http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Localization A listing of the most recently indexed works about Localization in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Localization http://tc.eserver.org/35665.html http://tc.eserver.org/35665.html Localization is the process of adapting a product or service to a particular language and culture. Internationalization is the precursor to localization and involves the process of planning, designing and implementing a culturally and technically neutral product, which can easily be localized. Internationalization helps decrease translation cost and speeds up time-to-market by addressing crucial technical, aesthetic, cultural, and linguistic issues at project start-up. It also has the unique advantage of streamlining not only the localization of your content but authoring in general. http://tc.eserver.org/35669.html http://tc.eserver.org/35669.html In the current global financial crisis, Latin America has at least one advantage over most parts of the world. Crisis mode is the norm, rather than the exception, and presumably this means that people here consider what is happening to the world economy far less threatening than people in Europe and North America. The region is also one step removed from the closely interconnected economies of the western world, which means that the impact of the crisis has taken longer to see tangible effects. But does that mean Latin America is a safe haven from woes of the global financial crisis? I think not. http://tc.eserver.org/35676.html http://tc.eserver.org/35676.html In order to provide guidance to those involved in the preparation of documents for the Japanese market, a special Japanese layout taskforce has developed the “Requirements for Japanese Text Layout”. Here is an insight into the content. http://tc.eserver.org/35682.html http://tc.eserver.org/35682.html It is not surprising that myths, half-truths, and misunderstandings abound regarding machine translation: It seems as if the experience most players in the translation field have with this technology does not go beyond toying a little with one of the free online translation tools. Almost every week, I come across an article informing its readers either that machine translation is and always will be a complete waste of time or that machine translation, while being a waste of time today, might actually be useful some time in the distant future. In the hope of setting the record straight, here is a closer look at some of the most common myths about machine translation. http://tc.eserver.org/35355.html http://tc.eserver.org/35355.html Examines focus group data about Spanish speakers' preferences for health communication. Contrasts known preferences of Mexican Spanish speakers with Spanish speakers in the U.S. Makes recommendations from the data for communicating health information to Spanish speakers within the U.S. http://tc.eserver.org/34999.html http://tc.eserver.org/34999.html Web Localization means the process of making all kinds of information on a Web site culturally, linguistically, graphically, and technologically customized to the needs of the users of the target country. Web site localization is an important means by which an industry or organization wins an international market for its products or services since the Internet has billions of users and has the world wide access. However, language problems are still an obstacle to successful Web localization or online writings for cross-cultural audiences, which result in failing to achieve the communication purpose of the organization or company that has the problems on its Web site. This article mainly focuses on the language problems in online writing or localizing a Web linguistically for cross-cultural audiences from semantic, syntactical, textual, and rhetorical perspectives and makes some suggestions for solving the problems. http://tc.eserver.org/34929.html http://tc.eserver.org/34929.html Localization includes translating, explaining, and adapting a document for use in a specific culture. This article presents the case of a form for reporting the findings and decisions of pre-production meetings held during development of electronic products. The need to localize such a document may seem less obvious or critical than the need for sales documents like manuals, but this case demonstrates the same cultural requirements and, furthermore, the requirements of corporate differences. To meet local needs, the comprehensive preparation that localization requires should follow specific methods in each step of a process corresponding to the general writing process, like the stages defined in common technical writing texts. The deliberate use of an effective writing process to localize documents will improve results. http://tc.eserver.org/34887.html http://tc.eserver.org/34887.html Localization includes translating, explaining, and adapting a document for use in a specific culture. This article presents the case of a form for reporting the findings and decisions of pre-production meetings held during development of electronic products. The need to localize such a document may seem less obvious or critical than the need for sales documents like manuals, but this case demonstrates the same cultural requirements and, furthermore, the requirements of corporate differences. To meet local needs, the comprehensive preparation that localization requires should follow specific methods in each step of a process corresponding to the general writing process, like the stages defined in common technical writing texts. The deliberate use of an effective writing process to localize documents will improve results. http://tc.eserver.org/34757.html http://tc.eserver.org/34757.html It is critical to address localization as part of the DITA adoption early as it may significantly impact your localization process with potential schedule and cost implications that could negate many benefits of XML. http://tc.eserver.org/34599.html http://tc.eserver.org/34599.html When the cost for translation on support documentation for a foreign sold machine continues to go up, what can be done to minimize the cost of this EU mandated requirement? http://tc.eserver.org/34604.html http://tc.eserver.org/34604.html Internationalization is the basis for ease of localization and includes support of international character sets, separation of localizable features such as translatable character strings from the code, and provision for locale-specific features and functions. http://tc.eserver.org/34605.html http://tc.eserver.org/34605.html Don't turn down a project just because part of it requires work in another language. With a little forethought, you'll see that it's not "rocket science" after all, and that it's not so different from testing the original version of the product. In fact, the quality assurance team that works on the original version of the product is the one best suited to testing the localized versions. http://tc.eserver.org/34606.html http://tc.eserver.org/34606.html Through experience, I've discovered that foreign language typesetting can be very challenging--even when using the right software and platform, or having the help of a very experienced foreign typesetter. Through solving the problems encountered in the process, I also developed a new appreciation for simple, "internationalized" designs that are much easier to "localize" than others. Many problems can be avoided if the graphic designer keeps in mind that the document may be later translated into other languages. Sometimes, an attractive and very