The Arabic Translation Resources Quick Facts includes brief information on country-specific translation, localization and other topics. The Arabic Language The Arabic Writing System Arabic Document Translation Arabic Localization Arabic Software Translation Arabic Translation Agency Arabic Translation Services Arabic Website Translation Translation Company

GPI's documentation teams have expertise in: Glossary and terminology development Translation, copy writing, and technical writing Editing and proofreading An array of authoring and publishing applications Globalization Partners International (GPI) the translation agency was founded in 2001 by a team of language, technology, project management and business professionals. Our core team has over 20 years of extensive experience helping companies communicate and conduct business in any language and in any locale. We do this by providing an array of translation and localization services including: Document Translation Desktop Publishing Services Translation Company

GPI provides comprehensive website translation services (also known as "website globalization") for companies who want to publish their website in any language. Whether your site is simple or complex, GPI will work closely with your authoring, design and development teams to produce however many language versions you require. GPI will also work to ensure that your website functions correctly for any market in the world. Website Translation Multilingual Website Design Global SEO Translation Company How does GPI translate your website? GPI has extensive experience utilizing global best practices for the design, development and deployment of multilingual websites. Whether you use conventional web publishing tools and workflows or have the latest web content management system, GPI works with you to ensure that the language versions of your website are produced in a cost-effective, time-efficient and culturally-correct manner. Website Translation and globalization services include: Localization of all user interface, graphics, multimedia and documentation components Comprehensive and customizable quality control processes Utilization of Translation Memory technologies for consistency and cost savings Localization workflows under numerous Web publishing scenarios Online QA and Web testing as required by our clients Client review and approval opportunities at key stages in the process

Globalization Partners International provides an array of globalization services that help companies communicate with the world. Our core service offerings enable firms to design, develop, and deploy multilingual documentation, software and websites for worldwide use. Our experience in multilingual document authoring and publishing will help you produce and publish multilingual content in a cost-effective, consistent, and culturally correct manner Our experience in website globalization will help you design, develop, and deploy, usable, global websites, that fully function for the world's markets Our experience in software globalization will help you create world-ready applications, utilizing development practices that are faster, more economical, and more localization-friendly Translation Services include: Document Translation Multilingual Desktop Publishing Audio/Video Translation Software Translation Website Translation Software and Website Testing Multilingual Website Design, Development and Deployment Global Search Engine Marketing Interpretation Globalization Consulting Services Translation Company Translation Services Translation Services Portal Translation Blog Translation and Language Resources Global Search Engine - Glearch

Top 10 tips for ensuring that you and your language translation services agency achieve success with your website localization project. For quick review, let's start with a few basic definitions and ingredients that are essential to any such project. A major step in website localization is to provide what is known as a "localization kit" thereby making sure that you, the client, can provide your partner, the translation agency, with the essential files to do a good job. Website Localization (L10N) Localization (L10N) involves translating and localizing your website content and layout into different languages to target specific markets ensuring all content (text and graphics) is translated in an accurate and culturally correct manner. Website localization involves website translation that is appropriate to the specific locale of your target audience. Website Localization Kit You will be asked to provide your translation company with a complete set of source files, also known as a "Localization Kit." Website localization kit should include: Your website URL Your website source files and access to your web content management and data base. Summary of the website architecture These files are analyzed for: Number of words to be translated Source and target languages Localization Subject matter Graphic localization requirements Client workflow requirements A comprehensive quotation packet is generated, including all tasks, costs and timelines required to complete the project. Clients are given the opportunity to review and approve every quote. Top 10 tips for website localization: 1. Local market research An important step is identifying the specific locale where your potential customers are located. Then, market research must be conducted in that locale to confirm your business opportunities and need for a localized website are valid. Consumer habits may vary widely within regions that have shared languages. Thus, local market research is essential. 