You may be familiar with the concept of translation, which is the literal rendering of a word from one language into another. Translation is a simple concept, and while it can be helpful for some projects and content types, localization is what makes your content come alive.
Simply put, language localization is the adaptation of content to the target language’s culture. Because words help to bridge cultural divides and build global connections, proper localization is needed in addition to translation to make the content look and feel natural to the reader.
Localization services cater to a wide variety of cultural differences worldwide, including a locale or specific region’s customs, history, and societal preferences. Localization is meant to be invisible - simply because the goal is to make the reader feel as if the content was written for them. If a reader can notice that the content has been localized, then it hasn’t been done correctly.
Natural, culturally-relevant content is the goal, so compared to translation, localization requires a much more comprehensive workflow. Here’s a quick intro to Language Intelligence’s Localization process.
Step 1: Requesting a Quote
Start off your translation and localization journey by getting in touch with a member of our team. Our in-house, USA-based localization project managers are here to talk to you about the specs of your project before it is sent to a linguist. They will gather relevant information about the project, complete a source review to ensure the content is ready for translation and localization, and then determine an appropriate workflow and timeline, and send you an itemized quote.
Step 2: Two-Step Translation/ Localization and Edit Process
Our ISO-certified translation and localization services involve at least two separate linguists working on your project. We only work with in-country, native-speaking linguists, each with specific experience in your industry. And we’re sure we can meet your language requirements- our team includes over 400 linguistic professionals who are native speakers of more than 150 languages.
Each project will start with one linguist completing the translation and localization of the content. After they are done, the content will be reviewed by a separate linguist to edit and ensure accurate and culturally-relevant translations.
Step 3: Multilingual Desktop Publishing Services (DTP)
Your content is more than just words on a page, and if you don’t adapt the presentation of your content, your message may be compromised. That’s because different languages and locales use different numbers, words, and characters to express the same idea, making it extremely important to localize your content from locale to locale so the message stays consistent.
After your content has been translated and localized, our experienced DTP team will take a look at your content. If needed, we’ll adapt your message in multiple different ways, including:
Adjusting your left-to-right text into right-to-left languages like Hebrew and Arabic,
Modifying layout designs into languages that may be longer or shorter than English,
Ensuring images, color use, and graphic elements are culturally appropriate,
Aligning images with character-based text.
Step 4- In-Country Collaboration (ICC)
Sometimes, a client would like to have a native-speaking employee review the localized content before final delivery. We encourage this step, as it creates an additional quality assurance step within the localization process. Typically, the employee will look at the translated content and offer any suggestions in regard to company-specific messaging, tone of voice, and/or branding that the linguist may not know of.
We even have a proprietary tool, intellireview®, which helps to streamline cross-country collaboration. You will receive the translated content right in intellireview®’s cloud-based platform, and it can be sent to your team member by a secure link. You can track changes, and communicate with the project managers and linguists on your team in a secure web environment.
Step 5- Delivery
The last step in the process of localization is our favorite- delivery! After the in-country collaboration, your dedicated project manager will perform a final quality assurance step of your content. We’ll ensure the content is complete and matches your project specifications exactly as you’d like them.
Once your content is delivered, your content will be all set for global distribution.
For more information on our localization process, head here, and get in touch with our team! We’d love to hear from you.