professional design in English can be a "nightmare" in other languages. http://tc.eserver.org/34607.html http://tc.eserver.org/34607.html Whether one is localizing documentation or translating Web sites into multiple foreign languages, managing updates is a major component of the localization process. Content development often involves constant updates. Therefore a localization methodology must have the infrastructure to manage change seamlessly, efficiently, and accurately. It must also offer complete flexibility to accommodate each project’s unique schedule, requirements and development cycle. http://tc.eserver.org/34585.html http://tc.eserver.org/34585.html In this paper, I suggest that granularized content management introduces as-yet-unexplored issues to genres of technical communication. I argue that content management, while it can, as advertised, free content and make it easy to reuse that content in multiple genres, that flexibility can create new problems for genres and genre systems, leading to problematic reuse, inflexible genre systems, rigid and proprietary genres, and uncritical internationalization. http://tc.eserver.org/34595.html http://tc.eserver.org/34595.html If translators had a list of FAQ's, the number one question would undoubtedly be "What can we do to cut the cost of our translations?" There are a number of answers to this question, but the simplest is to reduce the number of words in your documents before translating. Translation is usually priced by the word; therefore the fewer words for translation, the less it costs. http://tc.eserver.org/34541.html http://tc.eserver.org/34541.html This website is a sandbox to show how the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) and the Open Toolkit can be used to create multilingual websites. DITA is an OASIS standard. http://tc.eserver.org/34424.html http://tc.eserver.org/34424.html Provide a glossary of terms specific to your product and/or industry. Consider other languages' space requirements and writing conventions (e.g., right‐to‐left). Provide context, especially for translating interfaces only. Provide original (Word, Excel, ...) documents rather than PDFs. http://tc.eserver.org/34133.html http://tc.eserver.org/34133.html When writing a document that is going to be translated, writers should avoid certain terminology, take into account various aspects of a translation vendor, use a style guide, and more. Rimalower provides tips on how to create successfully translatable documents. http://tc.eserver.org/34107.html http://tc.eserver.org/34107.html A little-understood corner of Unicode is its handling for bidirectional text (The spec is a little dry). While English languages are read left-to-right, plenty of scripts (notably Arabic and Hebrew) are read from right to left. When only a single direction of text is used in a document, it's fairly straight forward, but when texts with different directions are mixed in one document, some difficulty arises in determining direction. This document attempts to explain how bidirectional text in Unicode works and what this means for the web. In the Unicode standard, characters have a representational order in memory (which English speakers tend to think of as left to right, but is really start-to-finish in a file), which the bidirectional algorithm then operates on to determine the display characteristics. http://tc.eserver.org/34109.html http://tc.eserver.org/34109.html This document is mainly intended for “ordinary” people who read the Unicode standard in order to get information about some particular characters or character processing issues that are important to them. The standard, though available online, is difficult to use without some help, and you can easily miss essential information when looking up things in it. http://tc.eserver.org/34026.html http://tc.eserver.org/34026.html Money paid to qualified technical writers and translators in a localization project is money spent very well indeed. Why? Because the worst thing for a project is to have the customers or end users switch to another product since they either cannot understand the instructions and the way an interface works, or the localized copy contains embarrassing mistakes that damage the brand name and image. http://tc.eserver.org/33821.html http://tc.eserver.org/33821.html Machine translation often gives humorous translations or incorrect translations. Usually, a bad translation is because the source text is not clear in a way that a machine can 'understand'. If text is optimised for machine translation, machine translation gives excellent results. There are two sets of texts. The first set is written in standard English. The second set is equivalent to the standard English text, but it is optimised for machine translation. Google Translate was used to translate the texts into Bulgarian and into Spanish. http://tc.eserver.org/33752.html http://tc.eserver.org/33752.html Translating XML documents presents many opportunities as well as challenges. There are clear do's and don'ts when it comes to designing your documents regarding translation. You can use also use XML to your advantage to reduce costs and increase quality. One of the most exciting ways to do this is via the use of the XML Text Memory Namespace - xml:tm. http://tc.eserver.org/33707.html http://tc.eserver.org/33707.html The nature of content has been undergoing a profound shift in the past several years, beginning with single-sourcing efforts and continues as the need for portable content increases. The portability of content is not a manufactured need, but an extension of the trend to create, manage and deliver content in more efficient ways. In turn, this shift affects content development and delivery, particularly localization, which feels the impact of source-language changes exponentially. http://tc.eserver.org/33709.html http://tc.eserver.org/33709.html In today's global economy, multilingual communications are the conduit to multinational revenue profiles and global brand recognition. Buyers in countries large and small are increasingly demanding local language materials as a condition for purchasing products. Laggards that deliver multilingual products and services late to regional markets lose market share and see their global brand fragment and decline in value. Multinational business demands that organizations redefine the value of content to drive global customer experience, increase customer satisfaction, promote brand awareness and consistency, and support time-to-market goals. http://tc.eserver.org/33399.html http://tc.eserver.org/33399.html Undertaking a localization project is a multi-step process. This article offers a step-by-step guide to localization that makes the project seem less daunting. http://tc.eserver.org/33334.html http://tc.eserver.org/33334.html Ideally, software and its documentation is localised (translated) into the languages of the target markets. However, in many cases, it is not cost-effective do this. Even if the target markets are the English-speaking countries, differences exist between the way English is used in the US, the UK, and Australia for example, and it is easy to cause confusion. This article examines some issues. http://tc.eserver.org/33305.html http://tc.eserver.org/33305.html The localization of information for regional markets and audiences is increasingly important for companies of all sizes. It’s required to more effectively engage customers, maximize revenue, and maintain global brand recognition. In this issue we focus on three common challenges found in early-stage localization