Memsource now supports 82 new languages/language locales.

Users will be able to select these languages when creating projects, translation memories, and term bases.

Below is a list of all new languages and language locales.  For a full list of the languages supported in Memsource, see our Supported Languages article.

Memsource now supports the Common Translation Interface (COTI).

COTI is an interface developed by DERCOM (Association of German Manufacturers of Authoring and Content Management Systems) for data exchange between authoring systems and translation systems.

COTI was developed as part of an effort to improve CMS/TMS system integration and make it more flexible. This standardized interface creates translation projects from content management systems and then exports the final translations from the CAT tool. COTI can reduce translation costs as well as errors that result from manual translation management. Before the support for COTI was developed, PMs and Localization managers needed to do a lot of manual work: extracting the files from the packages, creating a project based on the configuration information, exporting the translated files and putting them in the correct folder.

COTI has three levels and Memsource supports level 2. The difference between this and level 1 is that the data exchange is automated via exchange folders, while the level 3 data exchange is via web services (API).

In COTI level 2, the content management system places a data package, including the content to be translated and any reference materials, into an exchange folder. This folder is monitored by Memsource and the package is converted into a Memsource project when new content is added. Once the translation project is completed, Memsource places the finished COTI package into a second exchange folder, which is monitored by the content management system. As soon as the CMS detects the COTI package, including the translation, the CMS automatically imports the translation.

Watch the video below to see step-by-step instructions on how to set up and use COTI.

The COTI specification provides more technical information. We’ve also created a help center article all about using COTI with Memsource.

__

This is a premium feature for Memsource Enterprise users. Find out more about the Memsource Enterprise edition.

You can integrate Memsource with various online repositories and CMSs, including Typo3, using our connectors and plugins. See our integrations page.

To make the welcome to Memsource even warmer, we have been working hard to improve our onboarding process. Our aim was to create a simpler and more personal experience for first-time users.

We have achieved this in a number of ways:

• We have created new getting started guides: a Getting Started Guide for Project Managers and a Getting Started Guide for Linguists. These provide clear, step-by-step instructions to help new users quickly familiarize themselves with the Memsource interface and start using the key features.

• The guides are accompanied by concise demo videos that show the key features being used in Memsource Cloud, Memsource Desktop Editor, and Memsource Web Editor. Below is an example of one of the videos – How to Create a Project in Memsource. Access the full Getting Started for Project Managers video playlist and Getting Started for Linguists video playlist.

• All new trial users are sent a link to a getting started guide from Marketa, our customer success manager. New users can contact Marketa at any time during their trial should they need additional support or have additional questions.

• Our Support team is always on hand to answer any technical questions, while our Sales team can deal with any questions related to editions and subscriptions.

__

Start your free 30-day trial today.

Curious about continuous localization? In part two of our continuous delivery triad, we tackle some of the most common questions: is continuous localization a myth or reality; does continuous delivery really pay off; can it be successfully implemented into a game localization workflow; and beyond.

Have you read part one of our series on the difference between the three major workflow strategies?

There are many benefits to continuous delivery (CD) especially in game localization but new technologies and strategies are often met with reluctance. Andrea Tabacchi, lead of the Memsource Solution Architect team, has been closely following the trend of continuous delivery. We asked him about the main concerns people have about adopting CD, the benefits and drawbacks of implementing it into a game localization strategy, and some best practices for game localization managers looking to put continuous localization into action.

How can the gaming industry benefit from implementing continuous delivery methods?

Gaming is a unique industry – it’s highly technological but the content is also incredibly creative. In some cases, the narrative is so important that you cannot really start your localization work until the story, characters, and dialogues are well defined. It would be similar to translating a book while the author is still writing it.

But not all games are like that. Casual games — games aimed at mass audiences with simple rules and low time commitment — are definitely a good candidate to implement CD. New levels or features can be sim-shipped daily if stakeholders are working in a well-oiled mechanism, allowing millions of users to have the same gaming experience all over the world.

