Some of the Challenges Women Faced and Continue to Face

The UN has defined one of their main Sustainable Development goals as striving to “Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life.”

While you may think numbers in the localization industry are better because the vast majority of translators are women, we still see that leadership positions are mostly held by men. According to Nimdzi, only 17% of the companies featured in the Nimdzi 100 ranking are women-owned or women-run.

Knowing the challenges women historically faced and still face today is an essential step towards awareness, which is necessary to fuel action. In particular, there is still a lot of work to be done in regard to:

• Gender gap in salaries
• Gender-based discrimination (being a mother for example, can lead to less fair career opportunities for women)
• Lack of women representation in leadership positions

Improvement has been made in these areas, but there’s still a lot to do if we want to work towards true equality. According to BoardEx data, only 5% of CEOs are women and 19.2% of corporate leadership team members are female. About 28.2% of board members are female, the study found. However, many of these women were appointed to non-executive roles, which are often centered on board oversight rather than real decision-making power.

What Can We Do to Support Fellow Women?

We’ve come a long way. But the truth is that the progress we’ve seen throughout history is thanks to the contributions that other women have made through the years. So, we encourage fellow women in the language industry to look for local organizations, so they can learn more about the different initiatives and how they can help them reach their goals.

These are a few of the organizations Terra supports:

• Women in Localization: This nonprofit organization has a mission to foster a global community for the advancement of women and the localization industry by providing networking, education, career advancement, and mentoring opportunities to women in the localization industry.
• Women in Games: Women in Games aims to build a fair, equal and safe environment that empowers girls and women to join and thrive in the global gaming ecosystem.
• Chicas en Tecnología: This non-profit organization in Argentina works to reduce the gender gap in technology in that region by motivating and training the next generation of women leaders in technology.
• Enterprising Women Magazine: A national and global magazine for female entrepreneurs that celebrates achievements by women and provides valuable resources.

These organizations are ones we are proud to support, but there are many others doing good work in this space. Spend some time researching where your volunteer efforts can make the most impact.

The post Making Progress for Women in the Language Industry appeared first on Terra Translations.

A monolingual company glossary can be an extremely valuable asset to translation teams, internally within companies, and for their customers.  

What is a monolingual company glossary?

Your typical monolingual company glossary will provide a set of definitions for commonly used business terms. A monolingual glossary functions similarly to a translation glossary, but explains the meaning of a word in the same language. 

A monolingual company glossary can step in to increase understanding around the specific business terms a company uses and encounters frequently. When these terms are misinterpreted, employees risk making unnecessary mistakes or uninformed decisions that can be costly and time-consuming for a company to fix. 

What are the key benefits? 

The neat thing about a monolingual company glossary, is that all parties benefit when one is in place.

1. Benefits for the company itself. Companies will find a monolingual glossary helps their employees improve communication, increase understanding, and get up to speed on workplace training quicker. With this type of resource at hand, less mistakes will be made, trust in your product and processes will increase, and everything will run just a little bit smoother, which can save a company a lot of money. 
2. Benefits for translation teams. On the translation side, one of the benefits is that translators don’t have to spend hours researching online to find out more about a specific process or product. Also, they save time by not having to send queries to the client and wait for a reply. Having all the information already compiled helps the translation team quickly answer the questions that arise during the translation process that are not answered in the materials themselves. 
3. Benefits for customers. Because a business glossary can help provide much needed clarity to workers, they’ll have the tools they need to provide better products and services for customers. Your employees will always use consistent terminology and can provide a clear customer experience, as customers will encounter the same terms when they visit the website, interact with you through social media, or when they call your customer service. 

Misunderstandings can lead to mistakes and subpar work products, neither of which you want to expose your customer to. 

How to maintain a monolingual company glossary

Over time, you’ll want your monolingual company glossary to grow and evolve. To ensure accuracy in your monolingual glossary, you’ll need to have someone in your staff who has a high-level knowledge of the company operation and who can proofread new additions to the company glossary and rewrite any terms or definitions as needed. It’s important that the person in charge of this has professional linguistic knowledge, as the last thing you want is to introduce mistakes to the document everyone will use as a reference. Also, make sure you share this document to all parties when it’s been updated and every time you need to have content translated into a different language.

The post Why Your Business Should Have a Monolingual Company Glossary appeared first on Terra Translations.

Let’s take a closer look at how technology has impacted the translation industry. 