projects and how to overcome them. We introduce approaches to address these challenges cost-efficiently. http://tc.eserver.org/33308.html http://tc.eserver.org/33308.html International growth is the target for most small companies and is indeed essential in many industries if you want to compete and thrive in this global economy; however, international expansion brings many challenges, especially in terms of communication. For example, how do you implement consistent, global communications that maintain your brand identity, values, and messaging while still allowing for local markets and cultures? http://tc.eserver.org/33185.html http://tc.eserver.org/33185.html When a company decides to globalize its site, the Web team often learns the taboo colors and appropriate dress codes of a given culture, translates the text, and launches. But cultural differences run deeper than visual appearance or language; they reflect strong values. Rarely do globalized sites incorporate the nuances of a culture's social hierarchy, individualism, gender roles, time-orientation, or truth-seeking attributes. http://tc.eserver.org/33187.html http://tc.eserver.org/33187.html Glocalization is the ugliness that ensues when the global and local are shoved uncomfortably into the same concept. It doesn't sit well on your palette, it doesn't have a nice euphoric ring. It implies all sorts of linguistic and cognitive discomfort. This is the state of the global and local in digital communities. We have all sorts of local cultures connected through a global network, resulting in all sorts of ugly tensions. Designers who work with networks must face these tensions and design to take advantage of the global while not destroying the local. This is a hefty challenge and one that i want us to dive into. http://tc.eserver.org/32931.html http://tc.eserver.org/32931.html Creating a user interface that is consistent across a website isn't easy. But managers of sites that serve multilingual, multinational users are going to have to rise to the task, however daunting it may be. http://tc.eserver.org/32632.html http://tc.eserver.org/32632.html An overview of barriers to global communication and how to address them. http://tc.eserver.org/32539.html http://tc.eserver.org/32539.html Stay flexible. Maintain vendor relationships. Avoid proprietary lock-ins. Maintain ratio of writers/engineers. Stay focused on deliverables. Shift job descriptions and work responsibilities. http://tc.eserver.org/32341.html http://tc.eserver.org/32341.html As the numbers of internet users worldwide continue to grow, the internet is becoming `more local'. This article addresses the epistemological challenge posed by this global process of internet localization by examining some of the conceptual tools at the disposal of internet researchers. It argues that progress has been hampered by an overdependence on the problematic notions of community and network whose paradigmatic status has yet to be questioned by internet scholars. The article seeks to broaden the conceptual space of internet localization studies through a ground-up conceptualization exercise that draws inspiration from the field theories of both Pierre Bourdieu and the Manchester School of Anthropology, and is based on recent fieldwork in suburban Malaysia. This exploration demonstrates that a more nuanced understanding of the plural forms that residential sociality can take is needed in order to move beyond existing binaries such as `network sociality' versus `community sociality'. http://tc.eserver.org/32206.html http://tc.eserver.org/32206.html Using a process called localization, language professionals translate the source document’s words and adapt its content to the needs and norms of the target country or market. Because language professionals can work only with what they are given, the document’s creator is partly responsible for ensuring the localization process is effective. After all, poorly written English cannot be turned into good Japanese. http://tc.eserver.org/32220.html http://tc.eserver.org/32220.html How do you identify the many options available for localizing your products or materials, and how do you select the right ones for your company? http://tc.eserver.org/31730.html http://tc.eserver.org/31730.html Companies operating in a global marketplace know they need to translate documents for their audiences. But some documents actually need more than translation – they need localization. Although a document’s words can be translated perfectly, the document can still be ineffective in another market, due to differences in the way local businesses operate and in the way people think. http://tc.eserver.org/31649.html http://tc.eserver.org/31649.html Translation of documentation has traditionally been a major expense in the globalization process, especially if translations are required for multiple languages. The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is an XML-based architecture for creating topic-based and information-typed content. It provides a number of features that, in addition to supporting high-quality information delivery, allows for more efficient and reliable localization of information. This article provides both an introduction to DITA and a discussion of DITA features that enhance document globalization. http://tc.eserver.org/31647.html http://tc.eserver.org/31647.html A-dec Inc. is a dental equipment manufacturer headquartered in Newberg, Oregon. A 40-year leader in the dental products industry, A-dec/spl trade/ has targeted the international market as their growth market. The change in scope has brought with it the recognition that the A-dec Technical Communications team must address how to align their content to support an international audience, as well as clearly communicate the company's core values. The process has been ongoing and dynamic as new discoveries occur. They faced the challenge of understanding the differences between translation and localization, which started their education in the area of necessary requirements for competing in the international marketplace. This case study discusses their journey towards creating a globalized product. http://tc.eserver.org/31648.html http://tc.eserver.org/31648.html As global online access grows, Web site designers find themselves creating materials for an increasingly international audience. Cultural groups, however, can have different expectations of what constitutes acceptable Web site design. This article examines how prototype theory can serve as a methodology for analyzing Web sites designed for users from different cultures. Such analyses, in turn, can help individuals create more effective online materials for international audiences. http://tc.eserver.org/31634.html http://tc.eserver.org/31634.html To meet the needs of users worldwide, today's Web applications often require internationalization. In this article, you'll see an approach for client-side internationalization based on XSLT. This solution only requires that both the data to be internationalized and the server stores are in XML. http://tc.eserver.org/31354.html http://tc.eserver.org/31354.html With China fast overtaking the United States as the world's largest online market, Rogers provides helpful information on how technical communicators can tailor their Web sites to appeal to Chinese visitors. http://tc.eserver.org/31368.html http://tc.eserver.org/31368.html Open source content management systems can be installed free of charge on an entity's servers or web hosting account, and provide a way for organizations to develop multilingual