Category Archives: Translation

Translating Idioms

Translating idioms from one language to another is one of the most difficult tasks a translator has to face. Unlike other translation issues, where a translator who has excellent knowledge of both the source and the target language can change the words to read naturally from one language to another, this cannot be done with idioms. Therefore when creating content that will be localized, idiomatic expressions are often avoided.

In her book In Other Words, Dr. Mona Baker, the Professor for Translational Studies at Manchester University in the United Kingdom says that idioms are “Frozen patterns of language which allow little or no variation in form and often carry meanings which cannot be deduced from their individual components.”
Idioms are also closely related to the country’s culture. These unique expressions can make a language more interesting and fun to learn.

A good example of this would be with the idiomatic phrase “break a leg”. This phrase is often used by superstitious members of theatre or film productions, because using the phrase “good luck” is thought to bring the production “bad luck” and therefore the phrase “break a leg” is used instead. Idioms are frequently used in literature, poetry, cinema and theatre. Shakespeare introduced hundreds of new idioms into the English language. Some of these include well known phrases like “cruel to be kind” and “wild goose chase”.

Idioms convey meaning only a human can understand. Should you log into a machine translation tool on your computer and put in the words “break a leg” it will tell you the literal translation which means you are telling someone to go and break their leg, which is not very polite. This exercise demonstrates the importance of using humans to translate text versus automated results.

So, how do you translate idioms? According to Mona Baker, there are four methods of translation. The first is to find a similar idiom in the target language, with the same meaning and form – A good example is “nine times out of ten”, which is an idiomatic expression used in many different countries, including Spanish and Portuguese.
The second is to use an idiom with the same meaning, but in a different form. Here, the phrase “sky high prices” has the same meaning in Spanish and Portuguese as in English, but it is not in the same form.

The third method is by paraphrasing, where the meaning of the idiom in the source language is conveyed by a phrase which expresses the meaning, but does not use an idiom. “A bit of horseplay”, which means boisterous play in English, is not an idiom in Spanish or Portuguese and would have to be explained using other suitable words in the target language to explain the meaning.

The fourth method is omission, which Mona Baker says should not be used too often and only if the other three methods cannot be used. This is because it will not be true to the source content.

Idioms are used in business English and you may have come across some of the following examples:
• Moving the goalposts – Changing the rules or the conditions of an agreement.
• To be on the ball – Enthusiastic and aware of how new methods and ideas can improve business.
• Watch from the side lines – Someone who is observing a situation, rather than being an active part of it.
• Drop the ball – Make a mistake.
• Par for the course – Typical.
• A low blow – An action that is damaging to a person or business.
• Cut to the chase – Get to the important part.

As:
• In the same boat – Sharing the same situation.
• Land on your feet – Everything will work to your advantage.
• Bends over backwards – Someone who has been extremely helpful.
• Think out of the box – To consider things from more than a unique angle or perspective.

If there are existing idioms in materials you wish to localize, a professional translation agency is an excellent resource that can provide advice and guidance.

Crowdsourcing and Machine Translations – Are They as Good as Human Translation?

Crowdsourcing is a method of completing work by using a large number of individuals to contribute to an idea; usually over the internet, and the best contributions are used by the company or manufacturer who instigated the scheme.

Crowdsourcing is not a new term, it has been around for a few years now and it is a concept that has been embraced heartily by a number of large corporations.

Coca-Cola has used crowdsourcing as a marketing tool. Nokia has an “ideas project” which they use to crowdsource ideas for new innovations in design and technology. The lager manufacturer AB even has a website called Poptent which asks videographers to upload advertising videos they have made for Skol Lager in Brazil; they pick the best and the video maker receives a $10,000 usage fee.

These are all good examples of using crowdsourcing to get free market research, clever ideas and the free use of some of the best creative talent in the marketplace.

However, translation is not about clever ideas or brilliant marketing. It is about converting ideas from one language into another, in a natural form that stays true to the original. So where does crowdsourcing and machine translation fit into the translation industry?

