Technical Translations Forum

Science no Longer the Exclusivity of Developed Countries

2011-09-02T23:35:00.000-07:00

While emerging countries such as China, India, and Brazil have long been associated with the global scientific community, the presence of Iran, Turkey, Tunisia, and Israel in this very private club may come as a surprise.

A recent study published by the Royal Society, Britain’s national academy of science, reveals that “rapidly” emerging scientific nations, of which several are in the Islamic world, are now embarked on the fast train of science R&D. These emerging countries could soon challenge the scientific superpowers of the West.

Iran, for instance, is the fastest growing country in the world when it comes to the number of scientific papers published in journals. The government of Tehran plans to allocate 4% of its GDP to scientific R&D before 2030. By comparison, the EU average budget for scientific R&D is 1.8% of its GDP. Critics may say that this money will be going toward nuclear research. But the fact is that more and more US scientists are collaborating with their Iranian counterparts on multiple science projects. The number of joint US-Iranian scientific papers published over the past 12 years has increased from 300 to 1,600. And when it comes to science, Iran will go as far as cooperate with its archenemy, Israel. Both countries are working hand in hand on a scientific light source project in Jordan.

But other nations such as Tunisia and Turkey are also thriving when it comes to science. Turkey’s scientific R&D spending has increased six-fold since 1995 and the number of researchers has increased by 43% over the past 12 years. With an R&D budget of 1.25% of its GDP, Tunisia hopes to increase its pharmaceutical exports five-fold over the next five years.

The Royal Society’s report concludes by stating that there are over 7 million researchers in the world today and that the global annual budget allocated to R&D has increased by 45% since 2002. With the arrival of emerging nations, these numbers will surely increase even further. To be continued.

File Compression and organization using WinRAR

2011-08-19T03:32:00.000-07:00

Many times documentation and files used in translation projects are extremely large due to the volume of text to be translated and/or the amount of images, charts, graphics, and screenshots used in the layout.Many times the layout itself is so complex that it adds to the size of the source file.

There are plenty of applications to compress or “zip up” the files so they can be sent or uploaded easily. The most popular, WinZip, has been around for years. Another popular application that is being more widely used is WinRAR.

WinRAR is a file compression tool for making files smaller and adding multiple files to a single protected archive for safer, easier transfer over networks and via the internet.

WinRAR integrates itself into your Windows shell so that by right clicking on any given documents or files, you have the ability to compress those files, usually into a smaller, more protected format.

Right clicking a file or multiple files gives you the following options:

In this case, I selected Frame Maker.doc on my hard drive and I’m given the following options. If you are doing a single file and you’d like to retain the original name of the file, simply select (in this case) Add to “Frame Maker.rar”, and the program will automatically create a compressed version of this file using the default WinRAR options.

By selecting Add to archive…, you are presented with more options:

You are given the choice of Archive format, and in this case I’d like to stress using RAR as opposed to ZIP since RAR gives us more options.

If you are using a single file, WinRAR will automatically select the name of your file. You have the option to change this to another name of your choosing which is nice when dealing with multiple files. The extension is automatically .rar even if you delete the entire line and set your file name as, “I LOVE COOKIES”. It will still be I LOVE COOKIES.rar

Another great feature of WinRAR is the ability to split archives into specifically sized volumes.

As you can see, I used my MOV02033.AVI file, right clicked, chose the option in the bottom left-hand corner and chose a specific file size to split my main file into. There are several default sizes, but I prefer to choose my own depending on the size of the file being compressed.

A quick chart on sizes is like this:

1,000,000 bytes = 1 megabyte or 1mb
5,000,000 bytes = 5 megabytes or 5mb
10,000,000 bytes = 10 megabytes or 10mb

You can set this as high or as low as you’d like. Depending on the size of whatever I’m going to compress, I like to create volumes of anywhere from 5mb to 100mb each. When working with extremely large files in the gigabyte range it’s better to use larger split volumes in the 50mb to 100mb range. It will make decompressing the files faster and create fewer archives. Remember, the larger the volume you create, the less archives you create. As you can see in the picture above, I chose to split my main 60mb file into 10mb archives coming out to around 56mb total when compressed.

Once I have my main file split into compressed volumes I no longer need it. It’s basically copied over into 6 smaller volumes (using my example above), and when I unpack those files, it’ll be there whole and intact. Simply by selecting the first volume in the set and then choose to extract it, it will know there’s a set of files related to the first one and unpack your compressed file wherever you choose.

Just remember to select PUT RECOVERY RECORD so that if any damage occurs (data loss) during transfer, the file can be repaired easily by the recipient.

Another nice feature is the COMMENT tab detailed below:

By using this feature you are given the ability to add a note to your archive as shown above. This is really handy for adding extra information, details which were missed or forgotten in a meeting or email, or just saying Hello or Thanks!

WinRAR provides the user with the ability to compress any volume, split it if needed, and protect for it for safe transmission over networks and online. WinRAR is a safe and easy solution for protecting the integrity of your files and archives from data loss due to power failures, internet disconnections, and other mishaps while working with important files. Using WinRAR also saves vital hard drive space where there may be constraints.

It may take a little longer to prepare and send that important document for translation, analysis or cleanup, but at least you can be guaranteed your documents are safe.

Translation Memory (TM) versus Machine Translation (MT)

2011-08-11T23:20:00.000-07:00

What is a Translation Memory?

A translation memory (TM) is a linguistic database that continually captures your translations as you work for future use.

All previously translated segments are accumulated within the translation memory (in source and target language pairs called translation units) and reused so that you never have to translate the same sentence twice. The more you build up your translation memory, the faster you can translate subsequent translations and your new project is more consistent, enabling you to take on more projects and increase your revenue.

Translation memory managers, usually included in Computer-Aided Translation (CAT) tools, are most suitable for translating technical documentation and documents containing specialized vocabularies. Their benefits include:

Consistence - Ensuring that the translated documents are consistent, including common definitions, phrasings and terminology. For example, if the software is already translated and now it is time to translate or update its manual or help, the translation memory will use the previous stored sentences to guide the current translation. In other words, the documentation or the help file will be consistent with the terms used in the main software.

Flexibility - Enabling translators to translate documents in a wide variety of formats without having to own the software typically required to process these formats.

Speed - Accelerating the overall translation process; since translation memories "remember" previously translated material, translators only have to translate it once.

Cost - Reducing costs of translation projects. For example, your company just updated the radiology image equipment. Usually, most of the user guide document will stay unchanged, only some items in the document will need to be updated. The translation memory has the ability to use the previous sentences stored in its database to pre-translate the current updated manual. This benefit will cause a relevant impact in the translation cost.

How does translation memory software differ from machine translation?

Machine translation automatically translates a document without any human input (or assistance).

These kinds of tools are fast, but result in a poor quality translation as a machine cannot understand the subtleties or contexts of language. As a result, quality and accuracy tend to be around 50% - 70%, therefore it is not advisable to send the raw form directly to your customers.

For example, the simple text below was translated using Google Translate (one of the most popular Machine Translation tools). The source text was translated from English into Korean. Using the same MT system, the translated sentence was translated back to English (which we call as reverse translation).

Original English text:

"Excel Translations' unique organizational structure allows the company to handle all phases of a medical translation project."

Korean Translation:

"엑셀 번역 '독특한 조직 구조는 회사가 의료 번역 프로젝트의 모든 단계를 처리할 수 있습니다."

Reverse English Translation:

"Excel Translations' unique organizational structure, medical translation project, the company can handle all phases of."

However, the "imperfect but fast" machine translation system is efficient in some cases. IBM and Microsoft have been using machine translation engines for the last ten years to provide real-time feedback for their customers. For example, a user can ask a question on the IBM portal about the installation for an acquired product in China. This question (written in Chinese) is automatically translated into English, so IBM's server's search engine finds the highest match topics. Then, these topics are automatically translated into Chinese and the customer can find a solution for his question in a few seconds.

In this case, the quality of the translation is poor, but the customer is a 100% satisfied because he is now able to install his product. However, on the other hand, the Machine Translation's quality is not acceptable for providing a multilingual prospect for a Neurovascular Array system.

Documentation: Part of Your Core Business Asset Portfolio?

2011-07-29T23:38:00.000-07:00

The last decade of the 21st century brought more changes in publishing technology. Not only did publishing move from paper to the WWW, but it became more versatile, effective and interactive. Publications could be searched and content could be extracted.

Additionally, multimedia features deepened access to published information. Hypertext links enabled users to navigate through documents and allowed them to watch video clips with sound while reading a warning paragraph. With these new technologies, users were able to design their own experience of published material.

Throughout these advances most companies have viewed documentation –such as user guides and technical manuals– as a necessary tool to help consumers use the products they purchased. However, it was rare that documentation would get the business asset treatment, worthy of significant investment. The documents were still semi-interactive: though the companies could enable users to change their experience of the text, they could not present different versions of the text to users based on the user’s interaction with the document. In other words, companies did not have the technology to enable users to change the presentation of content to reflect their own needs.

For example, an American professional mechanic and a Brazilian apprentice require different levels of information from an auto-repair manual. The apprentice will need every step explained in detail and it will be much better if the instructions appear in Brazilian Portuguese while the mechanic will need only the data unique to the specific automobile. Yet these two levels of users could not interact with the same manual so the documentation had to be tailored to their respective levels of expertise.

