Localization: a career for the new millennium.

Localization: a career for the new millennium. Founded in 2000, the Localization Customizing software and documentation for a particular country. It includes the translation of menus and messages into the native spoken language as well as changes in the user interface to accommodate different alphabets and culture. See internationalization and l10n. Generalist gen��er��al��istn.A physician whose practice is not oriented in a specific medical specialty but instead covers a variety of medical problems.generalistCertificate Program atAustin Community College Austin Community College is a regional community college district with seven campuses located in various areas of Central Texas. The college's district is made up of the City of Austin and the Austin, Leander, Manor and Del Valle Independent School Districts. (ACC See adaptive cruise control. ) was the recipient of the 2004 ClientSideExcellence Award in the category of Localization Educational Services.It is the only community college program of its kind and one of only ahandful of programs worldwide. What is this new career all about, andwhere is it going? Technology is taking the phrase "it's a small world It's a Small World (formatted “it's a small world” by the Walt Disney Company) is a popular attraction at several Walt Disney theme parks: Disneyland (in California), the Magic Kingdom (in Florida), Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Resort Paris. "literally. Through the innovative and ever-growing advancements intechnology, communicating with our neighbors in countries around theworld is as easy as picking up a phone or sending an email message. Itis opening the doors for businesses to expand beyond a domestic marketand positioning them to compete in the international marketplace. There no longer exists the question of how to get messages outglobally, but there is growing concern that once they are sent, they arecoherent and understood. That is where localization comes in, and thatis the trend of businesses in every corner of the world today, andlikely into the future. Most people are unacquainted with the term, so the question arises:what is localization and why is it significant? Simply put, localizationis the adaptation of the products and services--often software, websitesand web services--to meet the requirements of international markets. To attract and increase business, companies hire people withlocalization skills to adapt language and culture that must be"localized Translated into the spoken language of the country. See localization. ," or made familiar, to a specific local market.Through the magic of the Internet (and a good deal of help from thelocalization professional), products and service offerings by a companycan appear to be specifically developed for a local market in anotherpart of the world. To the latter part of the question, Dr. Tim Altanero, an associateprofessor of foreign languages and the program director (and founder) ofAustin Community College's localization program, answers, "Itis important because the Internet has made distance irrelevant, bringingpeople of different cultures and languages into immediate and directcontact. These individuals want products and services delivered in waysthey are accustomed to, as well as in their languages. Companies mustadapt their products and services for these constituencies." Lost in Translation Developing and honing Honing could refer to Improving surface finish & geometry using a Hone the practice of sharpening Honing, Norfolk localized information directed atinternational markets has become one of the fastest growing fields inhigh technology. Detail to formatting pertinent information such astime, date, addresses and currency is critical to localization. How thetargeted audience receives the information is key. Does the country readfrom left to right, or right to left (i.e. Hebrew or Arabic)? Is there aproper way to address the audience? How do you code a web page todisplay Asian characters? How do you get Cyrillic characters into a webform? What are the social taboos to be aware of and to avoid for thisspecific culture? It is not just a simple translation of information from onecountry's readership read��er��ship?n.1. The readers of a publication considered as a group.2. Chiefly British The office of a reader at a university. to another. It is the embracing of acountry's business etiquette etiquette,name for the codes of rules governing social or diplomatic intercourse. These codes vary from the more or less flexible laws of social usage (differing according to local customs or taboos) to the rigid conventions of court and military circles, and they and non-offensive exchange ofinformation. Every aspect of information must be addressed in thelocalization process. "Little things are important here, like phonenumbers," explains Altanero. "People generally will not callinternationally for information, and 800 numbers don't work outsidethe United States United States,officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . It is necessary to have a staff of people that cananswer the phone and e-mail in the languages in which you just localizedyour information. The accounting staff must be able to handle multiplecurrencies. Your help file links, especially if they link outside yoursite, must be checked so that they're not in English. A