Machine translations like Google Translate do have their place in the translation world. They are ideal for one word translations, short sentences, or to give you an idea of how the translation should sound; although Google is improving all the time, it is still capable of producing utter rubbish, which has the potential for embarrassment and lost business.

Crowdsourcing translation, however, is completed by real people and therefore has the capacity to be better. After all, people now have access to the internet on their phones. Any crowdsourcing app that provides a fast translation, done by a human, on the go, is bound to be popular. Facebook used crowdsourcing to translate their website from English into French and it was completed within 24 hours. A quick, cheap method to get the job done.

Posting online is useful if you are on holiday and you need to translate a restaurant menu or road sign. However ask yourself, do you really want proprietary information or your business ideas to be spread about the web and read by countless people, all in the name of providing a cheap crowdsourced translation?

Crowdsourcing is a method without quality control. If you do not vet your contributors, you will get hundreds of jokers making useless or profane suggestions. The 2006 General Motors Video Campaign were victims of pranksters when thousands of videos were uploaded showing the Chevy Tahoe SUV in a negative light, with claims such as the vehicle contributed to global warming, it was not a quality vehicle and that it even was responsible for the war in Iraq!

This is a good example of why machine and crowdsourced translations should not be used for anything other than simple translations outside the corporate world. Errors can cost a fortune to put right and may result in disastrous publicity instead of successful marketing campaigns.

The old adage is true: you get what you pay for, and that is why it is crucial to use a professional translation agency. A reputable translation agency will employ native speaking translators that live in the country of the target language, or have lived there in the recent past. Agency translators are not only knowledgeable about the language, but they know about the culture and traditions. They know slang words and colloquialisms.

Translation is not a word for word process, but many well-known companies have fallen into the literal translation trap when translating slogans. You can review ten translated slogans gone wrong. Though humorous, these incorrectly translated short slogans caused the companies involved a lot of money to put right, and loss of face with their customers and competitors.

When localizing your business materials, whether it is a website, a press release, instruction manual or a slogan, you need to be absolutely certain that it has been properly translated. Machine translations and crowdsourcing might be cheap options, but having the peace of mind that your business communication is professionally presented is worth every penny.

Why It Pays to Use a Professional Translation Company

If you have ever used a machine translation tool and have some idea about the target language, you will soon realize that the text is full of flaws and in some cases sounds absolutely ridiculous.

The problem is that most people who use machine translation tools do not have a clue about the language they are translating into and therefore they are not able to differentiate between a good or a bad translation, but they use it regardless because it is free.

Using a free translation tool from the internet is fine for the odd word, but if you are in business, especially a global one, then it will not only make you look unprofessional, but may well be regarded as an insult by the recipient. They will assume that their company is not valued enough to warrant a professional translation and this could harm your reputation and lose valuable clients.

If you are translating a web site, you will not attract much business if the translation does not make sense. You may even find yourself being talked about on one of the social media sites, like Twitter or Facebook. People will not have confidence in your product or service if it is obvious that you do not speak their language.

Translation is not only about changing words from one language to another. A translation should sound completely natural and include any nuances relevant to the target language. This makes the difference between a natural sounding translation and one which does not flow properly because it has not been done by a human.

A reputable translation company or agency employs translators that live in the country of the target language, or have lived there in the past. Agency translators are not only knowledgeable about the language, but they know about the culture and traditions. They know slang words and colloquialisms.

Technical, medical and legal translations can all have dire consequences if the translation is not 100% correct. The translation needs to be carried out by someone who is an expert in the technical, legal or medical field. Therefore it is imperative to use a professional translation agency, which will provide an experienced translator for both the language and the subject matter.

Running a business in a global market means professionalism is a priority, so do not use someone you know personally, who is not a translator, but who speaks the target language. They will not have the experience and they may not have the required level of vocabulary or grammatical skill needed to translate on a professional basis. Professional translators have an arsenal of tools to help them with their work, like glossaries and technical dictionaries, which a non-professional will not have.

