In 2021, we at Alconost published data on the most popular languages for product localization. This year, we're continuing the tradition and publishing the latest stats on the demand for languages to enter foreign markets. Read on and get the broad strokes right now.
Highlights: 12 Consistently Popular Localization Languages
Top 5 Languages: The Classic Four + Brazilian Portuguese
Companies that localize into the most popular languages
Japanese, Korean and Chinese are shoulder to shoulder
Places 9-12 and below: What other local markets are popular for localizations
A treat for number geeks: A closer look at the Top 10 localization languages
But localization isn't everything. So, what else is there?
Editing and localization QA: When you need them
Remember: Every product is different
Request the full edition of the article from Alconost for free
An abridged version of this article was first published on the Globalization and Localization Association (GALA)'s website. We thank the association for the opportunity to publish it and for its interest in our content!
In this review, we look at orders made by Alconost Localization Department customers with English as the source language.
People turn to Alconost when launching a product — most often software, an application, or a game — so they can enter foreign markets. The company provides translation and localization services into 100+ languages, video production and multilingual marketing services. Our clients include both indie developers and such large companies as JetBrains, Microsoft, Kaspersky, and Bitrix, to name a few.
Highlights: 12 Consistently Popular Localization Languages
The 12 most popular target languages for orders that had English as their source language remained the same as last year. French (France), Italian, German, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Spain), Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Dutch, Turkish, Polish, Russian are languages that are consistently in demand.
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Figure 1. The most popular target languages in projects with English as the source language in 2021. The share of orders for the top 12 languages accounts for 63.6% of the total volume of orders.
However, the positions of some languages have changed within the most popular ones compared to last year. Korean, German, and Brazilian ranked higher in the top 12, while Spanish, Dutch, and Turkish ranked lower.
The main surprise in the top 5 is Brazilian Portuguese's rise to 4th place and Spanish dropping out of the top four languages.
Top 5 Languages: The Classic Four + Brazilian Portuguese
There is a group of the four most popular languages for localization — not including English, of course — with the acronym FIGS: French, Italian, German, and Spanish. Just like last year, these languages are among our top 5 languages for localization from English.
When localizing software, apps, and games into the "classic four" languages, developers are able to do more than just enter the markets of four countries. Italian, for example, is the official language in three other countries besides Italy, and German is the official language in five countries outside of Germany. Not to mention the prevalence of Spanish, French, and their variants in dozens of countries on both sides of the Atlantic!
"The availability of a product, not just in English, but in FIGS languages, too, is, in a way, an integral part of software, games, or apps that strive to be global. But we can't forget that translating a product into a particular language and localizing a product for a particular country's market are not the same thing. For example, localization for Spain will not fully meet the expectations of users in Argentina or Mexico. The Spanish language in Latin America has its specifics. You need to adapt the product to the local version of the language in a particular country," says Stas Kharevich, Localization Team Lead at Alconost.
While Spanish's move to fifth place in popularity is a noticeable change in the ranking, it doesn't indicate a global decline in interest in the Spanish language. After all, if we combine the order statistics for all varieties of Spanish (in 2021, we also worked with Spanish for Mexico, the US, Argentina, and Colombia), they would have taken the top spot in our ranking with a share of 8.45%.
If we talk about French, which leads our ranking for the second year in a row now, we mean only the French spoken in France. Note that, for example, Canada, one of the most attractive Francophone countries in terms of marketing, has its own variety of French, and orders for "Canadian French" in our statistics aren't included in the number of French orders for France.
Learn more about the nuances of localization into Canadian French in our review.
Brazilian Portuguese deserves special attention in the top languages. In 2020, it was the "fifth element" in the ranking, on the heels of the classic four. And in 2021, it moved into fourth place and changed the traditional balance of power.
The following factors, we believe, have influenced the growing popularity of Brazilian Portuguese for localization:
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Brazil has the ninth-largest economy in the world.