New technologies such as XML enabled the creation of truly interactive documents in which the readers can specify their own needs and preferences and have the text change accordingly. With XML, a single document can contain the same text in different languages. Previously, companies with multiple foreign markets had to produce separate volumes for each language. Today, the text can be stored in a single XML-based FrameMaker document so that layout specifications (such as which illustrations go with corresponding captions) are preserved and smart action can be taken when automatic translation tools are used (for example, excluding proper nouns from translation). Another aspect of the auto-repair manual that could be changed interactively is the units of measure: imperial units (inches, gallons, degrees Fahrenheit, and so on) could be converted to metric units (meters, liters, degrees Celsius, and so on) based on the reader’s locale and preference.

The “new” ability to produce documentation has transformed documentation into “a core business asset” with serious revenue-producing potential. So, If your business hasn't been paying attention to your documentation, you're ignoring a sales tool and a revenue generator.

Time to actually read the manual!

Creativity as added value

2011-07-21T23:53:00.000-07:00

In the translation industry, we tend to undervalue the creative aspects of the translation process. We rather focus on objective quality standards and evaluation methods to obtain measurable results about the translation output. We prefer to link translation quality to quantifiable and assessable variables. Our different QA steps are designed to guarantee accuracy, completeness and linguistic correction of the target text. This objective and scientific approach to translation prevails, and these are also the values that we present to clients when we describe the benefits of our professional translation services. Creativity is not a good companion of objective quality, neither a popular sales argument in the translation industry.

However, creativity is a very important skill that operates throughout the whole translation process. First, translators need to be extremely perceptive when they read and understand the source text. This initial interpretation work requires high levels of creative alertness to explore possible multiple meanings and grasp all the nuances and connotations conveyed in a text. Creativity will also play a crucial role in the second part of the translation process, when this complex meaning and content network is transferred to the target language and culture. A successful projection of the richness of meanings and evocations of the original text will be partly determined by the writing abilities of the translator. It is obvious that a technical user manual will not contain metaphors, second meanings, connotations or evocations and will thus not require as much creative talent in the interpretative as well as representative work involved in translation.

However, a clear insight of the source and an intelligent representation of the target message are crucial to reach the audience through certain document types or messages related to advertising or marketing. This is why many argue that another step beyond translation is sometimes required for certain texts to accomplish complex communication goals. Transcreation is the term used to define this extra creative effort to adapt a message to the target culture. Yet, any translation process and any translation work that aims at excellence should include transcreation, as well as the creative value it entails. As Walter Benjamin states in his essay ‘The task of the translator’: ‘to some degree all (great) texts contain their potential translation between the lines’. We could add that to discover this ‘potential translation’ and reveal it can be actually considered an art. Moreover, the quality and greatness of a translation work can depend on the artistic and creative talent of a translator or team of translators. The fact that the industry prefers to look in another direction will not change that.

The European patent is still on course…

2011-07-16T03:30:00.000-07:00

In our last entry about patents in Europe, we wondered when it would be possible to talk about a unique pan-European patent system.

That has already become a reality! European Parliament gave its approval to member states so that they could use the enhanced cooperation procedure in order to establish a unique patent system within the European Union.
The goal for European companies? To encourage and boost innovation and competitiveness, thereby making the patent registration procedure easier and reducing all the inherent costs (especially translation costs).

On March 10, 2011, 25 EU member states gave their green light for the creation of a unique pan-European patent system. Only Spain and Italy are standing their ground and squarely refusing to participate in this agreement. Despite this, the process is definitely moving now. Indeed, last April 13, 2010, European Commission presented two proposals for unitary patent protection. Now, any companies or any inventors will be able to protect their inventions within those signatory 25 member states. Patent requests can be registered in any language, but the EPO (European Patent Office) will continue to submit patents in one of the three official languages (English, French or German). During a transitory period of 12 years maximum, patents submitted in French or German will have to be translated into English, and those submitted in English will have to be translated in one of the 2 other official languages. These translations will be necessary until the machine translation system is totally workable and efficient.
In the meanwhile, all additional translations completed up to now will be used in order to expand and enrich the machine translation system database.

English source language tips for two common issues

2011-07-06T23:03:00.000-07:00

1. Content
Imperial English measurements such as length, temperature, etc. are often found in documentation for medical device translation. Most linguists need to convert these measurements to Metric to localize the translation. In a multiple language project, you may find slight variances of these conversions.

Suggestion for source document: provide both Imperial and Metric measurements to assure consistency in target documents. Provide instructions whether the Imperial measurements can be removed or else kept in the target within parentheses.

Example source
Temperature: -40° F to +158° F (-25° C to 70° C)
Example translation:
Temperatura: -25 °C a 70 °C
or
Temperatura: -25 °C a 70 °C (-40° F a +158° F)

2. Layout
Adequate White Space in English source documentation can be lacking in certain areas such as tables or graphic callouts. Since text expansion occurs in many languages, translations may end up being hyphenated or have a reduced font size in order to fit within the small area provided.

Suggestion for source document: Widen and lengthen trouble areas such as column rows and text boxes containing graphic callouts.

Example Source
User
not
User

Example Translation
Usuario

These are two issues that are easy to manage by the source material author(s) and will improve the translation process and quality.

Size Matters

2011-06-22T21:32:00.000-07:00

Consider the following statements from different areas of our world:

Health: More than one third of U.S. adults —more than 72 million— people and 17% of U.S. children are obese. From 1980 through 2008, obesity rates for adults have doubled and rates for children have tripled.

Science: Nearly 3 million years ago, our ancestors had brains about as big as modern chimps. Since then the brain that would become human grew steadily, tripling in size. But there is little evidence of improvement over much of the period that the brain was growing. Animals with bigger brains are not necessarily more intelligent. To use a computer analogy, bigger brains might in many cases be bigger hard drives, not necessarily better processors.

Economy: We all know the story lines of the current economic recession and its aftermath. Too-big-to-fail should really read too-big-to-succeed. I don’t know about you, but I prefer my local community bank over any financial giant. And big-box stores sure are cheap and convenient to some level, but if quality is your foremost concern, would you really make your purchase there?

Culture: If one were to ask a school, a hospital, a symphony orchestra about their growth plans for the future, they would probably talk about plans to train and retain good teachers, to attract talented surgeons, to extend their repertoire and to bring their work to new audiences. Their vision of growth would not necessarily include increasing the number of students, patients or musicians.

Psychology: Humans are most comfortable in clusters of 10 to 12, family-sized groups. Put them in armies of hundreds and thousands and they cease to be individuals, but only human resources, just numbers in jobs.

Social Media: The most successful of social media like Facebook, thrive on micro-communities, allowing people to grow their network or online community at their own pace and comfort, in accordance with their own standards of quality (of living).

Do you see the common thread? Bigger is not always better. Especially if quality is a key factor.

Why should this be any different for your TSP, your Translation Service Provider?

Small businesses (defined as those with fewer than 500 employees) continue to play a vital role in the economy of the United States. The small business share of GDP has held virtually constant from 1998 through 2004 starting at 50.5 percent in 1998, reaching 49.9 percent in 2000 then rising to 50.7 percent in 2004. Smaller is not only better, it is essential!

So shouldn’t you apply what seems to hold true for your school, your doctor’s office and your body, to your TSP as well: Once they get to the appropriate size, they strive to be better not bigger.

Excel Translations is just such a Translation Service Provider. We act as your partner in your efforts to market your medical devices overseas. We focus on quality and customer satisfaction and apply entrepeneurial values to the partnership.

Advantages of a TSP that has the right size:
• Customer Orientation: Your needs are like no-one else's for whatever reason.
• Partnership: We learn your business and you learn ours.
• Friendly & Flexible: Where everybody knows your name. The Cheers factor.
• Quality: The name of our natural growth hormone

About the Importance of an In-Country Review Process

2011-06-16T23:26:00.000-07:00

For regulatory reasons, companies in regulated industries do not have a choice but to provide an in-country review “safety net” as part of the translation process. This in-country review and validation of the translated documents can take place in two ways:

1. It can be directly managed by the client through its own affiliates, distributors or subsidiaries; or
2. It can be entrusted to the translation company in charge of the translations.

Let’s examine the pros and cons of each of the above scenarios:

1. The in-country review process is directly managed by the client through its own affiliates, distributors or subsidiaries:
Typically, under this scenario, once the translation is completed, the client will send the translated materials to its affiliates, distributors or subsidiaries and will ask them to validate the translations. Under this scenario, the client manages the review process, any costs involved, as well as the deliveries of the reviewed and validated translations.
Pros:
• Client has full control of the process. In turn, this can also be a disadvantage if it gets out of control (i.e. managing the review of 20 languages in 20 different countries may become a full-time job for the person in charge of this process).
• Reviewers are familiar with the products and know the terminology.
• Cost (it may be free if an arrangement is made with the affiliates or distributors).
Cons:
• Review time is too long. Asking a person who has another job to review a 50-page manual may take weeks, slowing down if not paralyzing the whole translation process.
• Availability. This ties in with the previous point. Reviewers may miss their deadlines or may not be available, forcing clients to proceed without their input.
• Qualification of the reviewer. While familiar with the product, is the reviewer qualified to validate a translation? Is a distributor linguistically qualified to review the translations (understanding of the English for instance).
• Author’s alterations (and legal implications). Because they are reviewing materials that they will be distributing in their country, some affiliates may want to rewrite the documents to suit their own needs. This can have serious legal implications or may lead to mistakes (i.e. making statements that do not appear in the source document, etc.).
• Objectivity. Some in-country reviewers would like to have full ownership of the translation process and may complain that a translation is poor when in fact it is not.

