Welcome to the ultimate guide to Localazy Human translation services! After reading this article, you should be able to:
- tell the difference between one-time and continuous translation services
- know the benefits of using Localazy Human translation services
- understand what each Localazy service does and what results to expect
- get answers to most of the questions you might have about the services
- place your first order with Localazy 😊
⚖️ One-time or continuous translation? 🔗
What is the difference between one-time and continuous translation services? You might already have experience with the one-time model. It usually entails extracting the content you need to get translated into some human-friendly format, contacting the translation agency of your choice, 📤 sending them the files, getting a quote, confirming the order, and then waiting for the result. ⏱️
There might also be several rounds of corrections until you get the result, which you then have to implement into your product - sometimes copy-pasting strings, making sure everything is translated, and so on... 🙄
This approach works great for documents and articles you don't expect to change often. But, for software UX copy, marketing materials, and website content, a continuous translation model will save you a lot of time and nerves.
Modern translation management systems (TMS), such as Localazy, enable software makers, marketers, and content creators to integrate their translations with the tool where translations actually happen and unlock the continuous mode of service. At Localazy, the process is simplified into three steps: integrate your project (or upload your strings in one of the supported formats), provide the context, order the services, and watch as the translators do their work. 😎
Then, if at any point, any changes happen, e.g., you add more texts, change already translated texts, or decide to add a new language, everything happens automatically. 🔄 And the best thing is that translations are available immediately and without you lifting a finger when your project is integrated - more on that in the next section.
👍 Benefits of continuous services by Localazy 🔗
You can already see why continuous translations are the best choice for software copy and digital marketing content. Several other benefits are waiting for you when you decide to go with Localazy and order our Human translation services.
Set up only once 🔗
As said earlier, once you integrate your project, you don't have to bother developers with updates again. All translations in Localazy can be delivered to your project with a simple command or an automated trigger. You can automate the synchronization of source texts with Localazy and the delivery of translations with our advanced CLI, API, or CDN - just ask your developer or contact us!
No file hand-offs and e-mails 🔗
Collaboration is enabled directly inside the Localazy platform. Forget about long and chaotic email threads and multiple file versions.
Flexible and transparent pricing 🔗
You immediately see the price per word for each language-service combination on the order screen. You also don't have to wait for quotes because Localazy calculates the total estimate before you place your order. If your budget is tight, you can choose a more affordable option for less important languages. More on that later.
Translations are available immediately 🔗
The Localazy platform is ready for agile management of translation work. Once our translators start working on your project, the translations they save are available immediately. This means you can review them instantly and deploy them faster - effectively cutting time-to-market.
Pro-active approach to changes 🔗
Another considerable benefit of the continuous translation mode is that, once your project is fully translated, Localazy will monitor it for newly added text or changes to source strings that require new translations. Our translators are then notified to translate the new content as soon as possible.
Context is king 🔗
The context for translation is readily available inside the platform - translators can reference the style guide, see relevant glossary terms highlighted in the source text, browse relevant screenshots, ask for clarification in comments, and check for any translation notes by the project owners. We highly recommend you prepare a rich context base before ordering translation services. More on that later.
Less error-prone process 🔗
Tag and placeholder highlighting, along with other preventive measures, also help translators produce accurate translations for your project.
💼 Understanding the services Localazy offers 🔗
There are currently four services available to choose from. Only two of them actually produce new translations, and those are Professional human translation and Human-assisted machine translation. The third one is called Professional human review, which serves as a QA measure after professional translations or for reviewing AI-translated strings (Often also called machine translation post-editing or MTPE). Below is a brief description of each service and what results to expect.
Professional human translation 🔗
The most popular service we offer is the Professional human translation. After ordering this service, professional human translators selected by Localazy will translate your project into the chosen languages while following the provided context cues and assistive technologies. You can get your whole project translated by professional translators.
Before you order:
To ensure the best possible quality, we highly recommend preparing a project glossary, adding translation notes and context screenshots, and composing a style guide.
