On the localization of products. Part one: where to start?
You have created your own program or game and now you want to sell it worldwide. Most likely, this will require localizing the graphical interface and, preferably, documentation.
Where to start? How to choose the one who will translate? How will the price be formed? This will be discussed in the article of our technical writer Andrei Starovoitov.
First you need to decide on which particular markets you want to enter. From this will depend on a set of languages, which will have to localize your product. If it is difficult to decide right away, then you can start with English - this language is taught all over the world as a universal means of communication. To expand your presence in Europe, you can also consider the main languages ​​of the Old World - German, French, Spanish, Italian.
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If you plan to go to Asia, then, first of all, you need Japanese (many Japanese buyers simply require that the product be translated into Japanese), as well as Chinese and Korean.
After you have decided on which languages ​​you need to translate the documentation, the next important question arises - who will do this?
There are 3 options - regular translators, freelance, translation company. Consider the pros and cons of each:
1) Staff translators:
Pros:
++ such translators, as a rule, know the product well; understand better how it is clearer to formulate a phrase, where you need to translate shorter, and where you can leave the details so that the text is clearer to the user;
++ you will be sure that the texts are consistently translated by the same person; You will be able to manage the process more effectively - correct the translator in case you feel that something is going wrong. In short, such translations will be of the highest quality.
Minuses:
- - Permanent translators must be taken to the state, and this is a permanent salary, social package + workplace - in the aggregate, it will be very expensive.
Conclusion: if you have a big company, and constantly have texts for translation, then you need to get a full-time translator. And if not, then it is worth considering other options.
2) Freelance.
If you need to translate some text (for example, to localize a small game for a smartphone), and you have found a good specialist, then this option may suit you better than anyone else.
Pros:
++ will be relatively inexpensive. How many were asked to translate - for so much and paid.
Minuses:
In the case of a freelance translator, you should always keep in mind the following points:
a) If suddenly there is a peak load before the release and you need to quickly translate a lot of text at once - will it be possible for a freelancer?
b) If you like a specialist, and you will periodically contact him, then at some point, having felt his relevance, he can significantly raise prices for services.
c) When working with a freelancer, it is necessary to carefully draw up and negotiate an agreement - prices for translation; terms of transfer; will this specialist correct the text for free, if you don’t like something in the translation, will any automated translation system be used, and if so, which one; Will you give me a translation memory if you decide to change a specialist.
d) since the freelancer is not particularly familiar with your product, you will have to give detailed comments (especially for texts from the interface) - where is the phrase used, what is translated by the infinitive, and what is imperative, where should be shorter, and where possible, which means or another term and so on. All this must be done so that in the end the translation is of high quality.
Conclusion: if you translate a little and want to save money, perhaps it makes sense to turn to a freelancer - look at the situation.
3) Translation company.
If you have large enough volumes for translation, but with a floating peak load (sometimes a lot, sometimes medium, sometimes a little), then you may want to sign an agreement with a translation company (I’ll just say that we chose this path in Parallels.)
Pros:
++ Such companies, as a rule, have their own staff of translators.
++ You sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), which clearly specifies all points: rights, obligations, prices, terms.
++ Most often, the price in the contract is prescribed for a full range of services. That is, you are assigned a personal manager who will only deal with your company. You need to translate something - send it to him. And he, in turn, will prepare files for translators (I’ll tell you more about this later), decide which translator will take your order, distribute the load, collect questions from translators and convey your answers to them, send you the translated files. In a word, you sent something to translate, and then everything will be decided in a translation company.
Minuses:
- Transfers through such a company will be more expensive than through a freelancer (although cheaper than through a full-time translator).
- As is the case with freelancers, company translators do not know your product and see phrases / text in isolation from the general context. Therefore, to get a high-quality translation, you also have to make detailed comments with screenshots, provide remote access, make a visual video on the product, and so on.
Since we cooperate with a translation company, we pay special attention to this issue, but some of the following can be used in the case of choosing a freelancer or a full-time translator.
Of course, well, if you can recommend someone personally. If not, then Google can find various translation companies, create a short list, and then choose.
When choosing, pay attention to the following things:
1) Translation quality
Be sure to ask to translate something from your subject as a test task.
Of course, it would be good if you had a specialist who could evaluate the quality of the translation.
In principle, you yourself can assess the quality of the translation into Russian (if you make the product in English). Or the quality of translation into English - surely one of your friends / acquaintances / relatives knows English well.
In the case of other languages ​​(especially Asian), you may have to turn to an outsider. You can search through friends or social network. You can try to contact another translation company, but there is one nuance - they can tell you that everything is bad in order to offer your own services.
2) Translation file format
Determine in advance in which format it will be convenient for you to send and receive files for translation (xml, xliff, po, etc.) and specify whether such format is supported by the translation company.
3) Terms of transfer
Specify how long the translation will be on average. Of course, everything depends on the size and complexity of the text, but in any case it is necessary to discuss the time frame, for example, 2-4 days.