2. The in-country review is entrusted to the translation company:
Under this scenario, the in-country review process is outsourced and entrusted to the translation provider.
Pros:
• Faster turnaround time. By relying on an independent review, companies will be able to dramatically cut review times while being assured that their translations are reviewed, every time, with no exception.
• Quality. The reviewers are selected with the involvement of the client based on their résumés and experience and are “known quantities.” In contrast to affiliates or distributors, it will be clear what educational, professional, and linguist background the reviewers have. This will result in review comments that are more consistent and more meaningful.
• Certificate of Conformity. Once the review is completed, in-country reviewers should issue a Certificate of Conformity, attesting that the translation has gone through a thorough in-country review and meets all industry-standards requirements.
Traceability. Through the use of proper paper trail, changes are tracked and logged.
Cons:
• Cost. There will be a fee associated with the outsourcing of the review process. However if internal costs are to be factored in when the in-country review is managed by the client (as well as the time of the affiliates/distributors/subsidiaries), the outsourcing option may be cheaper.
• Accountability. The client needs to make sure the review is indeed taking place by third-party reviewers and not by translators working for the translation company. Hence the need for the client to be involved in the recruitment process.

For the past ten years, Excel Translations has successfully set-up and managed independent in-country review panels on behalf of its clients. Please contact us to find out how your organization can also benefit from this service.

Are there any differences between European and Brazilian Portuguese?

2011-06-13T04:07:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of differences between European and Brazilian Portuguese, namely spelling (although this will probably be less obvious in the future with the recent Portuguese Language Orthographic Agreement), grammar (e.g. placement of pronouns, verbal forms, use of gerund vs. infinitive), and specific terminology (e.g. tela vs. ecrã, usuário vs. utilizador, senha vs. palavra-passe). Also, the form of addressing someone is quite different: in Portugal it is common to use "tu" (2nd person singular) for the informal form of addressing, whereas in Brazil they use "você" (3rd person singular).

The most important differences are:

- Legal texts are totally different, i.e., while Portuguese law is predominantly Napoleonic and German, Brazilian law is a mixture of these, too, but has more resemblance with U.S. disciplines.

- Marketing and normal language texts are totally different and have to be done by natives. If not, you risk serious confusion.

- Medical and pharmaceutical texts are quite the same - the incredible thing is that Brazilians normally use state-of-the art terminology earlier than the Portuguese. Internet sites for Brazil also tend to be much richer and use a larger range of terms than Portuguese sites.

- The Brazilian language is highly dynamic - they are more inclined to use whatever they want and adapt it to their language, while the Portuguese are much more conservative about the words they use. So, Brazilian speakers use more terms that the Portuguese would not: "crashar" for when your PC crashes; “zerar” is used to zero a counter; and to click a computer mouse you can use “clicar” while Portuguese would say "fazer um clique." And yes - "mouse" in Brazil the computer mouse you are using now, but the Portuguese use a literal translation for mouse the animal (“rato”), just the same as the famous cartoon character: "Rato Mickey."

Harmonizing Technical Translation Work Amongst Different Translation Teams

2011-06-03T01:48:00.000-07:00

Professional translators come from a variety of environments, have different educational backgrounds, and choose to specialize in different fields of expertise. The individual human element that a translator adds is vital to a quality translation. However, it's just as important that professional translators find similar ground so that the end-product is appropriate for the target audience. A common language and dedication to their craft binds them together but there are tools which can bridge the differences even more. Perhaps the most powerful is translation memory software.

There are a variety of computer-related technologies available to translators but what the most prevalent software programs have in common is the ability to maintain a database of terms, phrases, and sentences as they are translated so the translations can be recalled later on when the same or similar text is encountered. This works best when a separate translation memory is created and maintained for each client so that client-specific terminology can be established, refined, and re-used with confidence.

No matter what the base industry a client works in, their translation needs can transcend several fields (e.g. technical writing, accounting, marketing, human resources) requiring the use of different specialized translators. Translation memory software allows for the sharing of terminology among translators who don't necessarily translate the same type of material. When a client's needs grow and new translators are added to the team, the new team members can review and use the translation memory database, taking advantage of their fellow team members' earlier work. Previous translations are used in the new tasks which minimize inconsistent translation and can often lower the cost and time needed to complete the work.

PDF Pitfalls [Part 2] – How to Translate PDF Documents in Several Languages

2011-05-26T00:15:00.000-07:00

In Part 2 of this post we will continue covering some aspects related to PDF conversion and discussing the state-of-the-art in accomplishing the translation task.

“— What's the big deal with PDF conversion?
Why not simply cut and paste, it's easy to do and doesn't cost anything.”

Extracting textual information from PDFs – though time-consuming – can seem relatively easy at first glance. You can copy and paste, take screenshots and even manually retype any needed information. However, it becomes nearly impossible when copying from the PDF isn't allowed or when a pasted section produces results that cannot be used. Also, it may seem easy to overcome an iceberg when you consider only the visible part, but there are more things to consider under the surface. The visual part of a PDF document – the look and feel – is only the tip of the iceberg.

“— Are all PDFs created equal?”

Every PDF has its own shape and features – no two are the same. There are several different flavors of PDF, but you can reduce all flavors into basically 2 types: Distilled PDF and Scanned PDF. You get Distilled PDF when you produce a PDF document from a text publishing tool (via Acrobat Distiller or other PDF writers). Adobe Acrobat allows other flavors of PDF to contain raster images of each of the pages of the document (with or without some text in the background to allow text searching). These PDF documents are referred to as Scanned PDF. You get these when you scan paper documents (via Acrobat Exchange or some other method).

“— Does the type of PDF created matter?”

Yes, it does. When it comes to converting PDFs into an editable format, the nature of the PDF does matter. Extracting text from a Scanned PDF is not that simple and it requires at least some tailoring to the problem at hand and good OCR software. The complications arise when, for instance, the image is noisy or text pixels cannot be well distinguished from the background. In this case, the OCR process does not work as smoothly because it depends on the quality of the provided PDF. Usually it will require a lot of clean up once they are converted.

“— What types of documents will convert easily?”

It is important to note that process optimization is a utopia when it comes to translating PDFs, but as a general rule, the simpler the layout of the source documents, the better the converted documents will be. For instance, if you are converting novels, since there is typically not much layout in the source documents, you can expect a lot of success (and hence very little cleanup) in converting these to editable format. If, on the other hand, you've got complex pages such as scanned scientific journal pages, which are likely to contain multiple columns, lots of complex tables, math, footnotes and bibliographies, you should expect have to do a fair amount of cleanup on the converted documents.

“— Is there anything happening to make PDF conversion easier in the future?”

Several tools have been designed and developed to interact with PDF documents. Beside the common Adobe products and solutions, third party developers propose many different softwares and API, either under license or as freeware. Consequently, a wide range of PDF tools are proposed in the market. Most of them allow for the extraction of textual content but their practical use is limited in the sense that the text’s reading order is not necessary preserved, especially when handling multi-column documents, or in the presence of complex layouts.

Adobe Acrobat X Pro does a startlingly good job of exporting PDF files into Word or Excel editable documents. It isn't perfect, and didn't select the correct fonts when exporting my test documents, but it did a far better job of preserving the original format than anything I've seen in third-party software. This export function worked best when I used Distilled PDFs—not from a scanned image. In contrast, Scanned PDFs contain only a picture of the original text, and Acrobat can only extract the text by using its built-in Optical Character Reading (OCR) software. Acrobat X has more accurate OCR than previous versions did, but it still lags far behind the best third-party OCR software like ABBYY Finereader 10 Professional Edition.

Our experience is that you need to experiment with various options to see which ones best fit into your needs and work best with your PDF documents. Our approach is constantly re-evaluating the various tools, methods and techniques available and incorporating the best of what's out there into what we do.

The fact is all PDF files used as a source for translation need reworking before they're translated into several languages. By making the native source documents available to your translation partner, you will avoid any rework or any unnecessary preparation of the documents before translation can start. It will allow us to perform a full analysis and it will let you stay in control of your budget and schedule without any surprises down the road. PDFs serve a purpose, but when it comes to translation, there is nothing better than the real thing: native source documents (such as FrameMaker, InDesign, Quark XPress, etc).

RULE OF THUMB:
“Native source documents are always needed (and preferred) for translation and are much more time and cost efficient to work with from the get-go.”

Missed part 1 of this post?
->Pick it up here

Translation at the service of innovation

2011-05-20T07:05:00.000-07:00

On November 30, 2010, the European Patent Office (EPO) and Google signed a Memorandum of Understanding to improve access to patent translations in languages spoken in EPO member states, as well as in several Asian languages. The arrangement took place in the middle of a controversy about the creation of a unique pan-European patent.

The current process to register a patent is tedious, complicated and costly. Many inventors end up forfeiting protection of their inventions, with the economically critical group of small and medium-sized businesses on top of the list.

Patents need to be filed in one of three EPO official languages (English, French and German), and then have it translated into the languages of countries where they want to apply for patent protection. This process poses some problems. Inventors have difficulties to search for information about patents published in foreign languages. Furthermore, a lot of European patents are not available in all national languages, and are therefore not protected in these countries.

The past years, the governments of the European Union have been talking about implementing a single common patent in the 27 member states. The idea was to submit patents in one of the three official languages with a summary translated into the other two. However, the EU governments failed to reach an agreement, with Italy and Spain leading the opposition by demanding their languages to be represented on a level equal to the three official ones.

So now the EPO, enabled by Google, has stepped into the void. The EPO will be using Google’s statistical machine translation tool (Google Translation) to translate patents in all languages represented in the EPO as well as patents that come from Asia, United States, Canada, Australia, Russia and India that will receive protection in Europe.

