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Business in today’s world is global. For products and services to succeed internationally, localization is one of the most critical factors to address. That’s why we’re so excited to announce Localization Essentials, our new course built with localization experts from Google!
What is Localization?
In simplest form, localization is about making a product feel tailored to users around the world. Specifically, it is the process of adapting a product or service to a particular language, culture and geographic market.
There are two main aspects to localization. The first one is stylistic: You have to make sure the language tone you use is appropriate for the market you’re localizing for. There’s also a technical aspect: You may have to make changes to things like date and time formats, alphabetization, or even the direction of reading, so that everything is appropriate for the language you’re localizing into.
The whole process is fascinating, and the level of detail is incredible. When localizing a product, you’ll delve into things like writing style, spelling conventions, cultural conventions, grammar and syntax, acronyms and abbreviations, punctuation, and more!
Localization Careers
Approximately 90% of the world’s population relies on localization to access and use new products or services. That means demand for people with the skills to perform localization work is very high. The language industry—the sector dedicated to facilitating multilingual communication, including globalization, internationalization, localization and translation—has an estimated global size of $40 billion USD, and it continues to grow at a rate of over 5% each year.
Mastering localization skills prepares you for a wide array of roles, including:
- Localization Project Manager
- Localization Operations Manager
- Language Manager
- Linguist
- Localization Vendor Manager
- Engineer (developer)
- Translator, reviewer, copywriter, and more …
Who Should Learn Localization?
As more and more people across the globe come online, localization only becomes more important—users need to be able to use new products in languages they understand, and in ways that make sense to them. So anyone involved in creating and distributing new products globally will benefit from learning localization fundamentals.
The course is especially suitable for:
Current translation students. This course is a fantastic way to stack additional specialized skills that can help you land a great role in this very rapidly growing field.
Working freelance translators. Making localization part of your skill set will enable you to improve your resume, secure more clients, and even pivot your career towards the localization field should you wish to do so.
Developers. You’ll learn what it takes to successfully launch apps and products in international markets, and gain an understanding of who the stakeholders are to do so. You’ll also come to understand the challenges, and master successful solutions to launch a product globally.
Business owners and entrepreneurs. Understanding the localization process will help you grow your business globally. You’ll learn which professionals you’ll need to rely on to succeed, which technologies you’ll need to use, and how to organize localization processes to support successful launches.
Adapting a product or service to a particular language, culture, and geographic market involves a whole lot more than just translating text. It requires understanding how people in different locales will use a product in different ways. Whether your interests lie strictly with product success, or expand to include understanding human nature through a multicultural lens, building localized products is a fascinating process, and it’s a critically important one in today’s global marketplace. Localization Essentials is the perfect course to get started in this rapidly growing industry.