A translation agency will give you a clear quote for the work required and provide you with a professional and accurate translation.

In order to ensure that your translation is carried out without delay, make sure that you provide the translation company with the following information:
• The source and target languages – There might be more than one target language.
• The type of translation – Technical, medical, legal, corporate business.
• The target audience – Who will be reading it?
• Where the translation will be seen – Is it a letter, leaflet, white paper, web or is it for internal use only?
• When you want the translation to be completed – The deadline.

You should also be prepared to answer any questions the translation company asks, because the clearer the instructions, the better the translation will be.

Spending the money to have professional business translations will reap the benefits in the future. Your customers will have more faith in your products and services, and you will gain a reputation as a global business which makes the effort to communicate on a professional level, with its customers, clients and colleagues.

Have You Checked Your Glossary Lately?

The mantra for any successful business is, “Think Global, Act Local”. When applying this philosophy any product or service can be taken overseas or offshore and accepted in a culture if appropriately localized. In order for products or services to be relevant in the international arena, a professional translation is required. One telltale sign of a professional translation is the standardization of terms which results in a consistent message and presence. Glossaries and translation memories are the tools utilized to obtain this result. Unfortunately many businesses do not have one standard approved glossary and/ or have many versions and terms floating about without a consistent message.

What is a glossary?

Most professional translators use various translation tools and techniques to achieve the best possible translation of content in the target language, without altering the tone and context.

When translating, professionals use the help of a glossary, which is a set of guidelines and an organization’s specific terms and lingo. Adhering to a glossary ensures consistency in all forms of communication.

It is safe to say that without a well vetted glossary, a translator’s job becomes tricky. A glossary ensures that cost and time of translation is reduced and that the final product is seamless in comparison to the source language.

Getting the glossary ready

Translation is a continuous process as organizations churn out literature and content that needs to be faithfully translated in various target languages. Hence translation glossaries or style guides are essentially important to ensure terms are not literally “lost in translation” and localization is complete.

Many forward thinking organizations have created glossaries for their translation service to utilize. A professional translation service will ensure the glossary is updated with any new terms as well as ensure the organization’s feedback is incorporated in all glossary updates.

Earlier Linguists and translators used to prepare glossaries manually. In order to create a glossary manually with a meaningful vocabulary, multi-linguists had to engage in extensive term searches to pick out all possible organizational terms and standards.

Today, it is possible to extract technologically terms from the source language, without losing continuity and consistency. CAT (Computer Aided Translation) helps in quality control as well as avoiding inconsistency and introduction of new lingo or phrases as translation progresses.

How does it help businesses?

Glossaries help businesses stay consistent across all forms of communique as well as offer repetitive text discounts through translation memory. A professional translation service will ensure a glossary is in place and that a professional linguist is “driving” term use. For instance, words like photograph and picture often mean the same, however have different connotations. A professional linguist will ensure the glossary terms are used in the correct context. Speaking of pictures, another consistent consideration often overlooked are the graphic elements. It is important that the localized versions have the same quality of artwork and images available as the source to have the same look and feel as the original. A business should collect all graphic elements before localization as well as ensure the same logo is used in all literature
The process of creating glossaries should go through extensive validation and review by “in the field” day to day organizational experts and high level management first before final approval. Without a well formulated glossary, it is impossible to achieve the desired level of localization.

Some facts about it

While glossaries need to be complete and all inclusive, it is important to remember that long glossaries that are not regularly pruned and updated are hard to examine and susceptible to mistakes and inconsistent translations. Thus we should ensure that glossaries include only organization related terms, nomenclature and standards.

Glossaries must have both the context and meaning of the terms and should be organized by some reference in order to be easily searchable. Thus a glossary should also be easy to update and modify. A good glossary needs to include a list of not to be translated (NTBT) terms as well. A professional translation service can assist with glossary creation as well as utilizing the best tools in order to update an existing glossary.