web sites. There are some challenges in finding a good open source content management system, but there are several that can fit a variety of needs. An example CMS is Plone, which has strong support for different languages, and which also integrates tools for managing the translation of content. http://tc.eserver.org/31355.html http://tc.eserver.org/31355.html Are you looking for ways to maximize your company's global Web presence? Look no further, as the authors have laid out a step-by-step plan for creating and designing a multilingual site. http://tc.eserver.org/31197.html http://tc.eserver.org/31197.html This study evaluated the usability of three websites for Spanish-English Dual Language K-8 schools. Twelve participants (6 parents, 6 teachers) reviewed and performed tasks on the three public school websites. Site usability was determined through both objective and subjective measures, including task completion time, first-click, total number of pages visited, task success, perceived task difficulty, user satisfaction, and overall ranked preference. Results indicated that one site was preferred more than the others by both user groups and resulted in more efficient search behavior. Clear navigation, link terminology, and proper use of both languages were found to be critical factors contributing to the sites’ usability. http://tc.eserver.org/31176.html http://tc.eserver.org/31176.html Wörterbücher, Glossare, Ausgangspunkte für die Recherche, weitere Links für Übersetzer. http://tc.eserver.org/31175.html http://tc.eserver.org/31175.html Der Unterschied zwischen dem richtigen Wort und dem beinahe richtigen ist derselbe Unterschied wie der zwischen dem Blitz und einem Glühwürmchen. http://tc.eserver.org/30733.html http://tc.eserver.org/30733.html Personal experience shows that all localization clients are interested in terminology--without exception. Only very large organizations, however, actually seem to maintain terminology databases. http://tc.eserver.org/30641.html http://tc.eserver.org/30641.html Over the past ten years, there has been an ever-increasing amount of usability recommendations for improving website design. Much of the data has focused on navigation of single-language websites. But few studies have tackled the problems of bilingual sites, and virtually no information has been gathered about usability of bilingual or multilingual sites where the languages are not written in the same direction (for example, English, which is read from left-to-right, and Hebrew, which is read from right-to-left). http://tc.eserver.org/30553.html http://tc.eserver.org/30553.html To remain competitive, companies must increase content reuse and multilingual usability while reducing volume and eliminating culturally sensitive language. Rushanan shows how editors can increase their value to their employers by functioning as leaders in the translation and localization process. http://tc.eserver.org/30567.html http://tc.eserver.org/30567.html SAPhelp is a proprietary authoring tool for documenting and translating on-line. It allows development, documentation, and translation to function concurrently. Its documentation structure lessens the need for redundant storage of texts. It provides version and authorization control and assigns work to authors and translators. http://tc.eserver.org/30530.html http://tc.eserver.org/30530.html Worldwide communication, international markets and growing needs of local customers today demand globally competitive software products that are able to satisfy multiple user requirements. This paper looks at the problems arising when software supporting local languages, conventions and cultures is designed. It then describes a new programming concept called 'internationalization' and finally leads into a discussion of possible influences on the documentation process. http://tc.eserver.org/30536.html http://tc.eserver.org/30536.html For software products to succeed in the international marketplace, the documentation team needs to plan for translation from the beginning of product development. Experience shows that the following factors can contribute to the elusive goal of simultaneous release of software domestically and internationally: early freeze of the product interface, a well-thought-out translation plan, agreed-upon procedures and goals, standard tools for creating art and text files, and early editing. This paper gives practical tips for avoiding problems in translation. http://tc.eserver.org/30492.html http://tc.eserver.org/30492.html Conservative estimates suggest that the translation market is currently over $1 billion and growing at a rate of 15% annually. The impact of an increasingly global economy continues to be felt by many business people, not the least of whom are the technical communicators who are charged with the mission of writing with international audiences in mind. Producing culturally appropriate, quality translations requires an awareness of how documents intended for foreign markets should be written. The purpose of the proposed Technical Translation and Software Localization PIC is to increase awareness of localization issues and to provide a forum for discussion, information exchange and education for those technical communicators who are involved in international communication. http://tc.eserver.org/30515.html http://tc.eserver.org/30515.html Successful localization of software and documentation for foreign-language markets requires thorough planning, effective systems, skillful project management and excellent communication. Working as a team, Rocky Mountain Translators, a 17-year old translation company based in Boulder, Colorado, and a Hewlett-Packard Division in California, describe a successful association localizing a horizontal software product. The unique perspectives of each company provide the backdrop to an in-depth discussion of the steps involved in this partnership process. http://tc.eserver.org/30372.html http://tc.eserver.org/30372.html Localizing a large online documentation system is a significant, expensive, and ongoing project. SAP AG has adapted a layered approach to translation to help manage an online help system in 12 languages. This approach is based on an analysis of online documentation categories, and it is implemented by an analysis of the target markets. Technologies such as hypertext linking and text embedding need to be carefully controlled in order for this approach to be successful. http://tc.eserver.org/30348.html http://tc.eserver.org/30348.html Use active voice, because it is easier to understand. If the material is being translated into a language which frequently uses passive voice, such as German, the translator will make the accommodation for that language. http://tc.eserver.org/30346.html http://tc.eserver.org/30346.html In addition to creating product specifications in support of locale-specific conventions, savvy localization managers will ensure that developers have coding practices to enable localization and adaptation. Double-byte enabling, for example, must be part of the code base. http://tc.eserver.org/30350.html http://tc.eserver.org/30350.html You can add to customer satisfaction by letting customers know you are committed to the market in their country, when you provide information in their own language. You can increase sales because buyers can find your company Web site; learn about your products in their own language, get connected to the nearest outlet, or place orders online. http://tc.eserver.org/30345.html http://tc.eserver.org/30345.html A well-thought-out design and