of Birmingham, UK. She is passionate about people’s growth, educational reforms, and traditional Igbo cuisine, in that order.
Perpetual Aneke
Content writer at Translation Commons, Perpetual Aneke is currently enrolled in translation studies (MA) at University of Birmingham, UK. She is passionate about people’s growth, educational reforms, and traditional Igbo cuisine, in that order.
he power of language — and the written word in particular — to sustain cultures and create economic opportunities is undeniable. For example, take ADLaM, a script developed in 1989 for the Fulani language by two young boys. Today, it has spread across several countries in Africa, Europe, Asia, and North America, thanks to the efforts of its creators and the not-for-profit organization Winden Jangen ADLaM. The name ADLaM is an acronym derived from the first four letters of the alphabet (A, D, L, M), standing for Alkule Dandayɗe Leñol Mulugol: “the alphabet that protects the peoples from vanishing.” In this interview, the creators of ADLaM provide insights on the relationship between language and global development.
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
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
+420 603 574 709
Email: info@global-dtp.com
Web: www.global-dtp.com
44th Internationalization & Unicode Conference
For over 29 years the Internationalization & Unicode® Conference (IUC) has been the preeminent event highlighting the latest innovations and best practices of global and multilingual software providers. This annual conference is where experts and industry leaders gather to map the future of internationalization, ignite new ideas and present the latest in technologies and best practices for creation, management and testing of global web, and multilingual software solutions. Recent conferences have provided specific advice on designing software for European countries, Latin America, China, India, Japan, Korea, the Middle East and emerging markets. Join us in Santa Clara, October 14-16, 2020, to contribute your ideas!
The Unicode Consortium
Mountainview, CA USA
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), PRISMA (Smart Content Services), STAR CLM (Corporate Language Management) including Transit (Translation & Localization), TermStar/WebTerm (Terminology Management), STAR MT (Machine Translation), CLM WebEdit (Web-based Translation & Review) and MindReader (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
Number 1 LSP that you should know
Crestec is a world-class language service provider. CSA Research ranks Crestec as a global top 5 LSP in the technology sector and global top 6 in the manufacturing sector. Headquartered in Japan with a network of over 18 sites in the US, Europe and Asia, we offer a one-stop comprehensive solution for global communications from marketing content creation and technical writing to localization, printing and studio/shooting production.
Languages: Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish
Crestec Long Beach, CA , USA
612-986-3108
Email: aki.ito@crestecusa.com
Europe: Amsterdam
+31 205854640
Email: sales@crestec.nl
Web: https://crestecusa.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
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
A creative approach to localization
At Spark, we fuse creativity with technology to provide a localization+ service. Helping brands like Microsoft, Disney and Netflix to develop and deliver consistent global branding and hyperlocal content creation from marketing activation to packaging. Providing creative expertise across the entire consumer journey, continuous workflow solutions and seamless integration into business systems: making a real difference to your localization needs.
Languages: 120+
Spark – Brighter Thinking
Europe: London, UK
4+44 (0)207 602 9119
Email: hello@sparkbrighterthinking.com
Web: www.sparkbrighterthinking.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
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
Protecting Translators and Interpreters Worldwide
Red T is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization advocating for the protection of translators and interpreters in high-risk settings.
Red T New York, NY USA
+1-212-675-0451
Email: contact@red-t.org
Web: http://red-t.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
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 Kingston, NY, 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
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
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 position 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
Translation Services into Italian
ASTW is an Italian language service provider that offers translation services into Italian. ASTW has historically gained extensive experience in patent translations and is now the provider of numerous international intellectual property consultancy firms. The other specializations include translations in the life science, legal and technical fields. ASTW also offers (light and full) post-editing services for pre-translated texts through machine translation in many areas. Other services include technical writing and medical writing services in English and Italian.
ASTW Genova, Italy
+390100980766
Email: info@a-stw.com
Web: www.a-stw.com/en/contact-us
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.
Hansem Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
+82-31-226-5042
Email: info@hansem.com
Web: https://hansem.com/en
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 languages
Rheinschrift Language Services Cologne, Germany
+49 (0)221-80-19-28-0
Email: contact@rheinschrift.de
Web: www.rheinschrift.de
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
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
Donna Parrish’s Influence on My Own Localization
Marjolein Groot Nibbelink
is the director of sales and advertising for MultiLingual. Born and raised in the Netherlands, she lived an international nomad’s life for eight years before settling in the US. She holds a degree in communication from the Rotterdam Academy, and has been with the MultiLingual team since April 2015.
Donna Parrish hired me shortly after I arrived in the USA, penniless and awaiting a green card after years of bumming around South America. As one of the language industry’s leading influencers since 1997, Donna had been crucial in developing MultiLingual and LocWorld as the brands we have come to know and love. Her limitless care and selflessness have contributed to the industry’s culture of assisting rather than competing with one another, something that is evident through her work with Translators without Borders (TWB). Donna is on Nimdzi’s recent Localization Influencers Watchlist, a reflection of how proactive she is in maintaining the full scope of the industry and its leading professionals.
25 Years of Excellence
in East European Languages
Legal | It
Life Sciences | Finances
Consumer Products | Automotive
Albanian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Estonian, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Ukrainian
Thanks for reading our Sept/Oct 2020 issue!