2. Local Glossary Development Glossaries are developed to ensure accuracy and consistency in the translation/localization process. You will want your translation team to not only leverage the latest industry-specific dictionaries, but to also ensure that the glossary is locale-specific as well. 3. SEO Localization Plan Early planning for website search engine optimization (SEO) is a key step in the website localization process. A lot of companies usually localize their website and later on they start to think about SEO and PPC campaigns. This sometimes requires more effort and is less effective than including your Global SEO localization in the website localization process. Some of the most efficient tactics to use in your  Local  domain name: A local domain name(.ae, .au, .se, .br, .ar, .ru, etc) is very effective for local search engine results more than global domains. Keywords Translation: Create your initial keywords list which will help you optimize your content and Meta tags with the most effective keywords for the local markets. Local Landing Pages:Landing pages are the most visited pages on your website. While you are creating your localized website you should focus on the content that pertains to your target the local market. This will require more research on your provided content. For example, if you provide services based on location, you will need to focus your SEO efforts on the local services pages and packages. This will vary from a country to another. 4. Cultural Correctness Assessment and copywriting Before the actual translation begins, the source web content, website design and feature set are reviewed for basic cultural correctness and customizations that may be required. To achieve maximum success in targeted local markets you need to fully grasp the locale-specific cultural values. 5. CMS language support A common oversight in website localization is for clients to check to make sure their content management system has the required language support. This is not a feature to be taken for granted. For more complete information on this topic, consult our previous blog, Website CMS Localization. 6. Using Unicode and UTF-8 Make sure that your website will be able to display any language. The Unicode Standard is the universal character encoding standard for written characters and text. It defines a consistent way of encoding multilingual text. UTF-8 has been designed for ease of use with existing ASCII-based systems and it is usually the default encoding that you should be using on any webpage. Setting up the right encoding will ensure that your website's contents will be correctly displayed. Most Content Management Systems (CMS) already handle all content as UTF-8 encoded text. 7. Website Graphic and UI Localization If possible, use a highly flexible or "fluid" design that allows pages to scale based on dynamic content. If we take an English word as a base, the same word in Russian could be up to 60% longer, while in many Asian languages, the same word could be less than a half the source language width. Based on the complexity of Asian languages, you may need to scale fonts by about a 120% so they are legible. So, as a rule of thumb, you should avoid using fixed-sized containers with text in them. Space should be allowed to expand or contract in accordance with the text character count. A related issue is that icons, containers and website layout should be culturally acceptable to the intended customer locale. Find more information on this topic in our previous blog, Culturally Customized Content for Website Translation. 8. Location and Language selector Visitors to your website need to be able to swiftly indicate their location and language. Special icons in website design should indicate these choices. A variety of layouts and formats are available. Previous research in your project discovery phase should indicate which type of language indicator (e.g. names, icons) will be most appropriate. 9. Test your website locally A competent language translation services agency will test your website in the actual locale for which your website is intended. It is critical to ensure that your website design, as well as localization, suits the preferences and sensibilities of your primary global audience. 10. Local Social Media Optimization (SMO) The last step we recommend is to optimize your website with the local social media. You will always need to add the social media share buttons that are commonly used in your intended local market in order to guarantee traffic from the local social networks. Some countries have specific social networks like China, Japan, and it's highly important to make your localized website optimized for those networks to help users to spread your message, content and offers via their profiles and online activities. Further website translation and website localization resources Globalization Partners International, Translation Services Agency has created a more extensive overview of website globalization for several global markets in a series of Website Globalization and E-Business Series white papers, which you may download for free.  Globalization Partners Internationalhelps customers enter new markets by providing comprehensive website translation services into a variety of languages. Free translation quotes can also be obtained from GPI by submitting source files through our Request a Translation Quote.