How Technology Has Impacted the Translation Industry

The advancement of computer technology and the internet created a wide range of tools and convenience for every industry, but the translation industry specifically started its road of exponential growth when technology stepped in. As technology expanded, so did our access to other corners of the world. Given the amount of content that needed to be translated to reach other markets and audiences, technology also needed to provide enhanced productivity, communication, and quality assurance tools.

CAT tools were the first big revolution in the translation field and absolutely changed how translators worked thanks to the implementation of translation memory, term bases, and QA checks. While at the beginning CAT tools were deemed to be a threat to human translators, it soon became clear how much they had to offer. Linguists became more efficient and productive, and found in them ways to reduce human errors. Now it seems inconceivable to work without them.

Machine Translation (MT) can be considered the next big revolution. This technological solution was created to help meet that vast demand for fast translation services at a cheaper cost. While the quality standard with MT can be questionable and there’s a lot of room for improvement, there’s no denying that to some extent and in some fields the use of MT can prove to be invaluable.

As demand for translation services grew, other technological tools came to the rescue in order to keep track of everything. Translation Management Systems in particular provide a wide variety of solutions to common translation struggles. This tool organizes all kinds of translation and localization workflows. Some of the benefits of a Translation Management System include: 

The Takeaway 

Technology has its faults—there’s no doubt about that—but in the translation industry it has been an enabler for progress. As long as all parties involved in the process understand that technology has its limitations, it can be used to do more, better, and faster work. In a world where access to information in a language everybody understands has become critical, having technology on our side is an enormous help.

The post The Role of Technology in the Translation Industry appeared first on Terra Translations.

Global Standards Vary

The translation industry is a global industry and one of the reasons that translators can have differing educational experiences is because every country has their own unique set of academic standards. In some countries, you can attend a university and earn your translation degree after four or five years of study. In other countries, the universities may not offer an equivalent degree, but you may be able to take short translation courses focused on specific fields. Some countries only have translation associations that offer certifications like ATA. Point being, the education opportunities and therefore the hiring standards to become a translator, can vary greatly depending on where a translator lives. 

Why Do Translation Degrees and Certifications Have Value?

A translation degree or certification illustrates that a translator has the knowledge necessary to do translation work and do it well. This is especially helpful for those who are new in their career without much work experience under their belt. While some translators learn the necessary skills to do this job on their own through a lot of practice, not having credentials to account for what they know can create a roadblock for them. 

Pursuing a translation degree or certification plays an important role in learning how to work as a translator and how to create a linguistically and culturally accurate message. Some people believe being bilingual is enough to become a translator, but in reality, being bilingual does not ensure that you have the skills necessary to be an accurate translator who can tackle all the important aspects of communication in both languages. 

The Benefits of Extending Education

Translators tend to be curious creatures, or at least in an ideal situation, they should be. A good translator must always be learning about new tools and reading about the latest developments in their fields of expertise. Some translators, after obtaining their degree in translation, go on to earn a degree in finance, the arts, history, or another subject relevant to their expertise. This desire to continue their education shows how committed a professional translator can be to delivering a top quality service.

What Employers and Clients Need to Know

To be on the safe side, always work with people who have become experts in translating specific language combinations through extensive studies. We know that literally everything can be solved, but not every translation has the same impact. Some fields are susceptible, such as those that have anything to do with health, security, and law. When it comes to the legal industry, some documents require a certified translation, and having credentials is a requirement, not an option. Specific industries allow no room for error, so working with a professional with vast linguistic and subject matter knowledge and experience is always your best bet. It’s worth noting that for some language combinations, there are no official certifications or academic programs available, so it’s essential to research before hiring to know what standards your candidate can realistically meet.

The post Why is it important that the translator has a translation degree or certification? appeared first on Terra Translations.

The 1970’s: The Beginnings

The 1970s is where video game localization really comes into play. Japanese developers were looking to break into the American market and this drove them to start thinking about localization.

One of the most famous examples comes from the internationally popular video game PacMan. The Japanese name was initially thought of as “Puck Man” (pronounced ‘pakkuman’), but when localizing the product for the US market, they decided to change the name to avoid the name being misspelled or misused with another word that could be offensive or inappropriate.

1980s: Initial stages of localization

The 1980s is where we see the initial stages of video game localization beginning. During the 1980s, games started to be localized, but there was a lack of awareness of the importance of using native and specialized linguists. As a result, this stage was the funniest, or one could say tragicomic, in terms of localization. This is essentially because you see completely incorrect translations, some of which still exist today and continue to be referred to.

The translation of packaging and documentation became standard practice in the gaming industry for publishers who understood that this small investment could help them increase their revenue in international markets. Super Mario Bros was distributed with packaging and documentation translated into German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch—although the in-game text remained in English.

