Last week’s post talked about globalizing your copy; this week’s post discusses what it means to localize it. There is a difference between translation and localization, and that means you should carefully consider how to prepare your communications for use in another culture.
The word “culture” is key here. There’s a not-so-subtle difference between simply translating a document word-for-word into another language—which machine translation software can do—and localizing it. According to Brian Nichols of Lionbridge, a Massachusetts-based provider of translation and localization services, localization is “the process of adapting Web content and applications for regional — or local — consumption.” To this I would add print advertising, articles, almost anything, really. In his post, Mr. Nichols fleshes his definition out by noting “… localization is about refining your message and curating your brand to meet the cultural, functional, and language expectations of your global markets.”
Seems easy enough. All you need to do is grab an employee from another country and run your copy by her for an opinion, right? Wrong. Localization takes time, focus, and an in-depth understanding of how another culture operates. Of course, Mr. Nichols is making the case for hiring a professional service to do the work for you and in this I fully support him. Simple things can trip you up. Remember the story about the Chevy Nova? Here we all thought it meant “new”—and by extension, exciting—but in Spanish, it basically means “doesn’t go,” which is not a good name for a car.
Mr. Nichols cites the example of the successful “Share a Coke” ad. Coke essentially “transcreated” the ad, which imprinted popular first names on bottle of Coke, meaning it modified execution in certain countries. In China, for example, the ad used category names, such as “classmate” or “close friend” to align with the Chinese respect for the significance of first names.
Localization not only considers the cultural significance of images, word use, societal values, etc. but also pays attention to the way times, date, phone numbers, and such are rendered.
In short, translation should probably be considered the first step in the localization process. Make sure your original document is written clearly and simply. Then hire an experienced language service provider (LSP) to do the rest.
Photo Credit: Sean Pavone — 123rf.com
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