well-written content reduces the time required for good international products and saves money. As a bonus, most internationalization issues apply across all languages and usually help improve the quality of the American-language product as well. http://tc.eserver.org/30349.html http://tc.eserver.org/30349.html Leverage, CAT, translation memory, and aligning are quite interrelated and build on each other in the process. http://tc.eserver.org/30278.html http://tc.eserver.org/30278.html 'Syntactic cues' are function words and punctuation marks that indicate syntactic relationships. Research in psycholinguistics, reading, and reading in a foreign language has shown that readers rely heavily on these cues to help them analyze and predict sentence structure. Yet technical writers and editors routinely eliminate many of these cues from their writing in the mistaken belief that they are improving readability. This workshop will show you how to use syntactic cues not only to improve readability, but also to eliminate ambiguities that cause problems for translators. This approach does not require knowledge of grammatical terminology, and it will increase your sensitivity to many subtleties of the English language. http://tc.eserver.org/30154.html http://tc.eserver.org/30154.html The task of communicating in a global environment requires planning, sensitivity and expert help. The authors have developed a series of check lists and tips to guide writers, editors, and other members of the localization team through the process. http://tc.eserver.org/30085.html http://tc.eserver.org/30085.html This panel will examine continuous publishing movement from paper to HTML formats, and localization management, which are currently in global transition. Panelists from a translation agency, a consulting firm, and a hardware computer corporation will address how the technical communications organizations must transition in these areas to meet the global requirements of the industry. http://tc.eserver.org/29878.html http://tc.eserver.org/29878.html The percentage of revenue that companies are generating from global markets is increasing rapidly. Not only does the global nature of sales help to increase overall corporate revenue, it also aids in building global brand equity, maintaining competitiveness against global competition and reducing geographical market reliance. In today's challenging economic environment, though, international efforts are often given low priority within the corporation. With this backdrop, localization teams are forced to do more with less in order to meet global market needs. Consequently, achieving a high Return On Investment (ROI) from localization initiatives is more important than ever. http://tc.eserver.org/29692.html http://tc.eserver.org/29692.html When budget constraints prevent bringing overseas testers to the development lab to verify product translation, Web conferencing sessions allow the testers to work in their own countries but still communicate directly with the lab. http://tc.eserver.org/29324.html http://tc.eserver.org/29324.html How do you carry out usability research in a country where you don't speak the language and where the customs are very different from you own? How can you perform a study where you need to largely rely on an interpreter for communications between you and your participants? And most importantly, how do you translate research findings into a design that is culturally appropriate and yet in alignment with corporate directives? http://tc.eserver.org/28874.html http://tc.eserver.org/28874.html Writing is a culturally situated activity. When writing is outsourced to other cultures, because of a lack of knowledge of the users' culture and also because of influences from the writer's local culture, those doing the writing and designing, despite various strategies adopted for overcoming the disadvantage of not knowing the users' culture, may not know how to culturally situate writing. It is, therefore, important that bicultural people, who know the users' culture, as well as the culture of those doing the outsourced work, give writing teams feedback about the users' culture. Doing so can make outsourced writing more culturally situated. http://tc.eserver.org/28814.html http://tc.eserver.org/28814.html At last, a book on what ails English in India! Why do we speak the way we do? Why do we switch to the passive voice in English, though we keep to the active in our mother tongues? Why are our letters long and wordy and yet can't get the point across? Why are our textbooks so wordy, and yet so vacuous? http://tc.eserver.org/28801.html http://tc.eserver.org/28801.html As companies strive to improve themselves by rethinking their global content strategies and redesigning these for the new world of continuous and multilingual deployment, they must unify their authoring and translation processes--not an easy task. Fenstermacher explains why authors and translators should work to close the content gap that often exists. http://tc.eserver.org/28803.html http://tc.eserver.org/28803.html Too often, in-country translation reviews are overlooked, even though they can document valuable feedback and save customers time and money on translation projects. The author provides several criteria for deciding whether such a review is right for your project. http://tc.eserver.org/28487.html http://tc.eserver.org/28487.html In all aspects of marketing, the Eastern world is breaking through to the West. More and more businesses are expanding product lines and services into a new market that involves countries in East Asia. Whether a business forms an alliance with a Chinese company to use its resources for a project, or it sells directly to Japanese consumers, it is clear that key media materials should be appropriate for Asian audiences. http://tc.eserver.org/28414.html http://tc.eserver.org/28414.html Did you ever try to use a machine that has been programmed in a foreign language? Or perhaps, even with an unfamiliar character set? Suddenly everything seems to be different although only the language has changed. This is the situation faced by many foreign users that work with German machines. http://tc.eserver.org/28416.html http://tc.eserver.org/28416.html Global organizations, particularly those in regulated industries, have to juggle a wide range of competing priorities. They must have thorough documentation, clear internal and external communication, audience-appropriate marketing materials and many types of “fine print” carefully crafted. That means that many different departments, sometimes spread across geography, must be involved in all layers of the business. In a regulated field, multiple touchpoints mean multiple opportunities for triggering a regulatory error. http://tc.eserver.org/28417.html http://tc.eserver.org/28417.html More and more businesses are expanding into international markets. A critical success factor for this expansion is high-quality, cost-effective and timely translated written content. Responsibility for this typically falls on internal translation departments or localization partners. Translation comes at a high price, exceeding the cost of writing the original content after only a few languages. http://tc.eserver.org/28415.html http://tc.eserver.org/28415.html Italian belongs to the family of Romanic languages. The traditional Italian alphabet has just 21 letters, but since recent times, five new letters j, k, w, x, y, have been added, thanks to the use of several words of foreign origin. Typical features are the use of the apostrophe ('l'amore') and the