On 05.02.2010, at 18:54, NickMtl wrote: > A few months back, Wil Shipley of Delicious Monster had a post on his blog > with tons of info (and code) on the subject: > > http://wilshipley.com/blog/2009/10/pimp-my-code-part-17-lost-in.html > > Basically, he has some users do the work, he keeps the 30-40% and sell > through the web.
If you're a non-English user and you've ever looked at Delicious Library, you won't even consider his approach. The app won an ADA in English, but the localizations were terrible, last I checked it out. Get a professional translator. Getting users to localize stuff is fraught with problems: - They are generally volunteers or hobbyists. You may get a cheaper localization, but they may also disappear all of a sudden due to personal or work commitments. You'll have much longer lead times for localizations than with a professional company, as they're generally only available on weekends, and not as fast as a pro due to less practice. - You may end up having several translators, and get an inconsistent translation (same word translated differently in different parts of the app etc.), or a non-exact translation. People who do this for a living have practice and when they don't, they will buy dictionaries to help them with domain-specific language. They have more time to invest in learning the trade, so they do a better job by default. - Especially in Japan, there are *huge* cultural differences. The companies offering these services are aware of them and will tell you what to change. They will redesign packaging to follow Japanese sensibilities (the meaning and prestige of colors is hugely different there), and will thus not just do translation for you, but also marketing. Try finding a user that's both a marketing whiz and a translator, and does that cheaply while he has some other job. At work, we have a Japanese distributor (I'm sorry, I don't remember their name) that takes care of such things. Cheers, -- Uli Kusterer "The Witnesses of TeachText are everywhere..." http://www.zathras.de