At the same time, be sure to clarify whether it will be possible to accelerate in case of force majeure, so that there are no cases when you need to transfer something as quickly as possible for an urgent update, and you are told that according to the contract, everything can be extended for up to 5 days.
4) The minimum amount of words to translate
Specify what should be the minimum volume of words to be translated, at which the price for localization will be formed “per word”, and not at “linguistic hour”. More about the price "per word" and "per hour" we will tell a little further.
5) Price
This is a rather complicated question. When you ask to name the prices for services, you will surely be sent prices for both new words and words that fall under various categories - context match, repetitions, low fuzzy, high fuzzy ...
About all these categories, what they mean, where they come from, how the price is calculated for them, we'll talk in the second part of this article.
In the meantime, try to assess the overall price level in terms of your financial capabilities and the level of comfort with translators.
Sometimes a low price may indicate that the company deliberately dumping, without having in its staff high-quality specialists, and, as a result, provides low-quality translations. But it may be different - the company works conscientiously and at a low price just tries to gain a foothold in the market of translation services. Sometimes it happens that companies have different prices for translations of various categories of words. For example, one company will offer to translate at $ 0.23 per word, and the second at $ 0.21. It would seem that the second will be cheaper, but its translation of high fuzzy matches is more expensive than the first, and as a result the money will be the same, or even more expensive (a detailed analysis of various categories - context match, repetitions, low fuzzy, high fuzzy - will be made in the second part of the article.)
6) Find out how the company calculates the price for the transfer
Ask the company to estimate how much the translation of the text you need will cost, and carefully look at how the quotation is compiled - the price list details.
If you are sent an unpretentious, clearly made on the knee, a Excel table with 2 lines: “there are so many words and the price is such and such” - this is a reason to doubt the seriousness of such a company. The fact is that translators mainly use various CAT tools - automated systems that help to make translations. This does not mean that they make machine translation. Simply, such systems allow you to analyze your files, determine how many new text fragments will have to be translated, and what can be borrowed from previous translations (translation memory), how best to translate a particular term, and so on. After such an analysis, such systems break down the text into categories and, depending on the number of words in each category, automatically calculate the final price for the translation. This approach can significantly reduce the risk of human error.
Below is an example of a similar pricing:
In the next part of the article, we will take a closer look at how interaction with the translation company will take place, what services will be charged for, which categories will break the text that needs to be translated, and how the final price is calculated for the translation.
To be continued...
Where to start? How to choose the one who will translate? How will the price be formed? This will be discussed in the article of our technical writer Andrei Starovoitov.
Step 1 - determine which languages ​​you will translate
First you need to decide on which particular markets you want to enter. From this will depend on a set of languages, which will have to localize your product. If it is difficult to decide right away, then you can start with English - this language is taught all over the world as a universal means of communication. To expand your presence in Europe, you can also consider the main languages ​​of the Old World - German, French, Spanish, Italian.
')
If you plan to go to Asia, then, first of all, you need Japanese (many Japanese buyers simply require that the product be translated into Japanese), as well as Chinese and Korean.
Step 2 - Determine Who Will Translate
After you have decided on which languages ​​you need to translate the documentation, the next important question arises - who will do this?
There are 3 options - regular translators, freelance, translation company. Consider the pros and cons of each:
1) Staff translators:
Pros:
++ such translators, as a rule, know the product well; understand better how it is clearer to formulate a phrase, where you need to translate shorter, and where you can leave the details so that the text is clearer to the user;
++ you will be sure that the texts are consistently translated by the same person; You will be able to manage the process more effectively - correct the translator in case you feel that something is going wrong. In short, such translations will be of the highest quality.
Minuses:
- - Permanent translators must be taken to the state, and this is a permanent salary, social package + workplace - in the aggregate, it will be very expensive.
Conclusion: if you have a big company, and constantly have texts for translation, then you need to get a full-time translator. And if not, then it is worth considering other options.
2) Freelance.
If you need to translate some text (for example, to localize a small game for a smartphone), and you have found a good specialist, then this option may suit you better than anyone else.
Pros:
++ will be relatively inexpensive. How many were asked to translate - for so much and paid.
Minuses:
In the case of a freelance translator, you should always keep in mind the following points:
a) If suddenly there is a peak load before the release and you need to quickly translate a lot of text at once - will it be possible for a freelancer?
b) If you like a specialist, and you will periodically contact him, then at some point, having felt his relevance, he can significantly raise prices for services.
c) When working with a freelancer, it is necessary to carefully draw up and negotiate an agreement - prices for translation; terms of transfer; will this specialist correct the text for free, if you don’t like something in the translation, will any automated translation system be used, and if so, which one; Will you give me a translation memory if you decide to change a specialist.
d) since the freelancer is not particularly familiar with your product, you will have to give detailed comments (especially for texts from the interface) - where is the phrase used, what is translated by the infinitive, and what is imperative, where should be shorter, and where possible, which means or another term and so on. All this must be done so that in the end the translation is of high quality.