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The country has a high purchasing power.
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Smartphone and console games are very popular among Brazilians.
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The country has one of the highest download rates in Google Play and the App Store.
Indeed, the Brazilian market looks like a tasty tidbit for developers. Considering that Brazil is a growing market for mobile apps and games, we predict that Brazilian Portuguese has a good chance to settle in the top 5 and to be in demand for localization as much as the most popular European languages.
Here's a review of the Brazilian mobile games market and helpful information for those planning to scale their product to Brazil.
Companies that localize into the most popular languages
Among the companies localizing their products into the top languages from our ranking are JetBrains, TransferWise, Avangate, Movavi, and Vizor Games. Bear in mind that these Alconost clients' activities aren't limited to the top 5 languages. As they expand into foreign markets and develop their products, they need to localize into additional languages, and their list is even wider than our top 10.
Request the full article on Top localization languages for free
Japanese, Korean and Chinese are shoulder to shoulder
Just as it was a year ago, Japanese remains the sixth-most-popular language in projects with English as the source language. Although its share among the total number of orders increased by 0.7%, it failed to make it into the top five.
Follow the link for tips on localizing games for the Japanese market.
Please note: The statistics we analyze in this article reflect only "English to Japanese" orders. However, there's another side of this moon: translations from Japanese to English and Asian and European languages.
Ilya Spiridonov, Chief Commercial Officer at Alconost, sheds more light on this:
"For the last year, we've been actively working with clients from Japan. Among the exciting companies from Japan that we started working with in 2021, I would like to mention the game developers Characterbank and Zxima, as well as the tech company RICOH. We expect that we will help more IT and tech companies gain new clients and users from the Asia-Pacific region and the rest of the world in 2022. This March, Alconost was ISO 9001:2015 certified and received two more industry-specific ISO certificates relating directly to translation services. The documented quality of processes will simplify the company's work with corporate clients."
Yoshiyuki Suginome, Regional Director of Alconost Japan and Asia-Pacific, talks about what languages Japanese companies are interested in as target languages and what matters when choosing languages for localization:
"According to our observations, many app developers, from startups to mid-size companies, evaluate the possible impact of localization on ROI efficiency. This potential impact seems to be one of the key factors for specific target languages' selection. As for English, Chinese, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese, I guess they're amongst the most popular target languages for Japanese app development companies because of the number of speakers. Apart from that, the cultural and geographical proximity to Japan can factor in. As far as I can tell, this is one of the reasons why Korean, Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Vietnamese are also in demand."
Korean is a popular language for localization, and not just among Japanese customers. It ranks seventh in overall popularity among target languages for orders with English as a source. Over the past year, Korean has jumped three lines up in our ranking: in 2020, its share of 4% earned it tenth place, while in 2021, with a share of 5%, it moved straight to seventh place.
Request the full article on Top localization languages for free
It doesn't come as a surprise if you know the situation in the Korean gaming market. The users from this country are among the most willing to pay in the world, and in 2018, one out of every two(!) citizens of South Korea could be considered a gamer. Given the growing worldwide interest in Korean mass culture, the localization of a product into Korean can no longer be considered something exotic.
Read about the preferences of South Korean users and the specifics of game localization for this market in this review.
Of course, developers aren't ignoring China's audience of more than a billion people. Like last year, between translations into Simplified and Traditional Chinese, developers are more likely to choose the former. Simplified Chinese is eighth in our ranking, just as it was last year.
By the way, if we combined all the varieties of Chinese that we translated from English in 2021 — Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and the Hong Kong dialect — their share would be 7.3% in total. In this case, translations from English into all varieties of Chinese would be second on our list after French.
Read this article about the issues Chinese developers face when localizing games for users in Western countries.
Places 9-12 and below: What other local markets are popular for localizations
Oddly enough, the 2021 statistics show that the languages of three Asian countries — Japan, Korea, and China — are ranked next to each other. A year earlier, Dutch stood between Japanese and Simplified Chinese. Now, it's moved from 7th to 9th place.
