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What we’ll cover
• Benefits and risks of each type of
translation resource
• Which types of translation resources are
used for each type of content
• When to use translation technology and
when to avoid it
About Smartling
• Translation software platform
• Removes inefficiencies of manually managing translation processes, tools, and vendors
• Agnostic re: vendors and resource types
• We help our customers select translation resources all the time!
Human Translation
• Common Uses:
– Customer-facing content
– All technical and specialized content
– Best for the vast majority of content
Human Translation
• Benefits:
– Highest possible quality
– Predictable cost (price per word)
Human Translation
• Risks:
– Takes time to do it right
– Quality depends on vendor selection
and expertise
– You often get what you pay for
Human Translation
• Advice:
– For most content, this is the best choice with the lowest risk.
– Quality levels vary: triple-pass process with translator, editor, reviewer is best
– Don’t choose vendors based on price alone
– Use technology that incorporates a style guide and glossary
Transcreation
• Common Uses:
– Taglines and slogans
– Headers
– SEO keywords
– Creative, marketing-focused copy
Transcreation
• How is it different from regular translation?
– Provided by in-language copywriters
– Starts with a creative brief
– Billed differently
– Results in a new message
– Advisory on look and feel
Transcreation
• Benefits:
– Highest possible cultural relevance
– Costs are fairly predictable
Transcreation
• Risks:
– Highest cost
– Cannot be done at scale
– Limitations on speed
– Quality depends on the vendor
Transcreation
• Advice:
– Use this option only where really
necessary
– Only work with specialists
– Make sure to get the English version
delivered with the transcreated
messages
And… Localization?
• More about function, less about form
• Currencies, units of measure, and more
• Display the appropriate content and
products for each market
Bilingual Employees
• Common Uses:
– Your employees know your brand voice,
tone, and style
– But… not they are not translators
– Have them participate in the creation of
a style guide and glossary
– You can also have them involved in the
review process early on
Bilingual Employees
• Benefits:
– They know your brand voice, tone, and
style guide
– They can help with quick-turn tasks and
“sanity checks”
Bilingual Employees
• Risks:
– They are not professional translators
– You will divert them from their real job
– They lack professional tools and processes
– No scalability
– High cost
– Limited control over speed of delivery
Bilingual Employees
• Advice:
– Have them help build a glossary and
style guide
– Use them early in the process until
vendors are up to speed
– Think of them as “brand coaches,” not
translation specialists
– Give your translators access to them!
Non-Pro Human Translation
• Also known as “bulk translation”
• Uses:
– Large volumes of content for which quality is not essential (not customer-facing)
– Basic, non-specialized content
– Content for which speed is critical (10 million words into 5 languages in 3 days)
– Content that would otherwise be translated by machine
Non-Pro Human Translation
• Benefits:
– Can be used for a very limited type of
content that is very basic (non-technical)
with a low reading level and low risk
– Less costly than professional human
translation
Non-Pro Human Translation
• Risks:
– Very high overall risk factor
– Cannot be used for specialized content
– Cannot be used for high-risk content
– Quality is inferior to professional human
translation (but sometimes better than
machine translation)
Non-Pro Human Translation
• Advice:
– Professional human translation offers
superior quality and is nearly always the
best option
– Consider changing your timeline instead
of rushing forward with this option
– If cost is a factor, consider tiering your
content differently
Volunteer Translation
• Also known as “community translation”
• Uses:
– Non-profits and “cause-based” projects
– Highly engaged and eager community of
multilingual volunteers
– “Fanlation” – translation by enthusiastic
fans or users
Volunteer Translation
• Benefits:
– Obtain feedback from “fans” early on in
the process instead of later (a more
hands-on “focus group”)
– Way to enable users to participate in
developing your product
– Eliminates or reduces the need for “in-
country review”
Volunteer Translation
• Risks:
– Quality is unpredictable
– Cost – infrastructure, engagement,
motivation, quality control
– High chance of missing deadlines
– Cannot be used for many content types
(example: legal disclaimers)
Volunteer Translation
• Advice:
– Think carefully before implementing this
option – there’s a lot that goes into it
– Don’t expect this to be a less expensive
alternative, especially not at first
– Make sure that professional human
translation is part of the QA process
Computer-Generated Translation
• Uses:
– High-volume projects where lower
quality levels are acceptable
– Summarization or “gisting”
– User-generated content, long-tail
content for which either the cost of
human translation cannot be justified, or
immediate turnaround is required
Computer-Generated Translation
• Two Types: free online vs. custom-built
• Benefits of free online type:
– Helpful for getting a quick summary
– No cost with lower volume levels
• Benefits of custom-built type:
– Volume
– Speed
– Quality can improve with enough investment of time and money
Computer-Generated Translation
• Two Types: free online vs. custom-built
• Risks of free online type:
– Quality is notoriously poor
• Risks of custom-built type:
– Can be quite expensive
– Quality takes time and “training”
– Not useful unless you have high volumes
Translation Software Platform
Uses:
Websites, web apps, mobile apps,
documents
Primarily used to manage professional
human translation
Can be used with other translation resource
types
Translation Software Platform
Benefits:
Eliminates the need to manage translations
in spreadsheets and emails
Brokers the quality review processes and
removes you as the “go-between”
Speeds up the process
Makes translation efficient and scalable
Translation Software Platform
Risks:
Will replace most or all third-party translation
tools currently in use (if any)
Will replace most or all tools and methods
that were created internally (usually
management of translations in spreadsheets
and emails)
Translation Software Platform
Switch to a platform if…
You are spending too much time manually
managing translations in spreadsheets and
emails
You are having problems with translation
quality
You need to scale your company’s translated
content quickly
• Very aggressive schedule – Had to launch 6
languages in just three weeks – in time for
holiday shopping
• Keep all sites in sync
• Support e-commerce
CHALLENGES
• Launched fully functional e-commerce site in 6
languages in less than 3 weeks
• Automatic detection and flagging of all new
content - all sites in sync
• Integration with GoPro’s shopping cart delivers
seamless experience
RESULTS
• Internationalizing their website and web
application would have taken 12-18 months
• They needed to launch 10 multilingual sites in
just 6 months
• Major concerns about the drain on internal
resources: a distraction
CHALLENGES
• Scalability: 10 languages fully launched in 6
months
• Speed: Changes made daily; new content
flagged and sent out for human translation
automatically
• Global growth: Big jumps in web traffic and
subscriber sign-ups
RESULTS
CONTACT US:
+1 866.70.SMART
INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE?
WWW.SMARTLING.COM