In return, Google machine translation technology will be improved notably: EPO will grant total access to their patents translated manually (almost 1 and a half million of available documents, enhanced by more than 50,000 new patents every year).

Thanks to this collaboration, scientists and inventors, whose work is based on innovation, will have easier access to patents that are already registered. This partnership will also facilitate the registration process of inventors, reducing costs and improving legal security as well as making the decision process easier for EU member states that want to simplify the introduction of pan-European patents.

The agreement has divided the scientific community. On the one hand, some think this is a good measure to boost competitiveness in Europe, if the solution is used to get familiar with a document and to understand its overall meaning. Translations will not have any legal status, but will only serve informative purposes. Nevertheless, the other side of the coin can be dangerous. Machine translation is still vague and inaccurate, while patent translations demand precision and accuracy.

So, when will it be possible to talk about a unique pan-European patent?

The Translation Industry in Numbers

2011-05-20T06:55:00.000-07:00

Little is known about the translation industry other than the fact that companies and individuals translate millions of pages every year to help the world communicate. In fact the translation industry constitutes a colossal business. It is predicted that by 2015 the translation industry worldwide will account for US$ 25 billion. Yet, more than 99 percent of what people write, say, or generate is never translated and remains in the language in which it was created.

If you wanted to reach every person on earth in their own language, it would require translating your content into 7,000 languages but if you only translated it into 80 languages you could reach 80% of the world’s population.

As far as the Internet is concerned, 10 languages account for 75 percent of the people on the web: English, Japanese, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Korean, Swedish, Chinese Simplified, and Norwegian. Translating your web content into 50 languages would provide access to almost 95% of the world’s online residents. And since 75% of consumers say they would be more likely to buy a product with information in their own language, it would make sense to translate your literature into multiple languages. Despite spending millions of dollars in translation (the average translation budget of a corporation equals 0.25% to 2.5% of its annual revenue), only 25% of companies do measure and calculate the return on their localization investment.

The translation industry is extremely fragmented despite some consolidation over the past 15 years. The vast majority of translation companies (70%) employ only between 1 and 10 people, 11% of them employ between 10 and 100 people, and the rest employ 100 or more. Only six firms worldwide employ more than 1,000 people. There are about 4,000 translation companies employing five people or more, of which 10% only are in the USA, in addition to an unaccounted for number of individual translators (freelance or single language providers).

Last but not least, if you want to start a career in translation, you should move to Switzerland or Denmark where it is estimated that translators earn the highest salaries.

IMC and translation

2011-05-13T23:29:00.000-07:00

Mass communication is not as effective anymore. Advertising saturation and audience segmentation make it more and more difficult for companies and brands to reach their target consumers. Traditional marketing tools are confronted with new communication and information technologies that allow a two-way and interactive communication. Consumers are increasingly knowledgeable and demanding and skillfully control online media. The IMC (Integrated Marketing Communications) approach is born in this context in the attempt to find new ways of reaching out to target audiences.

Integrated communications build up the foundation of a marketing strategy that pursues to deliver a cohesive and unified message with the aim of achieving a recognized and solid brand identity with a unique market positioning. The key is to strategically control and influence all messages produced by the company (throughout its own employees as well as throughout its customers and other stakeholders) using multiple media and channels. Customers are at the core of this strategy that seeks long-term relationships based on partnership and loyalty to the brand. The clarity, consistency and impact of the communication effort will determine the brand and company’s position on consumers’ minds.

How are clarity, consistency and maximum impact achieved internationally in all markets where the company operates? It will be obviously necessary to know and understand the lifestyle and behavior of target consumers as well as their media habits. Mass media advertising has traditionally resorted to visual language, but an integrated approach that intends to optimize communication with consumers, employees and all company stakeholders alike, cannot be limited to the use of images. Companies need to talk the languages used in their target markets and translation cannot be considered a secondary communication tool anymore. It is a requirement to create brand value and an unrivalled competitive advantage amidst the fierce competition of the international market.

Are there any differences between European Spanish and Latin American Spanish?

2011-05-13T23:20:00.000-07:00

The subject of European Spanish and Latin American Spanish is a very complex one, first of all because there is no such thing as Latin American Spanish, since there are actually many variants of Latin American Spanish (for instance, Argentinean Spanish, Mexican Spanish, Chilean Spanish, etc.).

Are there differences between European Spanish and the Spanish written and spoken in the different Latin American countries? Yes, there are differences, especially at the lexical level. These differences are less notorious the higher the cultural level, but they do exist. Similarly, they are also less notorious in highly scientific texts, but again, they do exist.

There are some differences in computer terminology that are easy to pinpoint, just as there are some differences in the everyday colloquial language. There are also some expressions that are specific to only some regions.

The specific differences would also depend on the specific Latin American Spanish variant (Mexican Spanish, Argentinean Spanish, Chilean Spanish, Cuban Spanish, etc.). So, a European Spanish reader would identify a text as Latin American Spanish, but without specific knowledge of the lexical/other characteristics, s/he would probably not be able to determine whether the text was Mexican, or Argentinean, etc. A Latin American Spanish reader would also detect that that which s/he is reading is not written by a Latin American Spanish writer.

There is the concept of Neutral Spanish, which would be a form of Spanish devoid of all those (local) uses (terms, expressions, etc....) that may sound strange to any Spanish speaker.

Translating culturally-specific references- A challenge to translators

2011-05-05T06:15:00.000-07:00

What are challenges that translators face? These highly-skilled people are adept at taking your message and translating it to be read and used by a different audience. Like any professional, they are great at what they do but they still face obstacles related to their work. In this entry, we will discuss one difficulty translators face: translating culturally-specific references.

This inherent challenge of translation is how to handle a idea that makes sense in the source language but doesn’t have the same impact in other languages. This is especially tricky in the marketing field but it affects texts intended for other industries as well. For example, describing a piece of equipment as “baseball-sized” may work in countries familiar with the game but translators will struggle with how to properly explain the size to someone who doesn’t recognize the reference. Would it be better to give the physical dimensions of the equipment? Would the translator prefer to swap out the reference to something that is similar in size to a baseball? There is no definite answer to those questions. Indeed, translators themselves don’t always come to a consensus about which is the best method.

If you are writing a source text and don’t want the translator making these decisions, you should avoid using such culturally-specific terminology. Try to write in a way that finds common ground with a diverse audience. Translators will be able take your message and more readily translate it without difficulty. Making your source text clear ensures that your translation will be a “success” rather than just a “home run!”

PDF Pitfalls [Part 1]

2011-05-05T06:12:00.000-07:00

“— I have some PDF documents that I need to translate in several languages.
Can this be done easily?”

Perhaps you've heard a question like this before and you are still looking for an answer. Before going any further, let's look a little more into the format known as PDF.

These days a huge number of documents are either created in or converted to PDF format. It has become the universal exchange format for electronic documents. The main advantage (and attraction) of PDF is its ability to preserve the look and feel of the original document by describing the low-level structural objects. Most PDF documents, however, are untagged and do not contain the basic high-level logical structure information. One consequence, among others, is that this makes extracting information particularly difficult: a true disadvantage in an age of open and flexible data structures.

Now, back to the question…
The answer is an unqualified MAYBE. Unfortunately, people are often led to believe that the PDF format is a publishing format and should therefore be easy to convert to MS Word. In fact, PDF is more a description of what the printed page looks like that a description of the document’s structure.

So, from a translation process perspective, the challenge consists in developing techniques that allow for changing the content, without losing the whole work of accomplished formatting. At this point, we have to say though that process optimization is an utopia when it comes to translating PDF documents. Preparing PDF files that are suitable for translation will continue to be a major issue and this will get worse as more PDF creation methods become available.

“— So, you're saying that this can't be done?”

No, exactly. What we are saying is that for typical PDF documents, the file preparation can be partially automated, but you should expect that other parts will need to be done manually. Of course, the supported features depend greatly on the quality, the complexity and the level of markup that is required in the target documents.

The page elements that are usually easy to recognize, such as headers and footers, text flows, page grid, margins, line art, raster image, tables, headings, and callouts, can be challenging for an automated tool to recognize. The file preparation should be done carefully considering all particular structures that exist in the source PDF documents. If the documents do not share a consistent appearance, it will become even more difficult and time-consuming task.

To give you an idea of what we are talking about, let's take a look at one simple lay-out feature that can cause a lot of problems: columns. Many publications are printed in a multiple column layout. What this means, of course, is that the PDF, also contains the multiple columns,. But since the PDF is basically a page layout format, it contains information about the letters on the page and where they are to be printed. However, there is nothing in the PDF that specifies that some copy is in column one and other copy is in column two (or even that there are in fact two columns). The conversion tool must therefore analyze the geometry of the page and attempt to recognize a column layout. When the margin is tight, and two columns are quite close together, conversion tools can often get confused and miss a multiple column layout, thereby horribly mangling together the text from two totally unrelated paragraphs. In this case, It will be virtually impossible to extract any text from such PDF, so the linguist will have to retype the entire source document before translation can start.

Our next posts will continue covering some aspects and issues related to PDF conversion.

Stay tuned! The game is not over yet!

Koro Language Discovered in India

2011-04-26T00:06:00.001-07:00

A language that was previously unknown to science has been discovered in the far northeastern corner of India.

At a time of rapid language extinction, with one language estimated to die every two weeks, the news of the discovery of a new language is providing a glimmer of hope to linguists.

The language, known as Koro, was discovered by a team of linguists working with National Geographic’s Enduring Voices project in the state of Arunachal Pradesh who came to research two poorly documented languages, Aka and Miji. Arunachal Pradesh is a language hotspot due to the amount of languages spoken in the region. Koro was found to be very distinct from the other languages that are spoken nearby and is thought to have originated from a group of people enslaved and then brought to this area.