The year before, Turkish was ninth, wedged between Simplified Chinese and Korean. This year, Turkish is tenth, but note that this language has been one of the stable areas for localization from English for several years now. Developers' interest in it can be explained by the fact that the Turkish game market is considered the most developed among Middle Eastern and North African countries. The presence of localization significantly increases the chances of a product's acceptance among users from Turkey.
Turkey is interesting as both a target market and a source one. Their game development industry is booming. Read about the outcomes of Turkish game localizations into popular languages in this case study.
Places 11 and 12, as in 2020, are reserved for Polish and Russian, respectively. The gap between them slightly narrowed over the year. The share of Polish decreased by 0.1%, and the percentage of Russian increased by 0.2%.
Places 13 through 17, in decreasing order of share, are occupied by European Portuguese, Traditional Chinese, Arabic, Mexican Spanish, and Thai. The shares of orders for these languages range from 2.3% to 2%.
Read the review of the Middle East market for localization into Arabic here.
Among the languages gaining popularity specifically for game localization, we'd like to mention Hindi. In 2021, the English-Hindi language pair accounted for 1.3% of orders. We'll see how the situation changes a year from now.
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You can compare the recent data with last year's data.
Alconost states that it provides localization into 100 languages and that they work only with native-speaking professional translators. It sounds great, but how do you do it? For example, if you need to localize an interface from English to Burmese, Hindi, Odia, Lao or Dzongkha, where do you find the right people, how do you check the quality of their work, and how do you retain them for regular collaboration?
We spoke to Anastasiya Yazepenka, who is responsible for finding and testing translators at Alconost, about the unique aspects of hiring rare language translators. This is mainly required for localizing apps, games and online services, technical documentation and marketing materials for IT companies.
1. What are rare languages in localization?
2. The process of finding a translator: 6 steps
3. How to find rare language translators
4. How much does a rare language translation cost and what affects the price
5. How to communicate with translators
6. Four ways to avoid selecting the wrong candidate
7. Testing translators
8. Interactive onboarding
9. Why all this isn't a secret
1. What are rare languages in localization?
Anastasiya, let's first clarify which languages are considered 'rare' in our context.
Yes, let's clarify this from the start. Of course, classifying a language as rare depends on certain things. In one way or another, all the languages that we work with are living languages, which are widely used in a particular region, with relatively large communities using them on a daily basis. For example, Kannada is the native language of over 40 million people in South-West India, but we classify it as a rare language.
In terms of localization, we consider a language rare if it is not in constant demand on the market, both among our clients and overall. The lack of consistent demand means the supply, i.e. the number of translators working in this language, is also limited. When there is demand for this language, the suppliers, i.e. the translators, are in a more favorable position than the customers. Consequently, clients are more likely to compete with each other for a good rare language translator than translators compete for a client.
There is no shortage of translators who are native speakers of Spanish, German, French, Chinese or Japanese. Nevertheless, even in these popular languages, it may be hard to find a language specialist to translate highly specialized projects, such as medical equipment software. It may be hard to find suppliers who are experienced and responsible, and available for collaboration, even in the popular language pairs. In any case, when translators are competing with each other for a client, it creates a certain balance of power. Translators understand that the client will choose them based on their competitiveness: ability to keep to a deadline, readiness to negotiate the price, and the ability to translate accurately. Of course, if a translator is experienced in using specialized computer-assisted translation tools (CAT tools or platforms), is easy to talk to and discuss the project details, that is also a big plus.
When clients compete for suppliers, it creates a different power balance. If we receive only a few replies, or even none, to our advertisement or we see very few available translators, it means that this target language is in less demand, so we can call it a rare language for localization purposes.
