Careers in Languages

Advantages of learning a foreign language 

Knowledge of multiple languages is an asset, whichever domain one is working in. Thanks to globalization, increase in international trade, the internet and its all pervading reach, knowing a foreign language promises to be an edge during recruitment. 

By default, Indians are multilingual - they normally know their mother tongue (Regional language), Hindi (considered as national language, though all Indian languages enjoy equal status according to our constitution) and English (which is taught in school).  Most schools introduce foreign languages like French, German, Spanish, and now even Mandarin, around the age of 13-14 years.  

Therefore, for an Indian, learning a new language is not as difficult as for a monolingual person! 

Learning languages opens up new horizons, and a wide range of Careers in Languages, most of which are listed below in brief:

Major domains in which knowledge of languages is essential:

• Translation - is communication of the meaning from one language into another. 

1. Technical translation - Translation of technical documents like:
1. manuals
2. specifications
3. guides
4. standards
5. drawings
6. tender documents
7. patents, etc.
2. Commercial translation - while dealing with foreign companies, commercial translation is required for:
1. Business Correspondence
2. Agreements and Contracts
3. Tender Documentation
4. Insurance
5. Reports
6. Company Documentation
7. Brochures
8. Advertising Material, etc
3. Legal translation - all paperwork required by law needs to be translated for transactions between companies or governments from different countries, and in even in courts of law. Common legal documents translated are:
1. Contracts
2. Affidavits
3. Police reports, FIR
4. Lawsuit documents
5. Land deals
6. Official documents like:
1. Birth Certificate
2. Marriage Certificate
3. School/College Leaving Certificate
4. Death Certificate
5. Registration Certificate
6. Ration card
7. Degree and Diploma Certificates
4. Scientific translation - to maximize the reach of new inventions, research papers and patents, they need to be translated from their source language, into the major world languages.
5. Website translation - for businesses to grow in new markets, website localization is the first step. It is a proven fact that customers prefer their own language to any foreign/regional language while transacting online. 

• Interpretation -can be simply explained as spoken language translation. These services are required for: 

1. Conferences
2. Seminars
3. Meetings for negotiations
4. Corporate visits
5. Technical visits
6. Tourists
7. Market research meetings
8. Audit meetings.                                                                                          There are 2 major types of interpretation:

1. Consecutive interpretation - the interpreter waits for the end of the original sentence or statement to deliver the interpretation. 
2. Simultaneous interpretation - interpreting the speech or message from the source language to target language simultaneously while the speech is going on. It is used for large gatherings (i.e. the speaker and the interpreter speak at the same time - the interpreter hears the speech through earphones and speaks through microphones, and the interpretation is heard on ear phones by the listeners). 

• Language Training (individual/corporate) - Schools, colleges, universities, management and international trade institutes, multi-national companies, etc. require experienced and knowledgeable trainers for various languages, and this requirement is ever-increasing 
• Content writing (for advertising material, websites, etc.) is typically creating content in a given language for the web, for ads, etc., such that the product/website/event etc. sells - the language is impressive and the reader is impressed on reading it, and unknowingly  develops a preference to it.   
• Localization and internationalization (of products, websites, games, audio-visuals, etc.) Localisation, more than just translating the content, involves transforming a product, product information, commercial e-literature, etc. to suit a particular culture. This connects an organisation with the local end user. Eg. usage of some symbols or colors is considered a taboo in some markets. Similarly, Internationalizing products, services, websites and other text, that is, offering it in multilingual form widens its reach onto the international market.  
• Technical writing - Technical writing is writing or drafting technical communication used in a variety of technical and occupational fields, such as computer hardware and software, engineering, chemistry, aeronautics, robotics, finance, medical, consumer electronics, and biotechnology. Along with the command on language, in-depth knowledge or at least study in the field is crucial for technical writing.
• Blog writing -  Blogging in the simplest terms is expressing yourself online and spreading the word in any prospect you want to. Most business owners don't have the time to write blogs, and hence outsource the job of writing. Blogs are written in various fields like culinary blogs, travel blogs, technical blogs about products like bikes, mobiles, etc. This helps companies in their SEO activities, in developing communities and reaching new prospects.  
• Multi-media (Dubbing, Sub-titling and Voice over) - Multimedia content is increasing leaps and bounds due to advances in technology. It is a much more popular medium than text and need for its localization is growing:

1. Film dubbing
2. Film scripts
3. Recorded speeches from conferences
4. Narration work for films
5. Video tapes, slides, audio tapes in different foreign languages
6. Company profile presentations
7. Voice-over

• Transcription - is the technique of listening to an audio or video and recording it in a text format.

We will continue this topic next month, by covering other professions where knowledge of a language is required or considered as an added advantage. 