Koro was discovered when the research team began to hear a third, unknown language, which was found to be Koro. This came as a surprise since Koro was not listed in any scientific literature or in Indian language surveys or censuses. One of the differences noted when hearing Koro is that it has a lot of vowels which distinguished itself from other languages which had a lot of consonant clusters at the beginning.

Interesting facts about Koro are that it has only 800 to 1,200 speakers, is unwritten and is a member of the Tibeto-Burman language family. Even though Koro is a part of the Tibeto-Burman language family, Koro is so different that researchers could not identify any in the language family of which it may be closely related.

Unfortunately, as are many languages today, Koro is endangered. With the small amount of people speaking it in the villages, very few children are learning it as other nearby languages have higher prestige and are required to be learned in school instead. With this lack of language support, it is estimated that Koro may only survive a few more decades before becoming extinct.

Languages are important for a number of reasons to us. And the discovery of a new language is extremely important as it mainly helps us to understand just how the human mind works. All that we can learn about the smaller languages around the world only enriches what we can know about the possibilities of human language.

Is a RFI or a RFP Right for my Organization?

2011-04-26T00:04:00.000-07:00

Companies are faced with a real challenge when it comes to choosing a translation company. There is no shortage of translation vendors out there and with the explosion of the Internet there is an ever-growing plethora of language providers who all pretend to be “experts” in every imaginable industry. So how do you pick the right translation partner and how do you separate the wheat from the chaff?

Web and digital media form the roots of the globalization age. They facilitate real-time contact and information sharing, access and transmission among multiple users trespassing time and geographic boundaries. Does this really mean that communication has become easier, quicker and more effective? Which roles do language and translation play in this virtual and globalized world?

Translation and languages should obviously be playing a key role in this scenario, where cutting-edge media and channels offer endless possibilities to communicate around the world in our daily lives as well as for business purposes. Moreover, the weight of communication in the corporate environment is rapidly increasing in all business sectors and spheres. Why then do translation and language continue to be the invisible unattended little children in the big corporate world?

In a world steered by global communication where relations with collaborators, customers, providers and end users are crucial, the trend is still to refrain from investing in translation. If legally possible many companies will bypass translation. English is undoubtedly the king language of the virtual realm, paired with a kind of universal web language that uses icons, smileys, etc. So, if the message is ‘understandable’ world-wide, why incur in additional costs? The problem is that human language itself is not a simple mental tool with fixed univocal meanings.

We envision global society as a unified and generalized whole populated by huge information networks that keep us connected, but something is wrong with this picture. Communication is a complex process, and translation multiplies this complexity. Translation reveals and highlights cultural and linguistic differences. Idiomatic turns or words that characterize the life, culture or history of a certain community do not always have exact equivalents in other languages.

Companies need to understand that translation is not a mere transparent interface to convey a message in different languages. It is a complex process that requires deep awareness and knowledge of the specific cultural and linguistic values in both the source and target language. If they want their internal communications to be effective and forward a strategically consistent message to consumers in different target markets all around the globe, they need to realize that it will not be possible to leave language and translation unacknowledged. At least not until there is one single universal language and world view, but this would mean that there is not anything to communicate anymore.

The Role of Translation Industry in Development with new and effective ways of communication

2011-04-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

"History should be our guide. The United States led the world’s economies in the 20th century because we led the world in innovation. Today, the competition is keener; the challenge is tougher; and that is why innovation is more important than ever. It is the key to good, new jobs for the 21st century. That’s how we will ensure a high quality of life for this generation and future generations. With these investments, we’re planting the seeds of progress for our country, and good-paying, private-sector jobs for the American people."
-President Barack Obama, August 5, 2009, Remarks by the President on the Economy

In 2009, one year into his term, President Obama crafted the befittingly named Obama Innovation Strategy, a carefully outlined plan to guide and maintain the United States’ position as a global leader of research and development and economic growth in the 21st century. He proposed a pyramid strategy for “sustainable growth and quality jobs”, challenging America to “Catalyze Breakthroughs for National Priorities.”

At the pinnacle of his pyramidal approach, President Obama invites the American people to “harness science and technology to address the grand challenges of the 21st century.” And among the extensive list of “grand challenges” President Obama includes “Automatic, highly accurate and real-time translation between the major languages of the world – greatly lowering the barriers to international commerce and collaboration.”

Communication plays an undisputable role in research and development and economic growth, both on the domestic and international level. As we drive forward into the next decade, improving international communication will be pivotal in accomplishing breakthroughs in the fields of medicine, information technology, sustainable energy, and engineering. It is clear that the Translation industry will remain at the forefront of development with regard to new and more effective ways of communicating.

Business orphans in the digital era?

2011-04-15T06:44:00.000-07:00

Does a typographical error affect the quality of your translations?

2011-04-05T06:47:00.000-07:00

In order to answer that question, we need to know the definition of “What’s a typographical error?”

During my experience doing mechanical QA I found out that some typographical errors are often mistakes that occur during the process of copying and pasting the final translation into a template, like an English template in Quark or InDesign.

As you paste the translation into the English template, you may leave behind some English words. In the case of Roman languages it’s more difficult to catch this error, while in languages like Korean, Chinese, Arabic or Hebrew the error is easier to identify.

See examples below:

Example #1: An easy case of identifying a typographical error

In English: Storage and Handling: Control must be stored upright, tightly sealed, at Room Temperature (20-25°C).

Incorrect Korean: S보관 및 취급: 대조 용액은 실온(20-25°C)에서 똑바로 세운 상태로 밀봉하여 보관해야 합니다.

“S” is a typographical error.

In English: Do not use if the package is open or damaged.

Incorrect Portuguese: Do Nunca utilizar ar ou qualquer meio gasoso para encher o balão.

“Do” is a typographical error.

How typographical errors affect the quality of the translation may differ based on the kind of typographical error.

While typographical errors represent poor quality of your translated document it may not affect the meaning of the translation; however, need to avoid having typographical errors in the translated documents.

Human qualities for machine translation – will the dream come true?

2011-04-05T06:43:00.000-07:00

The use of machine translation (MT) has become essential in these times, except obviously in literary translation where euphemisms, idioms and metaphors remain in the human translator’s domain. If there is nothing that can replace human understanding, then there is nothing that can replace the machine in terms of productivity. In the translation industry, work volume is constantly increasing, but the number of professional translators remains stable. Productivity is now a crucial key factor. It not only caused the standardization of the whole translation process, but it also led to automation of translation itself.

Let’s go through the main differences between computer-assisted translation (CAT) and MT. The first, CAT, consists of specialized tools dedicated to professional translators that make their work easier mainly by means of a database (TM). The second, MT, is essentially based on the use of the machine. Its existence dates back to the 50’s and its functionality has been continually improved since then. Who hasn’t tried it on a professional or personal level? Online free tools like Systran, Google Translate, Babel Fish, Reverso, and Prompt are not tailored for professional purposes, but they do help to decipher a message in a foreign language or to understand its basic meaning. In any case, they cannot convey any linguistic subtleties: puns, idiomatic expressions, synonyms, etc. Aspects like style, fluency, writing quality are often left out.

However, companies specializing in machine translation look to broaden their target users to multinational firms and translation professionals such as agencies and freelancers. These professionals use programs and server software specially designed for business use, like Systran and its new hybrid machine translation engine or Translator Toolkit for Google Translate. These new tools, which are generally not free, are intended for professionals and are now able to provide an overall satisfactory translation quality.

In order to stay in tune with those companies’ politics and to answer to the needs of some of the biggest multinational firms, SDL, the world leader in Global Information Management specialized in CAT solutions, decided to take a big step in terms of machine translation – it acquired in mid July Language Weaver, a pioneer in statistical machine translation. SDL’s baby, SDL Trados Studio 2009 SP2, combines translation memories with machine translation; in other words, human professional translation and machine translation in order to handle more volume in less time and with a higher quality.

What about the role of translators? Is their future at stake? Will machine translation be the end of freelance translators?
According to experts and market analysts, the translation industry still has a bright future ahead: contents are constantly increasing (they estimate twice the volume for forthcoming years), particularly for online contents, in particular because Internet users search for contents in their native language. SDL forecasts that customers will be able to reduce their costs by about 30% - 50%, accelerating the contents’ time-to-market.

Despite that, translators can be reassured. Machine translation represents only 1% of the whole translation market nowadays.
All this leads to believe that we are on the right track: machine translation is now the professional translators’ best ally as it will allows for combining speed, volume and quality.

The Importance of Mechanical Quality Assurance in the Translation Process

2011-03-25T06:12:00.000-07:00

The final quality of a translated document depends on many important factors. Two of these happen before the translation process starts:

• Before any translation is performed, you first need to start with an error free source document. Errors and discrepancies in the source material will propagate throughout the target languages into which you need to translate.
• Also, you have to select the best linguistic team to translate your documentation. Matching linguists who have specific experience with the types of products you produce or the specific area of the medical industry into which you sell will help to ensure the highest quality for your translation projects.

One factor that affects the final quality of a translated document that often gets overlooked is Mechanical Quality Assurance (Mechanical QA). The Mechanical QA step is the final step of the process which entails checking the translated text after all formatting and linguistic proofreading is finished. The intent of this stage of the process is to verify that the translated document follows the client’s specifications and matches the elements of the source document.

The Mechanical QA does not have to be done by the target language linguists; however, you certainly need to select a qualified QA vendor who is very detail oriented.

Some of the key items of the Mechanical QA process are as follows:

• Does the translated document have the same number of paragraphs as the source document?

