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外文原文
外文原文
The9thEuropeanConferenceonInformationSystems
Bled,Slovenia,June27-29,2001
SOFTWARELOCALIZATION:
ISSUESANDMETHODS
RosannWebbCollins
2.KEYISSUESINSOFTWAREPRODUCTANDINTERFACELOCALIZATION
2.1CostsofLocalizationandImpactonPricing
Theinitialandongoingcostsoflocalizationaresignificant.eTranslate,aweb-basedservicebureau,chargesUS$50perpageforEuropeanlanguagesandUS$60perpageforAsianlanguagesfortranslationofcontentonly.Microsoftcurrentlyspendsmorethan$300millionperyearonlocalizationoftheirproductsinto46languages.BerlitzTranslationServicesestimatesacostofbetween$50,000and$100,000ormoretofullylocalizeasoftwareproductforoneadditionallanguage,whileMicrosoftestimatesitscostsatleast$300,000ormoreperproduct(PrestonandFlohr,1997).ForresterResearchestimatesthatlocalizationofanewwebsiteaddsbetween10-60%oftheoriginaldevelopmentcostsofthesite.InthecaseoftheInternet,siteschange,onaverage,twiceayear(Yunker2000),sotherewillalsobesignificant,ongoingmaintenancecostsforlocalizedwebsites.
Itiscriticalthatthecostsoflocalizationbeaccountedforonadetailedlevel,sincethiscostaccountingisneededforplanningfutureefforts,andisofparticularimportanceifthecompanysellslocalizedproductsorlocalizationservices.Ifthatisthecompany’sbusiness,thenthecostinformationisnecessaryforaccuratepricingofservicesfordevelopmentandmaintenanceoftheinformationproducts.Inaddition,themaintenancecostsoftheproductsandinterfacesshouldbesimilarlycollectedatadetailedlevelinordertounderstandthespecialmaintenancecostsofasingleapplicationthathasmultiple,localizedinterfaces.Highdevelopmentandmaintenancecosts,andtheirimportancetoinformingthepricingofinformationproducts,argueforasystematicapproachtolocalizationthatincludescostmeasurement.
AtGTC,initialdevelopmentoftheportalwasdonewithoutadequatecostaccounting,andwhilelocalizationneedswereconsideredfromthebeginning,atechnicalreviewfoundtheinitialportaltobenon-scalableandnoteasilyadaptable.Whenthedecisionwasmadetoredesigntheportalforthenewtechnologyenvironment(whichwasconcurrentwithachangeintechnologyleadershipinthecompany),nodataexistedontheinitialportaldevelopmenttoestimatetimeandcostfortheredesign.Thislackofinformationhasreinforcedtheneedtocollectsuchinformation,andthenewtechnologymanagementhasinstituteddevelopmentprocedurestocollectmetricsonalldevelopmentactivities.Insomewaysthisinitialmistakewasserendipitous,sincetheimpactwasrelativelylow(littlebasisforplanningtheportalredesigneffort),andnowmanagersanddevelopersarecommittedtomeasuringthecostsofthemainsoftwareproduct(nowindevelopmentforseveralmedicalpractices).Thissoftwareproductwillhavetobelocalizedextensivelytotheneedsoftheindividualpracticesaswellaslocales,anditiscriticaltothecompanytohavesolidinformationoncostsinordertopricetheproductappropriately.
2.2LocalizationIndustry
Itispossibletooutsourcesomeorallofthelocalizationdevelopmentandmaintenance.Thedecisionaboutwhetherornottooutsource,orwhatpartstooutsourcearebasedonthetraditionaltradeoffissuesrelevanttoanymake-or-buydecision.Theadvantagesofin-houselocalizationarethattheorganizationbuildsexpertise,canexercisetightcontrolonprocessandquality,andthelocalizationresultsmaynotbeeasilyreproducedbycompetitors.However,asdiscussedearlier,in-houselocalizationhassignificantcosts,andtheexpertiserequiredmaynotbeavailableinallcases.(Theremaybemorehelpavailableinthefuture.ThereisagraduatedegreeinsoftwarelocalizationofferedattheUniversityofLimerickinIreland.Pym(1999)arguesthatlocalizationshouldberequiredinthecurriculumofalldegreesthatpreparetranslators.)Theadvantagesofoutsourcinglocalizationarespeedofdeliveryandcost,butoutsourcinglocalizationmeansthatnoin-houseexpertisewillbebuilt,theorganizationwillbedependenttoatleastsomeextentonthecompanyprovidingthedevelopment,andthereislittlecompetitiveadvantagetobemaintained.
Sourcesofinformationaboutlocalizationandoutsourcingvendorsinclude:
www.lisa.orgLocalisationIndustryStandardsAssociation
MultilingualComputing
www.localization-institute.orgLocalizationInstitute
In1999localizationaccountedfor32%ofthe$11billionworldmarketfortranslationservices(WashingtonTimes,2000).Whiletranslationsoftwareandcarefulpreparationofsourcetextminimizestranslationcosts,thereisstillaneedforhumaninterventiontohandlewords,especiallytechnicalterms,forwhichthereisnowordinsomelanguages,aswellastodealwithdifferencesinmeaningfromdirecttranslationsandculturaldifferences.
