Forbes – George Anders
“Create a popular U.S. movie, and you’ll want local-language versions of everything from T-shirts to trailers — fast! Come up with a dazzling videogame, and you’ll be scrambling for people who can convey an orc’s powers in languages ranging from Thai to Portuguese. Finding raw translation skills turns out to be the easy part. (Lots of online marketplaces and translation boutiques offer contract workers at every imaginable price point.) What’s trickier — and crucial — is to set up oversight systems to ensure everything gets executed properly. As a result, there’s booming demand for an intriguing class of experts, called localization specialists, localization managers and localization engineers. They pay attention to cultural sensitivities, so a joke that’s harmless in one culture doesn’t become offensive in another. They also devise checklists and templates to guarantee that each country’s build-out stays on track and gets done efficiently.”(more)