Brett: What?
Jules: What country are you from?
Brett: What? What? Wh - ?
Jules: "What" ain't no country I've ever heard of. They speak English in What?
Brett: What?
Jules: English, motherfucker, do you speak it?
Brett: Yes! Yes!
Jules: Then you know what I'm sayin'!
Brett: Yes!
[Source: Pulp Fiction (1994) - Memorable quotes]
The World Wide Web
Dave Chaffey estimates that "two-thirds of internet surfers (amounting to about 900 million people) search in languages other than English." In his article, Mr. Chaffey notes popular search engines (other than Google) used by peoples around the world.
He also makes a case against direct translation in favor of translating 'from scratch' to better reach a target audience through content localization.
What is Localization?
Language localization, according to Wikipedia, is "the second phase of a larger process (Internationalisation) of product translation and cultural adaptation (for specific countries, regions, groups) to account for differences in distinct markets."
In other words, it is not enough to have one's website content readable in another language through translation alone. In order to be effective internationally, content must take cultural nuances into consideration, as well.
For example, it is one thing for an international reader to understand the words contained within a web document (take the title of this blog post, for instance.) It would be better, however, if the reader (locals included) had actually seen the movie that is being referenced. Without this level of cultural awareness and/or connectivity, this post could very well leave a reader in a "WTF?" state (in their respective lexicon, of course.)
In this article, a comparison of three(3) sites is drawn that highlights the first step in localization: translation. Sites one and two make use of the Google translate tool. The third site appears to be translated by hand.
- Land-Merchants.com
- ServingSouthwestFlorida.net
- Efektim.com
The second step that involves cultural adaptation is outside the scope of this review. Please comment below with your real world examples of failures to connect culturally.
Land-Merchants.com
The Land-Merchant.com site has a translation widget (highlighted in yellow) on its main page. After selecting a national flag or choosing a language from the pull-down menu, the page is reloaded in a Google frame where the textual content is automatically translated. The process is speedy and convenient. The tool even operates on the text links located in the left and top-right navigational panes.
However, when the links are clicked, they lead to the (original) referenced page in English.
ServingSouthwestFlorida.net
Like the Land-Merchant.com website, ServingSouthwestFlorida.net makes use of the Google translate tool (in yellow, lower-right). The tool has been incorporated into a WordPress plugin that allows for the automatic translation of posts and comments. Again, after choosing a language, the site opens in a Google frame (top) where text (including links and tags) are translated. The header image (top-left) is not affected.
The Global Translator plugin also creates links that lead to pages that continue to translate without actually leaving the Google frame. However, portions of the site that rely on existing PHP and JavaScript elements breakdown during translation. Site search queries result in English output. The FeedJit widget and the tabbed menu are noticeably incorrect and omitted, respectively.
Efektim.com
The Efektim.com site redirects to the English ('en' subdirectory) version of itself. It can be safely assumed that Czech, German and Russian browsers are redirected accordingly. Regardless, each of the four language versions that the site supports can be viewed by clicking on a flag link (in yellow, top-right).
The translations within the site are consistent and extend through to individual property listings. More importantly, words in all of its supported languages have been indexed by Google.
So ... WTF Now?
Both Land-Merchant.com and ServingSouthwestFlorida.net are working examples of how easy it is to add the Google translate tool to an existing website. There are certain limitations, but offering visitors a quick way to view your content in their preferred language(s) is becoming an increasingly important option.
Efektim.com represents a localized website ideal. If you are fortunate enough to be fluent in more than one language and/or have associates who are, converting your local site into a localized one is a no-brainer.
