Gammelfleisch
Given the recent international warnings concerning Irish pork, Gammelfleisch is my new favorite word of the month. Roughly translated, the word refers to suspect meat that’s past its sell-by date. It’s kinda still edible, at your own risk sort of thing, and definitely not in the spirit of EU consumer legislation.
I learnt about Gammelfleisch from some attendees at a recent localization conference in Dublin. Gammelfleisch was in the news in Germany during the year because of the Gammal-Skandal there when dodgy meat was supplied to kebab restaurants.
Seems like German kids are now using the term to describe people older than themselves, and a get together of such old fogeys (anyone over the age 30) is known as a Gammelfleischparty:
At best they resemble the worst wedding reception disco you have ever been to, with dozens of people dancing like your drunken uncle to tunes from the dark ages.
Gammelfleischparty is now the German youth word of the year, and I’m told that Ü30 (for Über-30) is another good German term used to describe the same scene.
So, now you’ll have something to talk about at the office Christmas party...
Ireland's Localization Business Hasn't Changed At All
I got a good laugh when I heard that a picture of myself downloaded from the Facebook Microsoft WPGI Alumni group was used as part of a presentation given at a localization conference to Dublin today to help explain how Ireland’s localization business has changed and what it will look like in the future.
I should tell those presenting and in attendance that, except for changing my hair color to reflect that of the local culture, I haven’t changed at all since that photograph was taken of myself in 1993, and I’ll look just as young in another 15 years.
Unlike some. I must get on to my agent.
Muslim Virtual World Launched
A trial version of Muxlim Pal, an online virtual world aimed at Muslims, has been rolled out.
It’s described as:
Muxlim Pal is the first Muslim virtual world providing a new kind of family friendly social online environment for your entertainment.
The values of the site include an absence of sexual and profane material, references to violence, drugs, and so on, not only out of respect for Muslim values, but also to make the site more family-friendly.
The community guidelines say that “a wide variety of non-religious and religious content including discussions, polls, videos, images, files, audios, debates, praise or constructive criticism are welcome.” and that “everyone is welcome to express their faith and lifestyle in their own way. We only ask that you express yourself with sensitivity and respect towards others and the community.”
The Muxlim Pal folks say:
The community believes that a welcoming attitude and transparent communication creates better understanding between people.
Can’t argue with that. The Muxlim Blog has more information. If anyone wants to check out the localization and cultural aspects of Muxlim Pal by signing up, then we’d love to hear your comments.
Learn language with bears
Well, not exactly, but this flash card widget might be a fun addition to your web page.
The Language Bear website offers language flash cards in the form of web page widgets. These are available in French, Italian, Spanish and the Japanese shown below:
Created by Tim Johnson as a personal study tool for foreign languages, he decided to share the widgets with the world. The flash cards offer several hundred words per language, and allow you to pick either a category or a word type, or select ALL categories and word types for random study.
PayPal in Trouble for Mixing Up Vikings with Australia
We mentioned PayPal before. More trouble this time, as the family of the Aboriginal inventor and writer, David Unaipon, pictured on an Australian $50 note, have called on PayPal to pull down its “degrading” and “disrespectful” ads that use a doctored picture of the man.
It seems that PayPal launched an campaign in Australia, using ads that have images of the $10, $20, $50 and $100 notes with motorcycle police helmets added on the characters depicted to suggest PayPal has heightened security for its users.
The Sydney Morning Herald tells us:
Well-known Aboriginal activist Allan Campbell and his brother John, great-nephews of David Unaipon, who is pictured on the $50 note, were shocked to learn their uncle’s image had been used in that way.
and
“It is very disrespectful because for a start no Aboriginal people have a helmet - we’re not bikies and we’re not Vikings,” said Allan, 61, from Murray Bridge in South Australia.
In defense, PayPal say it’s perfectly legal. But I agree with TechCrunch - that’s missing the point.
Just because it’s legal in a country doesn’t mean it won’t be be culturally offensive. Or right.
Accents
No, not diacritics. How people sound. I’ve just read Jakob Nielsen’s latest alert American English vs. British English for Web Content. There’s a section called “Spoken English.”
This includes the remarkable observation about “Irish” being a regional accent of the United Kingdom that should be avoided because, like Scots, Welsh, and Northern English, it’s “hard for foreigners to understand.” As for “Midwestern or Northeastern American accents” having “less of an upper-crust connotation,” well, obviously Jakob has no consideration for the impact such a comment can have on the price of real estate in New England.
Oddly enough, some of those very accents appear to be very reassuring in some cases, according to some research, and if you’re in the financial services industry, Scottish accents in particular seem to do the trick.
Of course, not having an accent myself, I’m no expert ...
DITA: The Obama of Global Content?
Is Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) the answer to all our content globalization problems? On its own, no. The big issues remain fundamentally the same as before. Yet, that’s not the impression we’re often given when out shopping for solutions, but rather a switch to DITA will somehow solve issues of cost, quality, content in every language. But then, most of us have yet to come across a vendor who wouldn’t say, “Yes, we can” (for a price) either, have we? Here’s my analysis…
Time and time again there’s a claim that the use of DITA leads to big translation savings, better content quality to translate, easily delivered content in every language and so no. Usually, the use of DITA is positioned in this context along with the use of some content management systems that are then plugged into various localization workflows.
This kind of DITA globalization solution stuff has been kicking around for 4 or 5 years now, and various “out of the box” solutions are pushed by various vendors. Of course, people have solutions to sell, white papers to post, and PowerPoint Karaoke to rehearse for the next localization conference, but all this touching faith in DITA per se from solutions vendors needs to be challenged.
Perhaps think about the following issues and questions when you’re considering a DITA globalization solution:
* If you have existing content, including translated material stored in a CMS or in TMs, especially content created from a non-structured environment, then how do you migrate to DITA? What about internal tags that might be stored in TMs? How does a format-based content creation system map to a structured environment? What for example would you map the STRONG or B element in a format-based HTML environment to in DITA land? Or an heading level 5 equivalent in RTF? Oh, and can we see a large-scale solution please? Not one based on the translation of a couple of hundred of pages. Anyone who has been involved in these migration projects knows that it is not a trivial undertaking - even with customized tools. Sorry folks, no out of the box solutions there.
* Why would DITA reduce word count, as has been claimed, if you can still write as much content as you like, in any way you like? Just like in any other environment, structured or otherwise, you need to establish authoring rules, educate about them, enforce the rules and then measure the resulting volume and re-use. DITA on its own will not help.
* Why does it improve content quality? It cannot. DITA is about structuring content, not QA of that content. You need manual or automatic review tools or a combination of these. Just like any other authoring environment you need a process for this. The tools and processes that might - like controlled authoring - work on the same principles as non-DITA content.
* Why does DITA make product globalization easier - “content in any language”? Just because you can structure your content does not mean the rendering of that content is automatically provided for. In fact, the two issues - structure and formatting are deliberately separate. So, think about how your ability to render your XML content as Arabic PDF using XSL-FO (a little more complicated than CSS) or whatever. Why would using DITA make such rendering easier than if you used any other flavor of XML to write simple topics? As far as I can see there are a good few DITA pushers out there who simply haven’t a clue about rendering in this regard. Oh, and how does DITA solve the old problem that nobody wants to address (and I’ve been asking about for 10 years) - the automatic and correct alphabetical sorting of localized content such as online and print indices, glossaries, and so on?
* What is the relationship between DITA and the ITS and XLIFF? Do you translate DITA directly? If not, why not?
* How do you address the problem of topic-based authoring from a translation viewpoint? If you’re translating piecemeal, then obviously there is less overall context, so what happens when you assemble it using a bookmap? At lower granularity, the use of DITA element names like step or shortdesc don’t help that much (particularly if they content they’re supposed to express bears no relationship to the element name - oh, but that problem exists in any XML environment).