• Are all the product names spelled correctly and do they match the source document?

• Are all the numbers within the translated document correct?

• Do the numbers within the translated document match the source document?

• Do all of the trademark, copyright and registered marks within the translated document match the source document?

• In a multilingual file, are items, such as measurements, consistent across all of the languages?

One thing to remember when performing the Mechanical QA step is to be sure to allow extra time for the linguists to answers questions plus the implementation of the changes, if necessary.

It’s all Globish to me

2011-03-25T06:04:00.000-07:00

It is estimated that there are four times as many people who now speak Globish as there are native English speakers -- about 1,200,000,000. The actual number may be even larger. All of them are trying to use Globish as a middle-ground language. So what is Globish? Wikipedia defines the word Globish as follows: “Globish is a subset of the English language formalized by Jean-Paul Nerriere. It uses a subset of standard English grammar, and a list of 1,500 English words. According to Nerriere it is "not a language" in and of itself, but rather it is the common ground that non-native English speakers adopt in the context of international business.”

Did you know that there are 615,000 words in the Oxford English Dictionary? This is a collection of all the words that have been used in the English language. But very few native English speakers know more than 80,000 of these words. But most native English speakers will not use more than 7,500 English words in their communication.
Globish, the dialect of the 3rd Millennium
Globish is a simple, pragmatic form of English codified by Jean-Paul Nerrière, a retired vice-president of IBM in the United States.

It involves a vocabulary limited to 1,500 words, short sentences, basic syntax, an absence of idiomatic expressions and extensive hand gestures to get the point across Mr Nerrière, 66, originally sought to help non-English speakers — and notably his compatriots from France — in the era when business meetings are invariably held en anglais. He advised that instead of struggling to master the Queen’s English, they should content themselves with Globish.
His two books, Don’t Speak English, Parlez Globish and Découvrez le Globish, became bestsellers in France and were also published in Spain, Italy, South Korea and Canada. They are also being translated into Japanese.
“Globish is a proletarian and popular idiom which does not aim at cultural understanding or at the acquisition of a talent enabling the speaker to shine at Hyde Park Corner,” he wrote.
“It is designed for trivial efficiency, always, everywhere, with everyone.”
Mr Nerrière says that his globalised version of English is now so common that Britons, Americans and other English-speakers should learn it too. “The point is that Anglophones no longer own English,” he told The Times in Paris.
He says that in multi- national meetings, Anglo-Saxons stand out as strange because they use complicated expressions and terms instead of using the elementary English adopted by colleagues from other countries.

If you want to speak Globish, Mr Nerrière recommends the following tips:
“Keep sentences short
Repeat yourself
Avoid metaphors and colourful expressions
Avoid negative questions
Avoid all humour
Avoid acronyms
Use gestures and visual aids
Don’t say Eerie, Say Strange
Don’t say Globish is the gateway to international conversation, say Globish helps you to talk to people from other countries.”

So is this the end of English as we know it or simply the birth of a new lingua franca? Is Globish the Esperanto everyone was waiting for?

Highly Technical and/or Highly Medically Focused Translations: Driving Project Success

2011-03-17T22:59:00.000-07:00

When dealing with translators who have highly technical experience and translate very specialized text, you may think that there isn’t much you can do to assist them during a translation project. Indeed, specialized translators know their field very intimately, but there are many tools that you can provide to help them do their work more effectively.

The phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words” may have been coined by a translator. When translating a description of the mechanics or appearance of an item, an image can fill in gaps left by words. Even if an image is not to be included with your translation, sending a reference image to the translator can help them to understand certain items so they can translate without any doubts.

Translators will also benefit when you tell them what not to translate. Standards for non-translatable text vary from client to client, so your input is important. Employee titles, program terms, and product names are examples of phrases that you may prefer to remain untranslated. Letting the translator know your preferences in advance will save them from having to come up with translations that you do not intend to use. This is especially helpful if the phrase you want to remain untranslated is something that is apparently generic, such as “Customer Service” or “Laser System.”

If you already know that you have preferred translated phrases, these should be shared with the translator, too. Whether it’s just a few translated phrases, an extensive glossary, or a translation memory to be used with translation software, any translated reference material will help get the translator familiar with the terminology that you have used in the past. Creating a glossary before large projects can be a good exercise for translators and clients to establish preferred terminology to be used throughout that project.

When such resources are available to the translators, the benefit of an improved translation will be realized immediately and on all of your future translation projects.

Going Global With Multilingual Publishing [PART 2]

2011-03-17T22:53:00.000-07:00

First some basics: Any document consists of content and layout. The document translation process consists of recreating a document in the target language that is equivalent to the source document in both content and layout. So, the document translation process has two main subprocesses: content translation and layout adjustment. Content translation must be performed by native speakers of the target language, but the situation is different in the case of layout adjustments. If the goal is to produce translated print documents, the translated text often has to be forced into a predetermined, fixed layout. Due to time constraints, cost considerations, or other logistical factors, desktop publishers often find themselves confronted with the task of touching up a document of which they are unable to read a single word.

Nowadays, most of the DTP (Desktop Publishing) tools provide full language support—including spelling and hyphenation dictionaries—for most European languages. However these features do not replace the need for proofreading by a language specialist. It is always necessary to have a native speaker involved at some point in your workflow.

The Central and Eastern European languages have slightly different requirements from many of the Western European languages. These include Slavic languages (Belarusian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Polish, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Russian and Ukrainian), Baltic (Latvian and Lithuanian) and Finno-Ugric (Estonian, Hungarian) languages. These are complemented by Romanian and Moldovan (Romance languages), Greek (Attic), Turkish (Altaic) and Albanian. Most of these require additional character sets that support special characters.

The first concern a desktop publisher may have in formatting non-English text is to apply the right font. Not every font has characters, or glyphs, for every language. While many Western European languages use the same characters as English, there are many other languages, such as Czech, Polish, Turkish, Greek or Russian, that require additional characters not used in English at all. OpenType fonts are a good choice in general, but it’s important to check carefully. For example, the font Garamond Pro doesn’t contain the characters needed for typesetting in Russian. However Myriad Pro and Minion Pro are good choices for European languages. It means the label of “Pro” doesn’t guarantee anything about the characters the font may include.

You must be asking yourself:
“Why would I need something special for global text layout if the fonts I am using have all the right glyphs and letterforms that this language requires?”

For most basic left-to-right languages the regular version of the DTP tool will do an adequate job out of the box. However, many other languages require additional language-specific processing to display the right glyph in a manner acceptable to the readers of that language. Many Indic languages assemble multiple characters into a single visual “cluster” (sort of like a syllable), using complicated shaping rules. Some languages, notably Chinese and Japanese, do not even have spaces between words, and therefore need special attention just to get correct line breaking. Then there are right-to-left languages such as Arabic and Hebrew, which require further capabilities.

In the next posts, we will analyze some pitfall and workarounds when working with “special” languages. Stay tuned!

A Superior Translated Project Begins with Proper Preparation

2011-03-11T01:02:00.000-08:00

Proper preparation of your source text will result in a superior translated product. Keeping in mind a few simple steps will make sure your translation projects begin in the right direction.

Before all other considerations, make sure that the source text clearly and accurately describes your intended message. Ambiguous or incorrect descriptions will limit the quality of the translation. Correcting source errors after the translation has begun can lead to delays in the process. Re-read your source text before translation begins to make sure that no obvious errors were made. If a re-write of your source text is not possible, identification of known problem areas can greatly assist the translators to craft the best phrases for their languages.

Inconsistent use of terminology in the source is the leading cause of inconsistency in a translation. Inconsistent terminology should be avoided as it can lead to translators adopting similar patterns. For instance, if a text refers to a software directory as “Main Menu” in some instances but uses “Home Screen” elsewhere, a translator will match that usage and it could lead to confusion. If just one term is used in the source, it will be translated just one way in other languages.

Doing a simple spell check will solve most typo problems. However, even if you’re in the habit of checking for misspellings, be sure to proofread all of your text as there are some errors that will not be caught by a spell-checker. Sometimes a word is mistyped and the result is harmless- like “from” written as “form.” But, some errors can be more dangerous. For example, if “hypothermia” is accidentally written as “hyperthermia” a spell-checker won’t detect a problem and there is the potential that the error will be preserved in the translations. So it’s important to read your text carefully. In this case, the human eye can’t be beat!

When your source text has been given proper consideration and all obstacles have been eliminated, you are setting the stage for a successful translation.

Funny Here. Funny There

2011-03-11T00:56:00.000-08:00

Springtime cleaning treasures. In rummaging through the basement, I came across a box with my Dutch cartoon collection. In it I found Dutch copies of Garfield, the comic strip about the fuzzy, orange tabby cat’s reflections on eating, diets and exertion.

Humor requires shared values and references. When something is funny in one language, is it or can it be funny in another language? The controversial Danish cartoons about Islam’s founder Muhammad that have sparked protests with Muslim fundamentalists certainly suggest not. My curiosity was piqued. I started digging around in comic cyber world and found examples of cartoons and shows with a high level of ‘Americana’ that are enjoying great reception beyond US shores:
The Simpsons:
The animated television sitcom centers on a family and their life in the typical American of Springfield. The series uses a plethora of cultural references from movies, television, music, literature, science, and history. In addition, it has developed a steady number of neologisms. The director of the Linguistic Data Consortium, Mark Liberman, has said that, "The Simpsons has apparently taken over from Shakespeare and the Bible as our culture's greatest source of idioms and catchphrases, such as Homer's annoyed grunt "D'oh!"

