The multiple languages and cultures are just as varied and can be confusing.  In the largest definition, the Middle East includes a majority of Arab populations, non-Arab Muslims; Persians, Turks, Kurds, and also Jews and Christians.

Arabic is by far the main language of the region.  Yet many Middle Eastern markets include translation into Turkish, Hebrew, Pashto or Urdu.  All of these languages with the exception of Turkish are right to left languages and present all the challenges and attention to detail of bi-directionality languages.  This bi-directionality can cause issues with translation software and in the desktop publishing (DTP) software.  In addition, many technical terms do not have a modern Arabic equivalent.  Only an experienced subject matter expert whose native language is Arabic should work on these types of projects so that your products and services are truly understood in the Middle East markets.

Simply understanding the nuances of the Arabic language and the translation challenges can help you and your organization be better prepared for the localization and internationalization process.  Experienced Arabic translators understand these pitfalls and will have created software work arounds to meet the challenges of your translation and localization projects into the right to left and bidirectional languages. 

The Middle East certainly presents many benefits for businesses going global – looking east is the easy part, translating your documents can be easy too if you have the right Arabic translation partnership.

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Your opinion is important to us, we would love to know your thoughts.  Please send us a comment (above post) and we will see what we can do to make things easier for you. 

In addition, we are going to be creating a monthly newsletter with a combination of blog articles and new information.  If you are interested in signing up, please do so on the site. 

We look forward to sharing and learning in 2009 with you and often times from you! 

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In-country review is the process of sending translated material to an individual in the target language country to review linguistic concerns associated with a given translation project. For example, industry or company specific terminology. The reviewer is generally a co-worker from your organization who resides in the country  and most often a sales manager, country manager or distributor. To ensure a successful review process, follow these guidelines:

1. Create Goals of In-Country Review for your organization and your documents.  The overall goal should be to gain local acceptance for the product/service or product/service materials in the target market.

2. Decide who would perform the reviews? Ideally reviews should be performed by individuals with a linguistic background, solid product knowledge and previous review experience. However, review is more often performed by local sales staff or distributors who have a vested interest in the translation quality, but no formal review experience. Therefore it is critical that a clear set of guidelines or instructions be provided to ensure consistent and timely feedback from reviewers. Guidelines become even more important if you plan to have more than one person per language conduct the review. Your translation supplier should be able to assist you in developing your product/service specific guidelines.  Be sure to do this as far in advance of a project as possible.  In addition, establish delivery dates for when reviewers will receive materials for review and when the reviewer’s comments are due.  Please try to prevent reviewers who tend to make many minor and often just personal preference changes vs. major linguistic and terminology changes.

3. Achieve excellent in-country reviews.

• The first step in this process is creating glossaries and style guidelines before translation starts. This step will establish preferred terminology, usage of acronyms, punctuation, etc. Glossaries and style  guides enable translators to choose preferred terminology and style at the outset of a project. Involving your reviewers in this process will enable them to provide input at the outset and minimize the number of revisions later. Why is this so important? There is often more than one way to correctly express a concept or idea and without guidance on key terminology, a good translation that is faithful to the original text may not reflect the preferred expressions of your in-country staff.
• The next step is to help your reviewers understand the purpose and focus of the review process by providing them specific parameters and guidelines for their review process.  Items like adherence to the glossary and style guide, consistency of the translation, compliance with instructions (I.e. items that should not be translated are correct), country-specific measurements and other standards are met, accuracy of terminology, and style.