1990s: Demand grows

In the 1990s many games began to see their text translated on screen, and departments and companies that specialized in video game localization began to open. We were not only getting the box and docs translated, but we were also seeing the localization of the user interface and subtitles for the cinematics.  

This was huge for international audiences, because they could now immerse themselves in the game in their own language. Localization made video games more accessible to so many more players.

Some games from the 1990s are particularly memorable because they went as far as recording the voiceovers in other languages. Baldur’s Gate was one of the first RPGs that was localized and dubbed into other languages. 

By the end of the nineties, revenues doubled in the gaming industry, and more than half of that growth came from the results driven by localization. 

2000s: Localization established

We are calling this stage “localization established”, because in the early 2000s there were technological improvements to facilitate the localization process. This is when video games started to be dubbed in different languages with actors. It was also around this time when video games started to be published in a variety of languages.

This was the birth of what is known as ‘sim-ship’, publishers were simultaneously shipping the games in a variety of languages to be released on the same date in all of its language variants.

Nowadays, localization is an essential process in the development of a video game and many companies now have an exclusive team of professionals dedicated to localization and testing. There are also increasingly sophisticated tools available to coordinate and ensure quality during the localization process.

The post An Overview of the History of Video Game Localization appeared first on Terra Translations.

Even in time periods and locations where women weren’t encouraged (and often actively discouraged) to pursue formal education and careers, many women pushed forward and forged paths of their own in the translation space to become professional translators and interpreters.

We’re happy to report that today, the translation industry is now heavily dominated by female linguists. At Terra, we are proud to be a part of the reason that many women are thriving in our industry. 

Terra has always been a company that values women. Since it first began, the CEO position was first held by Beatriz Cirera and later by her daughter, Marina Ilari. To date, Terra has 154 total team members, 112 of which are women. Currently, out of 17 leadership roles, 13 are held by women and many of Terra’s staff are involved with associations whose mission is to empower women.

In honor of International Women’s Day, we want to highlight some of our efforts to support women in the translation industry. 

How Terra Supports Women

Terra is a certified women-owned business and we believe it’s our responsibility to lift other women in our industry up. As a part of this mission, Terra supports Chicas in Tecnología by providing pro bono translation services. Chicas in Tecnología is a non-profit organization in Argentina that works to reduce the gender gap in technology in that region by motivating and training the next generation of women leaders in technology.

Women in Localization is another nonprofit organization we love to support with a mission of fostering a global community for the advancement of women and the localization industry. Women in Localization accomplishes this mission by providing networking, education, career advancement, and mentoring opportunities to women in the localization industry. 

Another organization we like to support is Women in Games which aims to build a fair, equal and safe environment that empowers girls and women to join and thrive in the global gaming ecosystem.

Our CEO Marina Ilari is particularly passionate about supporting these types of organizations, including Enterprising Women Magazine, which is a national and global magazine for female entrepreneurs. As of 2020, Marina joined their Advisory Board. This Advisory Board is made up of professionals giving back to the women business owners’ community and as a board member Marina helps provide leadership and inspiration to female entrepreneurs worldwide.

At Terra, we don’t wait until International Women’s Day to celebrate women in our industry and beyond, we choose to celebrate them every day and hope you will join us!

The post A Commitment to Women Beyond International Women’s Day appeared first on Terra Translations.

Working with Freelancers

Freelance translators can be very helpful and valuable when translation services are required. If you need the translation of a very technical or specialized subject matter, it makes sense to go to the expert. Chances are, there’s a great freelancer out there who can fit your language, culture, and industry needs, no matter how niche they are. 

Freelancers are known for putting in a lot of effort to keep their clients happy and don’t shy away from hard work. For example, if you need a certified translation of a legal document, when you work with a freelance translator who specializes in legal documents, they will work very closely with you to make sure the documents that require translation (birth certificates, marriage certificates, academic certificates, etc.) are not an obstacle towards getting a scholarship or your dream job abroad.

Despite the many benefits of working with a freelance translator, sometimes you might need more than they can provide. You may have a project on your hands that is on the more complex side and that requires many steps that would be better handled by a translation company. 

Here are some examples of when a workload may be too much for a single freelancer to handle. A brochure may require a DTP step at the end. Marketing campaign materials could require a back translation performed by a different linguist. If the materials are for publication, then you probably need a translation, editing, and proofreading workflow (aka the TEP process). It may also be the case that you need materials translated into several languages. 