Since e-commerce and the internet have influenced the way we do business, translation services and language service providers have become imminent. Several advanced tools and aids are available to ensure that translation and localization are consistent and cost effective. Thanks to well-developed glossaries and style guides, maintaining multilingual business literature and websites is feasible and even highly desirable.

Will you add to your 2014 corporate goals a consistent and organized glossary?

Understanding the Difference between Translation and Interpretation

With the expansion of the Internet, it is increasingly important for a company to effectively communicate with a larger audience to help grow its brand. Technical translation and industry specific interpretation services are in high demand as the bar is raised to convey the advantages of that firm’s product or services to a global market.

What is interpretation?

While interpretation is specifically defined as the action of explaining the meaning of something, in a business model, interpretation actually has a much deeper meaning. The term interpretation, itself, will be interpreted differently from individual to individual, depending on his or her previous experiences, education and cultural background. As a result, interpretation cannot simply be a translated presentation of the information, but considers the receivers’ cultural and social heritage; often involving the use of visual aids and objects that would be more familiar to the target audience. Interpretation essentially requires the presenter to have a keen understanding of the audience and the content’s cultural conversion.

What is translation?

Translation is crafting the written message in the target audience’s language. While interpretation orally conveys the content considering the audience’s cultural thought patterns, translation does not have the flexibility of impromptu social considerations. Technical translation follows a structured protocol to fluently and grammatically impart information in a language different than content’s source language. This is where the art of translation is demonstrated as the mark of an excellent translator is the inability of the reader to know it is a translation.

The process of translation

Though one may think that technical translation is a cold, impersonal one to one correlation, it most definitely is not. Often in technical translation, the translator is a technical writer who has the training to not only repackage the information effectively but has the perception to choose the most appropriate, current terms to connect with the audience.
While there are some machine-assisted translation options, these automated processes do not generally have an audience ready output especially when grammar and cultural sensitivity of the information is important. They will, more often than not, come across sounding like an awkward translation – which may marginalize the message. As a result, human interaction throughout the technical translation process will be seen as essential.

Differences between translation and interpretation

Interpretation is performed face to face or in a real time setting as opposed to technical translation which is edited, scrutinized and reviewed over a period of time. The translator is also able to make use of tools such as reference material, specialized glossaries and translation memories. Therefore the expectations of an interpretation are less rigid than translation, which is expected to be absolutely accurate and correct.

Another key difference between the two is the fact that an interpreter needs to be extremely fluent in both, the source language as well as the targeted language, to effectively interpret the information. Most agencies require a translator to translate text from a source language into his or her native tongue and work with an editor who is also fluent in both languages. The two will work together to craft the text while the interpreter works alone.

All in all, understanding the difference between the services of an interpreter and a translator is an essential part of being able to properly identify your business communication needs.

Does Your Service Language Provider Have “The Right Stuff”?

Translating is not just about rendering spoken words or written text into another language. It is a conversion that keeps the essence, tone, intention, cultural references and other nuances intact. Knowing two or more languages does not naturally qualify a person to become a translator. It is a difficult job and requires specialized skills, especially in cases that require a technical background.

Know What You Need

Word choice is important, especially in the case of translation and interpretation. Many people use these terms interchangeably. However their roles are very different, as translators work with written communication while interpreters handle oral communication. Both play an important role in global businesses and can help businesses expand their audiences. They perform the function of transmitting information accurately and help develop and improve communication with prospective clients from different countries and cultural backgrounds. Ensure you are asking for the right service when selecting a provider. Though someone may be an excellent oral communicator, it does not mean they will be able to craft text in written form. Interpreters have more flexibility working in real time while translators have to be more precise and professionals will work with an editor.

It’s All about Skills

The skills of a translator often are hard to uncover until you are under fire. Though someone may look good on paper, they may not be able to perform under the pressure of a deadline or a particular requirement. This is where the skill of testing and evaluation by an agency becomes invaluable. Good agencies have completed this step according to their quality standards. Ensure your agency includes this important step in their process. What skills should be tested?