In several previous blogs, GPI has frequently referred to "source language" files or "source files." For clients new to language translation services, the biggest surprise may be the number of source files that can be required for a complex project, e.g. an extensive website localization project. But just what is a source file? In most instances, source files will refer to project assets/files which contain text that must be translated and localized. This could include graphics files (e.g. Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Photoshop) which contain editable text layers. The most common examples of a text-based source file would be a Microsoft Word file, a FrameMaker file or an XML file. In this blog we will explore some of the pre-translation and post-translation file preparation steps that are necessary to complete the translation process. Source Files for Document Translation Documentation source formats for language translation can include different types of files such as Word, excel, PowerPoint, InDesign, plain text (i.e. comma separated text files), InDesign, FrameMaker etc. The preparation of source files by your language translation services provider for document translation depends a great deal on the file format. Some document file formats require little or no pre-translation preparation by engineering resources, and are essentially "ready to go." For example a Word document can be prepared for translation in its native format, unless there are special instructions for special texts or tags externalization. File format complexity for document translation varies More complex document file formats like Adobe InDesign and unstructured Adobe FrameMaker  cannot be prepared for translation in their native, binary format. InDesign documents must first be export to an INX format before being further modified to work with language translation software used by linguists. On the other hand, unstructured FrameMaker files must be saved to MIF before being further modified for translation. With regular FrameMaker documents, some further steps by your translation services agency are necessary, like turning off change bars and hyphenation. The preparation process is done using different tools in order to prepare files based on the file format such as Trados for a file format like PowerPoint or Excel and  Trados S-Tagger for unstructured FrameMaker. The preparation process also includes analyzing source files using a tool like Trados Workbench. An accurate analysis for documentation source files depends on the integrity of file preparation based on the project requirements. Post translation file processing steps After translation, document files have another round of linguistic engineering preparation before further steps towards a final deliverable can be taken. As with source files preparation, final preparation depends on the file format. In this step, intermediate bilingual files (which still display the source and target language) need to be reviewed and prepared in order to be delivered in the same format as the original document source file. TagEditor and S-tagger are also among the tools used in this final process. The role of Translation Memory (TM) Translation Memory is a very important tool used during source file preparation, during the translation process itself and during post-translation file processing. Translation Memory is a database that stores so-called "segments", which can be sentences or sentence-like units (headings, titles or elements in a list) that have previously been translated. Translation memory may be product line- or project-specific. During analysis, the Translation Memories are used to calculate the word count for new or pre-translated segments. Updating Translation Memories is a very important step after translation. Over time, Translation Memories decreased translation costs, as more and more previously translated segments are stored and accessed in future projects. Source files for  website translation For website localization, the same preparation tools (i.e. TagEditor) can be used with source files, but additional steps are needed in the pre- and final preparation steps. Based on the website programming language, website files should be prepared properly by externalizing tags such as HTML tags, JavaScript or PHP internal Code. Also, an overall website analysis is important to ensure that the application supports the target language requirements, such as RTL direction languages like Arabic Translation Services. Final preparation for translated website source files include few more steps, such as reviewing the internal tags/code to make sure that no changes occurred with these tags during translation process. A final Quality Assurance (QA) step is also needed to complete an overall review in target languages.

Translation Memory (TM) is a database which stores predetermined units of a source language together with its translated equivalent. A TM allows you to take advantage of repetitions within or between documents. In other words, the program that uses a TM will automatically translate repeated sentences by pulling the translation of a 100% matched and previously translated source sentence from the database. The different TM software uses complex "fuzzy-logic" algorithms that allow the translator to take advantage of similar previously translated source sentences. In other words, the TM application will pull the translation of a previously translated source sentence, which "somewhat" matches a new sentence, and allows the translator to change it accordingly. The main purpose of working with a TM tool is to save time and assure consistency in the translation process. As a translation services agency we at GPI integrate the translation memories in each translation project and customer. Some of the