Devaki Kunte,
Language Services Bureau

Website Localization - Part 3 - Localization strategies

Website localization – Key strategies to keep in mind:    

In this last article from the Website translation series, we present to you the key points to be borne in mind while planning to translate/localize your website. Localization is not only translation but also adaptation of the website according to the tastes and preferences of a given population, its culture and language.

1. Define keywords and plan Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

It is only after a website is translated that companies decide on multilingual SEO and thus website localization efforts become more complex and delays become a norm. This is a huge planning mistake.

Effective multilingual SEO requires team work with your web developers. Most important pitfalls are as follows:

a.    Keyword research – Even countries sharing the same language use different words to refer to the same thing. Terms like rubber vs eraser or lorry vs truck mean very different things in the US and the UK. Bottom line - Good keywords for the UK, France or Spain may not be successful in the US/Australia, Canada/Africa or some Latin American countries, even if it is the same language that is spoken at two locales.

b.    Different search engines in different regions - Google is the most used crawler in the West, but Yandex is the preferred search engine in Russia and it is becoming popular in other countries like Turkey. Baidu is indisputably the best search engine in China. Also, focusing your strategy only on Google may not give results for Yahoo or Bing. Yahoo is still a respected engine and service in Japan.

c.    Monitor search engine updates – All search engines improve and update their search results algorithms. Though rich content and friendly design are important and will not go out of fashion, some periodic SEO strategy updates are required to maintain your ranking healthy.

2. Make friends with the IT team 

You need to prepare the IT team from the start for the possibility that their code will need to be updated. The following potential problems need to be considered:

a.    how to display the default language in a locale- display of content in a right-to-left layout, e.g. for Arabic, Persian, Urdu: making a mirror image of the existing website, such that the links, titles, text, paragraphs  and images are displayed in a right to left format

c.    space requirements needed to present the content in other languages- Remember that every language has a set of characters that occupy a different amount of space in a layout. If your first language is English and you want to localize a website for Germany, then you might be surprised that some words are quite long, even though both languages use Latin characters. Other languages occupy even less space than English, e.g. Chinese. Do the research to fit the content in the layout.

d.   display of special characters and choice of right encoding for them (such as UTF-8, UTF-16, etc.)- Almost every language in the world comes with its own set of special characters, such as unique letters and accents.

The problem arises if you are not prepared to display special characters. The characters could end up as weird symbols as a result and will undermine the quality, feel and effect of your website. Another culprit of mis-rendered special characters is custom fonts that are minified and embedded on websites. Use minified font to display user-generated content should be avoided; comments, for example, might come out wrong even though all other content on the website looks fine.

e.    display of first and last names in a culturally sensitive way: In Russian, a person's fathers name is used while addressing a person with respect. Hence, understanding cultural mannerisms and unwritten rules are of prime importance while localizing such content. 

3. MARKET-SPECIFIC ISSUES (HOLIDAYS, MEASUREMENTS, CALENDARS, GENERAL language register) 

Market-specific issues can be subtle yet make a lot of difference due to cultural sensitivities of your audience.

a.    Date format - In the US, dates are displayed as MM-DD-YYYY, whereas in most European and Asian countries the day precedes the month (DD-MM-YYYY).Imagine users in European countries who are accustomed to a certain format for picking a delivery date, shopping on an Arab website. If they don’t pay attention to the instructions (which mention that the week starts on Sunday), they might just click on the calendar and expect to see Monday first. Users might feel unhappy and feel misled in such cases (according to their cultural code). Holidays are also part of the calendar and could be confusing if the calendar does not show local holidays and vacations.

b.    Register or tone of your message - Some languages are more formal than others – e.g. an informal tone is almost taken for granted in English (especially in the US), and addressing your audience as Sir and Madam might sound a little weird. German, French and Japanese are quite the opposite. A familiar tone might seem rude to such audiences. Hence the importance of working with native language translators; ask them for advice on choosing the correct language register depending on your product and the relationship you wish to build with your clients/customers.

c.    Measurements –countries use various measurement units for the same measures – e.g. inch in the UK, India, but millimeters in the US, France. Localized versions of a website should show the right measurements corresponding to the countries/regions that you want to target.

4. MAKE IT EASY TO PAY on your e-commerce website!

If customers feel that paying for a product is hard or they don’t trust the payment provider, sales won’t happen! The most popular payment methods are popular only for certain markets.

Residents of some countries do not trust PayPal and will expect you to support locally popular payment methods, such as Wire transfer or Money bookers or Payoneer, Arab countries for example. Brazilians are accustomed to pay in installments and will expect to be offered that option. In the Netherlands, people are used to paying through a secure system, which redirects them to their own bank.

5. TEST YOUR IDEAS ON THE TARGET AUDIENCE before finalization of website

A website is like a living being. It needs to be continually developed to meet the public’s expectations and to deliver on your business goals. Remember to test your website on target users.

Audiences in different countries could be attracted to different things. Ask for feedback with a simple survey. You’d be surprised by the answers you get to just a few open questions. With this feedback, you will be able to adjust your content strategy and localize your website with even greater precision.

