Glossary

Localization & Document Translation Tools

Usually defined as the process of adapting content to meet the linguistic, cultural and technical requirements of a specific target market. If you've developed content or a product in English, the translated version should, to all intents and purposes, not be recognisable as a "translated" product, but appear as one that has been developed in that target market.
This has lead organisations to focus on producing "GLOCAL" content. Derived from a combination of GLOBAL and LOCAL, "GLOCAL" content maintains the corporate branding, image and meaning, but is tailored to the local target market audience as required.

Client Tips: It is important to know exactly what you want in order for your translation partner to deliver.
Localization can often be different from what you expect. One of our recent experiences with a US government agency required text to be localized into various languages. The subject matter was the US tax system - so localization, in this instance, meant ensuring the text was suitable for users already resident in the US.
By using in-country translators we would not have delivered the best translations - these translators would not have been so familiar with US taxation jargon. The solution was to use qualified US-based translators on this localization project.

Translation

Translation is the first step of the translation process. A qualified document translator renders the source text into target language text, taking account of all client and end user requirements including glossary, style guide, character restrictions, end user expectations and delivery format.
Cipherion carefully selects its translators based on their knowledge and experience of specific subject matters. Each translator is a native speaker of the target language, educated to degree level, with a strong track record of translating within their own area of expertise. Equipped and knowledgeable in IT and cultural requirements, they provide only the first step toward our goal of providing highest quality translations.

Client Tips: Source language texts can be translated to achieve different objectives - technical translations need to be accurate and concise. Marketing translations should be punchy and have flair.

Ensure to clarify exactly what type of translation you want: i.e. tell your translation partner how you wish to communicate with your target audience.
Your translation partner should then select the right translators to meet your requirements.

Editing

The second step of the translation process involves a second, qualified translator reviewing and revising the translated text against the source language. This editing step ensures consistency of translations.

Client Tips: More than two translators can be involved in a project, especially larger projects. Time spent on glossary and style guide development can significantly increase the speed of editing and quality of the final text.
Thus for some extra initial cost, you can save time. Saving time ensures you release your product to market earlier. Saving time EQUALS increased revenues.

Proof-reading

High quality translations should always go through a third proof-reading step. The proof-reader literally reads through the translation as if s/he were the end user, checking for any small changes that will enhance the translation.
Tools are often used during this process to speed-up the proof-reading step. Such tools include grammar and spell-checkers as well as automated terminology verification tools.

Client Tips: When you have already taken the time and effort to create valuable English content, it is important to make a similar effort to ensure quality of translations.
Your target audience for the translations has similar high expectations for your translated content. They do not want to be disappointed by the translations. Especially when you have a brand that means quality.

Language Sign-off

The language sign-off step is the final step in the translation process. During this step all outstanding language-related issues are resolved to ensure that once the text proceeds to integration (into an e-learning application, or to a sound studio for recording if text is a script) no further language modifications are required.

Client Tips: Allow and request the translation partner to spend time on this step. You will be rewarded later in the process when the QA phase proceeds without significant hold-ups.
This is a key step in the translation process that can save you both time and money. A good translation partner will take time at this stage, because they know that to skip it will only result in re-work at a later stage.
Many e-learning projects fail to comply with the quality expectations of their sponsors within the initial timeframes. Although re-work delivers on those quality requirements in the end, a more focused approach to language sign-off would avoid allowed this situation to be avoided.
By ensuring that a rigorous language sign-off has taken place, post-engineering language QA can be minimized. Ensure your translation partner is equipped to carry out this sign-off step.

Language Quality Assurance / Language QA

Language QA refers to the quality assurance step carried out on content AFTER it has been re-integrated into its source context. For e-learning applications, this involves running the course in its entirety to ensure the localized version is ready for end use.

Client Tips: Your translation partner needs to be thorough and rigorous during this step. Often, a different team of translators is employed to lend an additional set of eyes to this QA step.
Check to ensure your translation partner can provide Language QA resources on-site at your offices. Sometimes it is more effective to have the language QA resources sitting close to the engineers who are testing the product.

Multi-lingual Desk Top Publishing / Multi-lingual DTP

Multi-lingual Desk Top Publishing involves the re-design of your documentation for translated languages. Normally this involves re-flowing the translated text into the source template (QuarkXPress®, Adobe Framemaker® etc) however it can also involve re-creating images that need translation, re-pagination if translated text has expanded, re-generation of cross-references, Table of Contents and Index.

Client Tips: If you are creating global content ensure to use an application that is localization-friendly. When used correctly, software applications such as Framemaker and QuarkXpress can help to minimize your DTP costs, Pagemaker on the other hand can add to costs.
Direct your content developers re-use as much content as possible from previous versions and ensure to allow for text expansion within document.