These are examples of tasks that require the expertise of several different professionals. In other words, a project may require a dedicated team that can help you complete it from start to finish. The last thing you want to do is have to hire and manage multiple freelancers who will work separately from each other. A translation company will fill your project management needs and ensure the work is cohesive throughout the project. 

Working with Translation Companies

As previously noted, translation companies are experts at managing large translation projects. They can handle the whole project management process from start to finish. From the first scope analysis, to establishing the right workflow, to creating timelines, to selecting the right team of linguists, to making sure everything gets done in time.

Translation companies also employ in-house teams, ensuring staff availability even when there’s a high-volume project. These teams are dedicated to you and will be there for you long term. You won’t need to worry about inconsistency or new translators not knowing your projects’ specific needs or requirements.

Because of the organized processes translation companies have in place to ensure quality (such as ISO, which is a top industry standard) and the professionals they work with, they can achieve the highest quality for their customers.

Which is Right For You

We can’t make this call for you, your translation solution totally depends on your company’s needs and the specific requirements of the project. Choose carefully to ensure the process goes as smoothly as possible and that you’re happy with the end product!

The post Should You Hire a Freelance Translator or a Translation Company? appeared first on Terra Translations.

In-House Translators

Working as an in-house translator is probably a bit easier to picture for most as many have held full-time in-house positions before. 

Pros

• Fixed income. One of the main perks of working in-house is the income stability it provides. You know exactly how much money you’re going to earn each year and have consistent paychecks coming in. You’ll also qualify for unemployment in the event you do lose your job, which can be trickier for freelancers to obtain. 
• Benefits. In-house employees typically have access to benefits that freelancers don’t such as healthcare, retirement, paid vacation, and more. 
• Convenience. When you work in-house, there is no need to worry about the logistics of running a freelance business. There are other employees that will handle things like accounting, marketing, and looking for new clients.
• Teamwork. You can rely on a team of peers to help you complete big projects. There’s no need to wear all the hats, which freelancers often have to do. When you need to take time off, ideally there will be someone there to cover your workload. And if you need help with a tricky project, you should have teammates you can lean on. You can learn from each other and grow together. 
• Professional development. Typically in-house employees receive valuable training from those who are further along in their careers. Many companies invest in employee professional development on an ongoing basis. The company may offer to send you to conferences, to pay for educational resources, and to train you in new skillsets.

Cons

• Less flexibility. Some in-house employees may have to work in a specific office each day at an agreed upon schedule. Not to mention, there are dress codes and other office rules to worry about. That being said, while most in-house translators used to work in a company office, nowadays it’s very common for them to work from home.
• Cap on earnings. While working in-house provides stability, in many ways you have less control over your earnings. Freelancers have lows, but they can also have major highs. 
• Less autonomy. When in-house, you typically have to do as you’re told. You may have little control over what types of projects you work on and might have to follow company protocols.

Freelance Translators

If you haven’t worked as a freelancer before, it can be hard to picture what that career path looks like. There are some major benefits of freelancing worth considering, but there are also some downsides that not everyone is ready to handle. 

Pros

• Ultimate flexibility. Want to work by the seaside today and in a mountain cabin tomorrow? No problem. Are you a night owl who does your best work when everyone else is asleep? Good for you. Don’t like a client or aren’t interested in certain types of projects? Send them packing. As a freelancer you’ll be able to decide when and where you work, who you work with, and what your vacation schedule looks like. 
• You’re the boss. Freelancing is essentially running a very small business of one. You’re a business owner, even if it doesn’t look like it from the outside, which means you get to do things your way. 
• Earning potential. Freelancers get a bad rap as being “underemployed” at times, but many freelancers can tell you that when you’re retaining the whole profit from a project (and your company isn’t taking a cut) that your income can soar. You get to set your rates and can choose to only take on projects that work for your budget. 

Cons

• Stability not guaranteed. Working as a freelancer provides a lot of excitement and the wins can feel really big since they’re all your own, but a stable income is not guaranteed. This can be challenging for people on a tight budget or who have a family to support. 
• No benefits. You’ll have to purchase your own benefits and accept that there is no such things as a paid vacation anymore. It’s important to remember to aim to make more than you would in-house in order to pay for benefits yourself. 
• Loneliness. Working as a freelancer can be lonely at times. If no one else in your household works from home or if you live alone, you may find you have a lot of solitude on your hands. The lack of teamwork can also feel very isolating. 
• Out of pocket expenses. Office supplies, computers, and professional development will all have to come out of your pocket which can sting a bit.