Are there any drawbacks or concerns using this method?

Two of the biggest hurdles to overcome are scope uncertainty and translating in context.

Scope Uncertainty

The amount of content can change daily with two major drawbacks – on the customer side you can easily lose control of the budget and on the language service provider (LSP) side you may have a hard time allocating resources (and paying them fairly for their job and their availability). The role of the localization manager is to set a monthly approximate volume, set some checkpoints, and define the corrective measures before the situation gets worse. If this isn’t taken into account, you can find yourself running out of money or resources in the middle of the localization effort.

Translating in Context

In game localization, context is crucial. Translating two strings here and there without context can be a difficult task, especially in maintaining game storylines. It’s important that contextual information is always provided for the most important strings, such as adding meta information according to the visibility of the content.

One of the key aspects in continuous delivery is to anticipate issues before testing. Applying it to localization, this would mean: spending time on internationalization, providing context information, reducing bottlenecks in communication, anticipating LQA by doing pseudo-translation or MT to identify cosmetic issues upfront and make sure that whatever happens in LQA is then propagated in the translation environment.

What advice can you give to localization managers who want to adopt continuous delivery into their game localization strategy?

Making the shift to CD can be tricky and will require a lot of planning and preparation. The transition may not be perfect, and there will most likely be some bumps in the road, but here are a few tips to help pre-empt the possible bumps for a smoother changeover:

• Get Ready: Prepare your team so that they welcome the change and not avoid it. The more you refuse the inevitability of change the harder it will bite when it comes.

• Partner-up: Find the right partners in a technology platform and vendors that can really understand your needs and involve them in the team as early as possible.

• Analyze Your Workflow: Look at your localization process as a flow of content and remove as many obstacles as you can before deploying it into production. If there are lots of difficulties, perhaps try a piecemeal approach. Find a workflow step where there is no obstacle, however small, and start there. The evolution of technology is organic – just starting is the most important thing because it changes everyone’s mindset. But don’t force it, the good old agile is still working fine and may be the solution for you.

• Integrate and Automate: Once you have eliminated all the friction in the process, make sure that the content and the queries are flowing to the relevant stakeholders without difficulty and that everybody knows what to do when something is landing on their desk. For example, Memsource allows the connection between the localization interface and query management solution like Jira via API allowing users to communicate and work in the respective environment.

• Context is Key: Translating without context, especially creative content, is like putting together a pictureless puzzle. Sure it can be done, but it will take a lot longer and there will be many more mistakes. Give context and you will reduce errors, delays, and queries! Did you know that Memsource supports GIF as context information? You can see the game in action while localizing the string.

• Keep Trying: Don’t give up after the first try – learn from your mistakes, iterate, and keep looking for new ways to improve your workflow.

Final Thoughts

It is essential to assess your game localization process and see whether CD will provide concrete benefits before fully committing. Maybe you are satisfied with weekly drops, or you fear that constant changes will end up doubling your costs; always be sure that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. CD has its place in some game localization workflows, but not all.

Once you have committed, remember to be well prepared, find yourself a good team, integrate and automate, and if at first you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and iterate.

In the final part of this three-part series, Andrea will be assessing the possible disruptors of continuous delivery and how to minimize the potential debris. Stay tuned!

About the Author

Andrea Tabacchi is the Solution Architect Team Lead at Memsource where he utilizes his extensive experience in building customer-centric language technology solutions for multinational corporations and global translation companies. He and his team work with clients to develop solutions to address their translation technology needs, including innovative ways to optimize the Memsource platform and liaise with clients and internal teams to suggest tool improvements. Prior to Memsource, Andrea spent seven years on the LSP side where he served in several roles in language technology, from Localization Engineering to Technology Director.

You no longer need to switch between Memsource Cloud and the Memsource Help Center when you have a question. You can now search the help center directly from Memsource Cloud.

We have added a help widget which is visible on every page.

When you click on the widget, a search bar appears. Type in a keyword and a list of top article results will appear.