I'd like to ask then how quickly you find rare language translators? It can obviously vary…
Yes, it's always very individual. From what I can remember, the shortest amount of time was five working days, and the longest was more than three months (however, in that instance, we needed a pool of several suppliers, who were competent in a certain field). Ignoring the extremes, I would say that we can find an exotic language translator in about three weeks on average.
Want to learn more about how quickly we are able to
find a rare language translator for your project?
Book a free call with our team!
By the way, when we're talking about "finding a translator", we mean selecting appropriate candidates by sifting through applications and studying their resumes, right?
Oh, not only that! Studying the resume is just the start, the real work comes next. Let me describe all the stages included in "finding a translator" at Alconost, step by step.
2. The process of finding a translator: 6 steps
Step 1. Manually searching for potential suppliers: using selection criteria and examining relevant profiles. As an option, we may publish an advertisement on specialized platforms and study the profiles of translators who respond.
Step 2. Contact: inviting a translator to collaborate via a private message or email.
Step 3. Negotiation: requesting additional information from a candidate about their qualifications, discussing rates and payment methods.
Step 4. Test task: providing a test task and reviewing the results after a couple of days.
Step 5. Validation: examining any errors the candidate made when completing the test. This is the most interesting, although time-consuming step, where every comma can affect the outcome. This stage has three possible outcomes. If the test is an obvious fail, we inform the supplier of this but do not go any further. If the test is an obvious pass, we move on to the onboarding. The most interesting are borderline passes, for example, when the result is technically a fail, but the reviewer believes the translator did a good job. The decision is made on a case-by-case basis in these instances, based on how serious the errors were and ways of minimizing these errors in the future.
Step 6. Onboarding: this is probably the most predictable stage for us, but the most unusual stage for the supplier, who is not yet familiar with Alconost's processes, standards and corporate culture. During this stage, we introduce the translator to our workflow and deal with administrative tasks, such as adding the translator to our contractor database, and signing an agreement that includes the NDA. We are not big fans of bureaucratic procedures ourselves, but we know how sensitive clients can be to these nuances, so we deal with them from the start.
Only after all six steps have been completed, can we say that we have found a rare language translator. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that it takes an average of three weeks not to search for a translator, but to find one: it's a subtle but important difference in this case.
True, looking at profiles is only the tip of the iceberg. What is the trigger that launches this entire process?
The trigger is always a request from the client for a particular language pair. The language pair is what we call the source and target languages. This is how it works: when localization managers receive a request from a client for translation into a language we haven't worked with before, they create a task in our internal system. The task to find translators is created using a template that we have refined over the years of recruiting. The template contains only 11 questions but they're all important ones.
Answers to these questions give us an overall idea of the task that the translator will need to complete and suggest certain requirements that the translator needs to meet. Basically, answers to these questions form the work specifications for the vendor managers.
So you look for rare language translators only upon the client's request?
When we're going through the database, we might notice that we don't have enough active translators for a particular language pair, while we have plenty of specialists in another language pair but no one working in a particular high-demand niche. But these observations don't trigger a search. It doesn't make sense to collect translators just to add them to the database, since inactive contacts fade over time. If you don't provide translators with regular work, they tend to forget your standards and criteria, but remember the long-winded process (emails, test translation, onboarding) which, ultimately, led nowhere. Therefore, only a specific task triggers a search for translators.
Do you find translators for any volume of work here at Alconost? Or does it have to be a large project to start looking?
If the potential project is over 1,000 words, we start looking. Which isn't to say that small projects don't stand a chance. If we're talking about a constant stream of small projects, that's even better for us than a large, but once-off translation project. As I've said before, we're interested in regular collaboration with the translator. It's important not to let the company and translator relationship fall dormant. So, if the client needs translation into a rare language and the volume is quite small but these jobs are recurrent, we're on board!