accent. http://tc.eserver.org/28293.html http://tc.eserver.org/28293.html Variety of information services like Short Message Service (SMS), e-mail, news, market reports, educational applications and other reading materials are now available on mobile phones. The size of mobile phone and its display is shrinking day-by-day, whereas the volume of information content and services are growing. More importantly, mobile phones introduced in the Indian market have now become bilingual; they support various services in English and Hindi languages. Mobile manufacturers have consciously or unconsciously resorted to English oriented approaches, and as a result of this, they have diluted the culture specific rules and the original form of Hindi language. We have studied the usability of Hindi in four bilingual (Hindi and English) mobile phones manufactured by different companies like Nokia / Reliance 3105 CDMA, LG RD5130, Motorola C118 and Samsung / Reliance C200. http://tc.eserver.org/28082.html http://tc.eserver.org/28082.html What are the secrets of a stress-free and productive translation experience? Davis's article highlights some important tips to keep in mind as you work on your next translation project. http://tc.eserver.org/27983.html http://tc.eserver.org/27983.html Despite your best efforts, it is not uncommon for mishaps to occur when attempting to localize documentation. Learn how to align your technical writing and localization processes and how to optimize the solution you choose for this alignment. http://tc.eserver.org/27925.html http://tc.eserver.org/27925.html As globalization of business continues at a rapid pace, employees are increasingly being asked to absorb and learn from materials that are not written in their first language. These materials range from key corporate policies and procedures that all employees must follow to specific training on products, health, safety or compliance. Very often this is training content created in English at the American parent company and distributed to regional and global offices, where in many cases employees are expected to have a “working knowledgeâ€Ω of English as a second or third language. But there are serious problems with this approach that stem directly from poor reading comprehension and also from learners’ misperceptions of the level of language facility they have actually achieved. http://tc.eserver.org/27922.html http://tc.eserver.org/27922.html The increasing number of languages that companies need to translate into requires careful planning when preparing translation projects. Thus, choosing appropriate tools, finding qualified project teams, and applying suitable concepts to avoid additional work become crucial tasks for the project manager. If all these issues are considered beforehand, a perfect balance can be achieved within the magic triangle of time, cost and quality. http://tc.eserver.org/27923.html http://tc.eserver.org/27923.html Belgians do not have a language of their own. But the country has three equivalent languages instead: the partition of the Dutch language zones has been the result of a question of faith: With the freedom of Munster (1648), the first partition of the Netherlands took place, and, in 1830, Belgium was first founded as the catholic counterpart to the protestant Netherlands. http://tc.eserver.org/27924.html http://tc.eserver.org/27924.html After the enlargement in May 2004, the EU has now 25 member states and 20 official languages (not taking into account 48 minority languages). What does the enlargement of the EU mean in the context of Technical Communication and what are the challenges of the on-going internationalisation in general? The industry has to find a way to make linguistic diversity compatible with efficiency within the set parameters of time, cost and human resources. http://tc.eserver.org/27926.html http://tc.eserver.org/27926.html Sophie Hurst explains how, rather than leaving it all to the translators, authors can influence how their texts appear in other languages. http://tc.eserver.org/27872.html http://tc.eserver.org/27872.html The author discusses the importance of integrating translation early in the documentation process to avoid translation problems. Explore how multilingual documentation also has an impact on writing style, layout, review procedures, and a variety of other elements. http://tc.eserver.org/27850.html http://tc.eserver.org/27850.html Extend the existing globalization capabilities of .NET to create flexible and powerful multilgual web sites. First, create a custom ResourceManager, and then create custom localized-capable server controls to easily deploy multilingual functionality. http://tc.eserver.org/27851.html http://tc.eserver.org/27851.html Extend the existing globalization capabilities of .NET to create flexible and powerful multilgual web sites. First, create a custom ResourceManager, and then create custom localized-capable server controls to easily deploy multilingual functionality. http://tc.eserver.org/27852.html http://tc.eserver.org/27852.html Extend the existing globalization capabilities of .NET to create flexible and powerful multilgual web sites. This third part won't focus on the fundamental but rather enhancements to what we've already covered. http://tc.eserver.org/27273.html http://tc.eserver.org/27273.html Online training is becoming increasingly popular; however, geographic and cultural distance can work to your disadvantage. St.Amant outlines how to set up a training program that both attracts and benefits communicators in locations around the globe. http://tc.eserver.org/27271.html http://tc.eserver.org/27271.html Sheds light on the benefits of using a content management system (CMS) when publishing in multiple languages. Included are tips for shopping for a CMS, managing unique character sets, and managing the translation process. http://tc.eserver.org/27046.html http://tc.eserver.org/27046.html Internationalization -- or 'I18N', a very geeky abbreviation referring to the number of letters left out -- is commonly defined as a set of practices intended to make software more 'localizable' by introducing layers of abstraction in the code and the data of an application. That way, it is easier to later modify the language, currency, date, and number format according to the requirements of a specific locale. http://tc.eserver.org/27003.html http://tc.eserver.org/27003.html These days, staff in localisation departments spend their time essentially on project management, translation and quality assurance. However, by using one of the emerging systems that integrate content creation, localisation and content management into an efficient system, many of these activities can be automated or avoided all together. We are now seeing the emergence of technical content control systems that can be used to improve the turn-around time, translation costs and the quality of the translations themselves. In recent projects, where these systems have been implemented, organisations have seen substantial savings in localisation costs, with word count reductions and translation costs of around 30%. http://tc.eserver.org/26963.html http://tc.eserver.org/26963.html 摘要电子商务成功的关键是理解什么是使人们在网上购买东西的诱因，并且为他们提供方法进行购物交易。电子商务网页设计者必须充分理解目标市场的消费者行为。对于在线顾客的心理和期待的研究不仅能够帮助消费者和电子商务，而且可以帮助支持提供这些商务设备和电信基础设施的制造者。这篇文章将讨论我们在我们研究中遇到的一些事项：1）理解是什么促使中国消费者在线消费。