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That information technology has revolutionized the Arabic translator’s working environment is a fact so obvious that it no longer even bears mentioning. For the vast majority of Arabic translators and their clients, computers have long replaced typewriters and reams of paper. Modems and e-mail have replaced manila envelopes, mass storage devices have replaced drawers full of folders, CD-ROMs supplement dictionaries and encyclopedias, and more recently the Internet and its resources more and more often save us a trip to the library, while various online communities have brought many Arabic translators out of their isolation.
But information technology not only offers us tools. It is itself a field in which more and more Arabic translation work is actually performed. This is certainly true of other fields like marketing materials, packaging materials, advertising copy, and manuals. But in the case of information technology products, it is frequently the products themselves that need to be translated. Whenever a program or process displays a word or a phrase on the screen, this means potential work for a Arabic translator or many Arabic translators.
In an article on a recent market study by Ovum Reports, The Expanding World of Globalization (Language International 9.2 1997), Liza Loughman reports that the total worldwide revenues for globalization-related services will increase from USD 2.8 billion in 1997 to USD 6.2 billion in 2000. Ovum forecasts that Japanese will account for 31% of all Arabic localization service revenues in 2000, up from 18% in 1994, with German falling from 18% in 1994 to 12% in 2000 — which in absolute figures still represents an increase from USD 352 million in 1995 to USD 639 million in 2000 and continues to put German in second place. Relatively smaller slices, but a larger pie. A verylarge pie.
International users
International users of computer software have come to expect their software to “talk” to them in their own language. This is not only a matter of convenience or of national pride, but a matter of productivity. Users who understand a product fully will be more skilled in handling it and avoid mistakes. So they will prefer applications in their language and adapted to their cultural environment.
The international market has become very important for software manufacturers. Many U.S. manufacturers derive a large percentage of their revenues and profits from international sales. Competition is fierce, and those companies who are best at anticipating the needs and preferences of their international users will benefit most.
With the advent of the Web, it has become vital for many manufacturers and distributors to maintain a world-wide presence. For this presence to be effective, it is not enough to simply be there. It is equally important to make sure the message gets across, and once again, that means: Arabic translation.
Arabic localization and internationalization
Internationalization , also referred to as globalization, is the process of designing or redesigning a product so that it can be localized with minimal changes.
Arabic localization is the process of adapting a product, in our context a software program, to a specific locale, i.e., to its language, standards and cultural norms as well as to the needs and expectations of a specific target market. A properly localized product also meets all the legal requirements in force in the user’s region.
Users can interact with a successfully localized product in their own language and in a setting that feels natural to them. This means, for instance, that all messages are in their own language, that they can input names, addresses, dates, and other data in the same way they would write them down on paper, that they can freely use their standard keyboard characters wherever an entry can be made, and that any error messages are comprehensible to them rather than representing American geekspeak. Arabic localization comprises the program itself and any online or printed documentation.
Typically, Arabic localization is undertaken from English into other languages, as most software continues to be developed in the U.S., and even some of the software developed elsewhere is originally developed in English.
Arabic localization is performed by taking the source code for a product developed for one country and modifying the source code and product to satisfy the needs of other countries. Often teams of developers in different countries are needed to adapt products. If the original product is not built with a view toward being localized, this can be a very expensive and time-consuming process. There is the direct cost of multiple development teams modifying the source code of the original product. This process also produces multiple code bases, which makes future development and maintenance more complex.
Plenty of books on Arabic localization and internationalization have been written that are addressed to software engineers, web site designers, and others. Unfortunately, the role of the Arabic translator in the Arabic localization process has, to my knowledge, not been given any specific attention.
Introductions to Arabic localization and internationalization
International Consulting has an instructive overview over Arabic localization and internationalization, including many technical and business aspects.
ILE in Boulder, Colorado, has compiled an interesting document in Adobe Acrobat format that lists a lot of interesting facts about everything that should be taken care of before we Arabic translators see the text to be translated. “This informative guide to product internationalization explores the ways you can develop your software, on-line help systems, documentation and audio that will make Arabic localization as straight-forward as possible. This overview can serve ... as a primer for anyone involved with Arabic localization.” (Note: This document is protected and cannot be printed, only viewed.)
How Arabic localization is usually organized
Arabic translation companies are often chosen to provide Arabic localization. They eliminate the need for companies to maintain expensive in-house personnel. In addition, they offer a broader range of services, technical expertise, and flexibility than freelance Arabic translators and also eliminate the need for the company to manage a large pool of freelancers.
Arabic translators who work on Arabic localization projects are often part of a large and distributed team. Its complex, multi-layer organization poses new challenges to those independent Arabic translators who usually work on neatly delimited projects which they have sole responsibility for. Working on Arabic localization projects is more akin to working in the Arabic translation department of a larger company, only that the Arabic translator does not enjoy many of the benefits of on-the-job training and rapid information flow which characterizes an in-house setting. In actual reality, Arabic translators are expected to have complete command of the tools required for software Arabic localization, know the market and a lot of products, know their own position in the process and workflow, and understand the constraints involved in ever shorter production cycles — all on their own.
It is for this same reason that most Arabic translators working in Arabic localization do so through intermediary Arabic translation bureaus, which are often specialized Arabic localization or “language engineering” companies. The majority of software manufacturers now outsource their Arabic localization activities and maintain only a skeleton team for interfacing with their supplier. These companies, which can be responsible for as many as 10 to 20 languages or even more, will pass the documents on to subsidiary partners in the target countries or directly to freelance Arabic translators, either in the U.S. or overseas. These will typically be some in-house staff, but most of the actual Arabic translation work will probably be done by freelance Arabic translators. It is not even uncommon for corporations to outsource the Arabic localization of their documentation to multiple Arabic translation companies.
