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Localization
The term “localization services” (sometimes called “localisation services”) generally refers to website translation/software translation/videogame translation, and marketing translation.
Let’s have a closer look at each of these cases:
Website/Software/Videogame Localization
My localization process includes full language adaptation of a product created for another country and another language. It is not limited to text translation only, it also includes customization of local cultural, social, and language requirements, such as:
- time zones;
- currency;
- geographic examples;
- numeric formats (e.g. Russian and Ukrainian localization for “3.14” will look like “3,14”)
- date and time formats (e.g. Ukrainian and Russian localization for “02/29/2001” will look like “29/02/2001”, besides that, English week begins from Sunday, but Russian and Ukrainian week begins from Monday, etc.);
- names;
- text sorting (English “A-Z” will be Russian and Ukrainian “А-Я”);
- units of measurement (Russian or Ukrainian user won’t understand inches, pounds, or acres; these units should be converted to metric units);
- etc.
As for software localization and videogame localization, this process covers English to Russian translation or English to Ukrainian translation and adaptation of user interface (UI), software strings, menu items, various inscriptions, graphics and images, help files and readme files, user manuals, legal notes and licenses, and everything that should look natural to a user.
As for website localization (website localisation), it requires not meeting the above-mentioned conditions only, but also preserving all the tags if I localize the tagged document, such as HTML, PHP, XML.
For this purpose I use special software; as a rule, it is TagEditor or SDLX for some cases. With this software, the localized documents will have the same formatting as the source documents have. All the tags will be in their original places, thus the translated pages will have the proper look.
Sometimes website localization requires some kind of search engine optimization. It means that I have to translate meta tags (keywords, titles, descriptions, etc.), and the semantic structure of web pages should meet SEO requirements – keyword density, search terms, etc. are taken into account.
Marketing Localization
Marketing localization has some characteristic features. Marketing materials are aimed at users’ hearts rather than users’ minds. Thus I have to use my creativity to make the localized brochure, or leaflet, or anything else to attract the reader’s attention and sell definite products/services; or just generally to improve the company’s image.
Along with adaptation of time zones, currency, numeric formats, date and time formats, names, text sorting, units of measurement, I have to localize slogans (if any) and sociocultural fundamentals. From this point of view – marketing localization is the most creative kind of translation services.
Generally, I offer Russian localisation and Ukrainian localisation services.
The only and major aim I define is to give the user of the localized product – whether it be marketing material, or software, or website – the feeling that this product was created in his native language; no discord is allowed.
Did you know?
Localization is sometimes shortened to l10n as 10 is the number of letters between “l” and “n”.
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