1. Translation vs. localization: Anything new?
Anthony Pym
Universitat Rovira i Virgili
Tarragona, Spain
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2. The state of translation theory
Equivalence died.
Description, Skopos, deconstruction and localization survive.
No debate. 
Just data.
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And yet…
We train translators
And defend translation
… especially when there is a new kid on the block.
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4. What localization is not:
Unconstrained adaptation (Skopostheorie)
Translation with technology (TMs, websites, and as you were)
A return to natural equivalence (Nida in the machine?).
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5. Visible localization:
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6. Partial localization:
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D-day localization
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8. So what is localization?
Localization: taking a product and tailoring it to an individual local market (i.e. ‘locale’).
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Here is a locale:
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10. And within localization…
Translation: converting user-visible natural-language strings from one language to another.
Localization = translation + factor X.
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What is factor X?
Internationalization (e.g. character encoding)
Adaptation (e.g. dates, time, currency conventions)
product reengineering
product testing
project management.
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Don’t think like this: ST TT
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Think like this:
Interlingua ST
TT1
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14. The world is not like this:
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It might be like this:
Locale 4 IC
Locale 2
Locale 1
Locale 3
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16. Language technicians focus on...
Controlled writing
Multilingual terminology (controlled equivalence)
Multilingual content management (chunks)
Use of translation memories (updates)
Integration of MT
project management
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17. 1. Diversity at Microsoft:
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2. Linearity at Dragon:
Welcome to Dragon NaturallySpeaking, the world’s most acclaimed large-vocabulary continuous-speech dictation system. With Dragon NaturallySpeaking you can dictate to your computer instead of using the computer to enter and revise text.
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Two pages later:
Welcome to Dragon NaturallySpeaking, the world’s most acclaimed large-vocabulary continuous-speech dictation system. With Dragon NaturallySpeaking you can dictate to your computer instead of typing.
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And again:
Welcome to Dragon NaturallySpeaking, the world’s most acclaimed large-vocabulary continuous-speech dictation system. With Dragon NaturallySpeaking you can compose messages, create reports, draft letters, edit proposals, and more, all by speaking to your computer instead of typing.
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This means:
Texts become ‘information objects’.
They lose linearity (we read with the Find function).
Text production is also non-linear (modifications and updates).
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22. Globalization at Ikea:
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In Malaysia:
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In Greece:
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In Poland:
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26. Globalization at Ikea:
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In Germany:
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In France:
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In Hong Kong:
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This means:
The most global product is the most symbolically domesticated.
There is a clear professional distinction between natural-language replacement (‘translation’) and complete localization.
The dehumanizing processes are at the level of natural-language replacement.
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Work space at DejaVu...
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This means:
Translators are being separated from the most lucrative IT techniques of localization.
Translators are being separated from the most humanizing marketing techniques.
We remain mere technicians.
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So, what’s new:
Internationalization (centralized production)
Content management (work on chunks and updates)
Fabricated equivalence
Lousy jobs for translators
Big money for cool techies.
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