Project scheduling
Ideally — marketing managers say — the localized versions will be completed at the same time the original version goes to market. Ideally — Arabic translators say — Arabic localization begins when the software and documentation are finalized. It is immediately apparent that these are irreconcilable demands. In actual practice, therefore, it is attempted to follow a stringent project schedule where Arabic localization is only one step behind development.
Unfortunately, development does not follow a linear schedule; features are developed concurrently with the documentation, and the latter is written, rewritten, and re-rewritten all the time. What Arabic translators get to translate is not infrequently a not-quite-final version of the ultimate product. It would seem that programs should be developed from specifications, and documentation should be developed from, and document, the completed program. We have to know how we translate “Press Enter to continue” in the software itself before we can tell the presumptive user what the program says when we describe the various steps in the online help.
Furthermore, Arabic translation follows a cycle of comprehension. As Arabic translators are virtually never given more than the briefest of summaries of the product specifications (if that!), when it is time to translate the software, we must do a lot of guessing as to what function actually does what and consequently what to call it. Often enough, though, the purpose of a function, dialog box, or command will become apparent to the Arabic translator only when he or she finally gets to the help file that explains it. In this case the Arabic translator may have to go back and change the term that was used in the first version of the software Arabic translation; and it may not even be the same person doing the software and the help, which complicates matters. Too often the software is already “frozen”, that is, ready for production with no additional changes possible by the time enlightenment comes.
One of the attributes that characterize successful and sought-after software Arabic translators is precisely the ability to guess correctly about what a given software string or dialog box or function actually does, so as to avoid having to loop back wherever possible. It is here that experience plays an important role. All software projects should include at least some “old hands.” Software Arabic translations done only by inexperienced Arabic translators usually give away the fact that the Arabic translators did not have a clue. Their experienced colleagues may not have had a clue either, but if they have a feel for their work, often no one will notice.
It may irk those of us for whom quality exclusively means the linguistic quality of the final product, but: there are other aspects to quality, and they do tend to come to the fore in software Arabic localization.To the client, sometimes a linguistically mediocre Arabic translation (craftsperson Arabic translation) delivered on time is much more valuable than a perfect one (artist Arabic translation) that is three days late. Sometimes errors and inelegancies can be caught further down the line, in the various editing steps that (should) follow Arabic translation, but a file that is delayed three days may hold up an entire project and cost the client thousands of dollars in lost time-to-market.
Components of a software Arabic localization project
When localizing software, we are dealing with a number of different file types. The following subsections will present a few selected aspects of frequently encountered file types for the various Windows platforms. I apologize to all prospective Mac localizers, but I have no idea how these things work on a Mac. I am therefore a good example of someone who should not undertake Arabic localization for the Macintosh platform. If you do not know either and cannot find out, neither should you...
Resource files
In Arabic localization, the visible part of the software, the user interface, is usually simply called software per se. In properly developed software, the texts the user sees are included in separate files, the so-called resource files. They contain everything the user is likely to see and that is not created when the program actually runs (at runtime): menus, dialog boxes, error messages, bitmaps, cursor shapes, and so on. Help files are resources, too, but they are usually treated differently.
The following is an example of a very simple Windows dialog box and its representation in a resource file (in a Windows environment this is called an .RC file, where .RC stands for resource compiler).
Areas of Expertise:
Accounting * Advertising / Public Relations *Aerospace / Aviation / Space * Agriculture, Animal Husbandry = Livestock * Anthropology * Archaeology * Architecture * Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting * Astronomy & Space * Automation & Robotics * Automotive / Cars & Trucks * Banking = Finance * Biology (-tech,-chem,micro-) * Botany * Building = Construction * Business/Commerce (general) * Ceramics = Materials * Certificates, Diplomas, Licenses, CVs * Chemistry; Chem Sci/Eng * Cinema, Film, TV, Drama *
Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *
Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *
Economics * Education / Pedagogy * Electronics / Electric Engineering * Energy / Power Generation * Engineering (general) * Engineering: Industrial * Engineering: Mechanical = Mechanics * Engineering: Nuclear = Nuclear * Environment & Ecology * Esoteric practices * Fisheries * Folklore * Food & Dairy * Forestry / Wood / Timber * Furniture / Household Appliances * Games / Video Games / Gaming / Casino * Gems, Precious Stones, Metals = Mining * Genealogy * General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters * Genetics * Geography * Geology * Government / Politics * Graphic Arts = Photo/Imaging * Health Care = Medicine : Health Care * History * Hotels = Tourism *
Human Resources * Idioms / Maxims / Sayings * Insurance * International Org/Dev/Coop * Internet, e-Commerce * Investment / Securities * Iron & Steel = Metallurgy * IT (Information Technology) * Journalism * Land = Real Estate *
Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *
Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *
Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *
Metrology * Military / Defense * Music * Names (personal, company) * Nutrition * Oil & Gas = Petroleum * Paper / Paper Manufacturing * Patents * Philosophy * Physics * Poetry & Literature * Printing & Publishing * Psychology * Religion * Retail * SAP * Science (general) * Slang * Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc. * Sports / Fitness / Recreation * Surveying * Zoology
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