By the way, it's not a problem for us if the client views us as an additional or secondary vendor. For example, if the client already localizes their product into most languages themselves or with the help of another vendor, and contacts us only for a particular need. We're happy to help with translating only rare languages, for example, or with quality assurance of already existing language versions of a product, and we can embed ourselves into a client's existing localization set-up.
3. How to find rare language translators
How do you and your colleagues usually find translators?
There are a number of online platforms that we use in our search. Unfortunately, I can't mention them by name, but I can say that there isn't a single resource out there to cover all our needs for qualified translators.
All platforms where we find suppliers have their own pros and cons. Some platforms, for example, have a lot of rare language translators in particular, but not everyone lists their contact details, which complicates communication. Other platforms may have many excellent specialists, but only in one language pair or for only one particular topic. For example, only translators into Japanese or only translators with software development experience.
A translator with software development experience? Sounds like a rare combination!
Of course, not all developers have a linguistic background. But there are projects where knowledge of niche terminology, localization experience in a highly specialized topic, and familiarity with the topic overall, are more important than a translation degree. Here we have another problem: rates that would motivate a programmer with experience in localization to work in localization rather than programming.
What about platforms like LinkedIn? Do you find translators there?
Sometimes, but we have to look through a lot of profiles that might not be complete, and in some cases, there are significant delays in potential suppliers responding to our queries. LinkedIn is good but it isn't our main source of suppliers.
Can you remember the most unusual source of an excellent translator?
The most unusual case in my practice was when a potential translator into Canadian French recommended their colleague as he himself was working on urgent projects. We contacted the specialist recommended to us, he was interested in the job, successfully completed the test task and onboarding, and is now part of the Alconost translator team.
4. How much does a rare language translation cost and what affects the price
So, what about pricing? Is there a correlation between "the more popular the language, the cheaper the localization"?
That statement is only partially true. If we're talking about translation into popular localization languages, the price is mainly influenced by the living standards of countries where the native speakers live. For example, translations from English to Hebrew, Norwegian, Dutch or Japanese will cost more than, for example, localization from English to Turkish, Hindi or Indonesian.
Of course, a shortage of qualified translators in a particular language pair will significantly affect the price. For example, the cost of translation from English to Khmer (which is spoken in Cambodia) or Burmese (spoken in Myanmar) will be about the same as translating to Swedish or even Norwegian. All because these translators know that they are in high demand, so they avoid reducing their rates or negotiating prices in general.
Another factor is the translator's competence in a specialized topic. Such as translators with experience in development, as I've mentioned before. The problem is that these suppliers will expect translation rates that are close to the prices charged by programmers. But programming rates are higher than the average translation rates. It's the same situation with other topics in which only a handful of translators specialize.
So, even if the language itself is popular and relatively cheap to translate into on the whole, the rates may skyrocket for high-quality work in a very specialized field. A translation of the same size and into the same language may cost very differently, depending on whether it is an article on consumer behavior or instructions for a woodworking machine.
Want to learn more about rare language localization pricing? Book a free call with our team!
5. How to communicate with translators
Let's talk about establishing contact and how you communicate with candidates. What do you normally write to the translators and what do you pay attention to in their responses? Any specific advice about communication?
If I was the one who found the candidate, I usually briefly describe the company and project for which I need a translator, in the first email.
If the candidate responded to my ad, I study their profile and CV, and then write a short email to discuss conditions if I'm happy with what I've seen. I often ask clarifying questions regarding experience, specializations and their role in specific translation projects.
Do you communicate with translators over email or in messengers?
Here at Alconost, we prefer email. This ensures colleagues can see everything, there is a record of the correspondence, which is easy to search through. Some translators would prefer to communicate using messengers. I've noticed that translators of African languages prefer WhatsApp, while speakers of Asian languages prefer Skype. But we leave messengers only for extreme cases and emergencies. For example, if our emails aren't reaching the translator, we find out the reason via messenger and then return to email.
