language translation needs become greater

No longer just a catch phrase, going global is a phenomenon that has reached nearly every industry across the globe. What is globalization and why is its uptake continuing to accelerate?

While globalization has similar but various definitions, Investopedia defines it as “…the spread of products, technology, information, and jobs across national borders and cultures. In economic terms, it describes an interdependence of nations around the globe fostered through free trade”.

While the world hasn’t actually gotten any smaller, we’re able to reach across international borders faster and with more ease than ever before. As reported by McKinsey, validation of the progression of globalization can be found in the following statistics.

Cross-border data flows are increasing at rates approaching 50 times those of the last decade.
Approximately 1 billion social-networking users have at least one foreign connection
More than 350 million people are cross-border, e-commerce shoppers – expanding opportunities for small- and medium-sized enterprises to become “micro-multinationals”.

Regardless of the internationalization business strategy, all industries and companies have a common need – language translation.

Why globalization depends on language translation

Globalization and translation share a mutually beneficial relationship. From a company’s perspective, going global gives them the opportunity to expand their reach and target new customers. However, for a business to succeed on an international level they need to be able to bridge language and cultural gaps. This is where a language service provider (LSP) can provide invaluable services.

To illustrate the need for professional language translation services, let’s follow Noel, the CEO of a Everet & Elbert Manufacturing, as he prepares to take his flagship product (Clover Desk Chair) to Europe – specifically, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom.

At first glance, the task of entering these countries in quick succession appears overwhelming – and it is. However, Noel is determined to make a fast and positive international entrance. To get the ball rolling, his internal team begins the laborious task of translating website, product and marketing material from English into French, German and Spanish. But, what about British consumers? While we share the same basic language, there are differences between U.S. and British English – and they shouldn’t be overlooked.

Speaking of activities that were overlooked, Noel failed to plan for the translation of legal documents such as contracts and trademarks, patents and copyrights, company structure and process documents, and registering for country-specific domain names.

While the translation of documents and websites are essential, Noel didn’t take into consideration globalization, internationalization and localization. These three critical activities should have been done prior to the language translation process.

Let’s take a look at globalization, internationalization, localization and translation (GILT) – what they are and why they should happen in a specific sequence.

Using GILT for seamless entrance to foreign countries

GILT, the acronym for globalization, internationalization, localization and translation are the four stages of entering international markets.

Globalization: The process for producing a product (physical or virtual) that will be introduced on the international stage. This first phase typically includes various individuals such as the client, the LSP and marketing, as well as content management system providers, web developers and the website testing agency. The goal of this group is to choose languages based on the location of the new target market, choose the order of language translation based on return on investment (ROI), choose the sequence of web pages to be translated using web analytics, and research local search engines and reserve future local website URLs.

Internationalization: This is the step that makes the product (or service) internationally adaptable. Let’s again go to our desk chair example. While instructions for assembling the chair can be provided in the primary language of each of the countries, what about residents that don’t have an adequate command of the language? Here is where diagrams and illustrations, in addition to or in place of text, can widen the target market.

Localization: This is where the target languages are customized for the new markets, including the use of idioms, etc. Localization ensures that the product or service has been adapted for and is user-friendly for local audiences. For example, in Germany the color yellow represents jealousy. Going back to our Clover Desk Chair example, Noel may want to avoid promoting yellow desk chairs in that country.

In addition, localization takes into consideration date and time formats, currency symbols, system of measurements, punctuation, writing direction, telephone number formats, electrical requirements, etc.

Translation: Many times translation is confused or combined with localization. In reality, they are two distinct processes. In this final phase, content is converted from the source language to the target language(s).

Are you thinking about taking your company international? You don’t need to do it alone.

If you’d like to learn more about how BURG Translations helps you ensure high quality translations, contact us today.