* Translation rules - with the exception of some best practices from Joann Hackos and the DITA translation subcommittee (practices that I rarely see cited) - has anyone considered the potential translation problems of conrefs and the challenges of indexing topic-based materials with keywords? There are other areas too. Even conrefs at the paragraph levels present challenges for translation.
* What translation tools support DITA out of the box (I mean non-specialization)? When I last checked the leading tag-editing tool couldn’t do it, and required faffing about with INI files and so on to cater for the different non-specialized topic solutions of DITA. Plus, if there is any specialization of the DITA DTD or schema, then even if there was an out of the box solution, content authors would still need to tell content translators what those XML elements and attributes really meant. Er, just like you did years ago with HTML too…
* Most importantly, will DITA speed up the arrival of my economic stimulus check from the IRS?
So, is anyone up to the challenge of addressing these issues? Asking the questions, and demonstrating the answer for real?
Global Product Naming
Listen up, people. Global Product Naming 101.
Firstly, coming up with something called “Sweet Lord” chocolate Jesuses is not universally acceptable. In fact, tasteless (the name, not the chocolate presumably) to some.
Secondly, “Chinese Democracy” is not a great name if you’re trying to shift units of your latest album in a big market in Asia (I shall reserve comment about the sensitivities of any culture that expresses a fondness for Kenny G.).
By the way, I discovered the real reason for the name “Jesus Phone” today in Ireland - 569 Euros (735 US dollars) for an iPhone.
Best steer clear of religion and politics, I think (being Irish, I should know)
Amo, But Not A Mass,...
I’m a regular reader of DCU (an establishment that localization folks should know well) President Ferdinand Von Prondzynski’s blog “A University Blog: The diary of a university president.” It’s the best “catch-all” blog coming out of Ireland, in my opinion. Perhaps I am biased, as the author is a former lecturer of mine from my Trinity College Dublin days and I always enjoyed not only his teaching, but his opinions on all manner of subjects. It’s so refreshing to come across a blog writer who can actually write.
Today, the blog posting laments the loss of the Latin language as a taught subject in schools and other educational establishments. I totally agree. I would love to see it restored. A knowledge of Latin (I studied it in high school) helped me to understand the origin of many words in many languages, encouraged me to read more widely, and to develop my writing ability.
For a while, it looked like the success of the book “Amo, Amas, Amat...”, reinforced by the utterances of “brainy” celebs such as Stephen Fry, might spearhead a revival of interest and use of the language amongst the populace, but that promise now seems to have disappeared.
In Ireland ‘though, usage of Latin on a small scale remains popular with Roman Catholic mass-goers, and I regularly see large numbers of devotees attending Latin mass around the corner from me in Dublin. There is even an Irish Latin Mass web site. However, on the whole, the language is dead in Ireland and other countries as far as the majority are concerned.
Perhaps other readers of Blogos have an opinion?
Google Reader: Blogs in Any Language
The Google Reader team have announce a feature whereby you can easily translate any subscribed blog into your language.
MAKE has more information.
So, now you have no excuse for missing that all-important news item, opinion, or comment anywhere!
South Asia Languages Resource
South Asian languages your thing? Then check out the Digital Dictionaries of South Asia Project.
About:
The Digital Dictionaries of South Asia Project is a collaborative effort to widen access to South Asian Language Dictionaries. Established dictionaries for each of the twenty-six modern literary languages of South Asia will be mounted on the web for free and open access.
Hat tip: Daniela.
iPhone International Features and Apps: IMUG
According to Larry Ellison’s expectations (never wrong), mobile devices will be the next major computing platform. So, As I am in the Bay Area, and the subject is a popular one on I18n and L10n blogs like this one, I thought I push the forthcoming related event at IMUG: iPhone International Features and Apps.
Lee Collins, Deborah Goldsmith, and Chuck Soper will present on multilingual support for the iPhone, the development perspective on such support, and getting localized apps onto the App Store.
Location: Apple Computer, Apple Campus, 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino
Date: 20-November-2008
Not to be missed.
I am not in the office at the moment...
Several people have now sent me this daft story from Wales about the officials who asked for the Welsh translation of a road sign by e-mail and then thought the reply - in Welsh - was what they needed. They promptly put up the sign. In fact, the reply was an automated out-of-office e-mail message.
So, instead of a sign warning heavy goods vehicle drivers about a residential road, the public was treated to a large display of “I am not in the office at the moment. Please send any work to be translated” in Welsh.
You can read more about the story here.
That’s what you get when you welsh on the translation budget (groan).
TXT+100%+ Expansion: A Question
Perhaps some of you can help me. I read recently about a Swedish student, My Svensson, who won a competition by taking only 61 seconds to type a 141-character SMS message.
Apparently, her winning text was:
Ok, skriv fort nu. Fortare! D1a går för långsamt. Stavas långsamt så?Hinner inte titta, måste bli klar. Snart, bara 1 ord till.
Klar!
I’m no expert, but that doesn’t look very text-speak to me (I can’t imagine any Irish teenager SMS texting 141 characters in one message - for any reason). Is it? In Swedish?
How much longer is that phrase than the equivalent text-speak localization into English? Do other languages have text-speak or is it largely used for “imported” English words?
No. There’s no prize for the answer.
Back to School Time! Here's Some Reading...
With a timely release for the oncoming academic year and conference season (though you can enjoy it regardless of whether you’re an MBA student or not) me old mate from Silicon Valley, Dr. E. S. Wibbeke (whom some of you might remember as the Eileen from Web of Culture) has just published a timely new book called Global Business Leadership.
The book is now available from Amazon.com, and like all the best it has an accompanying web site: http://www.globalbusinessleadership.com
No less a culture expert than Geert Hofstede says about the book:
One of the pernicious problems of globalization is that leadership exists only in the eyes of the followers - and followers are always local. Dr. Wibbeke undertakes the immensely important task of preparing American businesspersons for their culture shocks in trying to lead abroad.
It’s brilliant to see yet another person you know in the industry striking out like this, doing what they love with such passion, and then seeing their efforts come to fruition in material form. I’m looking forward to reading this (I’d better since I took part in the research survey).
An inspiration to us all, I must get around to writing my own book shortly (ahem).
Kraftwerk: No Localization Needed
I went to see Kraftwerk perform in Dublin a few days ago. A brilliant event. Four middle-aged German guys with Sony VAIO laptops making the most amazing music, accompanied by a fantastic video show. Perfect. However, I doubt that any other modern band could do what Kraftwerk do so well, moving seamlessly across borders with the same show.
Now if you’ve ever been to a rock concert in Ireland, you’ll know the visiting band usually attempts some form of cultural customization, whether its “Hello, Dublin”, “Ireland, You’re Great” banter, the waving of tricolors, dancing of hokey Irish gigs, sometimes unfortunate references to the North of Ireland/Northern Ireland, sequed performances into “Danny Boy”, and a bunch of other stuff that would make Darby O’Gill and the Little People look like the paragon of cultural sophistication.
Not Kraftwerk. They came on, played for nearly two hours. And left. Passed not one comment. Did “Tour de France” include images of Irish cyclists Seán Kelly or Stephen Roche? Was there an explicit campaign comment made about Sellafield (British nuclear plant polluting the Irish Sea) during “Radioactivity”? No. Nothing. Were the robots painted green? Come on.
Ralf Hütter (and the Kling-Klang technology) “sang” songs in English and German. They showed English, German, Japanese and French language on screen, and a host of global images the same way they would in Asia, Europe, or America. And the lack of “a bit of Irish” detracted not in in the least from the power of their sound and vision. In fact, it was better without it.
And that’s the way it should be. Perhaps it’s the nature of the Kraftwerk sound and image to be culturally agnostic (’though nobody is in any doubt that they’re German), but I can’t help feeling that when you’ve such a brilliant presence and offering that works worldwide, then leave it alone - whatever the rest of them do.
