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Recently, I attended a webinar hosted by SDL Translation Zone summing up a number of the new elements included in Trados Studio 2011. The recently-released software features a number of improvements over previous versions.
A wide range of facets were presented, but there were a few that really caught my attention:
- Track changes
- Spell Check with the MS Word dictionary
- Enhanced QA checker
- Perfect Match 2.0
The first two are pretty self-explanatory, most of us having used them when working in Word. In the Trados Studio format, they are also particularly useful.
The ability to use track changes in Trados Studio means no longer having to go back and forth between different software, as was the case with previous versions. This, in turn, reduces the risk of introducing errors. In addition, Trados Studio comes with a plugin (OpenExchange SDLXLIFF Converter) that allows you to save an sdlxliif as a Word document, permitting the editor to review it using Word. Afterwards, the file can be converted back to sdlxliff, and the file can be viewed with all of the tracked changes, just like in Word.
The Enhanced QA checker introduces a change in design that speeds up the QA process by displaying all changes made in just one window. One can correct or ignore all changes using the wizard, which also provides a brief explanation of potential errors such as punctuation, terminology and inconsistencies.
Finally, the Perfect Match 2.0 feature provides automatic population of the target segment for translations that have already been reviewed and approved. That segment is then locked to ensure consistency and that no time is wasted in unnecessary edition or review.
All these changes seem to point in one direction: enhancing the consistency of terminology and the overall quality of translations. The webinar made it look fairly simple; however, like all new things, it will take a little bit of time to optimize the use of these innovations in our daily workflows.
Ludmila Lococo Benyacar is a Production Assistant at Win & Winnow Communications. She is responsible for all-around production support, including the coordination of projects, QA checks, and in-house transation and editing work.
 Today, SDL, leaders in Global Information Management, launched SDL Studio GroupShare.
This is marketed as an answer the prayers of many in today’s dynamic translation market, where a working in a team no longer implies the fact of close physical proximity.
There are three components to this new tool: SDL Studio GroupShare Projects, SDL Studio GroupShare Terminology and SDL Studio GroupShare Translation Memory.
It is, essentially, a hub for translators and project managers to improve collaboration – and with this reduce errors in the localization process, together with project turnover and overheads. Teams will be able to share everything centrally and re-use translation assets in real time. The idea is that it will be possible to organize cooperation with more flexibility and manage various projects simultaneously while sharing translation memories and terminology. As projects can be actively managed through the software, it will be easier for Project Managers to ensure timely delivery.
It is also accessible through SDL Trados Studio 2011, a familiar environment.
And, as the purported benefits are cornerstones for any translation business competing in the modern market, we guess everyone will be talking about it.
Check out the following video for an overview.
Funny as their respective acronyms may sound, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) are no laughing matters. These two new bills, brought about by U.S. lawmakers, are not being taken lightly, as they very well could significantly change the online world as we know it.
And today, January 18th, 2012, corporations and individuals alike are taking action. Wikipedia has closed its U.S. site for the day, Google has blocked its logo, and a number of other online entities, big and small, have taken measures in protest. The issue has not gone unnoticed by internet users, either, as protestors have gathered throughout the United States.
Given the industries of globalization and localization to which we belong, it is vital that we take note of what the passage of one or both bills could imply in the long-term – blocking internationally-registered users from websites, affecting the sharing of information, and more.
While it is impossible to identify what the real implications of these bills could be, it is important to pay attention and stay informed.
 As a part of our commitment to high-quality language services and integral to the incorporation of industry and technological changes to our daily production process, training is a priority.
As the bread and butter of our services is a joint effort across an in-house and wider team of over 800 vendors, effective communiciation and regular capacitation could not be more important. To give you an overview, training activities cover all major CAT tools, project management, computer programs, linguistic skills, QA, DTP and business administration.
As we are now well into the New Year, our training schedule for 2012 is underway.
 Yesterday afternoon, our Technology Lead, Valeria Romero, hosted a session on some useful and lesser-known technologies that each member of staff can incorporate into his or her daily workflow to enhance effectiveness and efficiency.
While it is our bottom line to deliver services to an industry standard of excellence, it is our hope that through our educational aspirations for 2012, we will be able to continue to fine-tune and perfect our production processes to the satisfaction of our clients and partners.
We will keep you posted on upcoming sessions!
For those looking to work in the world of localization , speaking at least two languages is almost always a must. And while most in the industry can claim at least bilingual status, there are a special few – polyglots – who blow most everyone else straight out of the water.
In her article titled “The secret to learning languages” published in Canada’s CBCNews, Colleen Ross explores the character of the polyglot, a person who speaks not two, but multiple languages. Exploring the questions of learning techniques, innate aptitude and even hyperpolyglots, those who speak an extremely high number of languages (including one man who, according to legend, knew a total of 72), Ross mixes her personal experience in linguistics with research and references in exploring a topic that is not often touched upon by most.
The result? An interesting and thought-provoking piece.
 If we are talking about internet users today, we are looking at around 445 million Chinese, 155 million Spanish, 100 million Japanese, 82 million Portuguese and 75 million Germans – moving multilingual website localization into the online arena as a hot topic for global professionals.
