Unlike direct translation, localization ensures that your content resonates with cultural nuances, making it relevant and relatable to diverse audiences. 📢📢

 

What is Translation?

Translation is the process of rendering text from one language into another while ensuring that the meaning is preserved. It primarily focuses on linguistic accuracy when transferring content from the source language to the target language.

In other words, translation transforms words, sentences, or paragraphs while maintaining their core message.

 

What is Localization?

Localization, on the other hand, is a more comprehensive process. It goes beyond mere translation and addresses the cultural, non-textual, and contextual components.

When adapting a product or service for another country or locale, localization considers not only the language but also various cultural aspects, such as:

• currency,
• date formats,
• legal regulations,
• imagery,
• technological standards…

Essentially, localization aims to create an authentic and locally acceptable experience for users.

 

Key Differences:

• Scope:

Translation: Primarily deals with text and language.

Localization: Extends beyond text to encompass the whole product or content, including visual elements, design, and user experience.

• Purpose:

Translation: Preserves the source content.

Localization: Adapts the content to specific cultural needs, making it relevant and relatable to the target audience.

• Use Cases:

Translation: More suitable for informative texts, technical documentation, and straightforward communication.

Localization: Ideal for creative, emotional, and marketing content where cultural nuances matter.

 

Let’s take a look at two famous examples in Marketing!

 

McDonald’s in India: 🍔🥦

Localization goes beyond words. In India, where beef and pork are not typically consumed due to cultural and religious reasons, McDonald’s adapted its menu, offering chicken, fish, and vegetarian options instead.

 

Hyundai in Portugal: 🚗🤬

Hyundai faced a huge localization challenge when launching its Kona car in Portugal. The original name, inspired by the town of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, sounded like a vulgar expression in Portuguese. To avoid any negative associations, Hyundai changed the car’s name for the Portuguese market to Kauai.

 

Movie Localization

When localizing movies for different audiences, several steps are involved:

1. Plot Adaptation: Storylines that resonate universally are prioritized. Themes like the hero’s journey, clashes between good and evil, and forbidden love are relatable across cultures.

2. Text Adaptation: Literal translation isn’t enough. Consultants adapt the script to ensure comprehensibility and cultural relevance. Humor, especially in wordplay, can be challenging to convey.
3. Adjusting Settings and Timing: Dialogue timing and settings are fine-tuned to match the target audience’s expectations.
4. Quality Assurance: Rigorous testing ensures the message remains intact during localization.

Movie titles often undergo localization to appeal to very different audiences. 🎥🎞️

 

Proper localization should feel seamless and natural to locals, as if the content was originally created specifically for their market, even if it entails a major change/adaptation. That goes for titles too!

It’s not that translators love to butcher movie titles. 💀 They can be really cool in English, but they won’t have the same effect in all languages.

Let’s take the 90s blockbuster “Die Hard” as an example. 🎬

A mix of difficult to kill and unwilling to die, the title is idiomatic, which, like puns and other types of wordplay, cannot be properly understood when translated directly into other languages.

• It was translated as Assalto ao Arranha-céus in Portugal, which means “Skyscraper Heist”; Jungla de Cristal in Spain, which means “Glass Jungle”; and Trappola di Cristallo in Italy, which translates into “Crystal Trap”.
• In German, Die Hard was Stirb langsam, which back translates into “Die Slowly” and Die Hard’s Hungarian title back translates roughly into “Only give your life away expensively” meaning life is priceless.
• However, in Latin America they used Duro de Matar, meaning “Hard to Kill”, which is a lot closer to the original title.

Sometimes localizing a movie title means renaming the movie altogether, can you imagine the burden of such a responsibility?

Transcreation is also a service connected to localization that is adequate for this type of work, which you can check out here:

https://verbarium-boutique.com/transcreation-translation-creation/

 

#cinema #film #movie #movies

Videogame Localization

If you’re a gamer like I am then videogame localization may sound like an enjoyable activity, but it’s actually a highly intricate and lengthy process!

It involves adapting games for global audiences and this presents several challenges.

