Crossing the language barrier

The internet has made it possible for even small organisations to have a global reach. However, translating from one language to another remains one of the biggest hurdles for firms wishing to cash in on the globalisation boom.

Most of the world’s population does not speak English competently and technical language can be hard enough to understand even in native tongues. In translations, nuances and local culture must be reflected, and quirks of languages also need to be factored in. For example, German uses about 30 percent more space than the same text in English.

Firms seeking internationalisation have tended to rely on human input to translate technical documents, legal contracts, marketing materials and other files. Now, however, with demand for fast translation of web content a pressing requirement, an automation technology called translation memory is being used more widely to recognise and store phrases for subsequent reuse.

“Translation memory says I’ve translated this before and core features have remained the same so why should I do it over again?” said Don DePalma, analyst at localisation consulting firm Common Sense Advisory.

With the acquisition of Tridion this year and Trados in 2005, London-based SDL is becoming the 800lb gorilla of the translation technology sector, but other firms such as fellow UK firm TheBigWordGroup and US-headquartered Idiom Technologies also compete in the space. A huge number of other firms lean on these leaders for technology but compete with them on translation services.

Up to 80 percent of translation needs can now be automated, according to Chris Boorman, chief marketing officer of SDL.

“Organisations understand that language is a differentiator and that the role of technology is critical,” he said. “The internet is driving everything; everyone sees it as the area driving revenue, marketing, sales and support.”

Alison Toon, translation and localisation manager at HP, used SDL’s tools to accelerate the IT giant’s services.

“I was not happy our translators were translating every page every time,” she said. “If anybody asked how much we were spending, nobody would have been able to give an answer as we were so decentralised. We’re not perfect yet but we can reuse now. It cuts review time in half and cuts costs by a significant amount.”

While translation memory is making localisation easier, nobody believes the problem has been cracked, and a lack of standards is a particular worry for some.

“For a very long time, people thought the ‘e’ in ecommerce meant ‘English’ commerce,” said DePalma. “The technologies are getting there but the industry still needs the equivalent of an ODBC [database connectivity standard].”

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