You can read the article within the widget.

Not only can you search articles, you can also send questions directly to the Memsource Support team from here.

What do you think of the new help center widget? We would love to hear your feedback. Please leave a comment below.

LTR (left-to-right) and RTL (right-to-left) marks have been introduced in Memsource Web Editor. These marks enable users to define the directionality of a text segment.

This is particularly important for texts with mixed directionality; these marks allow bi-directional texts to be translated within a segment with the correct directionality, without needing to be edited in other text editors.

There are two options for entering the RTL and LTR marks:

1. Keyboard shortcuts: CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+L (for LTR) and CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+R (for RTL)
2. Via the Edit menu > Insert Symbol

Included with this feature is improved support for bi-directional texts in our in-context preview; when switching between source and target language in the in-context preview, the text direction of the preview will also be switched.

Source segment

Target segment with bi-directional marks

There are 29 new endpoints available in our REST API documentation for Analysis, Authentication, Job, Machine Translation, Project, Project Template, Term Base, Translation and Translation Memory.  View our REST API documentation.

__

Find out more about using our REST API.

Using the shortcut CTRL+comma, users can now select tags from a list to insert into a target segment. This new feature makes handling tags even faster and more flexible.

We recently added a keyboard shortcut, CTRL+ALT+ Tag Number to make it easier to specify the tag number and position of the tags in the target segment. The list option builds on this feature as more than 9 tags from a source segment can be shown at once.

The gif below shows the new list feature in action.

__

Learn more about tags.

All professional translators should strive for perfection, but the need for accuracy in medical translations transcends almost all other translation categories. The risk of poor health, serious injury, or even death as a result of a poorly translated medical translation is something unique to this field. How does one avoid these dire consequences?

If you need a medical translation you should the take time to locate a medical translation service that has a reputation for accuracy and that provides a guarantee of its work in the language pair that you require. Good medical translators are not your average translators because of their essential combination of translation and medical knowledge. In particular, they are bilingual or multilingual professionals who have an in-depth knowledge of medical terminology in the medical field you are working in, and an understanding of the culture and target audience for which the translation is aimed.

Why is terminology such an important aspect of medical translation?

Medical translation is very specific in its language. Slight differences in terminology can mean quite different things in medicine or medical practice. The challenge for the medical translator is not just to be familiar with what the terminology means in the source language, but to know what it is in the target language and the situations in which misunderstanding may arise.

There can be no room for guessing the equivalent term used in the target language for a specific medical term. The prospect of a misunderstanding can be devastating for a patient. The translator must be adept at transliterating if there is no equivalent term, i.e. explaining the meaning of the term in the target language without changing the context or use.

Medical terminology also uses many abbreviations and acronyms which may or may not have direct equivalents in the target language. Again, the medical translator’s task is to convert any of these abbreviations and acronyms that have no direct equivalence in a meaningful way without compromising any information.

Translation essentials of the intended audience

All translators understand the significance of adapting the language of translation to suit the target audience. This is particularly important for medical translation services because a particular document or text may be aimed at very different readers. Some translations are designed to be read by medical professionals who will understand the terminology used, while others may be aimed at a general audience that includes many people who are not familiar with complex medical terms. The translator must work with the client to take into account who is reading the translated text and adjust the language accordingly.

Importance of localization in medical translation

Medical translators face the same challenges as any other professional translators when considering adjustments that have to be made for the target culture. However, the importance of localization is particularly important in medical translation. Units must be converted, if necessary, from Imperial to Metric or vice versa. This is particularly the case if translating to or from a U.S. medical source. Few other countries still use Imperial units and confusion can reign if millilitres have to be mentally converted into fluid ounces or vice versa, or Fahrenheit into Celsius, for example.

Cultural nuances are also important when official designations are used. Some cultures have a far higher regard for their medical professional whereas there may be a more relaxed perception of the same medical professional in other cultures. The savvy medical translator adjusts terms and language used to address these personnel because of their in-depth grounding in the two cultures involved.

