The conversion of a communication from one language to another is often called, "localization." Localization, is the expression of a global message into a form that effectivly communicates in a foreign location. Localization involves two considerations: the translation of the language and the conversion of cultural artifacts.

Often, clients ask only for a "simple language translation," but even the simplest translation, such as a business card, requires some degree of cultural understanding. How, for instance, would one translate the English job title, "Beef Inspector" into Hindi, the language of India, where harming a cow, much less eating one's flesh is considered sacrilegious?

Translation of the Language: The first step of language translation is to assign a translator who is fluent in the original language, but a resident speaker of the target language. This is not to say that each translator currently lives in the target language country, but that he has recently lived there, and for a significant amount of time to absorb the culture and current idioms.

The translator will read the text several times, often making notations that establish a consistency of word choice and phraseology. Finally, the translator will begin the work of building a new text that mirrors not only the content of the original, but the meaning and intent. For instance, if the original text was a sales message, intended to reach an audience of laborers, the translation should be as persuasive as the original, avoiding words or concepts which would speak over the laborers' vocabulary or sensibilities. As you might imagine, this is very sensitive work and requires great skill.

Conversion of the Cultural Artifacts: Since quality language translation already includes cultural conversion, one might ask what else would be subject to the skills of the translator. The answer? Symbols, artifacts, customs. Today's visual communications - video, print, websites - are full of photographs and graphic symbols. Indeed, a survey of any category of print, for instance, over the last ten years will reveal a steady trend toward more pictures and less text. Today's global communicator must realize that photographs, symbols and graphics require translation as carefully as text!

No two cultures are the same. Often a benign scene in a photograph, a man and woman shaking hands, for instance, or a man seated with his legs crossed, will deliver a highly charged, negative message in a target culture. The increasing use of symbols in print and Internet applications exponentially increases the risk of miscommunication. While the end result of such miscommunication may not immediately cause financial harm or social embarrassment, it will always mark the originator as unsophisticated and an easy target for the competition.

Cultural localization begins with an assessment of the original document's graphic artifacts with respect to each of the target cultures. The translator will produce a written report, often accompanied by a tissue overlay, attached to the original, noting which images are unsuitable and why. Suggestions may be offered for redesign of the element, or the translator may be equipped to submit substitution graphics, either from scratch or from an existing graphic library.

Often, the cost of creating culture specific renditions of a communication are prohibitive. If so, the translator may make generic suggestions for changes that will allow the communication to be used in several cultures at once. The proliferation of globally acceptable symbols, in the area of highway safety, for instance, makes this task increasingly easy to execute. Unfortunately, not every business category enjoys a vast array of universally understood symbols and those who wish to pioneer the expansion of niche enterprises will be faced with the task of building an effective symbolic library. Being the first to own such a library, however, may prove highly competitive.

When both the text and the graphics have been successfully translated, the client may incorporate them into his communications vehicles. If, however, the communication is to be used for life or death purposes, such as the instructions for a fire extinguisher, the client may wish to test the results of the first translation. This is done by "reverse translating" the communication. While done only rarely, reverse translation doubles the cost of the process by acquiring the services of yet another translator, to translate the communication back into the original language. In this way, the client may examine the results and assure the accuracy. Reverse translation is only recommended in the most severe of applications such as medical, legal and important diplomatic correspondences.

At the conclusion of the production phase of translation, the results are either returned to the client or passed on to a print production component.