The dysfunctional Simpson family rings a bell in Thailand, where the ground-breaking American animation show has been running every Saturday since 1995. By the way, the pixilation in the image on the right is no coincidence: by government mandate, Thai TV blurs images of smoking.

Calvin and Hobbes
Six-year-old Calvin and Hobbes, his sardonic stuffed tiger venture through American suburbia. The comic chronicles their view on political and cultural issues in often academic, philosophical language.

Calvin and Hobbes’ Chinese counterparts, Kaiwen yu Hubuo, seem to fit right in.

Dilbert
The white-collar office strip Dilbert, here in Portuguese, appears in 65 countries and 25 languages. In taking on American corporate culture, the strip has spawned the language of Dilbertian with the creation of words like induhvidual and cow-orker.

Some people think humor does not travel well beyond culture and language. However, considering the entertainment industry's success in marketing the characters of Disney, Pixar and the likes to all corners of the earth, it is safe to assume that the message gets across. And very effectively, too, I might add.

Somehow, in the process of translation and adaptation, the original idiosyncratic message –tied to a certain culture and locale and loaded with cues that seemingly can only be picked up on by the members of the message’s native environment– somehow, that message gets across. And not only that, the reader is rolling on the floor laughing.

Come to think of it, that’s what we do. We take the Dilberts, Simpsons’ and Calvin & Hobbes' of the medical industry –clinical trials, protocols, IFUs and manuals– and process it into a message effectively understood by patients, equipment operators and physicians. We only hope the reader is not laughing.

Managing Copy Changes Mid-Project and Keeping Translation Costs at a Minimum

2011-03-03T23:03:00.000-08:00

Sometimes the cost and time to make a copy change during the middle of a project can come to quite a surprise to a customer.

Consider a simple change, such as adding a register mark to a name. This is something that can normally be done with a search and replace operation in Desktop Publishing. Proofreading this change can also be done quickly with a search function in the final formatted document.

However, consider a terminology change, such as changing the word “device” to “instrument”. A search and replace function may not be able to be used, as the existing translation may appear in various forms, such as a subject and/or object of the sentence, or in singular and/or plural, etc.. Most foreign languages have different endings and/or different modifiers, depending on the form or gender of the word.

A copy change like this will entail the work of an editor, a desktop publisher, and proofreaders (both mechanical and linguistic). Naturally, the number of occurrences of the new term determine the cost and additional production time needed to handle the change.

This is another good reason to do your best to assure that your source material is approved and final before beginning the translation process.

Portuguese Spelling Reform

2011-03-03T04:16:00.000-08:00

About

The Portuguese Spelling Agreement (Acordo Ortográfico) aims to establish a unified spelling code for all Portuguese-speaking countries.

Currently, the spelling rules differ across all Portuguese-speaking nations. The spelling discrepancies between Portugal and Brazil are of particular interest to U.S. based companies, because these contain the world’s two largest Portuguese-speaking populations, and are therefore the most common Portuguese-speaking target audiences. The reform will not eliminate all orthographic differences between the two dominant forms of Portuguese found in Brazil and Portugal, but it will move Portuguese closer to a unified written language. The goal of the reform is to attain 98% standardization across the board.

Most spelling variance has to do with the placement of accent marks and hyphens within words. Currently, in Portuguese, the words “pára” and “para” carry two different meanings simply because one has an accent and the other does not. According to the reformed Portuguese Spelling Agreement, the accent on “pára” will be eradicated so the difference between the two words will only be determined through context. This is just one small example of the changes to come; the reformed Portuguese Spelling Agreement will affect a projected 1.6% of all words in Portugal, and .5% of all words in Brazil. Some symbols and letters will be eliminated, some added, and the use of all accent marks and hyphens will change dramatically in order to achieve standardization. Implementation of the reform has begun as of 2009 and will continue over a projected 6 year transition period.

Possible Impact

Naturally, these reforms will have a great impact on translation and localization. If your target audience is a Portuguese-speaking nation, it is wise to consider the ramifications of publishing material that may soon become out of date. You may also consider reviewing material that has already been translated and decide whether it may be prudent to update it accordingly.

The fifth element

2011-02-24T05:20:00.000-08:00

In the vast localization sea, we are all enrolled in a tireless quest, trying to find the right definition of quality and to identify substantial boundaries that will finally allow us to grasp it. However, despite its heavy presence in blogs, tweets and forums, it constantly manages to leak away from our objective variables and measuring efforts. That elusive notion called quality evaporates like thin air, and leaves us wondering and discussing its real nature. Our four pillars for this brief discussion about quality are linguistic performance, CAT and QA tools, certified processes and client needs. Will these four forces help us find our way to our long pursued fifth element*?

1. Language
Many localization experts would agree that linguistic quality is the key foundation of translation excellence. Each linguistic milestone fulfills a different endeavour with the final aim of achieving top linguistic quality. Translation, editing and proofreading assure that source contents are efficiently transferred to the target language. We all know that there are different requirements depending on the component, file format, subject matter or document type, and they all go beyond linguistic correctness. So, are there valid global and universal variables that can measure accuracy, consistency, readability, adequacy,…? Do we really explore and develop the significance of the different linguistic aspects?

2. Technology
Technology is a great asset that allows us to streamline processes and reduce the risk of errors. CAT tools accelerate the translation process, capitalize on earlier translated material and improve consistency. QA tools help us identify and fix human errors and thus achieve a higher quality level. Some localization experts are even taking this stand one step further and considering machine translation followed by adequate human post-editing procedures. Technology does certainly help to approach perfection, but how significant is its contribution in the global process? And, where are the limits of automated processes?

3. Processes
Effective production processes guaranteed by QA management systems have a direct impact on final results (product and service). Certified processes act as fences that track and lock up quality. There is no doubt that an effective process put in place at each production stage is essential for successful localization, yet there still seems to be quite a lot of room for development. Risk analysis, continuous improvement, and customer satisfaction are all notions that prove that quality is not yet totally captured by standards and certifications. How objectively can translation quality be measured and guaranteed? And, how flexible are these processes to adapt to particular specifications, if required?

4. Expectations
Quality as a result is inherently linked to expectations. Many could argue that an objective and universal translation quality exists independently from any goals or needs. However, translation is a close relative of communication, where speaker, listener, message and context are necessarily bound to each other. Message contents, audience, purpose and timing are often determined by clients, so it does not seem reasonable to untie quality from them, like an independently floating entity. Localization experts should work together with translation buyers to evaluate a project and define expectations. Ideally, they could also anticipate their localization needs, design preventive plans to minimize errors and create goals. How does service relate to global quality? To what extent does client communication have an impact on delivered quality?

So, what does quality quintessence* actually rely on after all? Human talent and know-how? State-of-the-art technology? Ability to communicate and meet expectations? Fully controlled processes? Or, maybe we just need to learn from that ever-present open gap where both error and improvement can slip in.

*quin•tes•sence –noun
1. the pure and concentrated essence of a substance.
2. the most perfect embodiment of something.
3. (in ancient and medieval philosophy) the fifth essence or element, ether, supposed to be the constituent matter of the heavenly bodies, the others being air, fire, earth, and water.

Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/quintessence

Do you speak Franglais?

2011-02-23T05:02:00.000-08:00

We live in a rapidly-changing globalized world, where English has won the battle to become “the” global language. However, nations and communities around the world are still keen on preserving their own identity, culture, and language.

While France drags on its debate about national identity, 80% of the French people polled claim that the French language is the cornerstone of their national identity. Does language encourage social cohesion? This cohesion is now under threat: one of the main problems nowadays is that French is facing a constant English deluge. Associations that work for the protection of the French language ring the alarm!

Since the enforcement of the Toubon law in 1994 for the protection of French linguistic heritage, the use of French is mandatory in Government publications, ads, marketing, business and corporate documentation.
However, while we move forward, politicians, companies and individuals turn more and more systematically to the use of English at the expense of French, on a professional level, or in everyday life.
In the business environment, some French companies bomb their workforce with anglicisms, even in corporate internal communications! Companies rename their brand and product names entirely; other firms choose Shakespeare’s language to write their initial ad messages and slogans.

The current French government is planning to implement some education reforms that would aim to achieve “bilinguism” (French-English).
Researchers are now required to publish their papers in English. Currently, 2% of scientific publications would be published in Roman languages as opposed to 95% in English.
International organisms, which are traditionally plurilingual, now encourage the use of only one working language, like the European Commission: in 2006, 72% of documentation was written in English versus 14% in French. If we look back to 1997, 40% of content was published in French, and 45% in English. In the European Union high ranks, elected representatives do not seem to have a true respect of multilinguism.

Without taking a too purist stand, a new approach would be necessary for the protection of the French language: anglicisms should not be totally banned; they are part of every language heritage. Some of them are so extended in our language that it would not be possible to replace them (e.g.: football in French). These incursions enrich languages and make them evolve. Using terms inherited from English in other languages should be positive as long as we do not populate them with foreign patterns.

The French Secretary of State in charge of Cooperation and Francophonie* launched a quiz called “Francomot” to fight linguistic laziness, which consisted in finding native equivalents to 5 anglicisms. A lot of suggestions were proposed and a jury approved an equivalent for each term. The Terminology and Neology General Commission (Commission générale de la terminologie et de la néologie) will make sure that they get correctly implemented in the future.

Nations are facing a considerable challenge: respect and encourage multilinguism without necessarily declining English as global language. This call is targeted to the ones that want to defend their native languages, as well as to the English lovers, who would not want English to be reduced to a business language, as we can see too often lately.