Engineering and QA Testing

Engineering and Quality Assurance Testing involve re-compiling the translated User Interface strings, html or help files and testing the translated application to ensure that no language or functional bugs remain.
Very often language testing is integrated into the same cycle, with localization engineers compiling and re-building the software, linguists testing for language bugs, engineers fixing language bugs as well as any functionality bugs.

Client Tips: Proper Internationalization of your application will ensure reduced costs at Engineering and QA Testing stage. Re-building the software or help system can be a straightforward process if your development team has taken care of the main internationalization issues.
Normally, however, over the course of two or three releases, most organisations will get to grips with the full extent of internationalisation. During these first few releases, you need a localization partner that will work closely with your development team to resolve any outstanding issues.
If you can provide your localization partner with test scripts, you are well on your way to saving your organisation significant amounts of money.

On-site QA and Testing Resources

When it is not possible to deliver content for testing to a localization partner, Quality Assurance and Testing resources can be provided on-site to your facilities.
There are various reasons why you may require on-site QA and Testing Resources. Typically for games testing (product security) or large ERP applications (complex test environment), language testers as well as engineering testers will be located next to the development team to bug identify/fix cycles as short as possible.

By bringing resources on-site you can ensure that the QA and testing workloads prior to release can be met without the need to increase permanent headcount.
It is likely that the same QA and Testing resources will be available for the next release of your product, ensuring valuable product knowledge is retained.

Client Tips: All that we need from you is a job specification and details on location where you require our testers to be located.
We have a large panel of testers / gamers who are only too ready to travel, whatever the length of time. We are more than willing to put you in touch with satisfied clients, they will tell you how good our resources are.

Internationalisation

Internationalization is the key step of modifying or building software applications or content to ensure they can handle multiple character sets, currencies, language directions and other cultural or regional conventions.
By investing in the internationalization your product or content, you ensure that it is ready for the localization step.

Client Tips: Although internationalization requires investment of both time and money, it is more cost-effective to ensure the source content or product is ready for localization than to have to fix multiple localized product versions.
Invest in up-front internationalization to ensure a smooth global product release.

Text expansion

Having created content in one language, you now need to have it translated. But as a general rule, the translated text takes up more space than your source text - especially if your source language is English.
Allow for this text expansion in any products or documentation you are authoring - it will save you time and money during the localization process.

Client Tips: If you are creating global content, allow sufficient "white space" around your text to allow the expanded translations to fit neatly into the required area. Remember it takes engineers and DTP-operators time to re-size and fit translated text into confined spaces. Leaving adequate blank space can sometimes save you a significant percentage of layout costs.
Solutions to a cluttered screen include using a reduced font size for translations or spreading the text onto another screen.

Extended characters

The English alphabet has 26 letters and can be represented within the ASCII character set. The Chinese language requires over 10,000 characters. These characters are called extended characters.

Client Tips: If you are creating global content, ensure that the underlying application developers take into account the fact that extended characters will be used at a future date.
Developing software, web or e-learning applications in Unicode will ensure you minimize issues associated with handling extended characters.

Multimedia Engineering

Multimedia engineering is the engineering process of de-compiling an e-learning or similar multimedia product into its components, sending these components for localization, re-integrating the localized components and testing the translated product.
It involves an intricate knowledge of the underlying application (eg Macromedia Director ) as well as the steps involved in the localization process. It takes significant creativity on the part of the multimedia engineers to ensure that the final translated
e-learning product is as good as, or sometimes better, than the original source product.

Client Tips: As part of the development cycle for e-learning products, focus your engineering team to consider how the product can be easily localized. Some key questions for your development team include:

Have all text strings been externalized?
Can the look and feel of the interface be easily modified if it does not suit the cultural requirements of a particular target audience?
What are the engineering implications if it takes longer to say a particular piece of audio in another language?
Is there sufficient space on-screen for text expansion?

Most importantly, you can ensure savings by handing off a comprehensive set of source files, instructions and assets as part of your "Localization Kit".
Ensure your development team are constantly focused on the localization requirements and the localization process will run smoothly.

Web-based

Increasingly, corporate training is taking the form of online web-based learning. Staff members access corporate training materials through their internet browser.

Client Tips: Web-based training needs to take account of the bandwidth and access speeds available to the end-user. Don't overload with video clips and high-resolution graphics.

Story-board Software

Online E-learning courses are developed using storyboard software. The storyboards contain an outline of the information that needs to be contained in the e-learning course.

