Birgitta Meex
Volume 6
Chapter Description
In today’s globalized world, the demand for high quality localized content is growing. Localization entails translation of source content into one or more target languages and adaptation of the translated content to the needs and cultural specificity of the local market (locale). Source text quality together with internationalization is crucial for successful localization. Source text quality serves as the foundation for translated content for different target languages, markets, and locales. As the number of target languages into which an information product is localized increases, so does the impact of the source content. However, besides international audiences also native readers benefit from translation-friendly writing. In technical communication, quality content is lean, structured, clear, neutral, retrievable, maintainable, understandable, accessible, exchangeable, reusable, and above all consistent and translatable. Then: “consistent source content produces consistent translated content” (Swisher). By deploying a number of writing strategies, you as a writer can contribute to achieve all of these! The creation of tools such as style guides, and glossaries can help you handle your content creation. And last but not least: developing your writing for translation skills can help you succeed in the globalized job market of today.
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