Results:
- Translations made by professional translators are automatically approved and ready to be used in your project as soon as they are produced.
- The translator utilizes uploaded screenshots, provided translation notes, style guides, comments, and other context and assistive technologies offered by Localazy to provide the best translation possible.
- Placeholders or tags are included and not translated; there is a correct number of new lines, trailing spaces, etc., and the translator does their best to preserve maximum translation length. Still, if it’s impossible to achieve, the translator will rather skip the translation, and we will contact you to avoid breaking your project.
What not to expect:
- Transcreation of source strings to adapt the translation to the symbolic meaning of the source text based on the ambiguity of words/phrases, slang, puns, etc.
- One-on-one interaction with translators to discuss the project beforehand, as the service is highly automated.
- Translators won't diligently research if the translation is perfectly fitting for the domain - industry-specific texts etc., are translated on a best-effort basis and provided style guide instructions.
- We are not a marketplace for a random pool of people competing to translate your strings. We collaborate with vetted professionals and strive to keep translators on their projects long term, so you can benefit from their growing knowledge of your project as they produce translations for you.
Example use cases:
- Excellent choice for any consumer-facing app or project intended for the general public.
- Great for specialized applications and games. However, we recommend that you first prepare a solid context base and glossary for translators.
Note: In case of legal, medical, science and manufacturing applications or highly specialized niche-targeted products, please contact us before ordering professional translations to discuss your requirements.
Professional human review (MTPE) 🔗
Even though humans are the best translators, more and more businesses are looking for a mix of AI speed and careful human review to ensure quality. This service is intended exactly for that use case, but it can also be used as a proofreading step after professional translation if both are active at the same time.
So, if you want to be 99% sure that your translations are correct, we recommend you tick this service after translating your content with Localazy AI.
Before you order:
Prepare your style guide and glossary. Generate translations for your target language using Localazy AI. This service will process only strings waiting for review.
Results:
- Translations should be completely free of mistakes and linguistically accurate. Please remember that the final localization testing should always be made by people involved in the project who know every nuance.
- The same principles that apply to Professional Translations also apply here.
What not to expect:
- We won't review crowd-sourced translations or translations produced by Google Translate or DeepL without any context.
- We only accept AI translations produced by Localazy AI that apply the style guide. The translators need to work with a solid first draft to ensure the high quality of their work.
Example use cases:
- Review of Localazy AI translations.
- You already have translations from other professionals (which may be outside Localazy, e.g., after migrating from a competitor) and want to have them proofread to ensure quality.
- If you have a new project and want human quality from the get-go, activate the service alongside the Professional human translations service.
Human-assisted machine translation 🔗
Often shortened to "HAMT," the Human-assisted machine translation by Localazy is the best of both worlds when it comes to translation. This service is more affordable than Professional human translation, but the human touch ensures your project won't break when the machine misinterprets something.
Before you order:
There is no special requirement to prepare your project for this service, but remember that the translation results still come mainly from machine output and may be inaccurate. The human is not necessarily a professional native speaker of the target language and is there to spot obvious errors and correct them, not to ensure the meaning isn't accidentally lost.
Results:
- The best translation out of several provided by different machine translation engines (Localazy AI, Amazon, Google, DeepL) is selected by a human.
- Placeholders or tags are included and not translated, the maximum translation length is preserved, and there is correct letter casing, punctuation, etc.
- Translations made by Human-assisted machine translation are automatically approved and ready for use in your project. With enough credits, you can have your project fully translated. We advise you to follow up with thorough localization testing to correct any potential errors that our humans may not have caught.
What not to expect:
- Ensuring and researching if the meaning of the translation exactly matches the source meaning.
- Spellchecking and correcting grammar mistakes might not be 100%. Only obvious errors are corrected.
- The same level of quality as with professional translation by a native speaker is not guaranteed.
Example use cases:
- Perfect for testing a new market when budgets are tight, but you don't have the time to go through machine translation results in-house.
