What makes gendered languages hard to handle in game localization?

1. Lack of context

If you’re translating games, you already know that the lack of context is very common and can cause many problems. One of these problems is a lack of knowledge about the gender of things mentioned, like when a character says “look at that!” Translating may appear easy in such situations. However, the word ‘that’ could have diverse meanings, depending on the gender it represents. In Arabic, for example, there are at least 3 options to convey the word “that”, depending on what it refers to and its grammatical number.

2. Space

When your target language has more than one pronoun to refer to the addressee depending on their gender, it could be a nightmare because some games address all genders, and if you’re translating from English, “you” is just a three-character word that applies to all genders of all numbers. This could result in exceeding the character limit.

3. Placeholders

It’s very common to deal with placeholders in game localization. They could cause a problem when your target language requires adding prefixes depending on the gender of the word replaced by the placeholder. So, you need to know that placeholder and its number if it’s needed to convey an accurate meaning of the sentence.

4. Multiple characters in the game

Problems arise when there is a game that has many characters and there is no specific script for which characters will be in a particular situation. Sometimes you can start a mission in the game and some characters die during the mission. The text should be neutral to suit whatever happens in the mission because you will never know which characters survive or their gender and number.

How can such a problem be handled carefully?

The only possible solution is to use a gender-neutral style as much as you can. If your target language depends on using direct speeches and pronouns, try to tweak the sentence to convey the meaning. For some languages, resorting to nouns instead of adjectives is a good option.

By Eman Abdo

Eman Abdo is an English to Arabic translator specializing in localization and transcreation, mainly in marketing and game localization. She is also the author of Egypt Localization Guide and the force behind the localization of so many apps and games in Arabic and a gamer at core aspiring to change the way Arabic is represented globally. You can reach her at emanabdo.eman12@gmail.com.

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Perhaps you want to get into it but are doubtful whether to go for it or not. Well! I can’t tell you what to do, but I can share with you what I feel as a translator.

It’s different

It was not like this before. I was busy doing something else that involved similar kinds of jobs every day. Yes, I needed to perform some research and there were also follow-ups involved, but once a process was set up, I could follow it again and again, until a new challenge came up. But once I entered a translator’s world, I realized that there was a world of difference!

We work with doctors, and firefighters too

Choosing the right language is too complicated

One can be a translator, a good one. But when it comes to communicating something, along with translation skills, the sense of what kind of language to use also matters. This means, again, that I need to take advice from some specialist in a particular field about what is commonly used in their industry. In the end, we are writing for their understanding and not teaching the language.

It’s not just about the language

Dictionaries do not help sometimes

When I worked in informal language, I realised that not every word we use is found in the dictionaries. Sometimes a combination of words emerges as a new word. One has to dive deep and see how the word is formed to understand it. People create new words, even by adding two words from two different languages.

I walk in the dark and find the light

You cannot predict what it’s going to be. Once you have a text in hand, you never know how much time it may take and how much research will be required. You can just get an idea, but when you actually work on it, new problems arise, and you have to find their solutions in your own way. There is no roadmap for every challenge. I make so many decisions, do this or that, and somehow just reach the destination—which is a translation with a similar meaning.

There is a performance appraisal every day

Every project, every single file, is reviewed, and whether you will receive the next project or not will depend upon your performance on this project. One has to be very careful about everything that is delivered—every day—or it may become the reason for losing a hardly-earned client.

Now, let’s see what the surprises are when you choose translation as your career:

Recognition and satisfaction

It’s overwhelming to listen to a book summary, on a book summary app, which is written by me. I feel immense pride in seeing people taking online courses that have been translated by me. I get surprised to see a website content translated by me.

It has different colours

One has different things to do every day: translation, localization, transcreation, writing, review, etc. One day you write about weight loss, and the next day you feel like the leanest body trying hard to gain weight.

It gives you intellectual friends

People related to language and literature are intellectual beings. They have their own opinions and excellent language skills to express those opinions. It’s wonderful when your profession lets you get in touch with such individuals. I am so fond of and also proud of the fact that I am in contact with such individuals.