About the Author:

Alison Williams has been involved in writing with the translation industry since 2011 and has worked with a number of translation companies. Medtrans – Medical Translation Services is one of them, which focuses on medical translation. Over the past few years, she has worked with executives, entrepreneurs, industry experts, and many other professionals in writing and publishing, SEO web content, blogs, newspaper articles, and more.

We have added a tooltip that shows the full name of an item in the Recent Items list in Memsource Cloud.

Longer names displayed in the Recent Items section of the navigation panel are automatically cropped. This was a problem for Memsource users who were working with items with longer names. The new tooltip means that the full name of items can be easily read.

With the latest Memsource Cloud release, you can set all term bases in a project as read only.

Previously, in Memsource projects, one term base had to be in write mode. When a term base is in read mode, it will be leveraged during a translation, but won’t be modified.

__

Find out more about selecting term bases for a project.

We have introduced a limit to the number of records returned in the reports generated by Memsource. Only the first 10,000 records will be included in any report.

__

Learn more about Memsource Reports.

The welcome message in the Automation Widget can be used to provide instructions or generic information for the widget users. We have made it possible to customize it even further by adding basic HTML support.

The following HTML tags and attributes can now be used in the welcome message formatting:

<b>, <strong>, <u>, <i>, <em>, <p>,<br>

Supported attributes: title, style, class

<img>

Supported attributes: title, style, class, src, alt, width, height

<a>

Supported attributes: title, style, class, href, target

Below is an example of a customized Automation Widget welcome screen.

To find out more about customizing the Automation Widget welcome message see our Help Center.

__

Learn more about using the Automation Widget in Memsource.

Whether you’re new to the field of freelance translation or already translate for a common language pair and want to stand out from the crowd, these 4 steps will help make you — and therefore your career — memorable.

When you think of brands, you probably think of companies like Apple or Coca-Cola. That’s because they’ve had years, and multitudes of people, contributing to building those brands and making sure they separate themselves from competitors. Can you apply the same principles to your personal brand? Absolutely. Whether building a corporate brand or a personal freelance translator brand, the goal is to create a good impression that will be remembered for all the right reasons. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, put it like this: “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” What will clients say about you? 

What clients will say about you is 100% in your control. Think about it. What do you want people to think about when they hear your name? What ideals do you want your brand to encompass? Do you want to be the go-to translator for medical translations? Maybe you want to be known for your reliability and professionalism?  You need to have a clear vision of how you want to be perceived by your professional community in order to make that vision a reality. Don’t overwhelm yourself with a long list of ideals. This will be difficult to maintain and your brand may lose focus. Keep it short, simple, and manageable — 3-5 sentences or adjectives to sum you up.

Once you have decided on your image, you need to determine what you want to achieve by developing a personal brand. What are your goals? Start by identifying your objectives and the value you can bring to prospective clients. Make your goals measurable and achievable and always keep these targets in mind when promoting yourself. Don’t forget to check-in and assess your progress every couple of months. Self-assessment can be tough. If it’s not one of your strengths, ask for some feedback from clients and peers.They may be able to point-out something that you have overlooked. If you are not achieving your goals, identify your blockers and reassess whether or not this is truly a core value.  

In the internet age, if you want to grow your professional network, it is vital to have an online presence. If a prospective client looks for you online, and there is nothing to be found regarding your profession, they may cast you aside without much consideration. How can you establish a professional online presence?

• Create your own website: You don’t have to know how to code, or need web design skills to have a decent website; there are many platforms (such as WordPress or Wix) that can help you get your own website up and running in no time. Use your website as a platform to showcase your writing skills, give details about your professional experience, perhaps provide testimonials, and enable people to contact you. A personal website is a great place to direct people to when they want to know more about you. You may even want to consider paying for your own customized domain for an extra boost of professionalism. 

