Localization – An Asset with Translation

What is Localization

Localization is the process of adapting your content to a different target audience, usually a different country and linguistic community. It includes ensuring that content is converted in a culturally-sensitive way, providing the readership a comfortable level of familiarity. Content globalization makes your content available to a global audience, and includes intercultural communication and cross-cultural sensitisation.

The localization process can be of varying complexity. Localization includes translation, but also includes much more.

Aspects of Localisation

For a simple understanding of localization, here are some of the basic to subtler aspects.

Dates, currencies and decimals are used differently. This is clear between the English and the European decimal systems, where the comma and the dot are interchanged. In India, the comma is placed at a hundred thousand (a lakh) whereas in the rest of the world, it is placed at a million (100,000). Most of Europe and Asia display dates with day-month-year sequence whereas in the USA it is month-day-year. But this is only the most superficial aspect of localization. And the least relevant for the purpose of this discussion.
Writing systems of most languages are left to right, whereas those of Central Asia are right to left. Some traditional systems also write from top to bottom!
This will require the change of layout and graphics to be adapted and modified. And that brings us to the important aspect of adapting graphics and animations.
Idiomatic expressions cannot be literally translated. They must be substituted by equivalents of the expressions in the target language. Hence a certain amount of original thinking is required.
Trans-creation in advertising: Several marketing campaigns fail when new slogans translate into something that is not intended. We know that advertising slogans play with words, puns and relations between language and social meaning and similar sounding words. These are para-linguistic aspects, not even covered by cultural sensitivity. The conversion of these require original and creative rethinking. The writing and creation have to be replicated in the target language. The intended purport and effect have to be re-created. For this, we have another feature called trans-creation.

Localization Begins at Design Stage

The Advantages

Localization improves international SEO: Search engines are drawn towards websites that have good quality content. However, to attract the search engines of particular countries, we need to have content and keywords in those languages. There is also a need to re-think the strategy and specific words that are equally attractive to the reader and search engines alike. This is not achieved by translation alone.
Boosts customer satisfaction: Customers who read content that sounds local are able to relate to and trust more easily. Translations that sound artificial and contrived can show a lack of professionalism. The local taste and the colloquial touch in translation and reference to the day-to-day realities of the target community make the customer feel ‘at home’.
Increases global reach & customer acquisition: A company’s outreach expands, and customers can be acquired in distant markets. Products and services can be made known to clients to newer and promising markets.
Increases Sales: Localization has immense benefits from the marketing point of view. It is known that some businesses have increases sales manifold, on an average by up to 400%!

Localization & Translation

Among localization models, translation has been reduced to a small step in the larger process. Some theorists profess the opposite.

The earlier models of translation suggested that translations remain as close to the source document as possible. Nowadays, things have changed. By virtue of a new and different audience, theorists propose a NEW text creation – and therefore target oriented, i.e., the translations should focus on the target audience, the target function and purpose and therefore the target text is trans-created rather than translated. The intended function, purpose and the intended effect are kept in mind as much as the intended meaning, which was hitherto the primary focus of translation.

Approaches

There are two (or three) broad approaches to localization.

The first is internationalization, wherein content is standardized across target audiences.

The second is localization, whereby content is adapted to the specific audience of a locale, keeping in mind local peculiarities, tastes, styles and interests.

Both are strategies within the larger approach called globalization, whereby there are multiple versions of the website, with standardized templates intermingled with variances in specific aspects of the design, layout and content.

Content Globalization Vendors

Selecting localization vendors calls for close scrutiny of ability, expertise and experience. Unlike translation, localization requires team work and a multi-disciplinary approach, including translation, trans-creation, and designing. An agency with the right vision and resources is what a customer seeks.

WordPar International is a leading localizing company in India that boasts of a global perspective of the localization process and experience in managing localization projects. With a team of linguists, trans-creators, content writers and project managers, we have demonstrated efficiency in workflow-, human-resource and time management.

WordPar International has satisfied customers of localization projects in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, most of whom are multinational corporations with operations in Americas, Europe and Asia.

WordPar is a leading translation company in India and has extensive experience in e-learning localization, medical, technical and legal translation too.

Takeaway

It is true that content globalization and business localization are not an easy task. They require new processes and responsibilities in an organization. The good news is that it is not an arduous ordeal either. With the right expertise and professional guidance, and by making bold yet minor modifications in your content management process, you can be ready to go global!