2）西方网络可用性指南是否适合于中国的消费者 http://tc.eserver.org/26888.html http://tc.eserver.org/26888.html The Unicode consortium is dedicated to maintaining a character set that allows computers to deal with the vast array of human writing systems. When you think of computers that manage such a large and complex data set, you think databases, and this is precisely what the consortium provides for computer access to versions of the Unicode standard. The Unicode Character Database comprises files that present detailed information for each character and class of character. The strong tie between XML and Unicode means this database is very valuable to XML developers and authors. In this article Uche Ogbuji introduces the Unicode Character Database and shows how XML developers can put it to use. http://tc.eserver.org/26783.html http://tc.eserver.org/26783.html Technologists and designers have differing views focused on either the technology and standards or the experience. Even Wikipedia seems confused and cumulative definitions are not inclusive. Buzzwords associated with Web 2.0 include: remix, tagging, hackability, social networks, open APIs, microcontent, personalization. People discuss how the web is moving from a read-only system to a read/write system and they focus on technologies like GreaseMonkey, Ajax, RSS/Atom, Ruby on Rails. Of course, others talk about the paradoxical relationship between openness and control. The reality is that when people talk about Web2.0, they're talking about a political affiliation with The Next Cool Thing, even if no one has a clue what it is yet. Personally, i don't find comfort in any of the business, technological or experiential explanations. Yet, i do believe that a shift is occurring and i find myself emotionally invested in it. So then i had to ask myself: what is Web2.0 and why does it matter? The answer is glocalization. http://tc.eserver.org/26549.html http://tc.eserver.org/26549.html The author discusses the usefulness of web-based translators in the technical communication classroom. He reports on the pedagogical application of web-based translators in a technical communication course. The author concludes that while web-based translators do not offer accurate translations, they do offer possibilities to the instructor who wants the students to learn about the benefits and hazards of using web-based translators to localize technical documents. http://tc.eserver.org/26357.html http://tc.eserver.org/26357.html Firms that export to the USA are faced with the challenge of having to deliver accompanying TD that meets the requirements of that country. This is true not only in legal or safety-relevant terms, but also in terms of the language used. Production and translation of multi-lingual documentation are part of an overall process. Even while creating the source text, the technical writer must keep in mind the translation into the target language. Unambiguous rendering, consistency in the terminology, wording that is appropriate for the target group and reader-friendliness are some of the highest criteria which would justify the use of a controlled language. http://tc.eserver.org/26358.html http://tc.eserver.org/26358.html Without a doubt, delivering translation and localization services for the game and toy industries is more than child’s play. These days, with billions of dollars in revenue from international sales at stake, companies are becoming more and more aware of the importance of delivering quality localized products to specific markets. With incredible growth rates in segments such as computer and video games (which make more money than the US film industry these days), but also with learning toys, board games and many other products trying to find their ways into playrooms worldwide, the industry is a strong player that demands to receive quality services from translation and localization vendors. While many of the same questions that affect any translation and localization project are also valid for these markets, there are a variety of issues unique to the game and toy industry that need to be addressed. http://tc.eserver.org/26296.html http://tc.eserver.org/26296.html A directory of commercial machine translation systems and computer-aided translation support tools. http://tc.eserver.org/26299.html http://tc.eserver.org/26299.html The mechanization of translation has been one of humanity's oldest dreams. In the twentieth century it has become a reality, in the form of computer programs capable of translating a wide variety of texts from one natural language into another. This book introduces methods adopted in current systems http://tc.eserver.org/26300.html http://tc.eserver.org/26300.html This chapter introduces the main concepts and methods used for machine translation systems from the beginnings of research in the 1950s until about 1990; it covers the main approaches of rule-based systems (direct, interlingua, transfer, knowledge based), and the principal translation tools; and it concludes with a brief historical sketch. http://tc.eserver.org/26297.html http://tc.eserver.org/26297.html The example-based approach to MT is becoming increasingly popular. However, such is the variety of techniques and methods used that it is difficult to discern the overall conception of what example- based machine translation (EBMT) is and/or what its practitioners conceive it to be. Although definitions of MT systems are notoriously complex, an attempt is made to define EBMT in contrast to other MT architectures (RBMT and SMT). http://tc.eserver.org/26280.html http://tc.eserver.org/26280.html One of the main concerns of internationalization consists of separating the main source code from the texts, the labels, the messages and all the other objects related to the specific language in use. This article briefly explain the TMX standard and a simple TMX Java bridge. http://tc.eserver.org/26223.html http://tc.eserver.org/26223.html Generally, cost increases and quality decreases when turn-around time decreases. Explore the latest technology for making the translation process more efficient. http://tc.eserver.org/26176.html http://tc.eserver.org/26176.html Machine Translation, though useful in certain cases, is still not, and may never be the one-size-fits-all solution for translation needs. Any translation used for commercial or professional purposes must be at the very least checked and double-checked by human translators. http://tc.eserver.org/26189.html http://tc.eserver.org/26189.html Dos and don'ts from pros! This article advises on technical, cultural and political issues of software localization. http://tc.eserver.org/26186.html http://tc.eserver.org/26186.html This article addresses all formatting concerns related to software localization. It discusses country and regional differences in addresses, currency, dates, numerals, paper sizes, telephone numbers, time and units of measure. Very thorough! http://tc.eserver.org/26185.html http://tc.eserver.org/26185.html This article is a very good primer on the language issues involved in localization software. It touches upon topics such as language direction, capitalization, code pages, fonts and input methods, to name just a few. It gives a reader a solid understanding of the complexity and factors involved in localizing software into different languages. http://tc.eserver.org/26184.html http://tc.eserver.org/26184.html Localization is the process of customizing your application for a given culture/locale. Localization consists primarily of translating the user interface. Proper planning will help ensure your application is localized in a timely and cost effective manner. http://tc.eserver.org/26178.html http://tc.eserver.org/26178.html When you need a quote for your translation, you simply call or email the agency and ask for one. What you