Invading Italian
Nick Squires in Rome reports for Telegraph.co.uk that Italians are using—and stressing—about the growing incursion of Anglo-Saxon words and phrases into everyday use.
From ‘il weekend’ to ‘lo stress’ and ‘le leadership’, Italians increasingly sprinkle their conversations with English terms, some of them comically mangled and bizarre sounding to a native English speaker.
‘Baby parking’, for example, is a child care center or nursery.
A ‘baby gang’, on the other hand, means a group of young criminals or hoodlums.
As with the French and their use of Franglais, Italians sometimes throw in English words to appear worldly and cosmopolitan, and at other times to describe things slightly alien to the Italian mindset, from ‘il fitness’ to ‘il full immersion training’.
But now a cultural guardian of the Italian language is saying ‘basta!’ – enough.
The Dante Alighieri Society, a less strident equivalent of France’s Academie Francaise which promotes Italian culture and language around the world, has called on Italians to reject Anglo-Saxon linguistic imports, ‘Anglitaliano’, and return to the true lingua italiana.
Over the last four months the society, named after the Florentine poet Dante, author of The Divine Comedy and regarded as the father of the Italian language, asked visitors to its website to nominate their least favorite Anglicisms.
The results judge the ugliest imports to be ‘weekend’, ‘welfare’ and ‘OK’, followed by ‘briefing’, ‘mission’, ‘know how’, ‘shampoo’ and ‘cool’.
The worlds of business and politics contributed alien words from ‘question time’ to ‘premier’ and ‘bipartisan’.
Some English words that escaped the wrath of the society’s correspondents include ‘sexy’ and ‘webmaster’—but ‘water’, short for water closet or lavatory would give me pause.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2712197/Italians-vote-for-ugliest-English-words.html
So, will you take that as a problem in grande or venti?
Commonsense 2.0 in Poland
Those of you who cringe at those sad people so keen to embarrass themselves in New York, San Francisco, Dublin, or London by being shown in the media as a “first” iPhone purchaser after waiting outside the store for a significant percentage of their life to buy the thing will be heartened by this bite of reality from Poland.
Seems like Orange in Poland (the carrier for the iPhone there) has had to hire professional actors to stand in the queues outside stores before the launch.
Now this could be due to a number of reasons: economic conditions/marketing mismatch in trying to position the “Jesus“ phone in a country that takes its religion seriously/difficulty in finding somebody in Poland who doesn’t have a job/life/partner/clue what a “pub” is…
Speaking of those who walk on water, I haven’t enjoyed a story so much since the collapse of U2 sales in Dublin. The guilt!
And Now For Something Completely Different ... Comic Books
Google have released their new Chrome browser. Nice and simple, ‘though I won’t be switching to it as my main browser for a while yet. I’ll be sticking with Firefox.
That said, I was intrigued by the documentation that comes with it.
See for yourself at: http://www.google.com/googlebooks/chrome/#size=small&page=4
I really like the approach at getting the message across and challenging the accepted notions of user assistance that comes with these kind of products. Good job.
But I wonder how it will fare in translation? Can it be exported to SVG? XLIFF? Can SDL Worldserver do it? Or “volunteers”? Or will there be a different version for the international versions (there should be an alternative version for accessibility anyway)?
How novel (groan)...
What’s lost? Who will even know? (comment on botkin entry)
Of all that is being lost in turmoil and conflict in the Caucasus right now, this has to break a linguist’s heart. Is there hope that someone somewhere has been working with this? Or the other 40-plus languages of the region?
Once again thanks to The New York Times and John Freivalds () August 24, 2008
The World: Barriers That Are Steep and Linguistic By ELLEN BARRY: To understand the conflict in Georgia, listen to how people speak in the Caucasus.
“A language is the prime indication of the existence of a people,” said George Hewitt, a University of London scholar of Abkhaz, the language spoken in Abkhazia, another separatist region of Georgia. “If a language dies, the culture dies as well. The people will become assimilated.”
One more question to be answered in the calm that comes after the end of fighting: Caucasian expert Dr. Anna V. Dybo at the Russian Academy of Sciences has yet to hear from a library in Tskhinvali, which held a magisterial lexicon of the Ossetian language that was compiled over the course of many years. It’s a single manuscript, never transferred to a computer.
She is not sure, she said, but she thinks it burned up on Aug. 8.
“She is not sure. . . .”
War, language and the tower of Babel
Previous to Russia re-asserting herself over the Georgia provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, I can’t say I knew much about Georgia. When I lived in Normandy a few years ago, I would run into a fellow from Georgia at the rock climbing gym, and he was nice enough to teach me the French rock climbing terms (He was very careful to explain that he was from Georgia, the country, not Georgia, the state—so as not to whip me into a frenzy at meeting a fellow American far from home, I suppose). That was about as much direct exposure I’ve had to Georgian culture, language, heritage, you name it.
But it seems that the ungoing Georgian struggle is a very old tale—besides talk as to whether it’s spurred on by greed for oil, greed for power, or greed for land, the New York Times hints that a lot of it —some of it— originally— is linguistic. As the Rhineland was linguistically different than France, so the would-be independent provinces are linguistically different than the rest of Georgia. As the former Yugoslavian region was divided by language, so is the Caucasus.
As with English in the new World, as with Normans in Saxony, as with Saxons in the Celtic lands they conquered—to overcome a place or a people is to bring new language or force two differing systems together; to rebel is to speak the ancient or traditional one. Being as old as language itself, this is not something that is easy to solve.
Linguistic Paranoia
Kudos to Nataly Kelly of Common Sense Advisory, whose recent editorial submission to the Boston Globe, Caught in the grips of linguistic paranoia, was picked up by The Week.
Why are other languages so threatening to us monolingual Americans? I think it is a testament to the power of language. I lived in South Africa for a while in the early 1980’s and saw first-hand how languages can be used to control parts of the population. It is not a pretty site.
But if language is so powerful, why don’t we tap in to that resource? It takes effort, especially in a country that can be rather insular. Kelly suggests: “Accepting that we are a multilingual nation is a challenge, because it requires looking beyond our borders and outside our comfort zone.” She follows with: “The only solution? Know thy enemy.”
I submit that if we study our enemy’s language, we may find a friend. Or at least someone we can live peacefully beside.
Across thinks large
Do you remember the vehicle ad campaign in the early sixties “Think Small”? It was a great campaign to catch the American market’s eye for the tiny Volkswagen Beetle. And it worked. VW Beetles may be small, but the company is anything but that. With nearly 10% of the global automobile market and 49 production sites, Volkswagen produces Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT and Skoda in addition to the VW line.
Along comes Across. With their Language Server, Across is making major inroads in the market as an independent technology provider, just when we thought that was a difficult thing to do. And a major inroad was announced last week: Volkswagen is going to implement Language Server from Across Systems, GmbH.
Just three years ago, we received press releases about how TRADOS was being used at VW and now VW is changing over. Is this a blip on the screen? An anomaly? Judging by other recent announcements from Across, I think not. They are evidently thinking large.
MySpace and Facebook: Lessons from Japan
Good article on techcrunch.com called Taking social networks abroad - Why MySpace and Facebook are failing in Japan reminds us not to get too caught up in all this Web 2.0 hype and remember some localization and internationalization basics.
Issues like cultural misalignment, lack of localized features, dismal translation quality, wrong platform emphasis, and more, are all covered. For example, the writer, Serkan Toto laments the lack of optimized versions of MySpace and Facebook for Japanese mobile users:
Millions of Japanese are accustomed to using one thumb, a dialpad and a jog dial on their phones when accessing the web during their commutes to school and work. In this country, the mobile web is bigger than the PC web.
And again, we hear about the presence of a local offering that’s holding its own: Mixi
Mixi, the country’s biggest social network, positioned itself as a tool for communicating at a distance through diaries and communities to meet like-minded members. It doesn’t primarily exist to make new friends (poking is restricted) or as a platform for public self-presentation.