• Be social: You need to be active on social media. First you need to identify the platforms   that are relevant to your target audience; these could be platforms such as Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, and beyond. You can use social media for self-promotion, sharing your blog posts, and sharing information or articles your prospective clients will find interesting. Use social media as an opportunity to engage in discussions and interact with potential clients – it will increase exposure and help to get your foot in the door. Be careful! Don’t post for the sake of posting. The content you put on social media should be valuable to your followers and be aligned with your brand. Spamming people’s newsfeeds with irrelevant content will certainly do more harm than good.

• Blogging: This is a great way to flaunt your language skills, demonstrate thought leadership, and reflect on your professional experiences. It can also drive traffic to your website especially if you optimize your blog posts for search engines. Also consider writing for other blogs. Being a guest writer for a reputable blog, or an industry influencer can increase your exposure and credibility. (On that note, if you’re interested in writing a guest post for the Memsource blog — reach out to hello@memsource.com!)

But remember – while your online presence is essential, don’t disregard good old fashioned face-to-face communication. Find relevant networking events or meetups in your area where you can mingle with potential clients and other industry professionals. Even in the digital age, meeting a person in real life creates a longer lasting impression.

Being up-to-date on trends in the translation and localization industry is a surefire way of keeping yourself relevant. Read industry news, magazines, and blogs, attend free webinars, listen to podcasts related to your area of expertise, follow thought leaders and industry experts on social media, and join online communities for freelance translators. Building a brand that your peers recognize is just as important as companies recognizing you. Get involved with the industry!

Above all else, consistency is the key to creating a long lasting impression. You want people to associate you with your brand, but if it keeps changing you run the risk of becoming flaky and forgotten. Whether it’s the tone of your writing, the visual style of your website, or how often you post on social media, make a commitment. Become a trustworthy and memorable brand by being you — always.

Not convinced?

Spending time on your brand may feel like a waste of time, especially when it takes time away from paid translation work, but you have to consider the long term benefits. Be consistent with your brand development and dedicate a couple of hours a week to writing a blog post, posting on social media, or watching a webinar. Be present both online and offline, and always keep your goals in mind. Cultivating your brand will keep you relevant and stop you from drifting away from the attention of your prospective clients. Your brand won’t be established overnight but it will be worth the effort in the long-run. Have a particularly inspiring story of how you built your personal brand or does a certain someone come to mind when you think of strong brands, let us know in the comment section. 

Additional control options have been added to make it easier for users to manage translation memories with a large number of locales. 

Users could already drag and drop columns to desired places and view certain languages next to each other. We have now added a drag&drop icon to make it more visible and user friendly.

In addition, a new option (Make Leftmost) has been added to the header of each language. When clicked, the entire language column is moved to the leftmost position on the screen, placing it directly next to the language of the search. This way, users can easily move target languages and compare them with their respective source language.

Both new options are outlined in red in the image below.

__

Learn more about managing translation memories in our help center.

Certain tools can generate XLIFF files without a proper XLIFF namespace in the file declaration. Memsource can process such files, but, previously, without a valid declaration and namespace, the target-language attribute was not added to the completed XLIFF file.

Now, with the latest release, even the files without a proper XLIFF namespace will contain the target-language attribute which improves the validity of the exported documents.

Occasionally, projects can be created in a hurry and a simple misclick in the source language can cause an incorrect project to be created (e.g. English (Australia) instead of general English).

Now, as long as the project remains empty (no TMs, TBs or Jobs are added to it), it will be possible to change the source language of the project.

It is now possible to list jobs (via the endpoint /api2/v2/projects/{projectUid}/jobs) not only by the assigned Linguist but also by the assigned Vendor.

__

Access our REST API documentation.

Translation can produce various kinds of errors (e.g. tags & formatting errors) that could prevent users from downloading the completed file.

Using the new API call (api2/v1/projects/{projectUid}/jobs/{jobUid}/targetFileWarnings) users can get a list of potentially critical errors introduced in the document during the translation and then fix those errors in order to download the completed file. 

__

Access our REST API documentation.