4. Determine how review comments should be provided? Depending on the source files or document, there are different ways to capture reviewer comments; however, the original translated text must remain in the translated document. A reviewer can make suggestions and comments using the change tracking feature. If they are using an application that does not support change tracking such as Excel, Quark, PowerPoint, etc. they may be able to designate their comments in another way such as using a different colored font. Reviewers may also use a separate document to communicate comments. In this case it must be very clear to which text the comment relates. This will minimize follow
up queries from your localization vendor and save time in the process. If you must use multiple reviewers per language, it is best if the client coordinates and consolidates the reviewers’ comments into one single document before sending to the vendor. Reviewer comments should be as clear and specific as possible.  Reviewer comments should arrive prior to any formatting (DTP) activities for printed materials and prior to testing for software, web or help materials. A delivery schedule should be agreed at the outset of the project to allow translators adequate time to implement the changes.Your localization vendor will implement the changes where valid. For some changes, particularly in the case of stylistic preferences of the reviewer, it is helpful for your vendor to have your reviewers available to answer any questions that may arise during comment implementation.

Just like most other business functions, the in-country review process can go smoothly if planned in advance, when expectations are clearly set and communicated, and when scheduled realistically.  The in-country review can be a powerful means to ensure the success of your product in international markets.

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1.  If you know a foreign language, you can be a translator

This is perhaps the most common translation misconception and the most damaging one. Being able to read, speak and write a foreign language does not give anyone licence to undertake translation work. Firstly, a translator must have an in-depth understanding and knowledge of at least two languages: a foreign language and a mother tongue. Secondly, translating is a skill. You must be able to write well and have an excellent command of the nuances in language use. Thirdly, language is not free of cultural influences. If the culture behind the language which is being translated is not appreciated, an accurate translation is extremely difficult.

2.  Translating is simple and easy to do

Translation is far from easy. Translation is an intricate, complex and arduous work. Having to simultaneously concentrate on two different texts, often times very technical documentation is mentally taxing. This is because a translator is continuously moving between two languages and contexts. A translator must first read and register source information then manage to understand the text and all the nuances completely and then present it accurately in the target language. This means having an excellent vocabulary and appreciating the subtleties in language such as phrases, metaphors, tone and intention all in under tight time constraints.

3.  Computers can now do translations

We have yet to see a translation program that is able to take the place of a human translators. This is because computers do not understand what language is, how it is used, the subtleties within it and the ever changing use of it. Language is very organic and placing code to understand it’s context has yet to be executed more precisely than human translations.  Computers may be able to translate simple one-dimensional sentences but they will never be able to tackle the complexities within literature or technical texts.

4.  Having a professional translation is not imperative

It may be true that professional translators are not always necessary, however if the translation is to be accurate and professionally prepared and presented then an experienced translator is essential. Bad translations lead to many problems including people misunderstanding texts which ultimately reflect poorly on a company or organization. If you want your car fixed you take it to a mechanic, not a car salesman. He may know a bit about cars but not enough to address your car problems with the experience of a professional.

Your documentation has been established to help your products and services serve your customers more effectively.  Our clients spend a lot of time and resources developing their documentation.  Don’t cut corners on this step because your international reputation and customer relationships may be negatively affected.

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It would be helpful to send the original document to your translator.  This also alleviates the extra time and desktop publishing (DPT) work by the graphic design team to recreate the file to look like the original document.

To reduce costs for you and save time on your project, send the translation agency the original editable documents for translation.

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1.  Hire a professional subject-matter expert who is a native speaker of the language you need translation for.  Your company’s international reputation and brand are in the hands of your translation team.  A reputable translation agency will have the experience, software and team to handle your specific project.

2.  Foreign language translation is not just typing your document into another language.  Your entire document’s meaning can be mistranslated and could cause legal trouble and lose of sales.  Experienced translators are intimately familiar with both the language and the subject matter – while non-native translators may miss a phrase or a word’s culture-specific meaning.  This could change the entire meaning of the document.  The art of translation should be left to the professionals. 

3.  Use a human translator.  Instant computer translated documents can have humorous-yet disastrous results. If your original documents took you several days or weeks to prepare – be wary if your translation doesn’t take some time to translate as the same care should be implemented for your translated documents.