6. Four ways to avoid selecting the wrong candidate
When we study a resume, we always take note of how many languages, dialects and fields a translator works in. Let's take two fictional resumes as an example. First resume: a niche specialist, who works with one language and a maximum of two dialects, and specializes in certain fields. Second resume: a 'universal' translator, who claims to know several languages and dialects at the native level and states that they're competent in a dozen fields, from translating poetry to software localization for heavy industry. The owner of the first resume definitely has a higher chance of reaching the next stage in Alconost's recruitment process than the owner of the second.
Mentioning world-renowned brands as clients can also backfire. This can mean that it's the resume of a scammer: for example, this article even lists famous companies used by unscrupulous people to try and pass themselves off as in-demand, qualified professionals.
Less obvious red flags in a resume are online language courses. Of course, we won't automatically reject a specialist who includes them in their resume, but we'll check the candidate more thoroughly. I'll explain why. Online language courses often provide lots of useful information that can show a translator which areas to focus on, which resources and tools to use. But these courses can't compare to the fundamental linguistic training provided by good old universities, and certainly not to many years of real-world experience. Perhaps other recruiters think differently, but here at Alconost, we're not very impressed by certificates from online language schools.
The most concerning thing is when a candidate provides contradictory information about themselves. For example, one candidate claimed to be a freelancer but then used "we" when writing about himself. As it later turned out, this candidate wasn't a translator, but a representative of a translation agency. The problem here wasn't that he was an agency employee, but that he tried to hide this fact and was being disingenuous.
7. Testing translators
Do you test all potential translators or are there exceptions?
Everyone who reaches the testing stage.
What do you use to test the real translating ability?
We check translating qualifications using a fragment of the project for which we need the translator. We negotiate with the client which fragment of the project can be used for testing. It is usually 250-300 words long. This amount won't take too much of the translator's time but it is long enough for the candidate to show their skills. What's important is that a translation of this fragment not be already available anywhere online. Since this is only the test translation and the translator hasn't yet completed the onboarding, which includes signing the NDA, we try to choose a text fragment that doesn't make it obvious which product it's referring to.
Which criteria do you use for assessment and who checks the test task?
We check the test translation using a specialized quality assurance system. If we already have a translator for this rare language, whom we're currently working with (this happens if we work with this language, but we need to expand the translator pool), then our regular translator checks the quality of the candidate's work. If we don't have a regular translator, candidates check each other, while another candidate can serve as the arbitrator in case of disagreements.
Translation quality is measured as a percentage in the QA system, so perfect quality is 100%. The candidate is considered to have passed the test if the test quality is 98% or higher. The quality index is calculated automatically, based on how serious the errors are. Error severity is decided by the reviewer, but we make sure that they don't over- or underpenalize.
We also often ask the reviewer to provide their overall impression of the test translation. In my practice, I remember one instance when the candidate made several critical, but repetitive errors, which were related to the specific terminology in this project. The reviewer was already working on the project and knew the terminology, while the candidate hadn't and didn't know the terms, but the reviewer couldn't approve a test containing errors. But it was obvious that if the translator learned the right terms, they could provide an excellent result. Which is what ended up happening.
Plus, a quality score of 98%, which we consider the pass level, is a pretty high requirement. As far as I know, some translation agencies accept tests with a score of 95%.
What if a candidate disagrees with the reviewer?
We always ask candidates, even those who successfully passed the test, to carefully study the test results, note the errors, and reply to the reviewer's comments. It is a constructive process when searching for translators into popular languages, but less so with rare languages. There can be emotional and prolonged arguments, and we have to soothe participants and ask them not to take the reviewer's comments personally. Vendor managers have to act as mediators to preserve a constructive atmosphere between candidates and help them listen to each other.
Want to learn more about localization quality assurance at Alconost? Book a free call with our team!