A basic reading of the Pew Internet and American Life Project tells us that American boys and girls don’t even use social networking the same way, so why would people in different countries be expected to behave the same, without even a pause for thought?
Why companies continue to make such mistakes amazes me.
KQED Forum: Operation Falcon
Last week, San Francisco’s KQED covered the case of translators who worked for the U.S. Military in Iraq and Afghanistan and who are now trying to emigrate to the United States.
I know this is a subject close to many of your hearts (including Laurel’s), and you can listen to the entire program here.
The discussion centers on Haitham Jasim, one such translator, who has now moved his family to San Jose, and introduces us to Operation Falcon, a non-profit devoted to bringing translators like Jasim to the U.S. The phone-in section includes the concerns of citizens of the U.S. struggling in a declining economy, so it’s a well-rounded discussion.
By the way, it’s really great to be back in the Bay Area.
Google: 1500 localized products
Taken from the Google Official blog, today: Google have 1500 local-language versions of various products.
Amazing growth. A testament to the pervasiveness of the Google message, but also Unicode.
Fantastic.
China Leads Web 2.0 Usage Say BCG
"China’s digital and online communities are the world’s leading users of mobile communication, instant messaging and web 2.0 applications, according to a new report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG)” says China Daily.
The report is well worth a read, ‘though some of it is not that surprising given the size of the market and what we know from other developing nations about the “bypass” impact of cell phones and how other phenomena of technology adoption can change communication and business patterns:
“Where most American netizens still rely on emails to communicate with each other, their Chinese counterparts use IM and web 2.0 applications.”
It appears there are three categories of Chinese user: little emperors, reform beneficiaries, and frugal middle-agers (this stuff must have lost something in translation).
However, the report is largely business driven (Really? The BCG?). Despite claims that with “many activities such as IM and blogging, China is more advanced than the United States and other Western economies” we’re not told about how the participative social side of Web 2.0 and what the French call “contenu auto-créé” are impacted by the state’s censorship.
And I’ve love to know how many of those “web 2.0 applications” (it would be more helpful if they were named) are localized and to what extent. I am guessing quite a lot, and that as we have seen from search engine market growth in China, local app offerings rule the day.
See also John Yunker’s posting on iPhone localization opportunities, by the way.
In the Name of the Fada
You might remember my griping about the Polish support folks in CWT not being able to handle the apostophe yet alone the accent on the capital “O” in my name. Now some Irish people have similar problems with diacritics (extended characters).
If you have an Irish name, say “Liam Ó Maonlaí”, then you might expect U.S. authorities (whatever about the population) to mangle your name thus:
* Liam OMaonlai (IRS/DMV: Don’t do accents, apostrophes, or spaces)
* Liam O’Maonlai (Department of State: Don’t do accents).
* Liam O. Maonlai (telephone providers, insurance, etc, immediately giving you a middle initial. I always liked to insist on a trailing “VI” everytime they did this to me).
The Social Security people get it right: Liam Ó Maonlaí (ironically, the SSN itself tracks you anyway).
But now, the Irish themselves are at it. And worse, they’re managing to combine apostrophes with the accent on the “O” (known as a fada or síneadh fada in Irish): Liam Ó’Maonlaí
(photo taken in The Coombe, Dublin, 25-June).
So, the next time you hear an Irish person knocking how Americans say “Ma-Hone-E” instead of “Mah-On-E” for “Mahony”, ask them to spell the name of the former lead singer of the Hot House Flowers.
Tom Cruise Talks at TED about the origins of language
OK, it’s really Murray Gell-Man talking at TED 2007. I was confused when the presenter said the guy possibly knew more about everything than anyone.
Anyway, you can see and hear what Murray (Maurice to his friends) has to say in about a common ancestor for languages in this video from TED 2007:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/276
This is an interesting perspective, though as all Irish people know, language begins and ends with James Joyce.
Check out the other videos there too.
New German Capital Announced: Curb Your Enthusiasm
Don’t all rush to WikiPedia to update the entry, but the Irish Times today tells us that “an addition to the German alphabet (has) emerged blinking into the daylight after a campaign lasting 130 years - to a hail of indifference.”
Apparently, it’s the capital letter equivalent of ß, which up to now has been taken care of (in Germany) by use of two “S” letters instead, because only a small letter ß exists.
They’d been trying to kill the case for the thing off for years, but now, the “German Norms Institute (DIN) ...proposed a capital ß to the International Organisation for Standardisation and, on Monday, the letter became standard - with ISO 10646.” The article quotes an excited Dr Günter of the German Language Council:
"We are not responsible for letters, but for keeping an eye on spelling and to make sure rules are followed. Whether there is a need for this letter is a question that remained unanswered for centuries. It’s likely to remain that way for a while to come.”
Anyway, I couldn’t find much about on the Internet as to what this new letter even looks like, or is supposed to look like. Maybe someone knows?
Yes: Someone did (see the comments too):
(WikiPedia has Unicode details too. Hat Tip: Will)
To read more about it, you’ll need an Irish Times paid subscription (don’t bother, it’s not worth getting streßed about).
Will this lead to a mad updating of translation memories, I wonder?
Chinese Facebook Launched - Ish
Facebook in Chinese (Simplified, I presume) is available. The Wall Street Journal (a fine publication I read every morning in my local store until the Polish guy comes over and tells me to either buy it or get out) has the story.
The Chinese site can be accessed by going directly to zh-cn.facebook.com. However, this takes me to an English logon screen (presumably because of my Irish IP address), and then logging in with my usual details makes me think this Chinese version is rendered from a single global instance that’s just been cross-mounted with a .CN domain.
However, it does not - unlike other “international versions” - allow for “social translation” (see the “Translations” options in the following screen shot):
You can get the Chinese UI by simply switching your language option. Go to account > Language.
Hhmmmmm.....
More Global Accessibility: WebbIE 3.6.10 Available - Language Versions Too
We’ve had a couple of articles written in Multilingual on the subject of internationalization and global accessibility requirements: The first by myself on the leverage points between accessibility enabling and internationalization, and the other by Libor Safar on what’s required and available worldwide for the user with visual impairment*.
Continuing the latter theme, I draw your attention to the new release of WebbIE - which is also available in French, Spanish, Estonian, Polish and Greek. WebbIE is a free browser for users who have visual impairments or are completely blind. It’s a a free web browser, and pod-catcher, podcast downloader, accessible version of the BBC’s iPlayer (note that you need to be in the UK to get certain programs), Gutenberg Library, BBC’s Listen Again Player, Web Directory, accessible PDF reader, RSS reader, and a bunch more.
Check it out.
* However, JavaScript is not inaccessible. This myth is shattered by this book; a resource I encourage all interested parties to read.
Global English Style Guide
I met John Kohl of SAS again at the recent aQuatic conference in Berlin, and learnt about his new book “The Global English Style Guide: Writing Clear, Translatable Documentation for a Global Market”.
This publication will be of big interest to those interested in delivering a quality global product: writers, user experience folks, and localization people (manual, automated translation, controlled authoring, and so on).
The books up for a full review in a forthcoming issue of Multilingual, but looking through it myself now, this looks like a very valuable resource.
You can get the book here or through Amazon.com.
Centre for Next Generation Localisation (CNGL) in Ireland
You may have missed this. Dublin City University in Ireland has hosted the inaugural convention of the Centre for Next Generation Localisation (CNGL). This included the signing of an Intellectual Property Framework agreement, opening the way for 14 million Euros in industry funding for research into the area.
NGL is a Centre for Science Engineering and Technology (CSET) established with funding of €16.8M by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI). The centre brings together thirteen different partners spanning international industry, including IBM, Symantec, Microsoft and Dai Nippon Printing, local SMEs and Irish universities. The industry contribution will bring the total value of the centre to over €30M over 5 years.
Good job DCU! Delighted to see this development, inaugurated by me old mate from Trinity College Dublin Dr. Ferdinand von Prondzynski. And thank you for keeping that word “Globalization” out of the name.