don't expect, is the array of questions about your translation from the agency quoting your request. From what format the documents are in, to how you would like the files delivered to you and everything in between--when requesting a quote for translation, or typesetting services, there is certain information that you will be required to provide to the translation agency. If you have this information readily available, you will save a great deal of time. http://tc.eserver.org/26183.html http://tc.eserver.org/26183.html In the past, the term localization often referred to a process that began after an application developer compiled the source files in the original language. Another team then began the process of reworking the source files for use in another language. The original language, for example, might be English, and the second language might be German. That approach, however, is prohibitively expensive and results in inconsistencies among versions. It has even caused some customers to purchase the original-language version instead of waiting months for the localized version. A more cost effective and functional model divides the process of developing world-ready applications into three distinct parts, globalization, localizability, and localization. http://tc.eserver.org/26187.html http://tc.eserver.org/26187.html This article discusses common occurring problems related to string resources include the text that appears in an application's user interface and tips on how to avoid them. http://tc.eserver.org/26190.html http://tc.eserver.org/26190.html This article discusses key testing phrases needed for a successful world ready software application: globalization testing, localizability testing and localization testing. http://tc.eserver.org/26175.html http://tc.eserver.org/26175.html Since everyone has only one life to live; I would like mine to be an enjoyable one, enriched by interesting experiences and by meaningful relationships with the people that I care about. I want to have a lot of time for myself and experience other cultures from around the world. So how do I achieve this goal and still be highly effective at work--thus obtaining financial independence, as well as self satisfaction from work? http://tc.eserver.org/26182.html http://tc.eserver.org/26182.html From generating a word count using the Word Count tool in MS Word, or using a counting tool such as PractiCount and Invoice, to using translation tools such as Trados or Wordfast, it's hard to produce similar results when each of these tools have their own way of counting. http://tc.eserver.org/26188.html http://tc.eserver.org/26188.html Loads of tips on how to design world ready user interface. It addresses issues that might occur in messages, menus and dialog boxes, icons and bitmaps, access and shortcut keys as well as user interface controls. http://tc.eserver.org/26168.html http://tc.eserver.org/26168.html Is there a demand for your products or services outside of your domestic market? If so, how are you marketing to this group of potential customers? How do you overcome language and cultural barriers? Web Localization, which is the process of translating your web site into your customers' languages and adapting to local markets, is an essential step toward establishing a market presence. http://tc.eserver.org/26172.html http://tc.eserver.org/26172.html By managing large projects involving Chinese translation into English in the past two years, it has taught me that in handling this language pair, the ideal candidate is not native English-speakers, but native Chinese-speakers living abroad. http://tc.eserver.org/26165.html http://tc.eserver.org/26165.html In what aspects does the global web impact business? How can we use it to embark on new opportunities and save cost on running our existing business? http://tc.eserver.org/26173.html http://tc.eserver.org/26173.html Not too long ago, I was managing a translation project in Access (English to Greek) when I discovered that the translator hadn't used question marks similar to those used in the English source. Instead of question marks, he was using semicolons. I was sure that this was a mistake and that the computer was acting strange again. But it wasn't a mistake. In the Greek language, the question mark is like a semicolon, and the semicolon is instead a raised period. I've started to check on other projects as well, and I've learned quite a few interesting things about punctuation and their separators. http://tc.eserver.org/26171.html http://tc.eserver.org/26171.html If it is your first time dealing with typesetting foreign language business cards, you may start out thinking it is a simple task. So did we. Later we learned that without proper preparation and accessible information, it can turn out to be a very time consuming job with changes and changes following initial layout and translation. After many trials and errors, we have summarized the lessons we learned here for you. http://tc.eserver.org/26167.html http://tc.eserver.org/26167.html Visibility in Italian search engines is a matter of content, design and organization just as it is in the English-language engines. As Jill often points out to us, the better your content is, the more targeted traffic your Web site will generate. http://tc.eserver.org/26163.html http://tc.eserver.org/26163.html Publishing your website in another language is like managing a brand new website. It demands people who are expert in writing and editing in that language. The standard of English on the Web, for example, is often poor, even for those whose native language it is. It can be embarrassingly bad for websites publishing English as a foreign language. http://tc.eserver.org/26164.html http://tc.eserver.org/26164.html I've discovered that foreign language typesetting can be very challenging - even when using the right software and platform, or having the help of a very experienced foreign typesetter. Through solving the problems encountered in the process, I also developed a new appreciation for simple, 'internationalized' designs that are much easier to 'localize' than others. Many problems can be avoided if the graphic designer keeps in mind that the document may be later translated into other languages. Sometimes, an attractive and very professional design in English can be a nightmare for other languages. http://tc.eserver.org/25856.html http://tc.eserver.org/25856.html "Free Website Localization" is a collaborative translation project to help webmasters get free multilingual versions of their web site. There are many webmasters who understand English but are native speakers of another language. Thanks to the multicultural nature of its users, Free Localization effectively enables online peer to peer translations. Users can manage, coordinate and exchange website translations by means of a complete set of online localization tools. The service is free. http://tc.eserver.org/25813.html http://tc.eserver.org/25813.html Representing a growing segment of the translation industry, software globalization (G11N) remains shrouded in mystery to many. What is Globalization? G11N ensures availability of a software product in languages besides the language of origin, traditionally US English. It is driven by huge revenue opportunities outside the Anglophone world for software companies and translators alike. This presentation will introduce both the basic concept of globalization and how it involves the translator, in particular. In this paper we will describe the process from early design and coding to release in the global marketplace.