• The understanding and knowledge of not only the source but also the target language and their cultural concepts.

• The flair for using reference material like dictionaries, cultural books, literature written in the language.

• The ability to write according to the audience.

• Has the capability of keeping the original essence of the language alive.

• A native speaker able who is able to capture the rhythms and nuances of the language.
• The ability to use translation memory tools and current technology

Having a translator with skills that are tried and true, is a valuable asset to your business. However, finding quality translators in all backgrounds and language combinations can be a time consuming task if you do not have a trusted agency as your partner. Selecting an agency that upholds high translator standards will give you the peace of mind that your localized content was completed with the “right stuff” in mind.

What Does Culture Have to do with Translations

Translation is not a concept in vacuum, but is invariably a culturally mediated notion especially relevant for global businesses targeting new cultural destinations. For instance, if you want to translate English into Spanish, the words and expressions translated must be culturally compatible, because the literal translation may at times sound ridiculous or may not make sense at all.

Need of translating in local languages

Big multinational companies wanting to reach across diverse cultures have indispensable translation needs. While English is pretty much a universal language, companies get their promotional material translated into multiple languages because they need to reach across different cultures and they need to establish a connection with their diverse clients.

So, pretty much every company wants to get the their product brochures and manuals translated from English into Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, French, German, Russian, Hindi, and several other languages. Translation services help in promotional strategies of a company.

The most successful companies are the ones that are not only able to reach the international market, but also to make an impact. Language is one huge barrier in having the right promotional strategy. However, the same language can turn into an asset for a company with right translation service, so the customers begin to understand the products intimately because it is in their mother language.

Avoiding translation mistakes

Translation mistakes can leave you laughing, but could entail enormous loss to the company represented by the translation. Their image could take a beating that may be difficult to retrieve in the short term. Translation mistakes send the wrong message across. It implies that you not only made a half-hearted attempt at translation, but also that you are only after money. Translation from English into Spanish or any other language should faithfully reflect the cultural touch to be meaningful.

The translator should also bear in mind that literal, word for word translation can change the meaning of a message. Often a dictionary may not be of much help in cases involving technical translations. Translators should be aware with regional variations in different dialects. For instance English into Spanish translation of bus is “autobus” but it becomes “guagua” in Puerto Rican version of Spanish.

Literal translation often distorts the meaning to ludicrous extent. For instance, the menu in a Swiss restaurant translated in English claimed “Our wines leave you nothing to hope for”. Surely, all it wanted to claim was their wines are so good that nothing can compare with the feeling.

Dealing with cultural incompatibility

Cultural incompatibility is a frequently faced issue in translations, not just from English into Spanish translation, but almost every translation. Brands and products often move into the other country without a clear understanding of the native culture. Translation of slang is often the most problematic issue. Therefore, translators should preferably be from the same culture where any product is being introduced. In addition, the work they do should pass through several filters before final adoption.

Reaching your target audience in the right way

When you have to reach your international target audience, you need to break the language and cultural barriers effectively. It is obvious that translation plays a critical role in this task. The translation should not appear like translation but direct communication. For instance, your English into Spanish translation should not appear to the native that it is a translation, but they should perceive it as a direct communication from the native company.

A small mistake could be hugely embarrassing, and the connection with the target audience is immediately lost. For instance “Tegro” a fat loss product was about to be introduced in France, when it was discovered that it sounded like “tes’gros” which means you’re fat!

STOP – In the Name of Translation

Converting materials into another language is not just an afterthought. Translation is one of the most important tasks for a global company. Just imagine the negative impact an improperly presented message could create or a late delivery causing a missed shipping date and product launch.. Time and work goes into the best translations, just as it did to develop the English materials. However, given the speed of business today it is understandable that clients want to know how quickly translations can be completed. The answer is summarized in the pneumonic device below to “STOP”

S – Source Material

A translation agency has to consider many factors while translating. The complexity of the material or subject matter is one of the major deciding factors that affects the delivery time of translations. How complex is the source material? Is it technical? Will it require a specialized team? Does it involve software which will require training or capturing screen shots? Is the source material easy to localize or does it have many cultural references that will need to be changed? What format is the source material? Is it in an electronic format? Or just hard copy? If no electronic files are available more time is required to recreate the layout. These are some of the basic questions which should be addressed during the quoting phase to help properly decide the amount time to deliver a quality end product.