The list of industry partners, according to DCU includes: IBM, Microsoft, Symantec, Dai Nippon Printing and Idiom Technologies* and Irish firms Alchemy*, VistaTec, SpeechStorm and Traslán.
Ah, see how fast the industry changes?
Web Globalization Lessons for the EU: "Where's My Stuff?" and WEEE
The European Consumer Centres network, by way of the European Online Marketplace Report, tell us that non-delivery of goods, purchased over the internet, accounts for half of all their consumer complaints.
The centre in Ireland says that:
"While shopping online offers tremendous choice and value to Europe’s 500 million consumers, problems persist, particularly with delivery of goods.”
This, of course, is important for you Web Globalization folks. Make sure you can deliver to the countries you are selling to or if you can’t the say so.
Be aware of the Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) Directive - which means that distributors of new products must accept the old equipment being replaced. Some companies are citing the lack of clarity around the WEEE Directive as a reason for non-delivery.
So, go clarify it then, and explain it on your website and whether you will ship or not.
Read the report here: http://www.eccireland.ie/news/whats_new.html
Cross-Culturally Collaborating Together -- Global Marketplace Message
An interactive exercise presented to the attendees at the Localization World 2008 conference in Berlin:
Find someone from another country of origin. Mutually agree upon one important message that both of you believe the globalization services industry should communicate to the global marketplace. Please write this message in the comments for this entry. You must register in the blog to write a comment, but please know that these e-mail addresses are NEVER used outside this blog. Period!
Cross-Culturally Collaborating Together -- Country Cultural Aspects
An interactive exercise presented to the attendees at the Localization World 2008 conference in Berlin:
Find someone from another country of origin. Ask them to exchange with you three important cultural aspects about doing business in your respective countries and write them in the comments for this entry. You must register in the blog to write a comment, but please know that these e-mail addresses are NEVER used outside this blog. Period!
MS Funded L10n Project in Ireland: Crowd-sourcing Project Too
Just bringing your attention to this: Microsoft funded MSc Project at the Localisation Research Centre (LRC) in Limerick, Ireland.
Proposed research areas:
* Localisation file formats, tools compatibility, format conversion
* Recycling, MT, & translation workflow automation; tool and process integration
* Modular and web-based localisation editors, localisation in the cloud
I like the idea of research into “crowd-sourcing” - the LRC define this as being like Facebook localisation, and wiki-editing - and its rôle in scalable localisation workflows.
The closing date for applications is actually 10-June-2008 (not 3-June-2008), but hurry. The annual stipend is 16,000 Euros - that’s about 2.5 million US dollars - plus expenses.
I’d do it myself, but, er, I’m already doing some MSc research into the Web 2.0 space (shameless plug for own survey - here)
PS: Yes, we do spell out L10n with an “s” over here.
Aberdeen group contrasts Best-in-Class with "Laggards"
If you’re interested in getting a copy of the Aberdeen group’s recent “Documentation Goes Global” report (at the price of an e-mail address), click here. When asked what the most significant finding of the report was, research director Chad Jackson said: “I think the growth in localization spend is alarming. In the past five years, it grew 32% of Laggards compared to only 7% for Best-in-Class. We found a correlation with that performance of the Best-in-Class with their use of stricter control and execution of processes along with Terminology and Translation Management solutions.”
In other words, we might not be doing so hot. We’re better at lagging behind than springing ahead. (Or are we?)
Globalization: The Race to the Bottom
There’s a good debate on the views of western workers and globalization on the Financial Times Economists forum here that’s worth following.
If we’re going to be honest about globalization then we need to address the downsides and the fears that this globalization stuff is a race to the bottom.
Sure, if you’re an in-country translator then your job can’t be outsourced (not that you see any of the huge profits made by LSPs from some industry niches where the localization margin is as high as 40% anyway), but if you’re a “western” developer of MT, TM, or GMS technology or work in localization project management then you might want to think harder, read more widely, and drink less Kool-aid ....
Ireland's Fowl Eurovision Entry Doesn't Translate Well In Serbia
Non-European readers may not be familiar with the Eurovision Song Contest (lucky them). It’s a song contest between “European” countries held annually. It’s been going for years, a source of national pride as well as fairly duff music, and Ireland has won the thing loads of times. ABBA once won the contest for Sweden with a song about a train station in London, and Céline Dion once won it for Switzerland. It’s a big TV thing in Europe. This year the contest is being held in Belgrade, Serbia.
However, last night’s semi-final saw this year’s Irish entry - “Irelande Douze Pointe” performed by a stuffed turkey called Dustin - not only eliminated but actually booed by the audience. Of course, there was uproar in Ireland. Seems the smug Irish putting forward of a “joke entry” didn’t translate too well in a country that had been waiting years to hold this contest and saw it as a showcase for their country to the rest of the world. The hunt for the guilty has begun.
In all, a very serious misjudgment by one of the world’s most globalized countries and a cultural lesson that humor doesn’t travel well and the perception of events varies by time and location.
It was a turkey of a song (http://youtube.com/watch?v=NYyxhWEHO3w) that really did deserve a good stuffing.
And I thought that Riverdance stuff was embarrassing.
New Languages in Google Translate
I see Google Translate has now added 10 languages (Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hindi, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian and Swedish), bringing the total to 23. There is also a new ability to perform cross-language searches, “For example, we now support Chinese translation to/from any of our languages (e.g., Chinese to French)”, they tell us.
Naturally, this means you’ll be able to find and access tonnes of content from local sources as you keep up with the summer’s unfolding developments in Tib..., er, I mean the Olympics in Bejing. Whatever.
On the subject of Polish - I see the .pl domain name has gone through the million mark.
Localization in the Time of Love and Cholera
Localization pops up in some of the most interesting ways. Recently, I was working my way through Gabriel García Máquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera (Spanish: El amor en los tiempos del cólera). The novel was published in 1985, and the English translation appeared in January 1988. The novel deals with a 50-year love triangle set in the late nineteenth century and first part of the twentieth century in an unnamed port city somewhere in the Caribbean.
Fermina Daza, the main female character in the novel, has just married a physician, Juvenal Urbino. The novel’s narrator describes Fermina’s way of interacting with the world as a married woman: “Before she had been married a year, she moved through the world with the same assurance that had been hers as a little girl in the wilds of San Juan de la Ciénaga, as if she has been born with it, and she had a facility for dealing with strangers that left her husband dumbfounded, and a mysterious talent for making herself understood in Spanish with anyone, anywhere. ‘You have to know languages when you go to sell something,’ she said with mocking laughter. ‘But when you go to buy, everyone does what he must to understand you.’”
Because she has married well and has money to spend, Fermina realizes the power of the buyer. Her “mysterious talent for making herself understood in Spanish with anyone, anywhere” is really not so “mysterious” after all. Any potential seller to Fermina should realize the necessity of speaking her language — Spanish — if a business transaction will take place. That is why Fermina says with “mocking laughter” that “you have to know languages when you go to sell something.” Notice the word is sell, not buy. As a buyer, Fermina can make herself understood in Spanish, remaining within the comfort zone of her native language.
But if Fermina were to change positions and become a seller, then her Spanish would not be enough if she moved into markets in other countries. This situation brings to mind the oft-quoted remark by Willy Brandt, former German chancellor (1969-1974): “If I’m selling to you, I speak your language. If I’m buying, dann müssen Sie Deutsch sprechen [then you must speak German].” Fermina knows this — the different roles that language plays if one is a seller or a buyer. Not a bad insight from a novel written over 20 years ago!
Microsoft launches Language Portal
Microsoft’s newly launched Language Portal contains information for language professionals such as an IT terminology search tool and a localization download site.
Thanks go to Britta Simon, who talked a bit about this at Localization World Seattle 2007 and has told us about the official launch.
