Cross-locale adaptation is a process that copies translations from a primary locale to a secondary locale, allowing you to then adapt those translations to capture any regional differences and nuances.
This article covers:
Prefer watching to reading? Check out our video tutorial on Cross-Locale Adaptation.
Locales
In Smartling, languages are displayed with the language name, the specific country or region (locale), and an alphabetic identifier (locale ID). Locales help us distinguish between different regional nuances and variations of the same language.
For example, French is understood in both France and Canada, but there are some subtle differences in vocabulary and spelling between these two countries. This is why we distinguish between two separate locales: French (France) [fr-FR] and French (Canada) [fr-CA].
To get the best translation quality and to ensure that your translated content sounds native to your local audience, we would recommend being as precise as possible with the selection of your locales.
Primary & Secondary Locales
Content can be translated into two or more locales that belong to the same family of languages. For example, your content can be translated into both French (France) and French (Canada). There is often a hierarchy between these different locales that belong to the same family of languages.
One is typically considered to be the "primary locale" (sometimes also referred to as "parent locale"), which means that the content is usually translated into this locale first. Other variations of the same language were derived from the primary locale at a later stage.
In our example, French (France) is considered the primary (or parent) locale, as it originated first.
French (Canada), on the other hand, is considered a "secondary locale" (also referred to as "child locale") in this example, as it derived from French (France).
While there are some slight differences between the primary and secondary locales, most of the translations are usually very similar. With many locale pairs, only a few small tweaks are needed to adapt the translations from the primary locale to the secondary locale.
Translating with Cross-Locale Adaptation
Smartling allows you to translate your content into the primary locale and then automatically apply these translations to the secondary locale, saving you from having to pay for the Translation step twice (you just have to pay for the edit, of course). The translations can then be edited and adapted by a linguist of the secondary locale, to ensure that all regional differences and nuances are taken into consideration.
How to set up Cross-Locale Adaptation
- Add both locales to your Project
- Create an Adaptation Workflow for the secondary locale
- Make the Adaptation Workflow the default workflow for the secondary locale
- Enable cross-locale leverage in your Linguistic Package
- Enable SmartMatch
- Add glossary terms for the secondary locale (optional)
STEP ONE: Add the locales to your Project
Add both the primary locale and the secondary locale to your Project.
This can be done from the Languages tab under your Project Settings.
For steps on how to add a language to your Project, read Checklist to Translating in a New Language.
STEP TWO: Create an Adaptation Workflow for the secondary locale
It is recommended that cross-locale adaptation happens on a dedicated adaptation workflow, that contains a Translation step and Edit step.
Follow these steps to learn how to create a translation workflow. The target language should be the secondary locale.
Translation Step
Once you have created the workflow, you will find it in your workflow list. For now, it only includes a Translation step. Although the translation provider is set to human, no Agency or users are assigned to this Translation step. It is an automatic step, with no human input or configuration required.
Think of it as the "cross-locale" part of cross-locale adaptation. In this Translation step, translations from the primary locale are leveraged from the Translation Memory and applied automatically to the secondary locale, using SmartMatch.
To reiterate, no human translators are assigned to this step, and this should be clear in your naming convention. It is recommended that you name this step something explicit, e.g. "Cross-locale SmartMatch".
Edit Step
The "adaptation" part of cross-locale adaptation happens in the Edit step of the dedicated workflow. If you are using Smartling Language Services, this step type should be Review.
Follow these steps to add an edit step to the adaptation workflow. The step name should be explicit on what it is used for, e.g. "Adaptation".
Unlike the Translation step, this Edit step requires human input. Ensure you follow the steps to Assign Linguists to a Workflow Step.
STEP THREE: Change the default workflow for the secondary locale
In the Languages tab, this new adaptation workflow can now be set up as the default workflow for the secondary locale. The default workflow for your primary locale should be your regular translation workflow, using your preferred translation vendor.
Follow these steps to learn how to Change a Default Workflow for a Language.
STEP FOUR: Enable cross-locale leverage in your Linguistic Package
The Linguistic Package used by your Project is where you can enable cross-locale leverage, so translations from the primary locale can be reused for secondary locale.
Follow these steps to learn how to Enable Cross-Locale Leverage.
STEP FIVE: Enable SmartMatch
To fully automate the process of copying over the translations from the primary locale to the secondary locale, you also need to enable SmartMatch.
On the cross-locale leverage source, under SmartMatch, click Disabled to open your SmartMatch settings
Under Text with variant, select the First Edit Step, so that translations for the primary locale are automatically sent to the edit step for the secondary locale, where they can be tweaked and adapted to the local markets. If you are using Smartling Language Services, this step type should be First Review Step.
STEP SIX: Add glossary terms for the secondary locale (optional)
Don't forget to add your new locale to your Glossary and add any entries or individual terms that you always want to be adapted in a particular way.
STEP SEVEN: Create a Job
The final step in translating content using cross-locale adaptation is to create a Job with the primary and secondary locales.
Please note that the information in this article is only applicable if the same content gets translated into the primary and secondary locales. If some new content needs to be translated into the secondary locale only (but not into the primary locale), simply create a Job to translate content into just the secondary locale, and ensure to choose an appropriate alternative workflow for this Job (as the adaptation workflow will not work for this scenario).
Prefer watching to reading? Check out our video tutorial on Cross-Locale Adaptation.