Theservicesofferedbythelocalizationindustryarequitevaried.Someoffertraditionaltranslationservices,human,human-enhanced,andautomatic;somehavetranslationmanagementsystemstostoresandmaintaintranslations;someareaimedatspecificindustries(Simms,2000).Automatictranslationisespeciallyeffectivewhenthesourcetexthasbeenwritteninaninternationalstyle,sometimescalled“controlledlanguage”.Forexample,Harkus(2000)listsspecificwritingpractices:
simpleandclearcopy(e.g.,limitthenumberofnounsthatqualifyanoun)thatavoidshumorandanalogiesthatdon’ttranslatetoothercultures,andformattingrules(e.g.,donotusesdashesorslashesaspunctuationmarks)thatfacilitatetranslation.
GTCreviewedtherangeofservicesfromthelocalizationindustry,anddecidedtopurchaseanautomatictranslation-enabledemailanddiscussionroomfunctionsfortheportal.Thelocalizationoftheportalandthemainsoftwareproductisbeingdonein-house,toleveragethemarketresearchthathasbeendonetoselectcountriesinwhichtooperateandtobuildin-houseexpertiseinthisarea.GTCmaintainsofficesineachcountryofoperation,andtheselocalofficeindividualssupportsystemdevelopmentandtesting.Partnerswithrealestateontheportalareresponsiblefortheirownlocalization,butGTCactsasanadvisortothepartnerswhentheyhavenoexperiencewithlocalization.
2.3LocalizationofSpecificAspectsofApplications
Softwarelocalizationisbasedonmarketresearchoneachcountryaswellasoninputfromusabilitytestinginthetargetcountry.Testingglobalsoftwarein-countryleveragesdevelopers’knowledgeofthelocale,andsuchwell-definedtaskswithlittleinterdependenceareeasilydistributed(Carmel,1999).Manyoftheaspectsofthecountryknowledgeareobviousandimmutablecharacteristics,suchaslanguage;otheraspectsaresubtlerandsubjecttoculturalshifts,suchasthemeaningofcolors.Thetechnologyinfrastructureofacountrypresentsaparticulardesignchallenge,sincethatinfrastructurewillchangeandmaybecontrolledbyindividualgovernmentsorcompanies.Thereforethelocaltechnology-drivenpartsofadesignwillhaveberevisitedonaregularbasis.Thismeansthatthereusepossibilitiesandmaintenancedemandsofthelocalizedsoftwaresolutionswilldifferbytypeandcountry.Finally,structuraldifferenceswithinorganizationscreateaneedforeitherlocalizationorachangetocommonbusinessprocessesanddata.CollinsandKirsch(1999)foundthatstructuralboundariesarisefromdifferencesinbusinessprocesses,dataquality,andbusinesspriorities.Evenwhenadecisionismadetomakeachangetoatrulyglobalsolution,itiscommontohaveatechnologicalcoresystemwithlocalizedinterfaces.
Inthissectionofthepaper,thecountry-specificaspectsthatmightneedlocalizationarediscussedingreaterdetail.ThissectionisanexpandedversionoftheguidepreparedfordevelopersatGTC.
2.3.1LanguageandContent
Translationofcontentfromonelanguagetoanothercanbepartiallysupportedbytranslationsoftware,butinmostcaseshumaninterventionisneededbecausedirecttranslationmaychangethemeaningofthecontent.AclassicexampleofthisproblemisfromthepopularMilkProcessorBoardcommercialthatusesthetagline‘GotMilk?
’IftranslateddirectlyintoSpanish,thetaglinewouldcomeoutas‘AreYouLactating?
’InordertomarkettoLatinomothersthead’staglinewaschangedto‘AndYou,HaveYouGivenThemEnoughMilkToday?
’,andtheimagesshownareofmotherscookingflanandothermilk-richLatinfoodsinafamilykitchen(Wartzman,1999).
Thetranslationratioofwordsandsentencesisnot1:
1.Sincethespacerequiredforabodyoftextcanbedramaticallydifferentbetweenlanguages(e.g.,whenEnglishtextistranslatedtoFrench,theincreaseisbetween15and20%,whenitistranslatedintoHindi,theincreasemaybe80%),interfacedesignmustaccountforthesedifferingspacerequirements.Individualwordsusedinmenusandontabscanbeespeciallyproblematicfordesign:
forexample,the‘Preferences’selectioncommononWindowsinterfacestranslatesto‘Bildschirmeinstellungen’inGerman.Thereforemenus,boxes,logosorothergraphicswithwordsimbeddedmustbeself-sizing,ortherewillbeadditionalcostsinredesigningthoseelementsforeachlocalizedinterface.
Someterms,especiallytechnologyterms,maynotexistinsomelanguages.Oftentheoriginalwordisused,butsometimesanewwordiscoinedbasedonaphoneticaltranslation.Thecommercialtranslationservicescreateandmaintaindictionariesofthesespecializedtermstoreduceredundanttranslationeffortandtoincreasethecoverageofautomatictransl
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