T – Tools

The tools used by the translation agency help estimate the time required. Ensure you have a partner who uses all of the available tools and technology to speed work along. Professional translators use translation memory tools and automated glossaries to use established translations and ensure repetitive text is consistent. Please note these tools are not machine translation. They work much like spell check which requires a human to make decisions. These tools speed work along so a translator does not have to spend as much time ensuring consistency and preferred terms are used. Your translator may require less time to complete the translations if the translation memory yields high matches in the quoting phase.

O – Original language

The language of the source material is another factor. For example, if the source is Chinese, Japanese, Hebrew, or Arabic, into another language it will require time to craft the message. Certain language combinations require two translations. One translation is from the primary source to the intermediate language and the other is from intermediate language to the target audience. Even if your original text is in English, if the quality of the English is poor and the message is not clear, it will require more time.

P – Perfect Match

Just because someone speaks or writes another language means he or she is the right person for the job. Don’t place your global message in the hands of one person. Ensure you have a professional, native speaking team with quality checks in place.

So remember when time pressures are upon you:

• Slow down your expectations and give your translation partner a realistic deadline. Human translation is an art and not a one to one science. . Allow as much time as you allotted for the English materials to develop the corresponding translated materials especially if the materials are complex or require extensive formatting.
• Ensure you have a partner who uses technology and tools. This will speed work and ensure consistency as well as repetitive text savings.

• The quickest translations are those by native speaking linguists. They have the expertise required in translating the material ensuring the best outcome.

How Language Service Providers Can Help Your Business

Your business may be doing well in a local market, but then the decision is made to go global. The greatest hurdle in globalizing a business comes from culture and language. The goal of businesses is to connect products as well as services to the clients and buyers in the international market. This is when a language service provider comes in to help make the connection. The company will thrive if it is able to reach a larger audience in their native tongue. The organization can reach its fullest potential only when it makes available all of their products and services to the global market. So, the company will have to consider translating its brochures, campaigns, websites, flyers, and product descriptions in the region-specific language.

Why do you need an LSP?

Organizations may have employees who speak different languages, however they already have tasks including core business functions. Also, just because someone is a native speaker does not mean they have the grammar, spelling and word-smithing skills needed to properly communicate a global message. The employees however have the field knowledge and the day to day vocabulary that would be of great assistance to a professional linguist. Often employees try to tackle a translation task and after much frustration and delays they understand how much a language service provider is needed. Language service providers are experts in their field who understand the unique needs of each client they handle. They work in close association with businesses to ensure the message is masterfully delivered in the target language. When selecting an LSP, ensure you have a partner who can grow with you. You may only need one language now but if your LSP offers many, it will mean less work in the future. LSPs also offer a range of services -from product functionality testing to presentations – be sure to select a partner who can provide any delivery format you will need now or in the future.

LSP helps you localize your business

LSPs not only translate but also help localize. Localization is something beyond translation. It is adaptation of your business communication to ensure the message is conveyed to global audiences. It is not just literal translation but the linguistic equivalent by a native speaker who has a better understanding of the target market. In other words, word choice is critical for cultural implications with a focus on the tone.

It is important to take into account the cultural conformity of the target audience especially when dealing with numbers, times, dates and the counting system of the target audience. For example, you may need to add metric with imperial measurements. Your LSP should use only native speakers to ensure localization is addressed with the translation.

Obtaining high quality translations

Language service providers utilize professional native speaking translators who strive to ensure your translations are accurate and effective. The translators working on your projects should have an advanced degree in translation studies /linguistics or similar fields as not all LSPs are equal. If your LSP has language experts, they know how to maximize the use of language tools efficiently for accuracy and speed to minimize inaccuracies.

