Is it me or does everyone seem to focus on what is “lost” in translation? I mean I get it. Kind of. It was a movie not that long ago. You know, it’s always clever to take a title of a work like that and repurpose it for your marketing. It shows a human side. It’s how we connect to you, the reader. And then you say, “wow, they watched that Bill Murray movie too, they must be great!” Well, sure, we are pretty great – cooking, ping pong, localizing content – but frankly midlife crises in Tokyo have nothing to do with it.
So, yeah, within the localization industry, much is made about what organizations stand to lose by going with a lesser quality service. Maybe they skip key steps in the localization process to cut costs, or there are fewer quality control measures in place to ensure content accuracy.
There are a number of ways this, um, mismanaging of localization services can chip away at the intended meaning of a message being translated. But conversations predicated on “loss” instill fear. And that’s certainly one well-known sales tactic. Create a sense of fear in the client and then throw on your Superman cape and fly in to save the day. Whew, glad you were here to save me organization that coincidentally offered the very service designed to alleviate this fabricated fear you created. How magnanimous.
Let’s flip this discourse on its head, shall we. Lost becomes found. Fear becomes hope. And our entire demeanor shifts, even just a little bit. Because NGO Languages is truly a partner on your localization journey. And as a partner, we can carry your content from where it is now all the way to the finish line. Delivering a truly authentic, localization experience. Or, we can be a guide, setting you up with the tools you need to make your journey easier. And we have some great tools. Great tools. Like…
Managed Language Technology Services (MLTS)
We set up a custom Translation Management System (TMS) for your NGO. This includes licenses for Project Managers and Linguists.
We provide on-boarding and training for your PMs and Linguists so that they can make use of the system independent of any NGO Languages personnel.
We dedicate two (2) hours per month of engineering time to perform special operations, assist with complex file types where needed, and to consult on best workflow methodologies.
You. Win.
New Found Time And Money
The MLTS captures translation work in a cloud-based software platform. Over 200 language pairs. New content gets run through previously translated content and isolates only the new material for translation. The platform automatically inserts the previous translations into the new content.
You receive a “living” glossary that establishes a collection of key terms. This ensures that messages are uniformly translated. Linguists have the ability to make adjustments, add new terms, and maintain a relevant “go-to” resource as time goes on.
The “fuzzy match” capability of the MLTS means that even when content is not an exact match to what was previously captured, the system can still isolate relevant segments and provide an approximate translation. Your team of expert linguists can make the necessary fine-tune adjustments but this will save you time.
Many Quality Assurance tools are built into the platform to check against grammar, spelling, and inconsistent translations. This helps your linguists speed up their proofreading and editing process.
NGO Languages manages the technology for you. This frees you up to do what you do best, while leveraging our expertise as a leader in technology-based language services.
A Better Way
Loss and fear are certainly powerful motivators, undeniably so. And there is a time and a place to use that motivation to design strategies that protect against that lost. In the world of language translation, that means finding a reliable team of project managers, linguists, and other quality control experts. It means studying the target language, the culture, and customs. It means due diligence paid to ensure messages maintain their meaning.
An equally powerful motivator is hope. And with hope, it is not loss but gain that rides shotgun. Hand in hand. On the road of advancement. Technological advancement that allows for the discovery of new language resources. New time, new money… new opportunity. Found In Translation. Maybe the next Sofia Coppola script. Or maybe just a better way to manage localization.