The Inescapable Logic of Language Localization

By Jack M. Germain LinuxInsider 05/20/14 7:57 PM PT

Machine translation tools have been shown to be quite effective at translating certain types of text, but "you almost certainly can't use a tool like that for customer software -- not unless your main aim is to alienate your potential customers," said Translate House CEO Dwayne Bailey. However, "you might succeed in creating an international meme like, 'All your base are belong to us.'"

Tailoring language translations for software documentation and graphical user interfaces can make or break an open source project. Localizing language is a unique undertaking, with a number of moving parts.

Developers often have to choose between tight development cycles or less harried ones that might let competitors advance first. The process of translating language in releases for different target markets can be a complicated part of the developmental process. It presents costly cultural and language translation barriers that often are beyond the financial abilities of the open source community.

Smaller open source projects often lack the manpower or financial support to apply human editing to translations. The only option is to rely on machine translation services. That solution often delivers poor, even embarrassing, results.

The same language and cultural barriers open source developers face with multilanguage software documentation are also present in localizing websites. Poorly handled translations can very quickly give potential software users a glaring impression of amateurism.

The software project might be a fantastic product. Still, first impressions formed by language translation goofs are difficult to change.

Typically, software developers get more than 50 percent of their revenue from non-English speaking countries, according to Renato Beninatto, chief marketing officer and vice president of marketing and business development at Moravia

"If you want to convince somebody to buy your product, you have to speak to them in their own language," Beninatto told LinuxInsider.

How to localize language translations effectively on the cheap is a particular problem for open source software developers, said Ian Henderson, chief technology officer and cofounder of Rubric.

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The Inescapable Logic of Language Localization