Client Tips: Where possible, send your translation company a copy of the storyboard in advance of the translation phase.
The translation company can use the story-board to start to identify suitable translators as well as subject matter experts. This can help to shorten the translation timeframe.

Script

In order for the voice component of an e-learning course to be translated, the script, containing text, character names and time-codes needs to be provided to the translation company for script translation.

Client Tips: It is important to ensure your own recording studio keep the source-language (English) script up-to-date. Very often last minute changes to the script can be made in the studio without noting these changes. The script is then out of step with the audio.
This potential pit-fall in the translation process can usually be overcome as the translated scripts are being recorded - but generally results in time delays and increased costs.

Time-code

A sequence of numeric codes associated with a script which describe the start time, end time and length of an audio sequence. The time-code is used to ensure that translated audio is the same length as the source audio - to allow it to be inserted into the translated e-learning application.

Client Tips: Without the time-codes, the sound studio will have to examine every source audio file and record the length of sequence.
Providing a script with time-codes can save you time and money.

Voice over (VO) Training & Voice Recording Software

As well as taking information visually, it is important that a student can hear the message being communicated. The voice over is a recording of the on-screen text using voice recording software - allowing the student to absorb information through an additional sensory channel.

Client Tips: Voice over training can add a significant cost to any e-learning course. It is important that the ROI calculation is completed in advance of budgeting. For key courses, which will have a significant impact on ensuring the business meets its organisational goals - the added cost of voice over should not be shirked.

Voice talent

An actor or person who is capable of speaking clearly and comprehensibly to communicate information as part of an e-learning application.

Client Tips: Ensure your translation partner has selected professional voice talent for your course. Always ask for a sample of the voice and have this sample reviewed by staff in your local offices.
It is vital to take account of cultural norms when selecting suitable voice talent for your course as the choice of talent can have a significant influence on the end-user reception. Use the knowledge of local staff to assist in this selection process.

Sub-title

Instead of recording a target language version of the source language voice over, text or sub-titles can be added to the e-learning application. Sub-titles generally summarize what is being said - allowing the target audience to capture the main points of what the speaker is saying.

Client Tips: For an e-learning application, sub-titles are not recommended since they do not optimize the learning experience.
Sub-titles can be suitable for use on corporate videos where an important message (CEO, CTO) needs to be communicated world-wide. In these cases, optimizing learning is not a key factor.

Dubbing

Dubbing involves inserting a new soundtrack, often a synchronized translation, of the original dialogue into the e-learning application.
Unlike a voice over, the original voice is replaced and only the translated soundtrack is heard.

Client Tips: This option is not often used for corporate e-learning courses due to cost. However, when ROI or target audience needs are considered, it may sometime be required.
Usually used in film industry.

Lip-synchronization / Lip-sync

A more sophisticated form of dubbing where the sound-track is modified to ensure that the actor's lips and the voice match.

Client Tips: Usually used in the TV and film industry.

Subject Matter Experts (SME)

Since most e-learning courses are tailored for a specific target audience, it is important to ensure that the translated course is accurate and specific for the target audience.
Subject matter experts are involved in translation and also in the final language QA steps of the e-learning courses. These experts act as beta-testers, ensuring the e-learning course is as effective and accurate in the target language as in the source language.

Client Tips: Always ask your translation company for the credentials of the SMEs they plan to use.
Where the course is particularly specific or complex, request multiple SMEs to review the course and provide input. You are thus guaranteeing your investment in your translations.

Podcasting

Podcasting is the distribution of audio or video files, such as radio programs, expert opinions or music videos, over the Internet usually using an RSS feed for listening on mobile devices and personal computers. A podcast typically features one type of "show" with new episodes appearing either sporadically or at planned intervals - daily, weekly, for example.

Client Tips: Podcasting is rapidly becoming popular as an effective means of communicating key information to select target audiences. Sales teams can regularly download podcasts to keep themselves updated with latest organisation information.

SCORM

The Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) is a set of standards that produces small, reusable learning objects. SCORM-compliant courseware elements can be easily merged with other compliant elements to produce a highly modular repository of training materials.

Client Tips: Ensure your e-learning developer develops course to SCORM standards.
The developer should also ensure that the E-learning translation phase will deliver SCORM-compliant courses to you.

Learning Management System (LMS)

A Learning Management System, or LMS, is an application that automates the administration of training events. Many large organisations have an internal Learning Management System that allows them to store all training courses, records and training data in one central repository.
E-learning and training records stored in the LMS are generally accessed through web-browser. The LMS allows the HR department, as well as individual staff members, to manage learning and development.

Client Tips: There are many LMS systems available on the market. Choose the one that suits your organizational needs. Most top e-learning courses will integrate with the main LMS systems.

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