Translation and localization of Web resources

Translation is not only replace words in a foreign language to English ones and vice versa. If so, machine translation will not be a nonsense.

When a business goes global, it is well understood in other languages ​​becomes crucial.

There is another aspect. If the translator does not take into account the peculiarities of the particular culture, a web resource for this audience is bound to fail. Wrong (for this culture), the approaches to the recipient, negative (in this culture), association can ruin all the ambitions of the entrepreneur to do business in this country.

When writing text, for example, Web content or document, keep in mind that you are writing for - and you are absolutely right. Your goal is to inform, to appeal, to convince, to prove ... Remains the same when you are addressing a foreign audience. The difference is that sometimes you have to use different means to achieve this goal.

In poor translation (and word for word translation is always poor) means typical for a language and culture are mechanically transferred to another - in a naive hope that they work the same way. Well, they will not.

To translate a text means re-creating - by means of another language. Properly translated, the text seems to have been written in this language, which transmits the same thoughts and evokes the same feelings as the original. It fits perfectly in the context of another culture. Traditions, customs, etiquette, moral principles, even stereotypes and superstitions of the target audience may differ from yours - and this is important if you intend to convey some message to those persons or to communicate with them. The process of adapting your website to the needs of the public mind with another is called "localization".

Website localization is a complex process that requires both technical expertise and linguistic / cultural knowledge. The goal is to make a website look natural for the target audience and user-friendly. Visitors should not waste time guessing how, for example, type a date or a phone number in a form (these things vary in different countries). It 's likely that in the words of the target language are longer than in English - allow more characters to be typed in the fields.

If you are starting a website in a foreign language, the changes have to depend on the differences between two cultures: the culture of your destination. Sometimes a translation is good enough, but not always the case. Be prepared for changes - you might need to have new photos and illustrations, redo the graphics and also alter the style of your website, if necessary.

Even such a work requires time and effort, you will pay in the future .......