benefits of using TM's are: Ensure translators that the document is completely translated. Ensure consistency through all the file or files. Cost reduction for client and the translation company. Time saving while maintaining quality. What is the real impact of using TM technologies in the translation process? With TM tools, translation agencies can analyze all source files received and breakdown translation costs into different tiers, for example: 100% match and repetitions: 100% match will apply only if the client can provide previous approved translations; otherwise this will apply to upcoming translation projects. Repetitions are words repeated across the source files provided and they're charged usually as same rate as 100% matches. Fuzzy Matches: Fuzzy matches are words/sentences that are very similar to ones translated before. This will apply only if the client can provide previous approved translations; otherwise this will apply to upcoming translation projects. New words: Words/sentences that don't fall in the categories above. Each tier listed above have a different price model which helps translation agencies and customers to achieve savings in cost and time for upcoming translation projects. Common Translation Memory tools There are a variety of TM tools available. The list below highlights some of the tools more commonly used by linguists: SDL Trados 2009 SDLX Trados Déjà Vu Star Transit OmegaT Wordfast Who does Translation Memory belong to? TM is an important asset, and it belongs to the client (you) who paid for it in the first place. All time spent creating TM is billable as part of on-going translation projects, so TM does not belong to the vendor (translation agency.) Unfortunately, there are a small number of translation vendors who will attempt to "sit on" TM and not deliver it to their clients. If this ever happens to you, treat this as a "red flag" and consider finding another translation company to work with. Most translation agencies will deliver TM updates at the end of the project, or on a quarterly basis. Your TM files are highly "portable" and can be shared with a multitude of translation vendors. Additional resources on project management To further understand how you can help optimize input for project management on your next project, read two of our previous blogs on translation project management: 11 Project Management Challenges for Translation Projects, Part 1 and 11 Project Management Challenges for Translation Projects, Part 2. Useful resources on translation industry definitions Globalization Partners International (GPI) has created a series of blogs and website resource pages to help you understand key concepts and vocabulary used in the translation and localization process: What's the difference between Translation Agency, Localization Services and LSP? Importance of Client Review Cycle in Translation 3 Metrics for Measuring Language Translation Quality Translation Services Portal

Over the last few years, a lot has been written and discussed about project management, including translation project management. Due to increased certification and conferences, project management has finally gained recognition as a profession. There are even qualifying bodies that validate or certify people as project managers. The Association for Project Management (AP M) and The Project Management Institute (P MI) are just two examples. The purpose of this blog is to cover what are, in my opinion, the five key elements to being an effective project manager and attaining effective translation project management goals: Leadership Communication Negotiation Motivation Problem Solving and Decision Making 1) Leadership in project management I once read that leadership is about persuading people to do what they should have done in the first place. It's also about the way we influence the actions and thoughts of others. Being a project manager isn't the same as being a leader. A manager focuses on forecasting, planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating and controlling, whereas being a leader involves something else. Leaders inspire others by focusing on the values and beliefs of the team; they provide a clear view of the goals the team wants to achieve. You can be a manager and a leader. But being one doesn't automatically mean you are also the other. The ideal is a combination of both: to possess management and leadership skills. That is to say, your goal as a project manager is to possess the ability to influence and inspire others together with the ability to plan, coordinate and monitor. 2) Communication in project management Skill in communication is a must for all project managers, especially localization project managers. Effective communication is essential to translation project success. Lack of communication or ineffective communication can lead to mismanagement, frustration within the team and "bad business." Communication can also build or destroy trust, depending on the use of words. A simple but poorly worded message (e.g. e-mail) may result in major communication break down. On the other hand, thoughtful and respectful communication does the following things: improves the outcome of projects; removes misunderstanding and doubts; builds up trust, and promotes business. If a localization project manager at your translation services agency is able to communicate his ideas clearly, the team members will be well informed and projects will have a higher productivity rate. On the contrary, ineffective communication will result in team members becoming frustrated and not doing their jobs properly. This situation can become exacerbated when team members are working from different global locations. 