commonmistake is the text and link change for 'Get Acrobat Document exchange software from Adobe that allows documents to be displayed and printed the same on every computer. The Acrobat system created the Portable Document Format (PDF), which is widely used in commercial printing and on the Web. See PDF. Here.'" Interestingly, colors, logos and symbols may take on a completelydifferent meaning from one country to the next, and it is especiallyimportant to be sensitive to these issues, so as not to offend potentialclients. Altanero cites as an example the Gateway cow pattern, whichdoesn't go over well in India. There are also product names thatmay have an undesirable meaning in another language, such as the ChevyNova, which translates into Spanish as "doesn't go." Even something as simple as a flower can be misinterpreted. Themarigold marigold,any plant of the genus Tagetes of the family Asteraceae (aster family), mostly Central and South American herbs cultivated elsewhere as garden flowers. The two common species of marigold, both annuals, are distinguished as African, or Aztec (T. is a funerary fu��ner��ar��y?adj.Of or suitable for a funeral or burial.[Latin fner flower in Mexico. On a more technical note, inJapan the C drive is the A drive, which could make an installation adisaster if the default installation drive is not updated. And that's not all to take into consideration when translatinginformation from one culture to another culture. There are the variousregulations that each country may have for the distribution of suchinformation. There are technical specifications, inter-culturalcommunication and negotiation strategies, platform-specific localizationissues, globalization globalizationProcess by which the experience of everyday life, marked by the diffusion of commodities and ideas, is becoming standardized around the world. Factors that have contributed to globalization include increasingly sophisticated communications and transportation concepts and Unicode fundamentals to thinkabout--not to mention, the geopolitical ge��o��pol��i��tics?n. (used with a sing. verb)1. The study of the relationship among politics and geography, demography, and economics, especially with respect to the foreign policy of a nation.2. a. and legal issues, computationalrequirements for international development, and character sets detectionand conversions. This is just a sampling of the language and terminology that isbringing together businesses and people around the world, and this iswhere the localization generalist will be playing a large role. There are also the geopolitical issues to take into consideration.For instance, is it Taiwan, or is it Mainland China? In addition, theyuse different character sets--one uses traditional Chinese (Taiwan) andthe other uses Simplified. Altanero also points out that you can't call China"Taiwan" if you intend to sell on the Mainland and vice versa VICE VERSA. On the contrary; on opposite sides. . Austin Community College's program in localization, as itswebsite states, is designed for students and professionals desiring todevelop or strengthen important skills necessary to competeinternationally in the high-tech industry. Although a technicalbackground is not necessary, a basic familiarity with computers and theInternet is essential. The localization generalist certificate isdesigned for students seeking an academic credential credentialverb To determine or verify titles, qualifications, documents, completion of required training, and continuing education, in those persons who function in a professional or official capacity–eg, ER physician, neurosurgeon, etc. Cf Credentials. demonstratingcompetence in the fundamentals of the localization process. For professionals, localization is usually an "add on."They may take their current career and expand it with localizationskills. Whether they enroll for the entire sequence or focus on onespecific topic, they have increased their marketability in a worldthat's becoming more internationally oriented o��ri��ent?n.1. Orient The countries of Asia, especially of eastern Asia.2. a. The luster characteristic of a pearl of high quality.b. A pearl having exceptional luster.3. . For those students just starting out, the localization generalistcertificate program is a good way to enter the business world, becausethis is one area that will be growing rapidly as technology opens moreinternational doors. Future Possibilities Altanero reports that the class size of the ACC localizationprogram is limited to 10 students, so there is the potential to graduate10 localization generalists a year from the program. "All of our courses are online and live, too," notesAltanero. "That's why we have a low limit. It's sometimeschallenging to do, because a typical class enrolls students from manytime zones. We have strong enrollment from Europe and Asia--up to 50percent or more in some classes. Because of this, no times are printedin the schedule. We negotiate with students via e-mail once the classbegins. The only thing we do in person is a 'summer school'consisting of three days with six half-day seminars in special topics.For that, the enrollment comes from primarily the U.S., with about 40percent coming from within Texas and the rest from California, thenortheast and various other states." Austin Community College's localization program is as hightech as the material it