What is a Fallback Language?
A Fallback Language allows you to automatically apply Glossary terms from one locale to another locale (typically of the same language family).
Why is a Fallback Language needed?
There are two main use cases where Fallback Languages can help bridge potential gaps in your termbase:
- Your projects use multiple source locales belonging to the same language family (such as “en-US” and “en-GB”), but your Glossary only contains terms for one of these locales.
- Your content gets translated into multiple target locales belonging to the same language family (such as “es-MX” and “es-AR”), but your Glossary only contains terms for one of these target locales.
A possible solution to these scenarios would be to export the Glossary and spend time creating a termbase for each empty locale listed, which may take some time to complete. A Fallback Language can provide an efficient alternative until Glossary terms have been added for each locale, or even as a permanent solution.
Info: Configuring a Fallback Language does not copy terms across locales in the Glossary list, but it simply highlights terms in the CAT Tool.
Glossary terms from a Fallback Language are not inserted in Machine Translations.
Use case 1: Highlighting the same Glossary terms across multiple project source locales
In Smartling, Glossaries are multi-directional and don’t have a set source language. This allows you to use the same Glossary across various projects with different source locales. For example, the same Glossary can be used for projects with an “English (United States)” source locale and projects with an “English (United Kingdom)” source locale.
However, in order for glossary terms to be highlighted in the CAT Tool, the Glossary needs to contain the relevant terms for the exact source locale used in your project. For example, when translating content in a project where “English (United Kingdom)” is used as the source locale, the Glossary needs to contain the relevant terms for “English (United Kingdom)” in order for them to be highlighted in the source text.
If your Glossary only contains terms for one of the project source locales, configuring a Fallback Language allows you to automatically highlight the same terms also when translating from other source locales. For example, if “English (United States)” is used as a Fallback Language for “English (United Kingdom)”, the same glossary terms will be highlighted in the CAT Tool, whether your project uses “English (United States)” as its source locale, or “English (United Kingdom)”.
Use case 2: Glossary term leverage across multiple target locales
A Fallback Language can also be leveraged if your content gets translated into multiple target locales belonging to the same language family, but your Glossary only contains terms for one of these target locales.
For example, if a robust Glossary is available for “Spanish (Mexico)”, you can choose to apply the same terms to similar target locales, such as “Spanish (Argentina)”. In the CAT Tool, the “Spanish (Mexico)” term is then shown as the suggested translation for available Glossary entries when translating into “Spanish (Argentina)”.
How to Apply Fallback Language Terms to Other Languages
Account Owners and Project Managers can access the Glossary and configure a Fallback Language by the following steps:
- Go to Account Settings.
- Under Linguistic Packages, click Glossaries.
- Click the ellipsis on the Glossary you want to work on.
- Click Edit Details.
- Ensure all source and target locales of your projects are added to the Glossary. If needed, add any missing locales by following these instructions.
- Under Fallback Language, select the locale that your Glossary already contains terms for.
- Under Languages, choose the locale/s you want to apply the Fallback Language termbase to. Select any locale that is used as a source or target language in your Smartling projects, but does not have any Glossary terms.
- Any languages you remove from the language list will result in no terms being highlighted in the CAT Tool for that locale.
- You can create a termbase for that locale offline and import when it's ready.
- Click Edit to save the configuration.
Info: This does not copy terms across locales in the Glossary list, it simply highlights terms in the CAT Tool.
Example: Use case 1 - Configuring a Fallback Language for project source locales
For example, if your Glossary contains terms for "en-US", but some of your projects use "en-GB" as a source locale, you will need to set up the following configuration:
- Select en-US as the Fallback Language (i.e. the locale with Glossary terms already available in Smartling).
- From the Languages menu, select en-GB (i.e. the project source locale without Glossary terms of its own).
When translating "en-GB" source content, any terms that are registered in your Glossary for "en-US" will now be highlighted in the CAT Tool.
Example: Use case 2 - Configuring a cross-locale Fallback Language for project target languages
For example, if your Glossary only contains terms for “German (Germany)”, but your content also gets translated into “German (Austria)”, you will need to set up the following configuration:
- Select “German (Germany)” as the Fallback Language (i.e. the locale with Glossary terms already available in Smartling).
- From the Languages menu, select “German (Austria)”, i.e. the project source locale without Glossary terms of its own.
When translating into “German (Austria)”, any terms that are available in your Glossary for “German (Germany)” will now be shown as the suggested translation for Glossary entries in the CAT Tool.
In the below example, no “German (Austria)” term is available:
However, the Fallback Language term for “German (Germany)” is displayed in the CAT Tool, even when translating into “German (Austria)”:
Updating Fallback Glossary Terms in the CAT Tool
If a linguist has the Glossary permissions and wanted to correct a Fallback Glossary term, e.g. adapting the en-US term "color" to the en-GB term "colour", they can do so by following the steps outlined in this article. It is important to note that this action will just update the term in the language pairs that they are working on in the CAT Tool, leaving the Fallback Language terms unchanged, as intended.