Every once in a while, someone on the list asks about L10N vendors, and usually a few people graciously recommend the vendor they are using. Nothing wrong with that, but I'd like to offer a little caveat to anyone considering hiring a L10N vendor.
While it's all well and good to recommend a specific vendor because they did a good job for a particular company, that does not necessarily mean that the particular vendor can do a good job for everyone. I would encourage anyone who needs L10N services to screen and hire a localization vendor the same way you would screen and hire a technical writer. A good technical writer can write, but you also need to hire a writer that has technical knowledge in the product area that your company makes. For example, would you hire someone who has lots of experience writing repair manuals for jet engines to write a software manual for a network management application? Similarly, the linguists who localize your documents should have technical knowledge in your company's product area, and it would be helpful if they have knowledge of how your customers use the products. Linguists do not translate word-by-word. Instead, they translate sentences, paragraphs, and ideas, and they need to understand something about the source material to do that. Most established L10N vendors have a pool of linguists with both language specialties and technical specalties. Check with the vendor and make sure that they have the right combination of linguistic and technical experience to do the work you need. Diane ========================= -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:framers-bounces+dgcaller=earthlink.net at lists.frameusers.com]On Behalf Of Daniel Doornbos Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 9:37 AM To: mathieu jacquet; smcurtzwiler at sbcglobal.net; framers at lists.frameusers.com Subject: RE: Translators and Word vs FM I agree with Mathieu that translators in Europe tend to be substantially less expensive. But if you live in the US, it's hard to get them on the phone when you want to discuss an issue. And many want payment in Euros, which, for my accounting department, is a major problem. I also use MultiLing, which has given me excellent service at a competitive price. We translate our manuals and UIs into 9 languages. Daniel -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:framers-bounces+danield=promise.com at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of mathieu jacquet Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 8:52 AM To: smcurtzwiler at sbcglobal.net; framers at lists.frameusers.com Subject: Re: Translators and Word vs FM I'd like to recommend mine in France (much cheaper!), but I won't do any advertising on this forum. ;o) Mathieu. >From: Susan Curtzwiler <smcurtzwiler at sbcglobal.net> >To: FrameMaker <framers at lists.frameusers.com> >Subject: Re: Translators and Word vs FM >Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2007 18:00:25 -0800 (PST) > >I would like to recommend a translator service in Provo, Utah, >MultiLing, >Corp. They prefer FM, but they also work with Word. Ask for Emmanuel or >Jeremy and you can use my name as a reference, Sue Curtzwiler. > > This summer, I used MultiLing, Corp, to translate English to German >for >a hardware installation manual, graphics included. The only thing I left in >English was any text on screen captures. The manual was in Word and about >65 pages. > > They did a great job -- after preliminary estimates and Purchase >Orders >were in place, the turnaround time was about 2.5 to 3 weeks. > > Sue Curtzwiler > Technical Writer _______________________________________________ > > >You are currently subscribed to Framers as bobitch at hotmail.com. > >Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. > >To unsubscribe send a blank email to >framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com >or visit >http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/bobitch%40hotmail.com > >Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit >http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live Spaces : cr?ez votre blog ? votre image ! http://www.windowslive.fr/spaces _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to Framers as danield at promise.com. Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/danield%40promise.com Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to Framers as dgcaller at earthlink.net. Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/dgcaller%40earthlink.net Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
