Software Localisation

Bridging language barriers between doctors and patients via technology

Universal Doctor is an application developed for smart phones and tablets with the purpose of facilitating communication and understanding between healthcare providers and patients of various origins. Translated in different European languages (English, Spanish, Slovak, French, Norwegian and soon in Greek) it is a project-initiative of a Spanish Doctor to watch out for, since it is about to occupy the EU medical market.

Regarding the process of localising such a software, it could be said that it is a great experience because it involves the combination of different disciplines such as language studies, software developing and online content editing. The process is simple as long as a log in user name and password is provided to the translator, who afterwards accesses the online platform, uses Spanish as a source language and creates linguistic content in his/hers target language (in this case Greek). Eventually, consulting reference material, such as translations in English, or any other already existing target language, becomes essential in order to achieve an accurate transfer of meaning.

You certainly do not want a patient to answer "My name is Richard Wright" to the question: "Do you have a headache?"

In a later stage, all phrases in source and target languages will be recorded and implemented in the software, so the operation system (PC, smart phone, tablet etc.) will not only display the dialogue on screen, but it will also "speak it out" to both counterparts (healthcare specialists and patients/visitors).

If you want to find out more about the Universal Doctor Project you can visit the links below in order to receive a better understanding of how this functions.

Universal Doctor Project

Universal Doctor Facebook Group

Universal Doctor Twitter

Universal Doctor Blog

Video Game Testing

So proud to have worked on that!

Uncharted 3 - Greek Official Webpage

Translating and the Computer Conference

Translating and the Computer Conference

"Join us at the 33rd Translating and the Computer Conference! The conference is a meeting point for translators, researchers and students in the translation and localization field".


"This year we have presentations from speakers from a wide range of organizations including the European Commission, WIPO, NATA, Google Localisation, and W3C".

17 - 18 November 2011, London.

For the full program please visit:
Conference Program

On the Translation of Video Games

Miguel Bernal Merino, Roehampton University, London

Since the development by the MIT of the very first video game called Spacewar in 1962, the video games industry has evolved dramatically to become a worldwide phenomenon worth billions. Although most games are developed in English and Japanese, the new global market and the great investment required have pushed developers and publishers to translate their games into many other languages. This has brought about a new field of specialisation in translation, commonly known in the industry as 'game localisation'. Without much debate on the topic, terminology has spread in all directions, with new terms being coined, and old terms being appropriated by the industry to convey new realities. The aim of this article is precisely to explore the terminology and clarify terms to help future research in this area of translation studies.

1. Introduction

The twentieth century saw the emergence and popularisation of a new branch within the leisure industry: the electronic and interactive entertainment. Great technological improvements have taken us from the early pinball machines in the late 1920s, to today's third generation consoles. The simple off-hour recreations of computer engineers in the 1960s have now developed into a very complex and lucrative industry. ESA, the Entertainment Software Association in the US, states in its consumer survey published in may 2006 many interesting results, for example: sales were over 7 billion dollars, the average game player age is 33, and 38% of players are female. This is a very different image to the stereotypical image of the teenage male gamer. Video gaming is now a global phenomenon capable of producing as much revenue and anticipation as the film industry. Translation has played a key part in the exponential revenue increase, so much so that, according to McArthy (2005:146): the localization process, which has historically been a simple matter of tacking on a few quick text translations at the end of the development process, has become an integral part of the development cycle, and so needs to be addressed form the outset.

Entertainment software is designed nowadays to accommodate different languages and cultures, allowing, on the one hand, the simultaneous release of titles, and on the other, the interaction in real-time of thousands of online gamers. Globalisation has influenced all economic sectors and has increased the demand for translation services like never before. Globalised industries seem to require a variety of different services from translators, which is opening up new specialisations within language transfer itself. We hear terms like 'localisation' (Chandler, 2005) and 'transcreation' (Mangiron and O'Hagan, 2006) associated with the translation of utility and entertainment software. The terms are not actually new but they have been revamped by economy and marketing professionals due to the new nature of our globalised market. The adoption of these terms by translation vendors points at two important issues: the need for a review of translation studies terminology, and, perhaps, a shift in the role that some translators and translated products are expected to play within a globalised 21st century world.

This article will try to analyse and clarify some of the terms used in the industry with a view to locating the translation of video games within translation studies.

Read full article at: http://www.jostrans.org/issue06/art_bernal.php

Website Localisation

Nowadays some academic institutions for translation studies along with professional bodies train their linguists to use multimedia in order to provide online content in various languages. This is a quite useful skill to have, given the global expansion of corporations and the consumers' multilingual needs. If you are a company that acts in several markets, then you would probably want your customers to receive an attractive insight of your services. This could be achieved by localising your website in the target local (language & culture), avoiding language mistakes and cultural or even political "fouls". A website that is build based on a Content Management System (CMS), could be something scary for a linguist that has not received previous training on how to use one of the CMSs softwares.

From my experience, CMS won't bite you! It is just an HTML processor where, having a log in, you can insert, edit, approve, save and publish content. Unless, someone asks you to create a CMS...Well it is one thing being a web developer and another being a web editor. However, the web developer will become your best friend, or to put it otherwise, your hero of the day. You can always consult the technician next to you -never bombard him/her with questions- because well...they are quite busy themselves.

When team work (linguist + technician) takes place in a successful manner, beautiful platforms can be born.

For instance, the following two links will lead you to two lovely puppies' worlds; an English one and a Greek one!

Enjoy!

Eukanuba UK

Eukanuba Greece