The Takeaway

There is no “better” option here. Both in-house and freelance translators have some major perks to look forward to. At Terra, we employ in-house linguists as well as collaborate with freelancers. So whatever your preferences are, we can work together. The key is to find which is the best fit for your goals, personality, and lifestyle!

The post Pros & Cons: In-House Translators vs. Freelance Translators appeared first on Terra Translations.

This year’s awards were presented by the Go Global Judging Panel consisting of 15 distinguished business and government leaders from across the globe.

Winning an Award – or receiving a placement or honorable mention – is no small feat. The 2021 Go Global Awards received a total of 6416 entries from organizations in over 178 countries. The breadth of award nominations was truly amazing.

The International Trade Council recognizes organizations who, in the face of a global pandemic, have displayed leadership, resilience, and innovation, while embracing change and supporting their employees and communities in a way never seen before.

Originally launched in 1989, The International Trade Council’s Go Global Awards celebrate organizations that drive the global economy through their innovations, technologies, and strategies.

The Go Global Awards follow a rigorous three-tiered selection process. Candidates begin the application process with a pre-screening and ranking phase. The top 20% of nominations across all categories are then cross-reviewed to ensure consistency. Finalists are then selected and move forward to the live judging event, where they present before independent members of the Go Global Awards Committee. The Awards Committee then cross-reviews the finalist presentations and the final decisions are announced at the Go Global Awards Day.

The Awards bring together hundreds of senior executives from some of the world’s most innovative manufacturers, exporters, technology firms, international service providers, venture capital firms, and financial institutions.

While the Go Global Awards offer the opportunity to be recognized and honored by their peers it also goes beyond winning trophies and citations. The program aims to build a community of senior executives from across the globe to support one another, share ideas, create partnerships, and build on their existing knowledge and connections. For more information about the Go Global Awards, please visit www.goglobalawards.org

The post Terra Earns Recognition for Professional Services at the 2021 Go Global Awards appeared first on Terra Translations.

Allows for More Innovation

The more diverse a team is, the more access to varying perspectives and backgrounds you’ll gain. When you’re looking for creativity and problem-solving abilities, working with experts that stem from different cultures or who have unique outlooks can be invaluable. 

Alongside the benefits that come along with hiring a team that has varied experiences under their belts, diverse vendors have the potential to deliver a highly effective client experience. Because diverse suppliers tend to be smaller in size, they are often more innovative, agile, and responsive than their larger competitors.

Illustrates Your Business Values to Clients

If diversity and inclusion are important values to your company, when you hire diverse suppliers, you are not only putting action behind your words, you’re signaling to your clients what your true priorities are. Diversity is a sign of a healthy and inclusive culture, which can be very appealing to both prospective clients and employees alike. 

Thanks to increased access to information via the internet and social media, it’s easy for potential clients and customers to learn if you truly put your money where your mouth is. While you shouldn’t only hire diverse vendors to prove to outsiders that you practice ethically, support diversity, and champion sustainable practices, doing so does benefit your branding and reputation. 

Economic Benefits

There are financial benefits associated with hiring diverse vendors. A study from the Hackett Group found that 20% of spending directed toward diverse suppliers delivers at least 10% to 15% of annual sales. 

Once again, because diverse suppliers tend to be smaller businesses, the businesses that hire them can benefit from their size. Smaller businesses usually have less overhead than larger businesses do and can be more competitive with their pricing and more flexible with their services and product offerings. 

It’s also important to remember that diverse suppliers have influence in the communities that they represent and working with them may open up new market shares in their communities.

Insight from a Diverse Supplier

Terra Translations is proud to be a diverse supplier and to be committed to diversity and inclusion. At Terra, we believe that diversity is not the goal, but is the means to a more inclusive and just workplace that has the ability to perform better than less diverse competitors. 

According to Terra Translations’ CEO, Marina Ilari, there is very little diversity in top management in the translation industry as a whole. From the top twenty largest language service companies, there is only one female CEO. “What is more surprising is the fact that the majority of translators, interpreters, and linguists that perform the linguistic tasks within the industry are close to 70% women,” Marina explained, “In some regions of the world, such as in South America, 94% of graduates of translation degrees are women. It has always surprised me that this women-driven industry would not see more diversity at the top. It’s important to bring more diversity to leadership roles in the industry, and I would like Terra’s inclusive and diverse team to help bridge that gap.”

As a women-owned translation company that employs workers from around the world that come from a variety of backgrounds, we’ve found we can provide better client services because we’re a diverse supplier. 

The post 3 Major Benefits of Working with Diverse Suppliers appeared first on Terra Translations.