In addition, many of these translators have specialized backgrounds or accredited expertise in technological, legal and medical translations. So, if your content is specialized, you should require a higher level of understanding and technical specialization from your LSP.

High quality translations come from highly qualified professionals. The difference between good and bad translations is the difference in the qualification and experience of the translators. Therefore the focus of language service providers should be to match the best translation professionals to your needs.

LSP can help you with its resources and tools

In addition to the quality of translators, the resources and tools available can make a huge difference. The best LSPs ensure that the best translation resources and tools are accessible to their workers. One such essential tool is translation memory, which is intelligent software. It retains terms for consistency and for future reference. Translation memory also enables the client to see discounts on repetitive text over time. If your LSP uses translation memory, ensure review comments and changes are updated in the memory so current terms are used in future work. Also ensure you are able to obtain a copy of the translation memory should you ever need to change providers. Tools like translation memory can reduce the turnaround time, cost and workload.. Resources available to your LSP are also important. If you LSP only has in-house resources this limits their language offerings, turnaround time, and abilities as well as expertise. If your LSP has a network of partners, you will have more resources available for your current and future needs..

Businesses that outsource their translation needs to LSPs are actually making a wise decision that eventually helps them focus on their day to day core business. In addition, they eventually go on to build a program that improves their translated content, saves time and money as well as enhances their presence in the global market.

How Centralizing Your Translations can Help Your Business

The process of centralizing translations involves the localization of large amounts of content to one part of the company. Once you have put all your content in one section of the business, you will find that it is far easier to manage the content and translate it as per requirements. The purpose of changing the language is so that you can allow people from other parts of the world to access your online content easily. Translation companies have to focus on many different projects simultaneously so that this can be achieved.

When you are presenting something on a website, especially when you are trying to market goods and services this way, you will find that you have to allow the end reader to be comfortable. These readers will be your consumers in case your content is business oriented. Also, for the purpose of giving instructions on how to use a certain product, instructions in different languages save many service and other issues relating to ease of use. This in turn guarantees customer satisfaction and repurchase.

Importance of Choosing a Suitable LSP

Language Service Providers, or LSPs in short, refer to those organizations that help provide the translation and localization services. Some of these LSPs however have a drawback that they cannot process large volumes of data at once. Instead, they specialize in single projects. This means that a company will have to tie up with many different LSPs at the same time in order to process all the information that is to be translated and later put on the Internet.

Companies therefore must be careful while they choose the right LSP. If there are such LSPs which manage bulk data then they are the best kind to go for, provided quality standards are maintained. Otherwise, you will have to manage many different and simultaneous tie ups. While this may be slightly difficult, it is necessary.

How does Centralization Work?

Centralization is a process in which you are localizing every project or body of the organization to one single managerial unit. This helps because individual teams get caught up in the work that they are assigned and do not focus on accumulation and delivery of any other project. A business can only run if every single unit is fully functional and is managing to meet all client deadlines.

Putting up content on the Internet can become a messy task because of the large amount of information that has to reach different destinations. This is especially true in the case of translation companies because their main area of expertise is handling data and processing it so that it is of good quality in the eyes of the end reader.

Advantages of Centralizing Your Translations

The reason that most companies prefer centralization when compared to multiple LSP units is because the process saves about fifteen percent of the overall payments that have to be made otherwise. It is quite an efficient system because it uses just a single LSP in the form of a multi-language vendor, or MLV, so that all the localization and translation that the translation company does is done on one platform with different units.

Not only does the process of centralization save companies money, they also cut down a lot on the time taken for the completion of related projects. They manage to do this by simplifying the procedure developed by LSPs and unify the whole thing. While one LSP is complex enough, the use of multiple LSPs is completely unnecessary now that most translation companies are shifting to centralization. The advantages are numerous, which is the reason behind the success of this structure.