Conclusion: if you translate a little and want to save money, perhaps it makes sense to turn to a freelancer - look at the situation.
3) Translation company.
If you have large enough volumes for translation, but with a floating peak load (sometimes a lot, sometimes medium, sometimes a little), then you may want to sign an agreement with a translation company (I’ll just say that we chose this path in Parallels.)
Pros:
++ Such companies, as a rule, have their own staff of translators.
++ You sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), which clearly specifies all points: rights, obligations, prices, terms.
++ Most often, the price in the contract is prescribed for a full range of services. That is, you are assigned a personal manager who will only deal with your company. You need to translate something - send it to him. And he, in turn, will prepare files for translators (I’ll tell you more about this later), decide which translator will take your order, distribute the load, collect questions from translators and convey your answers to them, send you the translated files. In a word, you sent something to translate, and then everything will be decided in a translation company.
Minuses:
- Transfers through such a company will be more expensive than through a freelancer (although cheaper than through a full-time translator).
- As is the case with freelancers, company translators do not know your product and see phrases / text in isolation from the general context. Therefore, to get a high-quality translation, you also have to make detailed comments with screenshots, provide remote access, make a visual video on the product, and so on.
Step 3 - choose who exactly will translate
Since we cooperate with a translation company, we pay special attention to this issue, but some of the following can be used in the case of choosing a freelancer or a full-time translator.
Of course, well, if you can recommend someone personally. If not, then Google can find various translation companies, create a short list, and then choose.
When choosing, pay attention to the following things:
1) Translation quality
Be sure to ask to translate something from your subject as a test task.
Of course, it would be good if you had a specialist who could evaluate the quality of the translation.
In principle, you yourself can assess the quality of the translation into Russian (if you make the product in English). Or the quality of translation into English - surely one of your friends / acquaintances / relatives knows English well.
In the case of other languages ​​(especially Asian), you may have to turn to an outsider. You can search through friends or social network. You can try to contact another translation company, but there is one nuance - they can tell you that everything is bad in order to offer your own services.
2) Translation file format
Determine in advance in which format it will be convenient for you to send and receive files for translation (xml, xliff, po, etc.) and specify whether such format is supported by the translation company.
3) Terms of transfer
Specify how long the translation will be on average. Of course, everything depends on the size and complexity of the text, but in any case it is necessary to discuss the time frame, for example, 2-4 days.
At the same time, be sure to clarify whether it will be possible to accelerate in case of force majeure, so that there are no cases when you need to transfer something as quickly as possible for an urgent update, and you are told that according to the contract, everything can be extended for up to 5 days.
4) The minimum amount of words to translate
Specify what should be the minimum volume of words to be translated, at which the price for localization will be formed “per word”, and not at “linguistic hour”. More about the price "per word" and "per hour" we will tell a little further.
5) Price
This is a rather complicated question. When you ask to name the prices for services, you will surely be sent prices for both new words and words that fall under various categories - context match, repetitions, low fuzzy, high fuzzy ...
About all these categories, what they mean, where they come from, how the price is calculated for them, we'll talk in the second part of this article.
In the meantime, try to assess the overall price level in terms of your financial capabilities and the level of comfort with translators.
Sometimes a low price may indicate that the company deliberately dumping, without having in its staff high-quality specialists, and, as a result, provides low-quality translations. But it may be different - the company works conscientiously and at a low price just tries to gain a foothold in the market of translation services. Sometimes it happens that companies have different prices for translations of various categories of words. For example, one company will offer to translate at $ 0.23 per word, and the second at $ 0.21. It would seem that the second will be cheaper, but its translation of high fuzzy matches is more expensive than the first, and as a result the money will be the same, or even more expensive (a detailed analysis of various categories - context match, repetitions, low fuzzy, high fuzzy - will be made in the second part of the article.)
6) Find out how the company calculates the price for the transfer
Ask the company to estimate how much the translation of the text you need will cost, and carefully look at how the quotation is compiled - the price list details.
If you are sent an unpretentious, clearly made on the knee, a Excel table with 2 lines: “there are so many words and the price is such and such” - this is a reason to doubt the seriousness of such a company. The fact is that translators mainly use various CAT tools - automated systems that help to make translations. This does not mean that they make machine translation. Simply, such systems allow you to analyze your files, determine how many new text fragments will have to be translated, and what can be borrowed from previous translations (translation memory), how best to translate a particular term, and so on. After such an analysis, such systems break down the text into categories and, depending on the number of words in each category, automatically calculate the final price for the translation. This approach can significantly reduce the risk of human error.
Below is an example of a similar pricing:
In the next part of the article, we will take a closer look at how interaction with the translation company will take place, what services will be charged for, which categories will break the text that needs to be translated, and how the final price is calculated for the translation.
To be continued...
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/452794/
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