covers. "Localization is a tremendously rich field that encompassesmany different types of professions, from computer programmers This is a list of programmers notable for their contributions to software, either as original author or architect, or for later additions.See also: Game programmer, List of computer scientists tomarketing to technical writing to accounting," says Altanero."In the future, anyone wishing to work with foreign languages willneed at least the level of 'generalist' in localization. I seeit like typing. Ten years ago, you could get by without ever touching akeyboard. These days, it is unthinkable that any professional does notknow how to type. Down the road, I think it will be just as unthinkablefor any professional to be working in a completely sheltered environment sheltered environmentAn environment that provides protection and custodial care to those who cannot, for various reasons, fend for themselves Examples Nursing homes, institutions for mentally challenged, 'safe houses' for abused ♀, halfway houses for without international contact." From the looks of it, Altanero's prediction is on target.Small businesses have now been afforded the opportunity to reach out tothe global marketplace without incurring the cost of setting up anoverseas office. They can now expand their domestic businesses to aninternational business and increase their bottom lines just bydeveloping a localized website. Of course, if they want to be successfuland reap the optimum benefits through the Internet, localization is amust. Although Austin is the only community college to have such aprogram at this writing, it is a strong probability that morelocalization programs will be developed across the nation. "I'm not sure where localization will be academically,though," notes Altanero "My colleagues in Europe believe it isa separate field and will be ensconced en��sconce?tr.v. en��sconced, en��sconc��ing, en��sconc��es1. To settle (oneself) securely or comfortably: She ensconced herself in an armchair.2. in its own department, much likecomputer science is now a common department in colleges anduniversities. In North America North America,third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. , I've generally seen it housed ininstitutes, centers or continuing education continuing education:see adult education. continuing educationor adult educationAny form of learning provided for adults. In the U.S. the University of Wisconsin was the first academic institution to offer such programs (1904). , as a separate entity. AtACC, we're working on internationalizing the departments under theBusiness Studies Division. If that is successful, localization would beincluded in all of those majors to some degree." He adds that, "At ACC, the pure localization program willprobably always be [housed] in Continuing Education, although I suspectmany of the topics, as they become more generalized gen��er��al��izedadj.1. Involving an entire organ, as when an epileptic seizure involves all parts of the brain.2. Not specifically adapted to a particular environment or function; not specialized.3. in the workforce,will find their ways into our traditional courses. In time, we arethinking of adding specializations under three or four tracks. Aftercompleting the generalist portion, students will have the option ofcontinuing on to become localization programmers, localizationdocumentation specialists, localization project managers, etc." Currently, information on salaries, availability of positions open,or the projected growth and demand of localization generalists ismeager mea��geralso mea��gre ?adj.1. Deficient in quantity, fullness, or extent; scanty.2. Deficient in richness, fertility, or vigor; feeble: the meager soil of an eroded plain.3. . The Department of Labor's Occupational Outlook Handbookdoesn't even mention localization generalists, and Altanero thinksthat it will be slow in adding a localization entry. "There aren't a whole lot of localization positions withthe word 'localization' in them, even though many careers areheavily biased toward localization," he says. "Still, Dice.com(www.dice.com) will pull up a healthy list of jobs with the word in thetitle." Someday some��day?adv.At an indefinite time in the future.Usage Note: The adverbs someday and sometime express future time indefinitely: We'll succeed someday. Come sometime. in the not too distant future, a newspaper'semployment section will advertise dozens of localization positions.Austin Community College is paving the way in filling those openingsthrough career and technical education. The Localization GeneralistsCertificate program at ACC is just the tip of the iceberg tip of the icebergn. pl. tips of the icebergA small evident part or aspect of something largely hidden: afraid that these few reported cases of the disease might only be the tip of the iceberg.for this hotnew profession. "Our program gets you started," Altanero says. "Itcovers all the major areas of localization, so that when you'redone, you will understand how all the pieces fit together. From there, aburgeoning world of opportunities awaits the individual with drive anddetermination to be a pioneer and leader in a field with endlessopportunities." For more information about the localization program at AustinCommunity College, visit www.austin.cc.tx.us, or go to theprogram's website at http://www.austincc.edu/techcert/accGIL.