Behind any successful web presence is a content management system (CMS); a set of tools installed on a server to manage work flow in a controlled environment. Your website, essentially, lives inside of a CMS, which enables the administration, modification, publication and maintenance of online content.
 The localizability of a given CMS platform is, then, an important consideration, especially when thinking about giving your company a global face.
There are many CMS solutions on the market, both open source and closed proprietary software; however, they are not all peas in a pod in their ability to adapt to multilingual requirements. Many, in fact, do not offer multilingual support.
Some level of linguistic adaptability will be a huge advantage given that effective translation in a dynamic online environment will be hugely enhanced through the selection of the right technology, both to reduce web maintenance and to efficiently collaborate with translators.
It would be wise to ponder a few things before deciding on the best CMS system to meet present and future requirements. The language pairs that one wants to host will influence this decision as not all CMS platforms work seamlessly with all languages. It is important that the accents and diaereses of non-Roman, Asian and Arabic languages and right-to-left languages will be respected.
Similarly, a degree of confidence in time, date, calendar and currency conversions, and the management of stored CMS data, will be well worth the time and money invested in making the right decision.
Other considerations include ease of maintenance, compatibility with search engine optimization requirements, simplicity of integration with independent third-party applications and also marketing and reporting tools, the ability to undertake multi-site maintenance, and, lest we forget, price. That said, many good options are free.
Drupal is among the most popular of the free CMS options with multilingual capabilities. Content can be translated into two or more languages, and site visitors are able to choose between any of them. Other leading free options with multilingual support include SilverStripe, Cushy CMS and dotCMS.
Leading proprietary options include Microsoft Sharepoint, Ektron and ExpressionEngine.
As always, a little bit of research will go a long way in ensuring you find the right fit for your company’s goals.
We, at Win & Winnow, extend you our best wishes for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the vacations, or whatever it is that you celebrate at this time of the year.
This year the Argentine Christmas fell in the weekend and despite the countries Catholic roots, this does not denote a day in lieu as in some other countries. Our office has, thus, been alive as ever and full of Christmas spirits.
The Argentine Christmas is celebrated on the 24th December, rolling over to the 25th, and is usually characterized by family, food and the clinking of glasses. People hug, kiss and raise their glasses of cider or champagne to the past 12 months and those to come.
On la Noche Buena (24th December) and New Years Eve, the sky lights up with a colorful, although not always entirely safe or legal, display of fireworks.
A few of the typical treats lining living room tables and stomachs, include the unbeatable Argentine asados, pavita rellena (stuffed turkey), sándwichs de Miga y piononos, pan dulce (sweet fruit bread with nuts and other treats), turrones (nougat) and dried fruit.
Thank you to our translation and localization partners and our truly international team, as much Argentine as French, Italian, German and Portuguese, who have shared with Win & Winnow over the past year. We look forward to continuing to do so as the New Year unfolds.
 Since its beginnings in the localization industry, Win & Winnow Communications has grown from a local operation of five linguists to a team of over 600 experienced translators, project managers and engineers who provide services across a wide range of languages and technologies.
While we are a wholly international team, the face and center of our operation is unequivocally in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the city that is home to a melting pot of cultures, that rarely sleeps, and that attracts curious souls from all corners of the world.
But why Argentina? What are the benefits of sourcing multilingual language and localization services from Argentina, a nation “cien por ciento” South American and equally driven by its European roots?
The reality for many multilingual vendors and end clients is that business requirements, such as high word counts, tight time frames and complex content, demand a partner that is able to provide language services transcending the geographical limitations of a country or continent.
We have not been alone in seeing Argentina’s potential as a backdrop for a successful multilingual localization set-up. Given the current percentage of market ownership, it is evident that there is a lot of room for growth and with this, opportunities to be cultivated.
The consensus is that the localization industry in Argentina has a positive future. There are a number of technology enterprises driven by educated industry professionals, emerging from a textured financial and political landscape into increased stability. These companies can be characterized by proven resilience as well as revised and competitive business strategies.
Argentina’s bright forecast stems from improving economic trends with measurable GDP growth and significant business opportunities for global entities. This is accompanied by a host of local advantages, including friendly pricing, a convenient time zone and a cultural affinity with Western-European partners.
While South American enterprises comprised a small percentage of the global localization market in 2011, they are moving into the market as:
- they are increasingly recognized as competitive international players; and
- purchasers of localization services realize that it is commercially practical, in many cases, to elect a company that provides quality multilingual services alongside core languages such as Latin American Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese.
 This is not surprising when, putting aside social and economic variables, the few multilingual vendors operating in Argentina, like Win & Winnow, are on the same playing field as any other vendor operating internationally. The advantages and disadvantages of working with a particular agency depend largely on the infrastructure, versatility and individuals that make up each team.
The Argentine work model is typically competitive with a direct style of communication and an emphasis on personal relationships. In this, we see many ingredients for a successful efficient enterprise and potential translation partner.