No limit to expansion

You can learn new things every day and keep expanding the area of your work. Today you may do only legal translations, but tomorrow you can prepare yourself for general-investment-related texts by studying their basics—if you are interested. This is how you can keep expanding your area of knowledge and translation. Your earning capacity increases as you expand your knowledge or become an expert in a particular field.

By Vinita Sharma Dubey

Vinita Sharma Dubey has been in the translation industry for the last five years. Her childhood dream of working at a radio station came true when she was selected as an announcer. In addition to writing many radio scripts, she had the chance to learn the correct language. She developed the habit of writing and speaking perfect Hindi while working at a Hindi radio station. A multifaceted professional with expertise in marketing, business, gaming, technology, marketing, agriculture, she has worked for many agencies, direct clients, and NGOs. She enjoys what she does and believes in striving hard to deliver a perfect translation, and likes to guide the newcomers who approach her for the same. One can reach her via email at vinita2508@yahoo.com.

The post A Translator’s World: Challenges and Surprises appeared first on Translators of India.

By Suyash Suprabh

I know many translators who have excellent translation skills but are still struggling to succeed.

Why?

The answer is very simple. They forget that it takes much more than language skills to be a successful translator. Unfortunately, most translators ignore this and miss out on interesting opportunities.

Here are 5 ways to make you a more confident and productive translator:

1. 15 minutes of marketing a day keeps the failure away

A successful marketing strategy is all about consistency. The most common marketing mistake is that people show a lot of interest in the beginning and lose interest when they do not see the results they want.

It’s much better to invest your time on meaningful conversations on forums and social media platforms than to invest all your energy on cold email campaigns. What you need is the curiosity to know about the latest trends and the ability to contribute to conversations in a creative manner.

Fortunately, there are plenty of resources to keep you motivated and updated in your marketing efforts. I have found tons of useful information by signing up for the Training for Translators mailing list. You can also check out this website for tips and insights. Another helpful resource is a free book by Luke Spear.

2. Keep yourself updated on the latest trends

Translation is a fast-changing field, and you cannot afford to stay away from current trends if you wish to be counted as a reliable professional. In order to know your client’s requirements, you need to look beyond their texts and have a deep understanding of their business and aspirations. To do this, you may subscribe to the newsletters in your niche fields or follow your clients’ messages on social media platforms.

If you want to keep yourself updated on CAT tools and other technical resources, you should definitely subscribe to this newsletter. For the latest industry trends, you can read Multilingual Media’s weekly digest.

3. Hone your language skills

Language keeps on evolving, and as a translator we should keep on exploring the opportunities to focus on certain aspects of our source and target languages. If English is one of your working languages and you want to specialize in any particular area like legal texts, you may want to invest your time and money on legal English courses.

 
When it comes to figuring out idiomatic expressions or ambiguous sentence structures, language forums are very helpful. They are particularly useful for non-English speaking translators like me. When in doubt, I always consult native speakers on WordReference forums.

4. Theory may enrich your translation skills

Although one can become a successful translator without learning about translation theories, it is always helpful to know a thing or two about translation steps or strategies. It may give you more confidence when you have to translate in a field which is new to you.  

Also, novice translators can find useful tips in theories related to translation shifts. They will have a better understanding of the source texts. Furthermore, they will be more confident when they have to introduce changes that make the target text significantly different from the source text.

5. Be an enthusiastic community member

Translators no longer work in isolation like they used to. By sharing information and insights, we can greatly benefit from the existing digital world where we are connected to hundreds of other translators. The ProZ forums are a great place to connect with other translators. You can also find many interesting and helpful forums on Facebook.

Being a list moderator for more than a decade, I can’t stress enough the importance of sharing our thoughts and ideas. I have learned a lot from experienced translators, and they have always been more than willing to help me with matters that are beyond my fields of expertise.

Suyash Suprabh is based in New Delhi and has more than 18 years of experience in translation and copywriting in many fields, including marketing, business, games, and technology. He has a postgraduate degree in translation studies. Besides having worked for translation agencies and non-government organizations, he has also worked with renowned Hindi magazines, including Tehelka and Careeres360, and has written many articles on languages and translation. He can be reached at suyash.suprabh@gmail.com.

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