- Great for languages that are not a priority now, but you need to have the language version ready and functional.
📝 Placing your first order 🔗
So now you know which service (or combination of services) will best suit your project. It's time to order the translations! Sign up and integrate your project or simply upload the files with your source texts via the web interface.
There are multiple ways of integrating your project. You can learn more in the docs article: Importing content for localization
Open your project in Localazy and click on the "Services -> Human translation services" button in the left submenu.
Select languages 🔗
Then you select languages from the dropdown list (you can pick multiple at once) and check the icons next to each language name to see which services are available.
Generally, we expect your source language is English but don't hesitate to contact us if you can't find a match for your language pair!
Choose services 🔗
For each language, you can select the service(s) to activate by clicking on the switcher. You also see the price per word and a cost estimate for completing the translation of all remaining strings.
In the picture below, you can see that we are about to order Human-assisted machine translation for German and Professional translations into Brazilian Portuguese. The total estimate is 412.25 credits, and we have a 97.13 credit balance, which won't cover the cost.
Add credits to your account 🔗
Now that you know the total estimate for everything, click the "Increase" button in the top-right corner to top up your credits. One credit = one US dollar, so it's easy to track the costs.
Confirm your order 🔗
Now that you have enough credits and everything is set up, click the "Place Order" button to send the order our way.
What happens now? Usually, our "Localady" Zuzana (or Zuzka), who is in charge of the translation services team, will contact you if anything needs clarification. Then she'll confirm your order with you.
And that's it! Your translations should be done in one or two weeks, depending on the capacity and volume. You can watch the progress in Localazy and focus on other business you need to attend to.
🤔 Frequently Asked Questions 🔗
If you have any questions about the process, reach out and ask us anytime. Below is a list of frequently asked questions we received from our customers.
What if I have special requirements? 🔗
If you have special requirements regarding professional translation, contact us and tell us about your situation. It might seem that the high automation we preach doesn't allow for any personalization or modification, but we are committed to finding a solution for almost any use case.
How do you select translators for my project? 🔗
We collaborate with vetted language service providers and professional freelance translators. We prefer long-term relations and carefully maintain a list of selected partners. Once the translator is assigned to your project, they will likely work on it repeatedly, since they already know the project and its context. In the case of review after professional translation, another set of eyes will be a different translator from the one who conducted the first round of translations.
Why did the price change since the last time I checked? 🔗
The order screen displays the estimates for the current state of translations. The total estimate can be significantly lower if our translators have already done some work. However, if you add or change the text, which increases the total number of words, the price may increase before the work is finished.
We might also run promotional discount periods for certain languages. Maybe the last time you checked, such a discount was applied to the language.
I am a translator and would like to join the team. How to do it? 🔗
Please send your CV to zuzana@localazy.com along with a few words about yourself. Ideally, you should have prior experience with Localazy and software/app translation.
What is the difference between the available services? 🔗
I hope we explained that in the paragraphs above. If you still have questions about the details of each service, please read the terms of service or contact us with your question.
How can I help translators and ensure the best quality? 🔗
To ensure the best possible quality, we highly recommend preparing a project glossary, adding translation notes and context screenshots, and composing a style guide. Doing this before ordering translations will set you up for success and give translators all the information they need.
How fast can the humans finish my translations? 🔗
The usual period is one to two weeks. This depends on the volume of your project and our capacity. Also, remember that the service does not deliver translations instantly, as humans provide the service. Therefore, it takes some time for the translations and reviews to be conducted. But as soon as the translators start working on your project, their translations will appear in Localazy continuously.
How to check the status? 🔗
You can check in the Translations tab or on the order screen. If you have concerns or questions, please get in touch with us.
✔️ Conclusion 🔗
I hope this article helps clear up any confusion you might've had about Localazy's Human translation services.
Remember to prepare a sound context library for the translators before you order to ensure that nothing gets lost in the process. Do you already have experience with our translation services, or do you have any questions or thoughts? Let us know in the comments!