With a close relationship with the United States and Europe as a result of proximity and a high percentage of immigrants, one observes that the corporate workforce typically has an education of a global nature and is schooled in the requirements, customs and ethical norms of its neighbors.
Ethical norms are important, as there is a little bit more to gaining trust when your business partners are located across waters or frontiers. As most mothers will be quick to mention, trust should be earned, not handed out at a whim, and the prerequisites to this will depend on the type of enterprise in question.
In an Argentine context, it would be wise to take advantage of the local inclination towards relationships and ask all the questions that one needs to ask, as well as do the research to satisfy oneself that any potential partner is a good fit not only in terms of their service portfolio, but equally in who they are and the principles that govern their operation.
It is advisable to partner with a company with a global face who understands the reality and complexity of ethical relativism; the concept that what you consider ethical and what I consider ethical may very well be different, based on our cultures and upbringings.
Localizing these ethics messages in a multilingual context requires a partner with an deep understanding of the cultural differences between the home country and other locations, a partner located in a diverse locale like Argentina.
All other ducks in a row, the challenge for many multilingual vendors in Argentina lies in proving themselves to potential purchasers as efficient, reliable and predictable against adverse stereotypes of the region.
Reflecting on economic indicators from the last GALA MemberPulse Survey, it is clear that South American providers are increasingly recognized by the international market as competitive providers of multilingual localization services.
While results point to slowed growth in other regions, the results relating to South America display en enormous shift in confidence and point to bright horizons, including:
- The most impressive increase in demand, with 88 percent of all South American respondents reporting an increase in demand and only 12.5 percent reporting no change.
- The greatest amount of hiring, with 88 percent of respondents reporting new employees.
- The strongest revenue numbers, with 57 percent of respondents reporting an increase and none experiencing a decline.
With a changing front and many positive opportunities that remain to be cultivated, why not add “multilingual localization” to Argentina´s long list of rich and currently under-utilized resources?
 The populace of the modern globalized world consists of an international generation with growing expectations as far as entertainment needs are concerned.
While some still err away from the gaming world, millions embrace the likes of PC, Xbox, Playstation, IOS, Wii and Mac OS X with big-name titles such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Gears of War 3, Portal 2 and FIFA 12. To qualm boredom forever, there are also the endless entertainment possibilities of iPod, iPhone and other mobile applications.
It is, of course, taken for granted that this content is available in the consumer’s local language.
However, this is about more than just language.
Many modern games adopt a narrative with scripts that are based on a particular cultural framework. It is not to be assumed that this will make sense when moving, for example, between English, Russian and Japanese.
This is where the localization industry comes in.
For localization professionals, meeting today’s consumer expectations demands a high level of skill, creativity and close project-management, alongside the ability to deal with tight deadlines and content that can change right up to the moment that a game is released.
 We point you to an interesting read in TRANS Magazine, Game Localization Management: Balancing Linguistic Quality and Financial Efficiency by Michaela Bartelt-Kranz, which discusses key issues in the development process, including how localization decisions are reached.
The translation of games requires a completely new set of concepts and norms than what has been developed for other types of texts: “the translator is asked to transcreate the text freely, for example giving proper names to characters and places that replicate the user experience in the target language.”
Given its inherent complexity, the localization of this type of product is an investment and therefore an important business decision, whose viability will depend on the anticipated return on investment and other strategic localization considerations.
“Decisions… revolve around the depth of localization, among them whether to include audio recordings, the requirement for famous voiceover actors or whether to expand localization for markets outside of France, Italy, Germany and Spain.”
One of the biggest challenges facing localization in interactive entertainment is that no one project is like another.
Given this, and in summary, the art of a successful localization endeavour lies in:
- Managing a project effectively, often without complete information with respect to the scope of the text or audio
- Fitting into development team deadlines
- A close partnership between development and localization teams
- Developers who understand the localization process
- Excellent streamlined communication
- Efficient quality checks
Win & Winnow Communications offer a range of gaming translation and localization solutions across a range of platforms and genres. Please email us for further information or a quote.
 Our General Manager, María Cecilia Calonico, returned recently from the Localization World Silicon Valley conference held between October 10th & 12th 2011, one of the leading conferences in localization, globalization and translation.
With our growing role in the Latin-American and international localization industries, the two days were valuable as a way to stay up to date with technological advances and key players.
We were excited to have the opportunity to volunteer on the Translators Without Borders (TWB) booth with the friendly TWB staff, a chance to hear first-hand more about the worthy vision of this non-profit organization, increasing access to knowledge through humanitarian translations.
 TWB provides over two million words of translation services each year to NGOs such as Doctors without Borders, Médecins du Monde, Action Against Hunger, Oxfam US and Handicap International, however, indicates that this meets less than 1% of the need, with many more like organizations needing help for their criticial communications. “By developing an open digital platform and establishing organizational structure, Translators Without Borders hopes to increase that number to 10 million words or more every year.”
To promote their cause amongst attendees of LocWorld, TWB held a raffle for the Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 Master Collection and coincidentally, Win & Winnow Communications won! Thank you TWB and we look forward to continuing to contribute to this vision.
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