The Language Portal “is designed to enable individuals and communities around the world to interact with each other and with Microsoft’s language specialists on matters related to computer terminology” according to their site. Even if you are not involved in Windows translation and terminology, the site is an interesting place to visit to see what Microsoft is doing to improve the localization of products that run on their platform. The site is available in eleven languages with live feedback in more and includes a terminology community forum
That Faulty Localization Is a Real Killer: Cell Phones
I recall from my days of working on the Turkish localization of Microsoft Word 6.0 for Windows the joys of dealing with the famous Turkish dotted i character. Now comes a related tale of what some people are calling “faulty localization” of Turkish cell phones - one with deadly results.
Read on (note: some colorful non-inflight movie language involved)....
A Cellphone’s Missing Dot Kills Two People, Puts Three More in Jail
The local press say:
The local press has pointed out that the faulty localization of cellphones in Turkey is causing “serious problems” when it comes to certain “delicate words” in Turkish, and they are calling to enhance localization of technology to avoid these mistakes.
Actually, I’d put this down more as an internationalization problem, than one of localization. Either way, it might have been a lot more sensible to have logged a bug against the cell phone manufacturer.
Chief Semiglobalization Officer ™, Anyone?*
OK, been waiting 6 or 7 years for that particular slice of the boloney roll to land in the dirt. Been reviewing the book “Redefining Global Strategies: Crossing Borders in a World Where Differences Still Remain” by Pankaj Ghemawat.
It’s based on the fact that the world ain’t so “flat” (in the Friedman sense) or “borderless” after all, and that political, cultural, and economic differences abound and will continue to do so for a long time. There’s a lot going in the the book that I’ll cover in the published review in Multilingual.
But is this “semiglobalization” really a revelation to anyone? The people who will read this book will be aware of the semiglobalization (semi? You’re joking) premise already. None of the fancy terminology or models will cut any ice in the boardroom when it comes to obtaining budgets for localization anymore than a PowerPoint slide that says “Pope Not Protestant” and “Bears Spurn J C Decaux Stock Issue”. Does anyone really buy into that EEC/EC/EU old guff about eliminating restrictions on movement of labour and capital and the equalization of taxes and removal of barriers to competition anymore?
Ever tried buying a car in the UK and importing it into the Republic Ireland because it was cheaper to do so? You’re hit with a massive vehicle registration tax by the Irish government. Or try buying an iPhone in the Republic of Ireland and then the same phone 10 yards up the road in Northern Ireland, or in another EU state. Or buying songs from iTunes in different parts of Europe. Consider what’s being revealed by the Tolkienesque Olympic Torch garbage. Or what’s still going on in Balkans. Or what Bono and Bob Geldof are always banging on about.
I was reminded of all this globalization stuff yesterday as my hired car took me to Rajiv Ghandi International Airport in Hyderabad. Passing thousands – and I mean thousands – of people living like dogs on the side of street in cardboard boxes and abandoned earthmover tires is something I’ll bear in mind the next time I’m told the world is “flat”. I’ll remind the source that anyone who calls a spade a spade should be compelled to use one (apologies to Oscar Wilde).
Watch out for my review of Ghemawat’s book in the magazine soon.
* © Copyright 2007, 2008, kisstheblarneystone productions
Hazaar Fundas of Indian-English
Just back from India, where I picked up a wonderful, witty, and insightful book on the subject of Indian-English called “Entry From Backside Only: Hazaar Fundas of Indian-English” by B.K. John.
I believe the book was only published in India and Singapore originally, but it’s well worth getting your hands on a copy through Amazon.com or whatever. It really blows away the tiresome “Hinglish” anecdotes that are constantly recycled at the bar, and explores social, cultural, and political strands that combine to create this hybrid form of the English language.
As far back as 1882, there was an attempt to create an Indian-English dictionary (Hobson-Jobson by Yule and Burnell), which noted:
The words which we have to do taking the the most extensive view of the field are in face organic remains deposited under the various currents of external influence that have washed the shores of India during twenty centuries and more.
Written in a highly entertaining style too.
Misinterpretation Abounds in Irish Court Rooms
Inspired by Adam Wooten’s blog posting Why is the Media Obsessed with the Cost of Public Translation?, I dug deeper and found a report in the Galway Advertiser about an Irish judge who was “critical of a Polish interpreter’s lack of interpreting” in the court room.
It seems said Judge was “had been watching the interpreter and she noticed she had not translated the breath sample reading for the accused”. Yes, there was drink involved.
This reminds me that court room interpretation in Ireland can be problematic even when English is involved. Quite recently a Chinese lady was in court, on the east coast of Ireland, over a traffic accident when her car had collided with a telegraph pole. On hearing that she had struck a pole, the judge questioned her: “And did you make any effort to apologize to the Polish gentleman concerned?”
That said, very often media criticism of public sector translation and interpretation owes more to political bias and prejudice than to any concerns with transparency into costs and value for money. However, there are times, when you have got to wonder....
I’m sorry, but that’s not worth paying for. Unless it’s coming out of the mouth of Mike Myers in the next Austin Powers movie..
Another Blog of Interest: T&I Business
Check out Adam Wooten of Elanex’s T&I (Translation and Interpretation) Business blog.
Adam tells us it’s a blog “for the Business & Technology of Translation, Interpretation, Localization, & Other Related -tions.”
Adam also outlines the main findings from the Alternatives to SDL/Idiom session at the Localization UnConference, which he moderated.
T&I Business is a link well worth adding into your Blog Roll.
Der Mundo, New Easy to Use Multilingual Blogging Tool
As he mentioned at the SV Localization UnConference Brian McConnell of the Worldwide Lexicon (see previous Blogos posting), has announced Der Mundo, a new, easy to use multilingual blogging tool.
This is a free hosted blogging service, as easy to use as Twitter, with the WWL community translation tools built in. More information is available on how to sign up and use it at http://blog.dermundo.com.
Brian tells us:
With Der Mundo, it’s easy to sign up and start writing. The service auto-detects the reader’s language preferences and displays translations if present, or invites them to contribute. You can use it as a standalone service, or export RSS to your favorite publishing system.
I’ve signed us up for it - and will revisit as soon as this work stuff is out of the way...
Basque Language Craiglist On The Way
Craig Newmark from Craigslist tells us that a Basque version is on the way.
Craigslist is already available with Spanish, French, Canadian French, Portuguese, Italian and German language versions.
As for Klingon...
Community Translation Ain't FREE Translation
There was a great session at the recent Localization UnConference on the subject of Community-based localization/translation.
Janice Campbell, a Globalization Manager at Sun (Janice’s Blog is here) made it clear that it must not be seen as free translation. The community must be invested in, developed, nurtured, communicated with constantly, and supported with facilitators and tools (check out the NetBeans Localization Wiki). There is therefore a time, effort and resource cost to this. What kind of rewards are expected by such translators? Never give money. Instead, kudos, invites to dev conferences, t-shirts and other swag, advance beta previews, and so on…
I expressed the fear about switching to a Web 2.0 participative community model of translation based on the analogy of throwing a party and nobody turns up. Janice countered this by asking how we’d feel if we were invited to a party and there was no food, drink, or host present. A really great point.
Seems like the real question is how to create, foster yes, even manage community-based contributions to the translation effort so that it scales and is persistent over time. Could there be a relationship between the type of company and nature of its products and the long-term success of the model? Comments welcome.
Very often, senior - and not so senior - management see community translation as a free option, which is the wrong way to approach this. But then, we’ve also seen how the cost-savings aspect of the outsourcing model has come back to bite many an executive in the rear.
Google releases MT and Lang Detection API
I see from the Google Official Blog that they’ve rolled out something called the “Google AJAX Language API - Tools for translation and language detection”.
You can read more about it here.
Although the tool release is aimed at developers, giving them the capability to “translate and detect the language of blocks of text within a webpage using only Javascript”, it will be interesting to see where this leaves Google’s much vaunted “volunteer” translation effort for “other” languages.