3) Negotiation in project management The project manager's ability to negotiate is tested in just about every aspect of the project. Negotiations must take place when our objectives to achieve certain goals are hampered. When this happens, conflict and argument may arise. Then the project manager needs to find a solution, a way to move forward. If project managers fail to resolve these conflicts, they won't achieve their project goals. The key lies in the art of negotiation. A good negotiator is also an effective listener. In order to be successful in negotiation, you have to be able to truly listen to other people to discover what they want. As a project manager, you need to listen to your team members to understand their needs and motivation. When dealing with customers, you need to closely listen to everything they are telling you so you can offer them a service suitable to their needs. The project manager participates in negotiations at every stage of the project process and the way he negotiates will determine the success or failure of the project. 4) Motivation in project management Motivation is the driving force by which people achieve their goals; it is the state or condition that activates behavior and gives it direction. When we are motivated to do something, generally it is because we believe that by doing it we will get what we want. Motivation is a complex process since not all people are motivated by the same things. Abraham Ma slow created a pyramid which reflects human beings' needs in five stages. On the base of the pyramid are our physical needs (food and shelter). These are followed by our needs for protection and security and then our need for affection. Towards the top of the pyramid are our needs for reputation and recognition. Finally, at the top, is our need for self-realization. This pyramid is not a totally rigid structure: as Maslow pointed out there are people for whom self-esteem is more important than love or for whom the fulfillment of their creative needs is more important than all other needs. This pyramid provides us with a useful visual guide. It tells us, for example, that people work for needs beyond money with which to satisfy their basic needs for food and shelter. Team members also need to fulfill their social and creative needs. A wise project manager recognizes these higher needs and uses them to motive his team. When the project manager breaks down barriers, misunderstandings, divisions and hierarchies, he begins to truly build effective teams. Teams work together effectively when they identify a common purpose. Motivated team members work well and contribute much more to project success than unmotivated team members. 5) Problem solving and decision making The project manager needs to be able to solve problems and make decisions. The problem-solving and decision-making process stages are: - Define the problem - Identify the cause - Identify alternatives to solve the problem - Select a solution to solve the problem - Plan and implement the best solution - Control implementation of the plan - Verify if the problem was solved or not All problems have the potential to disrupt projects. Solving project problems and making decisions are key abilities for the effective project manager. With these decision-making stages in mind, a localization project manager can excel at both problem solving and in making the right decisions for translation project success. Why translation project management is essential to project success Obviously, there are a number of places in this chain of events where communications could potentially break down, or mistakes could occur. Competent translation companies and localization project managers have processes in step to help prevent errors from occurring. The "human factor" of a competent project manager is absolutely essential to translation project success. In some ways, the project manager acts as a "smoke detector" that senses early warning signs of deviations that can affect project budget or delivery date. In short, project management is a service as valuable to the client as the actual translation services, which are the focus of the project. When selecting a translation company for your translation or localization project, you should ask to be introduced to your potential lead project manager.  This valuable and essential team member will be your main contact from project beginning to end. Additional resources on project management To further understand GPI you can help optimize input for project management on your next project, read more on translation project management:  Project Management for Translation Projects. Document Translation Desktop Publishing Services Software Translation Website Translation Global SEO Useful resources on translation industry definitions Globalization Partners International, the translation agency, has created a more extensive overview of website globalization for several key locales in collection of downloadable globalization white papers known as our Website Globalization and E-Business Series. You may contact GPI at info@globalizationpartners.com