Here’s 10 potential issues translators may face:

1. Time and Budget Constraints: Game developers often work under tight deadlines and limited budgets. Consequently, localization efforts may be rushed or compromised, impacting the quality of the final product.
2. Linguistic Challenges: Translating idiomatic expressions, jokes, and wordplay can be tricky. Skilled localization teams are essential to handle these linguistic nuances effectively.
3. Cultural Nuances: What’s acceptable or humorous in one culture may be offensive or misconstrued in another. Localization must consider cultural norms, references, and social context.
4. Functional Adaptation: Adjusting gameplay mechanics to align with cultural preferences is a must. This includes modifying controls, UI elements, and gameplay to ensure authenticity worldwide.
5. Technical Constraints: Technical limitations within the game engine or platform pose challenges. Ensuring the seamless integration of localized content can be demanding. For instance, Ted Woolsey, translator of Final Fantasy VI, had to continually reduce English text due to limited capacity.
6. Censorship, Laws, and Regulations: Different countries have varying content regulations. Game developers must navigate legal constraints while maintaining the game’s integrity. Age ratings differ by country, controlled by bodies like PEGI (Europe), ESRB (US and Canada), ACB (Australia), or CERO (Japan).
7. Character Appearance and Identification: Games often feature characters with varying appearances or slight alterations in different regions. This helps players connect with their avatars and with non-player characters (NPCs). Additionally, culturally adequate music can enhance the overall gaming experience.
8. Consistency Across Platforms: Games are frequently released on multiple platforms (PC, consoles, mobile). Ensuring consistency across all versions of the game is challenging but essential for a cohesive player experience.
9. Handling Non-Standard Language in Dialogues: Dialects, drunken speech, and character-specific idiolects require careful adaptation during localization to resonate with the target audience.
10. Localizing Proper Nouns: Unlike our approach with movies, accurate localization for the names of characters, areas, items and abilities is crucial to maintain immersion and authenticity. For instance, the iconic game Pac-Man was originally titled “Puck-Man” in Japanese. However, they decided to change the name “Puck” when it was imported to the United States due to potential associations with an offensive word (you can guess which one), not to mention it also resembled the unpleasant word “puke”. 🤢

Now, let’s explore 5 memorable (and funny) examples of poor videogame localization. 🎮

1. Zero Wing: This classic side-scrolling Shoot ‘em up game from the early 90s gained infamy for its hilariously bad English translation. The phrase “All your base are belong to us,” due to its nonsensical grammar, quickly became an Internet meme that persists to this day.
2. Skyrim: Despite being a best-selling open-world RPG, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim suffered from translation errors. The game’s complex use of the English language led to awkward and confusing phrases in other languages during localization. For instance, the famous line “I used to be an adventurer like you. Then I took an arrow in the knee” had literal translations that sounded even funnier than the original. In fact, the phrase was a Nordic saying meaning that the man was a warrior, but eventually started a family and retired!
3. Final Fantasy Tactics: The game’s flow is challenging for English audiences, and its tutorial and rules are hard to grasp. One consistent error is translating “breath” into “bracelet” in attack names.
4. Resident Evil: One of my personal favorite videogame franchises, Resident Evil features many cheesy lines that have become beloved memes. Examples include “You, the master of unlocking…” and “You were almost a Jill sandwich.” 🥪🥪
5. Street Fighter II: In the Japanese version, Ryu says “You must defeat my Shoryuken to stand a chance” referring to one of his iconic attack moves. In English, this was mistranslated to “You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance”, leading to the start of a hoax about a secret, unlockable character named Sheng Long. After all, he was just a translation error! ➡️⬇️↘️👊

 

Other Iconic Mistranslations:

• “I feel asleep” (Metal Gear) 😴
• “You spoony bard!” (Final Fantasy IV) 🥄🥄
• “Go onion” (Pathological) 🧅
• “Big American titties” (Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball)

 

These examples serve as cautionary tales about the importance of high-quality localization.

#gaming #videogames #xbox #games #memes #gamingcommunity

 

In short, localization is a delicate balancing act that involves linguistic, cultural, and technical considerations. 🤹🏼‍♀️

In fact, localization is a fine balance between linguistic accuracy, cultural context, and technical constraints. When done well, it enhances the experience, but poor localization can lead to significant issues when breaching new markets.

First off, there’s a market awareness gap: without understanding local market specifics, you risk launching a product or service that doesn’t resonate with potential customers. Second, cultural barriers can arise: misunderstanding cultural nuances may result in offensive or confusing content. Third, design and layout issues can occur—poorly localized assets may disrupt the visual appeal of websites or marketing materials.

Finally, there are hidden costs and inefficiencies: manual processes, unexpected revisions, and SEO challenges can increase costs and delay projects.

Proper localization planning helps to avoid these pitfalls, ensuring a seamless experience for a global audience. 🌎🌍🌏

 

We are experienced in video game localization, but we also offer general localization services, such as website and application localization, as well as marketing localization and transcreation.

 

To check out our offers, click here:

https://verbarium-boutique.com/website-localization/

https://verbarium-boutique.com/transcreation/