[Article recommendation] software content globalization and localization & Microsoft term management

[ArticleRecommendation] software content globalization and localization & Microsoft term management

Zhou yinhui

Hi everyone, Good evening ~

Today, I have extracted several good blog posts from Microsoft language portal, which describes some basic knowledge about software globalization and localization. This is also a very practical issue, let's take a look at and think about whether we have noticed some small problems in our daily development process, and whether we can make some small improvements to reach a new height, in addition, there are several articles about Microsoft terminology management. Some people may slightly think that the project is too small compared with the process mentioned in the ordinary time, but it can give us some prompt information from the side, although we do not need such a strict term management system, however, we can refer to our management methods to ensure that our industry software won't make some low-level mistakes in terms of terminology. Just as we have seen some Chinese books created by translations without an IT background interpret "XP" as "Extreme Programming" and sometimes have a wry smile.

I hope this will help you :)

 

Software content globalization Part 1 is your software content globalized?

 

The concept of globalization has been widely applied to all walks of life. Every day, we hear topics related to globalization. No company can ignore the products and services that build a global market.

The reason is simple: the development of the Internet makes software and web applicationsProgramUsers are no longer limited by geographical locations. They may have only one wall to one other, or they may have one side in the sky. This also shows that there are only a small number of local users. Even if the product is not localized, the product itself is required to attract users from all over the world and be understood and accepted by users who use English as the second language.

This is a very serious test. This article briefly describes several ways to help your products go global.

Globalization and Localization

I believe many people will confuse the differences between globalization and localization.

A global product should apply to any local market and contain content planned, designed, and implemented for local market needs. A localized product meets specific market needs, language and culture, and political requirements and expectations in specific markets. Localization usually includes the translation of user interfaces and help documents.

Globalization requires product designers to have an understanding and experience in designing non-regional products. The best habit is to make the core components of the product available to all people, regardless of whether they come from any corner of the world. A global product can be localized without any effort.

Even if there is no localization arrangement for the product, the software part should always consider globalization. In fact, many large companies that do not localize their products urgently require globalization because their products will be released worldwide, and most users are not local users.

Let's take a small example to differentiate them. Globalization does not exclude localization. However, globalization greatly simplifies the localization process. Suppose you are designing an invitation letter template. Your subject is Dragon Boat Festival, and you include the relevant pictures and text in your template. Although the text in the template can be translated into other languages, the template still seems to be designed for Chinese people, and foreigners still cannot use it. If it is necessary for foreigners to use it, the corresponding date, text description, pictures, and design style should be re-designed and target users in different countries, therefore, this type of conversion requires repeated operations in many languages.

On the contrary, if the concept of globalization was taken into account at the very beginning, we could choose to be neutral and apply theme, text, and images in all language processes. There is no doubt that, this will greatly simplify the subsequent work.

 

Software content globalization Part 2 How to make your product easy to localize?

Many multinational companies develop software products in English or convert their products into English before localization to other languages. Whether it is localized or not, global products must always adhere to the principle of "simplification", which will make your content clear and concise. The following example illustrates how to make English content easier to translate.

Use words or phrases with accurate meanings as much as possible.

Simple and clear terms make the content easier to understand. For example, "Install the application" is simpler than "set up the application", and concise paragraphs reduce the possibility of misunderstanding.

Try to use a term to express a meaning or concept.

For example, "Remove" and "delete" cannot be mixed. There are minor differences between the two words. "delete" indicates permanent deletion, while "Remove" indicates deletion from a certain place but can be restored.

Use abbreviations as few as possible.

For example, "the server is down" is clearer than "the server's down", because the former will not cause misunderstanding.

The project, punctuation, and uppercase/lowercase letters must be consistent.

Because it helps you clarify the relationship between content and eliminate ambiguity. For example, punctuation helps to divide complicated and confusing sentences into short sentences, making it easy for users to understand.

It should also be avoided to verity nouns.

Because users in other languages may not understand the verb derived from nouns and may not find the corresponding translation in the dictionary. For example, "bugetize" should be replaced by "Create a budget.

The use of concise and clear words is of great benefit to both local and international users.

The less words that need to be translated, the easier and cheaper the translation. More importantly, it can save interface space or print paper to increase comprehensibility.

Compare the following sentences:

"If you are looking for additional information on this subject, click on the link related topics at the bottom of this page ."

"For more information, click related topics ."

Use active voice. Do not use passive voice.

Because the active voice usually shortens sentences, and the active voice is easier to understand than the passive voice. For example

Active Voice: the server manages the cursor. (the server is playing the action .)

Passive Voice: the cursor is managed by the server.

Minimize lengthy expressions

For example, "to" is simpler than "in order.

Simple verbs are usually the clearest expressions. A verb composed of a single word is simpler than a verb composed of multiple words. For example, "Lock" and "lock down ".

Conclusion

Developing global functional software that is easy to localize has many benefits for the company. It allows software to be released in different markets more flexibly, shortens the time difference between different language versions, and improves user satisfaction. International Software is of great significance to the success of enterprises in the global market.

 

 

Microsoft glossary Part 1 Terms Source

This article is divided into three parts to describe the entire process from the initial creation of Microsoft terminology to the final arrival of end customers. These include the efforts of third-party software developers, user interface designers, and language professionals at different stages.