Localization Project Management Blog Of Interest
I met John White of 1-for-All Marketing Inc , based out of San Diego, at the Localization UnConference. John reminded me about his localization project management blog - he’s been maintaining it for a few years now.
You can check out John’s blog here.
If there are other blogs of interest, then let me know.
First Localization UnConference A Big Success
The first Localization UnConference was held in San Mateo, California on 14-March-2008. About three dozen attendees contributed to a wide range of discussion topics, including community translation, alternatives to SDL/Idiom GMS tools (see Adam Wooten’s blog posting for more details of this), and the localization challenges of Agile development - in a spirit of collaboration and openness.
The UnConference was free to attend, so a big thank you to the salesforce.com folks for the use of their facilities and for the lunch AND to the attendees who were the real experience. There was no reports of PowerPoint Karaoke outbreaks, though much writing on whiteboards with sharpies was in evidence…
I’ll have a more detailed report and some pictures published when I get Saint Patrick’s Day festivities out of the way. Let’s see some more of these events in the near future. An Internationalization UnConference would be very promising… any takers?
You can read more about the organization of the Localization UnConference here.
The Future For Local Startups Includes Globalization
Great article on TechCrunch called Global Or Die: Is There A Future For Local Startups? by Michael Arrington, featuring his friend Loic who writes about the necessity for startups to avoid the lure of focusing only on local markets.
If you’re in the Internet business, then there’s some good advice for you. I particularly liked:
Create an application that lets your community translate the site by themselves
the way Facebook translated its site in many languages using an application where members could do inline translation and then vote when there was a discussion on the best term to use. This was a brilliant way to come back with high quality and fast translation. It also helps you have languages you would have not even thought of launching. Do not forget what it takes to maintain them though.
Hat tip: Shawna Wolverton
Facebook now in German
The German translation of Facebook has been launched.
According to TechCrunch the translation involved 2,000 volunteer translators. The Spanish translation was launched last month, and involved 1,500.
The article contains an interesting contrast in the approaches adopted by Facebook and their competitor MySpace to getting translated versions and local content out there.
Hat tip: Global By Design
Watch out for the French launch soon.
Plaxo Globalization
Interesting posting by Regina Bustamente of Plaxo on customizing Pulse for different markets.
She writes:
Last week we targeted our growing number of users in India and made it possible for them to import their Indiatimes or Rediff mail address books into Pulse. And we are also offering some beautiful eCards celebrating the popular Holi festival or Festival of Colors.
It’s really great to see Indian market concerns up there in the social networking space!
Paypal and International Sales?
Laurel Delaney, in The Global Small Business Blog (a great resource) tells us about the new information on the PayPal site about selling overseas with PayPal.
There is good information on the PayPal site. But, as someone who recently, painfully, implemented an almost-bilingual setup with PayPal, my suggestion would be for them to provide more linguistic capabilities for the international market.
We set up PayPal to accept payments for Translation World, a conference on the business of translation taking place March 11-13, 2008 in Montreal. Obviously, for a conference in Montreal, it is extremely important for all documentation to be in two languages. There was no way to select a combination of “Canada” and “French” for defaults. Mind you, we got around this by faking French signups as being from France, not Canada. Yet even though the first pages the users see will be in French, the final acknowledgement still comes back in English.
When we did research into the problem, we came across a complaint that the PayPal default language for Belgium is ... English. I guess there is more work to be done.
Sorry, We Don't Do Your Name
I tried to book a flight using Carlson Wagonlit’s travel service today without success. I was attempting to book an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to San Francisco.
Bizarrely, I was told by CWT support in Poland that they had now removed the apostrophe from my name because it was causing “synchronization” problems on their system. Not from my user name, from my name. Imagine deploying a system in Ireland that can’t deal with names starting with O’.
Maybe they could use this error message in future:
I wouldn’t mind, but I only use O’Broin in the first place for the convenience of other people. It should be Ó Broin.
Bank of Ireland Should Meet Usability & Localization Requirements Together
I connected to my Bank of Ireland site today, and spent 30 seconds trying to login.
Why? Because the order of options on the left has changed to accommodate the introduction of localized training and options for Chinese and Polish users. I was used to Login being the first menu option. Nothing wrong with providing localized content, but couldn’t they have accommodated both needs by leaving Login at the top of the menu or repeating it on the toolbar? The degradation of usability of course is going to impact usage of the uptake of the site’s service in every language, so how BoI can isolate one impact from another beats me.
Incidentally, where is the Irish language option?
End of PowerPoint Karaoke: The First Localization and Internationalization UnConference
Yes, the first Localization and Internationalization UnConference is being held next month in Silicon Valley. Very Web 2.0.
Building on the Mashup Camp experience, Ultan O’Broin of Oracle and Shawna Wolverton of salesforce.com are bringing a localization and internationalization UnConference to Silicon Valley on March 14, 2008.
It’s free, lunch and facilities kindly provided by salesforce.com, and an electronic voting system will allow everyone to suggest topics and vote on topics for discussion. Final decisions on topics the day of the conference.
It’s being held at the salesforce.com San Mateo campus.
If you think this sounds like something you’d like to join then sign-up details are here.
Watch out for more blog coverage...
Happy New Year: The Year of the Rat
Taking this opportunity to wish ALL our readers a very Happy Chinese New Year. Today is the first of January on the Lunar Calendar.
You can look up which animal is associated with your birth year here (60 year cycle matched up to the Western calendar for the years 1924 - 2043).
I’m off to join in the Year of the Rat celebrations in Dublin.
More multilingual messaging
Another entry in the on-demand translation category: SpeakLike was introduced this week as “the first instant messaging service for accurate real-time translation chat across various languages,” integrating automated and human translation. It’s available as “an invitation only beta service in English, Spanish and Chinese.” It’s presented as an alternative to free machine translation.
Irish Translated At 13,000 Euros Per Minute
From the Irish Examiner: “an Irish-language option across all EU institutions is estimated to cost in the region of €3.5 million each year. Parliamentary translation cost €360,000 last year, meaning each minute an Irish MEP chose the medium of our first language (about 30 minutes in total last year) cost €13,000 (over $19,000 at today’s rate).”
It seems that there are four Irish language interpreters working at the EU parlianment, two at a time, two shifts per days, and the parliament sits 10 days in each month. “Those interpreters cost €30,000 a month, which is paid by the EU with contributions from member states, including Ireland.” says the Examiner. Two are always in duty “in case a situation develops where parliamentary protagonists decide to confront each other using Irish.”
Excuse me?
Can I suggest the next time Ireland’s MEPs decide to confront each other using Irish that the cost of interpreting be the subject of the debate? That should drive the unit cost down a good bit.
This really is stretching the definition of minority language beyond breaking point.
Come to think of it - knowing the EU - how come it’s so cheap?
2008, Año Internacional de los Idiomas
The UN has declared 2008 as The International Year of Languages, with UNESCO as lead agency.
According to the UNESCO website:
To celebrate the International Year of Languages, UNESCO invites governments, United Nations organizations, civil society organizations, educational institutions, professional associations and all other stakeholders to increase their own activities to promote and protect all languages, particularly endangered languages, in all individual and collective contexts.
A link to the list of projects is posted. However, there are none listed. Let’s hope this changes soon.
Hat tip: Kristen St Thomas of the Facebook Software Localization group.
MADCAT
A new entry in translation technology research for military use: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded BBN Technologies (http://www.bbn.com) of Cambridge, Massachusetts, a $5.67 million contract to produce a Multilingual Automatic Document Classification Analysis and Translation (MADCAT) prototype program capable of quickly converting to English everything from a crumpled, handwritten note in Arabic to computer files in Pashto using a PDA or a laptop.
Foreign language images come in the form of road signs, print media, captured documents, and graffiti, any one of which could be of immediate importance. The way it stands now, much of this material is either ignored or analyzed too late to be of any use, according to DARPA.