8. Interactive onboarding
You've spoken about all stages of the search except the last one — onboarding. Is it a topic that can be discussed publicly? There's probably corporate know-how involved…
My colleagues and I try to ensure that the onboarding process doesn't turn into a stream of boring instructions. Right now, onboarding is a series of tutorials set out on Google forms and Trello cards, and a few instructional emails, which are sent to the translator at certain onboarding stages. We believe that thanks to the portioned provision of information, the translator develops a better understanding of our processes.
More specifically, we provide more information about our translation quality standards and communication during onboarding, as well as presenting our attitude to the work processes and deadlines. While the translator tells us more about themselves. For example, which translation tools they can use, which platforms they usually work in, the operating systems on their PC and smartphone. The last question may sound odd, but we have a reason for it. It can be important if the client requests localization quality testing (LQT) and the translator has to launch the application or game on their device.
The purpose of onboarding is to prepare the translator for working on a real project, so that they understand what is expected of them and what they need to do in a particular situation.
The process of onboarding only takes a few days, so it can't really change an already formed specialist or make a person acquire some hard skills. But we can suggest some simple things that the translator might not have paid attention to before. We highlight these during onboarding: yes, these are minor details but they are important for us, please keep them in mind.
Returning to the topic of rare languages. Can you list which rare languages Alconost actively works with at present?
Yes, I checked right before our chat. We've already spoken about some of these languages, while others may not be familiar to a large audience, but here is a list of rare languages that we can translate into from English at any moment.
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Amharic
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Gujarati
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Odia
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Basque
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Icelandic
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Sinhala
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Bengali
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Kannada
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Somali
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Bislama
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Kinyarwanda
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Swahili
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Burmese
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Lao
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Tagalog
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Catalan
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Malayalam
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Welsh
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Cebuano
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Marathi
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Dzongkha
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Nepali
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I can imagine how much work had to be done behind the scenes to make this possible!
Thank you. This may sound obvious, based on our conversation, but I'd like to stress one thing. Finding translators is a system in Alconost: it's a process rather than an ad hoc scenario. We understand that it is a long game, and that a translator for whom we have no work today could become a vital member of our translator team tomorrow. That's why, even if the amount of work for a translator drops, we try to keep in touch with them, to maintain regular contact.
Rare language translators require particular care. After all, if we have a need for this language again, a new search might take even longer if an existing contact remembers us as an agency that wastes time with questions but doesn't provide work.
Maintaining a good relationship is also useful when the search for translators hits a dead end. Then we can ask the translator for a recommendation. It may be that they've worked on another project with a colleague who speaks the very rare language that we're looking for. A localization company must have established ties in the translation community.
9. Why all this isn't a secret
Through our conversation, we've learned a lot of details that not all language service providers would be willing to share, I think. Are you afraid that clients who localize products in-house will copy your processes and turn to your agency less often?
I'm not so sure that our system can be easily copied. Let's take the OKR methodology or Objectives and Key Results. It is described in detail in John Doerr's book, Measure What Matters, there is plenty of information about OKR, and there are special instruments for the practical application of OKR in companies. But not everyone who wishes to implement OKR is successful. It's not just about information access, but about how it is used, as well as whether a company is at a stage where it has a critical need for these changes.
I can't deny that a development company with in-house localization might consider borrowing a page from Alconost. Indeed, why not: Alconost has developed real-world methods of expanding the translator pool, our quality management system is ISO 9001:2015 certified, and we have a lot of positive client feedback. Why not create a similar system? I see two reasons.
First, a development company will most likely have their own process for expanding the translator pool, so it's difficult to start again from scratch. The company will probably integrate our process into their existing one, which will lead to a hybrid system that certainly won't be the same as ours.
Second, as a localization company that provides services to many different clients, we can provide translators with a variety of work and quite regularly. This strengthens translator loyalty and increases the chance that a translator will agree to accept an urgent project, do a good job, and finish by the deadline. Even a very large development company may not have the translation volumes to provide translators into certain languages with regular work.