4.  Do not be tempted to use cheap and fast translations that may actually be SPAM.  These translations can mean huge problems later.  There should be a balance between the price, the turn around time and the quality of the translation.  Technical translations can be more time consuming.  Be realistic with your deadlines. 

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1.  Don’t use synonyms – For example: log in vs. log on – stick with one and use it

2.  Don’t change your formatting – For example: Click the next button vs. Click the NEXT button. 

3.  Create segments that can be used in several contexts.  Insert CD vs. Insert Disc

4.  Make generalizations – the three steps are vs the steps are

By keeping these technical writing tips in mind you will not only save money but create consistency and standards for your content.

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A match refers to segments of text that are the same or similar to previously translated and identified segments of text.  In translation, the segment pairs (source and target languages) are stored and saved in a TM database.  Why is this important?  You can leverage your matches across your documentation whether it is by product year, model or brand. 

• Exact matches are 100% the same – meaning the text segment is exactly the same word for word.  This is also known as repetitions.
• Fuzzy matches are exactly that – a match but only a certain percentage of the words are the same.  This can vary by translation service provider from 70%-99% of a the text must be similar.  
• New – are segments that must be translated from scratch.

The less translation you need the lower the cost and time requirements for you and your organization.  Be sure to think about reusing your text segments so that you can capitalize on cost cutting and saving when you go to translation.   

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Issues to consider:

1.  Design: 

• Book form, fan-fold or an innovative sheet fold form. 
• Use of photography and line art instead of text – usually takes up less space and is much more appealing
• Logical and structured format of ideas
• Avoid jargon and overly technical language

2.  Safety aspects and compliance with overseas directives:

• Requirements around the world vary greatly, be sure that your product/documentation is in compliance
• Standards – complies with all laws and safety regulations
• Documentation should be available during the entire life-cycle of the product
• Hazard Analysis – using a hazard and risk analysis to ensure the product does not provide danger to the user
• Target Market Conformity – many countries including the EU require declarations on the technical documentation

3.  Localization:

• Simply translating the documentation is not sufficient as the same words in the same language in different countries can have different meanings
• Source language should be perfect with no errors or mis-spelling
• Use professional translators with technical translation experience and are subject matter expertise
• Use short words/sentences with easy words and expressions, no idiomatic phrases or puns
• Utilize photos with text to help provide context
• Test the documentation with a sample in market audience before full distribution

Last but not least, be sure to utilize consumer feedback on all your documentation.  Even a team of seven reviewers can catch up to 90% misunderstandings in text, process or steps. 

The work you do before you distribute can help prevent miscommunication, liability issues and a bad impression when taking your products global. 

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What exactly is DITA?

An information model/content management system that is used for content-rich and multi-channel environments.  According to Wikipedia, DITA is an XML based architecture introduced by IBM in 2001, to automate creation, authoring, producing and delivering technical information. This DTD system divides content into small, self contained topics that can be re-used in different deliverables and reduces information redundancy.

Three Basic Topic Types:

1.  Task – works for procedures and lists of steps to accomplish a task or outcome. 

2.  Concept – contains definitions, rules and guidelines

3.  Reference – describes command syntax, programming instructions, and other reference material.

Features:

• Modular content vs. long book oriented files
• Topics can be reused in various deliverables
• Allows for conditional text, index markers and topic to topic links based on audience, platform, model, and product
• Structure is similar to HTML which can be used directly in DITA Topics
• Topics are easier to find using an extensive metadata
• End to end architecture using specifications of elements, attributes and rules.

DITA can be used in Windows, Linux/UNIX and Mac OS operating systems. 

Output formats:

1. PDF
2. XHTML
3. HTML Help
4. Eclipse help
5. Java
6. Rich Text Format

The DITA Open Toolkit is an active open-source free DTD that has been contributed to from several companies. 

Translation and localization companies like Iterotext Translation Services can use your DTD files and your XML files to provide multi-lingual documentation.

If you are looking for more information please visit the Toolkit User Guide or the DITA Blog.

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