If and when it pans out, MADCAT is expected to provide “relevant, distilled, actionable information” to commanders and troops on the ground by translating foreign language text images accurately and automatically, according to the contract specifications. During the MADCAT proposal process DARPA demanded that bidders demonstrate a “revolutionary approach,” one that will produce a new benchmark in language translation. Specifically excluded were “minor evolutionary” improvements or “narrow applications” to current technology.
BBN says it plans to pull it off by integrating “optical character recognition with state-of-the-art translation and distillation techniques,” while developing “novel methods for processing handwritten text,” according to its press release. BBN also has built a handheld two-way translator, a shooter-detection system and other gear for the military. The company has contracts to develop a system to alert helicopter crews of small arms attacks and for development of a wireless adaptive communications network for DARPA.
See the full Crave article by Mark Rutherford; Boston Business Journal, BBN Technologies.
Note: IBM computer scientist Ismail Haritaoglu “built a prototype by attaching an off-the-shelf digital camera to a hand-held organizer with a cellphone plugged into it” probably in 2001, back before US cell phones commonly included cameras. Nokia introduced a prototype of a phone with “Shoot to Translate” and a “Point&Find” location identifier application in late 2007. While the demonstrations have typically focused on translation for signs in Chinese and Japanese, Shoot-toTranslate was described in an itp.net article as “one of the most interesting solutions for Middle East users.”
Maybe DARPA could check out the Nokia phones and redirect some of those millions to low-tech but useful language lessons?
Localization Issues for Social Networking Sites
This article MySpace Aims for Trickier Markets by the Wall Street Journal Online gives a good indication of the kind of issues faced when rolling out local versions of social networking sites.
Included are issues relating to internet speed, web savviness, translated advertising, and local offerings. The article is ostensibly about the Facebook versus MySpace competition, but other offerings, and their local presence are also covered.
Hat tip: Vincent Pak of the Facebook.com Software Localization Group
Social network, meet social translation, meet semi-homemade
The networking site Facebook has launched a crowdsourced application, Facebook Translations, that “allows people to suggest translations and vote alternatives up and down,” says Doug Caverly at WebProNews. Caverly commented that the site was not working as of December 28, but that more than 800 people were reportedly involved in translating the site into Spanish, a no-cost project that might bring in additional users. Caverly questions, however, how well Facebook will handle privacy issues in languages other than English.
And in case Facebook or any other company is not 100% confident about the quality of the volunteer translation it’s receiving via the web, a company called LingoHub now offers social translation proofreading and linquistic quality assurance (QA) services. The company will also help build and maintain the system, including wikis and language files, and resolve internationalization issues.
So, social translation creates a new business niche—“just in case” proofreading and localization.
Global By Design's Web Globalization Predictions for 2008+
I thought I would share these interesting predictions with you.
Well worth keeping an eye on, though I think a some of these will really come to fruition post 2008 (though not that long after). I was especially interested by the political and organizational dynamics presented by:
Google will allow companies to upload their own translation memories to further improve Google’s SMT engine.
Why There is No Starbucks in Italy
According to the Financial Times, Starbucks has bowed to the Italian baristi.
This is an interesting case study for students of global business (or people stuck for a blog entry over the holidays.) Starbucks appeared in six more countries this year, including Russia and Egypt, bringing the total to 43 countries. But they have no presence in Djibouti, Mongolia - or Italy, claims the FT. I wonder about this claim. Is there really a Starbucks store in India? I couldn’t find any when I was there.
Anyway, in the case of Italy, it seems that factors like pricing, customer impatience, and obtaining the necessary planning permission for a chain of stores are major factors in keeping Starbucks out. But wait a minute, wouldn’t McDonalds have the similar problems with planning and pricing, and there are plenty of McDonalds er, “restaurants” in Italy selling cheap food and competing with local vendors offering great fare of world renown? I don’t understand the logic here. Plus the Starbucks product line is a lot more diversified than just coffee. There’s got to be some other major factor at play here. According to the FT, Starbucks say the lack of an Italian presence is “more out of humility and respect” and “it’s not for business reasons and Italy is not less of a strategic priority.” I suspect it’s because Starbucks can’t source those tiny little cups with a big enough logo.
Personally, I think Starbucks would do well in Italy - even if its only from tourist business. I’ve always been irritated by those tiny little cups of coffee the Italians drink. For me, if it ain’t in a 20 ounce cup, then it’s not a proper drink. And coffee needs to be drunk sitting down. Can you imagine if the Irish decided that Guinness should be drunk out of tiny little glasses, standing at a bar? Ridiculous.
Oh well, I am off to Firenze shortly to buy shoes, so I shall try and ascertain the opinions of the locals. I’m bringing my 20 oz travel mug with me though.
More: Starbucks Geek (Il weblog per i veri amanti di Starbucks)
No way to treat our friends, indeed
If we thought the situation was improving for interpreters helping US forces in Iraq, Malou Innocent reports otherwise at Tampa Bay Online. It’s not just the forms, the fees, the outside-Iraq interview, the array of bureaucratic obstacles the applicant has to overcome—some of which might be reduced by legislation that’s not exactly rushing through Congress. It’s right there in the numbers.
“On Oct. 1,” Innocent writes, “the green card quota for Iraqi interpreters allowed admission to the United States was raised from 50 to 500. It’s a step in the right direction, but the odds are against most applicants.” At least 5,000 people are likely eligible.
Nicole Simon, an immigration lawyer based in Philadelphia, says the 500 immigrant visas approved for this year have already been used. Petitions that don’t make the cut in one year are placed on a waiting list for the next, so the quotas have already been filled through 2009.”
“‘The waiting list is essentially a “waiting to die” list,’ says [former Oregon Army National Guard sergeant Joey Coon who is working to bring his former interpreter to the United States.] ‘Interpreters have to wait a year until their visas are even processed. So much could happen in a year in Iraq. I feel bad about the thousands of other Iraqis who don’t have a friend in the United States. How they are going to go through this process?’”
Iraqi translators have a friend in Oregon
The Checkpoint One Foundation was set up earlier this year to assist Iraqi and Afghan interpreters in coming to the United States—a process that can take months and up to $20,000 as well as dangerous travel.
The foundation is named for the checkpoint leading in and out of the International Zone (Green Zone) in Baghdad—a structure also known as the Assassin’s Gate. Many interpreters and other Iraqis have been executed nearby for assisting US and coalition forces.
Meanwhile, in Congress, new bills and at least one amendment attached to the new defense appropriation would extend greater protection to Iraqi interpreters working with US troops. At least they might not have to travel to Amman or Damascus to apply for visas.
One Iraqi translator's dilemma
From
The Hill
Timmy - an Iraq we should let in
By David Keene
December 18, 2007
There are immigrants and there are immigrants, and a wise nation distinguishes between those it wants to keep out and those it welcomes with open arms. Unfortunately, however, we Americans don’t seem to be much good at making distinctions.
Thus as we’ve debated immigration policy over the last few years, some have argued that virtually all immigration — legal or illegal — is bad and should be curtailed, while others have seemed to think that anyone who can crawl, swim or sneak across our borders ought to be welcome here.
As Christmas approaches, we should take a minute to think about those who have in one way or another proved themselves worthy of acceptance and make sure that as we strengthen our borders and redouble our efforts to bar entry to criminals, terrorists and those who would flaunt our laws, we don’t punish those we should welcome with open arms.
Those who read The Hill regularly may remember that some months ago I wrote a column about the young Iraqi who served as a contract interpreter to my daughter’s Army unit during her year in Iraq.
His decision to work with us to build a better Iraq cost “Timmy” his family and made him a target of the terrorists who plague his country. While she was there, my daughter saw him in action. He saved the lives of several members of her unit, never flinched in the face of danger or threats and took on the most dangerous assignments as a matter of course. By the time she left Iraq, she reported that Timmy was unable to walk the streets of Baghdad without an armed escort because he wa