We are sure these pointers will be of help while beginning your website localization process .. do get in touch with Language Services Bureau for any support on the same!

Website Localisation part 2

Website and App localization 

The Indian Context

With a population of one and a quarter billion people, India, the largest democracy is home to nearly 30 languages which are in daily use. Yet the Indian Constitution and Law do not define an official national language. Most languages of India belong to the Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Austro-Asiatic and Tibeto-Burman language families.

Considering the mobile penetration to the innermost pockets and villages of India, and the fact that only approximately 10-15%* Indians manage to barely understand or speak English in itself are eye openers about the dire need of localization and content creation in Indian languages. 

According to statistics released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (2013), the number of total mobile phone connections was approximately 860 million. However, millions of Indians did not list English as their primary language of communication and thus were limited in mobile usage due to language borders. 

The number of Indians owning mobile phones is more than the number of Indians owning a computer. In fine, localization is the key to new communities around the globe, especially in India.

Not just informative websites and government and company websites, but most importantly, the e-commerce website data needs localization. Though some companies have already started and are trying to make data available in major Indian languages, it is a humungous task! And companies are not aware of the complexities, rates, and processes involved in professional good quality localization. It’s the consumer who will need to drive this requirement though, as this twitter page clearly demonstrates: #ServeinMyLanguage 

Among the various challenges faced in localizing content in Indian languages, the below can be listed as some of the most important!

1.   Font issues – Lack of good quality, aesthetic and accurate fonts in Open Source format is a key concern. Most of the times DTP Software like Corel or Adobe Illustrator or Adobe FrameMaker do not work with Unicode and have problems with many TTF (True type) fonts too. Thanks to BIS’ mandate for all mobile phones to provide display in 22 Indian languages, reading Indian languages on electronic devices is getting closer to reality. However it needs to be noted that most of this technology has a basic flaw – one needs to know English to go to settings and choose the required language!! Thus it is the very purpose of providing multilingual support being defeated! Even though the phone language is local, most apps don’t support these languages and end up being in English!

2.   Technical terminology: Technology related content in India uses English language most of the time. The technology never existed in India before, hence the absence of the apt terms in the Indian languages! Internet sources are also almost non-existent for terminological research and hence the translator either has to use English words in his/her local language or coin new terms which risk not being understood by the reader! Most of the times, popular ads provide perfect guidance on the transliterate/translate dilemma! Sometimes it becomes very difficult to understand the local word since many English words are regularly used in the local languages too! E.g. Table

3.   Inadequacy of good quality translators and editors: this is especially true for rare languages like Assamese, Bodo, Dogri, etc. Most Indian universities do not offer graduate and post-graduate courses in Indian language translation. Therefore, anyone knowing the 2 languages can claim to be a “translator”. Translation between 2 Indian languages is a rarer scenario.. it is difficult to find good translators from Punjabi to Kannada, for example, and English has to be used as the intermediary language. In addition, Indian translators are either not aware of or cannot afford the CAT (Computer aided translation) tools, and thus translation agencies need to manage the translations in these tools on their own.

4.   Localization - Quality language localization is much more than just translating the content of a mobile application or website to another language. It involves the idiosyncratic social and cultural, regional nuances and sensitivities that help the consumer feel safe and secure with using or buying the business product or service.

In a nation like India where regions, dialects, states and cultures are rich in number, localization is essential because every Indian individual has a different set of preferences depending on all above variants. Typically, after translation, localization involves the following steps, to mention a few:

·         Adaptation of graphics to target markets

·         Modification of content to suit the tastes and consumption habits of concerned markets

·         Adaptation of design and layout to properly display translated text

·         Conversion to local requirements (such as currencies, decimals and units of measurement)

·         Usage of proper local formats for dates, addresses, and phone numbers

·         Addressing local regulations and legal requirements

We address all such requirements of website localization. Some of the special features of website localization services from Language Services Bureau include:

     ·         In-depth knowledge of the target language, culture, and the market due to which our website translation services generate a pleasant user experience and drive business results.

       ·         Website translation services in any format as per client requirements.

      ·        A specialized team of experts with up to date domain knowledge. (both in IT as well as in the subject matter of the website).

We have recently completed translation of the following websites into the languages as mentioned below.

http://www.speedydry.com/hindi-home.html - English to Hindi

http://www.jls-europe.de/- English into German, French, Spanish, Polish and Russian

We are proud and happy that our clients have seen an immediate jump in the number of inquiries from the target locales of these languages. So what are you waiting for? Get in touch with us today at info@languageservicesbureau.com

India ruling the App Market

India is one of the biggest players in the mobile app ecosystem. In terms of consumers and publishers, the country is among the leaders worldwide. We will deal with App localization in a separate blog in the upcoming months.

Written By Devaki Kunte