Microsoft's language excellence Department maintains a multilingual, concept-oriented Glossary database. The mission of this department is to provide professional materials to all people who need Microsoft terminology, including localization partners and any staff engaged in language majors. The Microsoft language excellence Department works closely with other Microsoft departments to ensure that terminology can be provided to users in over 100 languages in a timely and accurate manner.

At Microsoft, most software is developed in English as the original version. Therefore, we should first focus on the language used in the original version. A new concept is usually created in the Development Department. The editor first notices a new concept and then studies its usage and meaning and includes it in the product glossary. Sometimes the Project Manager compiles a new term list in the standard document. Generally, this list does not contain the term definition.

The language excellence department requires the Product Development Department to provide a list of new terms at an early stage of the product development cycle, such as before localization starts. Sometimes the product group has a glossary list ready, or sometimes the language excellence Department searches further in the software documentation to ensure that all new terms are included as much as possible. After a list of new terms that contain a term description or definition is available, the term specialist starts to negotiate with the editor of the product group to determine the final term definition, these definitions will be used in our database.

Generally, the term specialist needs to work with editors to elaborate on words or write definitions. In addition, since the work between product groups is relatively independent, the glossary must carefully check whether the same or similar words and concepts exist in the database. For various reasons, repeated words often appear, and the department of language excellence needs to be organized to avoid duplicate entries. Only when all metadata (such as, part of speech, product name, component name, term type, term usage, and comments) are checked one by one, one term entry is complete.

After approval by the English Glossary, an English word is generated. This also indicates that this word can continue the next step in the workflow, usually translated as the target language.

 

 

Microsoft glossary Part 2 prepare a Chinese Glossary

This article is divided into three parts to describe the entire process from the initial production of Microsoft terms to the end customers. These customers include third-party software developers, user interface designers, and language professionals, and any groups or individuals interested in IT terms.

When the English language specialist correctly adds the term to the term management tool, each term should contain corresponding definitions and other relevant information, after the English language specialist approves the application, the Chinese language specialist can start to add a Chinese translation. The term project manager is responsible for coordinating and managing the translation of selected terms based on the project schedule. For Typical Projects, the term project manager should coordinate the management of Microsoft internal languages and outsourcing languages at the same time.

Microsoft's language excellence Department employs terminology specialists to work in 10 different languages. These 10 languages include: French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, Korean, Russian and Brazilian Portuguese. For some large Microsoft products, the term work involves at least 37 languages. For various objective reasons, the term work in small languages usually takes a few months to complete.

After receiving a new project launch notification from the term project manager, the Chinese term specialist must arrange the schedule properly to ensure that the work is completed within the specified time. Depending on the project size, schedule, term importance, and the number of people involved in the final translation of the term, the time spent by the term specialist varies. Each terminology specialist has a complete set of solutions to study and determine the most appropriate Chinese translation, and sometimes they will solicit opinions and suggestions from engineers in various departments or experts in various fields for specific situations. In the end, the Chinese term specialist adds the final translation to the term management tool and adds some usage notes as needed, to help translators or other reference terms correctly use these terms.

Some terms may be very obscure (see this month's term section ). If the Chinese terminologies specialist finds any inappropriate terms or definitions, or has any questions, they can ask the English terminologies specialist who usually replies within three working days. Of course, if they know the answer, they will reply quickly.

After the term specialist completes the term work, they notify the term project manager. When all languages are completed, the project manager delivers the term assignment to the product group.

 

Microsoft term management part 3 Terms in the localization process

This article is divided into three parts to describe the entire process from the initial production of Microsoft terms to the end customers. These customers include third-party software developers, user interface designers, and language professionals, and any groups or individuals interested in IT terms.

The term project manager delivers a target language glossary to the product group and notifies them that these terms are ready for use during localization. Because Microsoft outsourced most of its localization work, the product group needs to notify the localization partner about the status of the glossary. Different localization partners use different tools, but all of them must follow the glossary provided by the Language excellence department.

Some partners may use specialized tools that allow them to view the glossary reference translation online, or view the reference translation in another window on the same interface. Terms that allow partners who do not use similar tools to access Microsoft through external networks. All partners have the same search permissions as Microsoft language specialists, but they do not have the editing permission. It is worth noting that the data published on the Microsoft term portal also comes from the Microsoft term management system, but its update frequency is not very timely and may be delayed for three months. In addition, not all metadata is published on the Microsoft term portal. Therefore, the term portal is not a proper query tool for partners engaged in Microsoft Project localization.

Localization partners may question many terms, whether or not they are included in the term management system. At this time, they use the inquiry tool to submit the question. The target language specialist is responsible for answering questions about existing words in the system. Generally, the reply cycle is three days. With regard to words outside the system, the English glossary will conduct necessary research and, if needed, they will add these words to the system.

Localization partners may also ask how a word is translated in earlier versions of other products. To address this requirement, the language excellence Department provides a search interface through which partners can search for words used in the software product environment and define query in a specific product environment. The term portal also provides this function in the software short result panel. I would like to remind you that the term portal contains only some of the product terms that have been released, so it is not suitable for localization partners to use it for Microsoft projects.

Create an English Glossary and query the corresponding terminology of the target language and the localized products. All these are continuous processes. On the term portal search page, we will provide you with the results of all these tasks as a reference and hope these will help you.