Many hotels and companys expect that menus would be one of the easiest Translation Services to accomplish. In reality, menu translation can be one of the most problematic or complex translation projects within the industry. A language translation services company with experience in F&B and hospitality can be of great assistance in this type of project. But, there are no "fool proof" best practices that will guarantee optimal translation of food and beverage menus. Many factors come into play, including how many languages are spoken in a particular target locale, and is that locale addressing the needs of visitors from another part of the world. Research on the needs of patrons from your key target markets is essential to providing full service and the maximum sense of "welcome" possible. Service Localization: an emerging trend Before addressing the specifics of menu translation, let's take a look at some dynamic trends affecting translation of menus and other F&B and hospitality collateral. For years, Quick Service Restaurants (or QSRs) have modified their menus to cater to local palates and the demands of their overseas franchisees. McDonald's for example, has used lamb rather than beef in its burgers in India because Hindu traditions forbid consuming beef. Subway jumped on the bandwagon last year and created a new menu for the Chinese market which included the Roasted Duck Sub sandwich. This trend is expanding into the luxury travel segment and it is being taken to the next level by offering the comforts of home to guests from foreign locales. A recent report on meetings-conventions.com revealed that Hilton Hotels & Resorts and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide announced in early July that they are offering customized hospitality programs for their Chinese guests. As a part of this specialized service, they are offering Chinese language marketing collateral, in-room tea kettles, Chinese TV broadcasting, and dishes like congee on their menus. They are also staffing native Chinese speakers at their front desks. Middle East travelers have also become a key growth market for many international hoteliers. Thailand-based luxury hotel group, Dusit International, responded to record numbers of guests from the Middle East by redesigning their menus to offer more Halal items. They have introduced Arabic TV channels, provided prayer mats and have information readily available on nearby mosques for their Muslim guests. Their long-term sales strategy is to increase the use of Arabic language content across all marketing channels, including websites. Ironically, Chinese tourists are becoming an increasingly important growth market for many luxury hotel properties in the UAE. I have coined the phrase "service localization" to describe this trend of providing food and services appropriate to the origin of key patrons or tourists. What exactly is "service localization"? Just as GPI adapts a document or website to a particular language or culture through translation, restaurants and hotels are localizing the products and services that are native to their key growth markets. Leading hospitality groups are not only translating their F&B menus, they are customizing dishes and other services--catering to the tastes and comfort of these travelers. Menu translation as a first step to localized service Hotel restaurants are more eclectic than ever, offering exotic dishes and ingredients. A perfect example, and one of my favorites, is Pad Thai, a traditional Thai noodle dish. How does a restaurant or F&B franchise in the Middle East handle this native Thai dish in a Russian or Arabic menu translation?  The name alone can be tricky, but so can the ingredients, if they are not common to the restaurant's locale. An experienced translation services agency, should be able to coach you on how to best present your menus to your global clientele. Here are some general tips: Transliteration versus Translation: Many dishes are well known in the target markets by their common names. In such cases, translation is not required, and it could actually cause more confusion. For menus going into Arabic, Chinese, Japanese or Russian, transliteration of the name of the dish may be the best option. Transliteration is the process of using the phonetic sounds of the source word in the target language. Translation uses the equivalent word and meaning in the target language. Transliteration is often used for brand names and words that are non-native to the language, like crème fraiche, beurre blanc, or Worcestershire sauce. Keep it simple and leave it alone! Sometimes the best approach is to leave the entrée in its native language and provide an appealing description of the ingredients or preparation method in the target language. I recently managed a menu translation project that included a "Sauce Jacqueline". The restaurant decided to use the French sauce name, but included a translated description of the sauce's ingredients. A reduction with carrots and ginger--it sounded fantastic! Actual names of ingredients may be rare or non-existent in the target locale. In such cases, official terminology may be absent and terms may have to be "invented" to describe what's actually on the menu. But be careful! Your goal is to entice, not to confuse or disgust. I recently came across an Arabic menu translation that used "brains" for "sweetbreads". If I had the choice of brains, or something else, I personally would choose the "something else". For casual dining or QSRs within the hotel, numbered or picture menus may be helpful in bridging the communication gap between your guests and your servers. Alternatively, you may want to have a bilingual menu with English and the target language. GPI can advise you on a layout that best accommodates bi-directional text, like Arabic and Hebrew, or double-byte characters, like Chinese. In certain markets you must not forget ingredient labeling on the menus for allergies, religious purposes, or restrictive diets. Don't try to over simplify. Your menu is your guests' first taste of what's to come. It's another marketing tool to sell your restaurant. Your translation should be appealing and inviting. A good translation services agency with an experienced translator cum copywriter is invaluable to your menu localization and your restaurant's success. - Translation Company - Document Translation - Website Translation You may contact GPI at info@globalizationpartners.com or at 866-272-5874 with your specific questions about this market and your project goals. You may also request a complimentary Translation Quote for your project as well.