I've already explained why we don't look for new translators 'just in case'. For the same reason, a development company is unlikely to spend time and money on searching for, testing and onboarding suppliers who will ultimately just hang around.
So, it's less about how difficult it would be to copy our system, but rather about whether it would make sense to copy it.
Want to learn more about localization into rare languages? Book a free call with our team!
Thank you for such an honest and in-depth conversation!
I was glad to share my experience and the company's experience. I'll leave our email address: info@alconost.com. If a rare language translator is reading this article, please know that we're always happy to hear from you.
In March of 2022, Alconost joined the ranks of language service providers whose quality management system is ISO 9001:2015 certified. In addition, the company received certificates of compliance with standards of quality for translation, proofreading and localization QA, and post-edited machine translation (PEMT).
We spoke with Stas Kharevich, localization team lead at Alconost, about what these certificates mean for the company and its customers.
Stas, tell us: is certification an important stage in the company's development?
It's a milestone, for sure. But I would say that in our case it's more of a formality. The fact is, when it comes to quality, here at Alconost we're very demanding of ourselves. And it so happened that the processes that we've long been cultivating and improving in the company turned out to meet ISO standards. It's been like that for a long time, as we've been explaining for many years to customers who were interested in our quality standards. Now we have the actual certificate, in addition to our explanations or instead of them.
Alconost has received three certifications. Can you tell us a little about what's special about each of them?
The first certificate is for compliance with ISO 9001:2015. It's a fairly general certificate and pertains to the quality management system used by the company. In our case, the certificate confirms compliance with standards not only for localization and translation projects, but also for custom video production (particularly for apps and games) and marketing services, such as multilingual SEO and PPC management.
The second certificate, ISO 17100:2015, is narrower and more industry-specific. It confirms compliance with requirements for provision of translation services, such as translation and localization of software, games, apps, and websites. This particular certificate is actually not the only one offered in the translation industry: there are several standards with different evaluation criteria. After all, different companies employ different processes; consequently, they need to be evaluated by different standards.
What kind of workflow does the ISO 17100 certification imply?
It presupposes a multi-stage process that is divided into phases, and this precisely corresponds to our own localization process. There is a preparatory phase — a kind of pre-production, when all the information on the project is systematized. This includes collection of all input data, the work of compiling a glossary, and setting up the project on a specialized translation platform. Then comes the translation phase: here we pay special attention to the context, ask the customer for any necessary clarification, and end by proofreading the translation. The third phase is in-country review: it involves getting feedback from users from the region for which the localization was intended, analyzing this feedback, and, if necessary, improving the current translation and developing rules or recommendations for the future.
This certification has requirements not only for the process, but also those executing it. They must be native speakers, have a linguistic education, and have specialized translation experience in a particular niche. As I mentioned, we've been selecting translators according to these criteria for many years — not to become certified, but simply because these really are essential criteria for finding professionals in the field.
Sounds logical. And what about the third certificate, ISO 18587-2017?
It pertains exclusively to requirements for post-editing machine translation. Although modern machine translation engines (called neural machine translation engines, or NMT) can be trained and customized to produce acceptable translations on certain topics, they still cannot replace professional linguists. But you can combine the two: machine translation using a customized engine and its subsequent editing by a professional translator. The ISO 18587 certificate is what confirms that we know how to employ this process correctly.
Stas, why did you wait until now to get certified? The company's already 18 years old.
In recent years we've been doing a lot of work with large companies, and working with them also involves a number of formalities, such as bureaucratic procedures like filling out tender documentation. Of course, nobody chooses a vendor solely on the basis of “do they have an ISO certificate,” but all other things being equal, not having a certificate can affect a customer's decision. In a nutshell, having certificates makes it easier to work with corporate customers.
Did you have to tweak anything in your processes in order to get certified?
No, not a thing.
Should customers expect any changes now that Alconost is ISO-compliant?
No. We've just been given documented proof that our processes are exactly what they should be.