*Francophonie designates a group composed of French-speakers nations (mother or regular language) or where there is a significant affiliation with French culture or language.
Next Francophonie summit will be held in Montreux (Switzerland), October, 22-24 2010.

Paris, April 30 2010: Conference –Meeting over the theme “Presence, weight and value of the Roman languages in the society of the knowledge”.
Roman languages don’t measure up to English in so many fields: sciences & technologies, cyberspace, international negotiations etc.

TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL WEB SITE GLOBALIZATION

2011-02-15T03:27:00.000-08:00

Web site globalization can be a complex process if the proper groundwork has not been established in the planning stages. Without clearly established goals and proper planning, web globalization can easily be stalled by a wide range of technical obstacles and linguistic embarrassments.

The following suggestions can be used as guidelines for developing a successful multilingual web site:

TEST THE WATERS FIRST
When globalizing your web site, trying to do too much too soon before completely understanding the many challenges involved can result in failure. Focusing on one language at a time will allow you to experience the “learning curve” of web site globalization without multiple complications.

DEVELOP BEST PRACTICES
Since Finance, Customer Service, Legal, Marketing and many other departments are impacted by the addition of languages to your web site, it is in your best interest to develop best practices for those departments. Create a process whereby updates, feedback, etc. can be utilized by all. The development of best practices allows for smoother transition when additional languages are included on your web site.

HOW WILL YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE FIND YOUR SITE?
You must make sure all the signs (including the foreign markets) are clearly defined that lead to your site as everyone doesn’t always go through the obvious door to reach your site.
Using national flags as graphic pointers can be a problem when a French-speaking person from Canada only sees the flag of France. As your home page may need to greet visitors in several languages at once, it is usually best to allow users to select a language option instead of a flag option.

DON’T IMBED TEXT IF IT CHANGES FREQUENTLY
Scaling back to a less graphics-intensive site makes text management less complex and also allows the site to load faster in the native country.

TEXT EXPANSION
As English does not translate into equal space into other languages, text expansion and contraction must be taken into consideration. Some European languages expand up to 25% when translated from English and Asian languages contract. Therefore, enough space needs to be allocated so that the text can expand and contract without creating space problems that impact the overall design of your site.

THINK IN TERMS OF LOCALIZATION
Localizing the content to the specific requirements and needs of the local audience should include the following:
• Time and date formatting
• Currency
• Writing style
• Measurements
• Color, image and photo selection

ESTABLISH A GLOBAL STYLE
Develop an international corporate style that will translate well abroad since some words translate better than others. Brand names, clichés and Americanism can be particularly troublesome. International style should:
• Be clear and simple
• When appropriate, make use of boilerplate terminology, legal information, and brand names that have been “pre-tested” for any translation/cultural problems
• Avoid humor
• Avoid analogies that don’t make sense in other cultures

KEEP THE SITE MANAGEABLE
Establishing standards for file organization and naming before you build a multilingual site will allow you to better manage files and images. Whatever works best for your organization, your web management tools and platform is basically the best rule of thumb to follow.

COMMUNICATIONS SUPPORT FOR YOUR SITE
As you enter the web site globalization process, it is equally important to remember that a web site speaks to the world. Pay close attention to your email and phone support infrastructures. Be clear on your web site as to what types of communication support are provided and what types of support are not provided.

USE IN-COUNTRY TESTERS
The effectiveness of your newly globalized web site won’t be known until it is tested in its target locale. The safest way to do this is to use dedicated, independent testers who can view the web site with various modems, browsers, and systems. Utilization of in-country testers ensures quality and consistency in the verification process.

GO UNICODE!
Unicode is a 16-bit character set capable of encoding all known characters and used as a worldwide character-encoding standard. Unicode is a major component in web site globalization. Almost all operating systems support Unicode as do most major software developers and Internet Explorer.

SCRIPT ERRORS
In order to avoid script errors from occurring that would respond to an error with an English response, the developers need to build scripts that pull text from resource files based upon the language needed. Then, there would be no way that a Japanese user would be thanked in English after submitting an order!

And finally,

NEVER FORGET THE UNITED STATES!
Make sure you understand how translated pages will display on English web browsers. No matter how many languages you ultimately have on your site, remember that there will be a significant number of people within the US who may also want to view the site.

Best practices When Consolidating Translation Memories

2011-02-14T09:59:00.000-08:00

There are 3 ways to consolidate Translation memories:

1. Using segmented translated files (Bilingual file) - It is a very simple process, which consists of feeding a translation memory with text segments from translated files provided by the client.
In case you have changed the source text of one or more document translation segments, Translator's Workbench automatically creates a new translation entry. If not, the translation memory is left unchanged.

2. Merging TMs from different vendors - Just open Trados workbench and import "exported TMs" accordingly. There are filters set depending on either client request or the files’ linguistic condition and volume. The most common filters used are:

Keep most recent - means that Translator's Workbench compares the creation dates of the existing translation and the external translation and keeps the most recently created unit.

Keep oldest - it has the opposite effect - the older translation is kept.

Leave unchanged - imported translated segment is always rejected, whenever it is already in the translation memory.

Overwrite - means that Translator's Workbench always imports the external translation
and overwrites the existing translation.

          Merge - means that if attribute and text fields are the only difference between the
          imported target segment and the target segment of the translation unit in translation
          memory, they are merged with the attribute and text fields of the translation unit in the
          memory. If the translation memory allows multiple translations of the same source
         segment, Translator’s Workbench creates a new translation unit with a different target
         segment.

3. Aligning files - This is the most expensive due to the amount of labor and people involved.
A text alignment tool (Trados Winalign) can be used to create a translation memory from previously translated texts (that were not done in a TM environment).
It is a process of creating equivalents, segment by segment, between a source text and the corresponding translated text. The resulting "table of equivalents" will then be imported to a translation memory. Alignment makes it possible to use previous translations that were done without translation support software. Even with the help of Trados Winalign, alignment operations nevertheless require a considerable amount of manual intervention. A linguist is involved to make sure the segments were aligned correctly, and use of filters might also be necessary to convert files into a translation memory friendly format.

Going Global With Multilingual Publishing (PART 1)

2011-02-11T04:28:00.000-08:00

The great challenge of desktop publishing was always, besides the time and cost reductions and the maintenance of the graphic excellence of the traditional publishing processes, to develop techniques to allow changing the content without losing the whole work of accomplished formatting. It is called "processes optimization" -- a utopia for many, a goal for others.

Globalization resulted in increased need for immediacy of multilingual versions. Materials authored in one language need to be available in over 30 languages and it must be achieved in the shortest possible time at the lowest possible cost. It means that a small change in the product or service initiates an entire difficult and slow process of revision of all material with corresponding correction, re-format and re-print (or "re-publish", in the case of the electronic medias).

New technologies enabled separating the formatting information from the document content, which means documents can be reformatted easily. Also, Unicode support and OpenType fonts allowed inputting text in any language that is supported by the operating system. It is the necessary first step for multilingual publishing, but it does not constitute full language support. In other words, it does not mean that you can work with long documents, which are typographically correct in those languages.

Language support actually means several features need to be available within a DTP application. For most languages, this means at least hyphenation and spell checking dictionaries must be available. But language support can also include the ability to alphabetize lists correctly, such as table of contents and indexes, as well as the availability of additional import filters to handle language-specific characters or languages that need special composition treatment (double-byte and bi-directional languages for example).

Our future posts will cover some aspects and issues involved with working in multiple languages and future trends in publishing services as well. Stay tuned!

When it comes to translations, bend ‘m like Beckham

2011-02-03T23:07:00.000-08:00

With the 2010 World Cup kicking off in just four months in South Africa, soccer fever is starting to rise. Soccer aficionados will be glued to screens in every corner of the world to watch the high-quality drama unfold. In millions of houses spirited debates will ensue about what makes a team, a player or a coach good or bad. In other words: discussions about quality.

Translations and soccer do not seem to have a lot in common at first. But when viewed through the perspective of quality management system ISO 9001, they may have some surprising common ground.

ISO 9001 is a system that describes elements of a process that, when followed, increases a company’s chances to deliver a high quality product. Or a service, like translations or soccer.

Just like a translation provider, the World Cup is a business. It delivers a service (soccer) to a client (TV and stadium audience). And just like translations, the quality of its service is the result of a process that results in a certain outcome. An excellent translation of say, an IFU for a home glucose measuring device, will make the user understand the purpose and function of the device. An excellent soccer game may advance a team to the finals.

Let’s take a look at the five main pillars of ISO 9001 and how these elements could be applied to translations and soccer.

	Translations	Soccer
Quality system	· Company organization	· Club or team organization
Management responsibility	· Quality policy · Management commitment · Planning	· Commitment coaching and technical staff · Playing style (offensive, defensive) · Talent and stadium planning
Resource management	· Qualified linguists, engineers, desktop publishers, project managers, other staff · Localization tools and training	· Qualified coaches, skilled players · Transfer market, cultivating young talent through the team’s ranks · Training camp · Stadium exploitation · Shirt sponsor
Product realization	· Strategy, planning, process of producing translations	· Game day. Strategy, planning, process of playing (and winning) a game
Measurement, analysis and improvement	· Client feedback, internal audits, monitoring of data derived from translation process. Where can we optimize, improve quality?	· Where are we in the rankings? How many goals have we scored? How many times do our opponents score on us? How many yellow and red cards do our players get? How often do we have injuries? How is the 4-3-3 system working, how did we do when we played 4-4-2? Where can we get better?

At the end of the World Cup, when you cheer (or not) for the team that triumphantly hoists the coveted trophy in the air, think about all the things the team did right –on and off the field– to end up with this quality result.