As continuation of my earlier blog on document translation localization kit basics, I am sharing localization kit essentials for a website translation project. This will help identify what you should provide to a translation company in order to obtain an accurate quotation on project cost. Providing your translation agency with accurate and complete project assets at the time of a quote request will enable your translation vendor to produce a quotation promptly and accurately. A website localization kit is comprised of the same source files, metadata and project specifications that your translation services agency will require in order to execute the actual website translation and localization. Quite simply this consists of your source files and the specific information required to understand the scope of your project. Web crawl is insufficient to determine website translation project scope At Globalization Partners International (GPI) we frequently get requests for Translation quotes from prospective clients who simply provide a URL link to their website home page. Unfortunately, a "web crawl" rarely provides an accurate review of a website or sufficient information to estimate website translation project scope and costs. The word count analysis may be incorrect and the project scope may be misunderstood or inaccurate as a result of this process. The project scope may not include webpage translation or localization for certain sections of the website, which would be covered by the web crawl. The source website may also include multimedia files and downloadable documents, which a web crawler cannot analyze. Web crawling cannot access key content that is pulled from a database on a user-demand basis. Minimum ingredients for website translation project localization kit Source files Source files include website content along with any source graphics that will be within project scope. Source application files and source multimedia files that may be in scope should also be included with source files submitted as part of your website localization kit. Your source content may be an export from your content mana gement system (CMS.) If the CMS export is performed properly and all of your content resides within the CMS, then these may be the only files that your translation company will need. However, this is often not the case, even when a CMS is being used. Frequently, content that is within the project scope may reside outside of the CMS and will need to be provided to your translation vendor separately. If you have document files on your website which are within project scope, you should provide these source documents as part of your website localization kit.  Glossary and style guides Many times, clients do not have glossaries or style guides available. If not, your translation vendor can create these as part of your project. A glossary is a very important foundation tool for the translation team to use on your website translation project. Having key terminology defined and agreed upon early on will save time within the review process for your project. It will also aid in all future website projects as well. Translation memory If you have worked with a translation vendor before then you should be able to request your translation memory (TM) from them.  This asset will reduce your translation costs, save time and maintain consistency in your translation. Translation memory is not a previously translated source file and it is not machine translation. TM is actually a database file that matches the source language segments (i.e. sentences, phrases, etc.) with the matching segment for each language from past translation. For further detail, review our previous blog, "What is a translation memory (TM)?" Translation memory (TM) technology allows translation teams to store and reuse both source and target language content for any translation project. Your translation vendor's linguistic teams utilize translation memory tools in order to create and maintain multilingual glossaries and translation memories for their clients. Website translation project scope You will also need to provide your translation vendor with basic project scope details such as: Target languages and locales that you require for translation should be identified. In particular, please clarify the locale for such languages as Chinese, French, Portuguese and Spanish. Timeframe: be as specific as possible defining the timeframe for your project, including key milestones such as review and testing. Provide your translation company with your website's URLs and any password or login instructions. Are global SEO services required? If so, be sure to provide your keywords, ads and additional metadata, if this information is not available in your CMS export. You may wish to review our previous blog, "Multilingual Keywords" If possible provide a summary of your website's site architecture and any tools used to develop your site. An experienced translation vendor will review your site structure and determine if there may be any internationalization issues to address. For example, we find that almost all Content Management Systems in use today say they support all languages, but some may not support multiple languages. A translation company like GPI will be able to verify such concerns upfront. Providing a subset website localization kit While some clients provide a full localization kit, many clients provide a subset. In some cases, this can be acceptable. The most important items to provide as part of your website localization kit are: Source files Any existing translation memory which is available Basic details of the project scope Beyond that, your translation vendor can discuss any other items with you while you confirm your project requirements and expectations. GPI's Website localization kit summary GPI has created a comprehensive Website Globalization Guide, freely available for download. This Guide gives a highly detailed workflow typical of website translation and website globalization projects. The last page of this guide included the following summary of a website localization kit: You will be asked to provide your translation company with a complete set of source files, also known as a "Localization Kit." Website localization kit should include: Your site(s) URL Any passwords or login instructions Summary of site architecture Summary of any technologies and/or development toolsets used to develop your site All files that make up your site in their original folder/file structure All original graphics used in your site (artwork, background, navigation buttons) All application source files (Word, FrameMaker, Quark, etc.) for any documentation available via your site All application source files (Flash, Director, Authorware, etc.) for any multimedia available via your site A list (if available) of all files that need to be translated These files are analyzed for: Number of words Source and target languages Subject matter Desktop publishing requirements Client workflow requirements A comprehensive quotation packet is generated, including all tasks, costs and timelines required to complete the project. Clients are given the opportunity to review and approve every quote. Useful resources on translation industry definitions Globalization Partners International (GPI), The translation agency has created a series of blogs and website resource pages to help you understand key concepts and vocabulary used in the translation and localization process: Translation Agency, Localization Services and LSP? Website Translation, Localization and Internationalization Website Translation