A Comparison of Professionalism Between Freelance Translators and Translators in a Product Localization Team

Abstract

The language barrier is the first impediment that most companies confront when selling their products abroad. Products trying to convert their content into a new language will often settle on two options: translation and localization. Although similar — both are about converting messages into a new language to reach a new audience — translation and localization are two distinct procedures. Therefore, this paper adopts methods of literature analysis and corpus-based research to study how localization differs from translation, in terms of work content, process and skills required for practitioners. Based on literature analysis, the paper concludes that translation is a subset of localization, a broad term encompassing several strategies for adapting information to a new audience. Localization is a more profound and complex conversion procedure than translation. Localization is done with specific target market needs in mind; therefore, it is not only about content, but also a significant aspect of marketing. This article demonstrates through corpus analysis that, while traditional translations place a premium on the literary quality and accuracy of the translation, localized translations place a premium on the translation's fit with the local language idiom and ability to reach a broader audience for the product. Thus, this article summarizes that while freelance translators place a premium on bilingual abilities, self-management, and marketing capabilities, localization group translators place a premium on their ability to flexibly use their cultural background knowledge to adjust translation content to customer tastes.