Airbnb doubles (yes, doubles) its linguistic reach
As I’ve documented in many editions of the Web Globalization Report Card, companies tend to add languages in fits and starts. The overall average is about one additional language per …
Translation
1,000 languages: The world’s most multilingual website
The Jehovah’s Witnesses announced today that its website reached 1,000 languages, an impressive achievement. The release notes: On November 4, 2019, jw.org, the official website of Jehovah’s Witnesses, reached an unprecedented …
WordPress Translation Day recap
Looks like the most recent WordPress Translation Day was a linguistic success. Here are the details from WP Tavern: Events in 35 countries (see map below) 183 new contributors 12 …
What’s the world’s most multilingual website? (2019 update)
Last year, I wrote an essay for Multilingual in which I noted that the world’s most multilingual website isn’t Google or Facebook or even Wikipedia. It is the website of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. As I noted in …
WordPress Translation Day is coming
Did you know that (US) English accounts for fewer than half of all WordPress interfaces currently in use? As you can see below, courtesy of WordPress, English still technically accounts …
World Book Tekom: Speaking in Tongues
I’m pleased to have an essay in the latest Tekom World Book: Speaking in Tongues: What Languages Should Your Website Support? Link
Google and Wikipedia: Partners in (multilingual) content
In 2008, Google launched a project called Knol. Remember it? It was designed to replace Wikipedia. Google apparently wasn’t happy that so many of its visitors were quickly abandoning it …
Think you can succeed in India supporting English only? Think again.
#serveinmylanguage It’s more than a hashtag; it’s a social movement. And it’s growing. A movement among Indian consumers to force the vendors who depend on their business to actually support …
Think Outside the Country (now available in Japanese)
I received my copies of the Japanese edition of Think Outside the Country and am very impressed. The book, like the English edition, is in full color and uses high quality paper. …
Think Outside the Country
I’m pleased to announce the publication of my newest book: Think Outside the Country: A Guide to Going Global and Succeeding in the Translation Economy. This book is the result …
Chinese marathoners suffer from lack of translation
According to People’s Daily, a number of runners in a South China marathon suffered from more than simply lack of hydration. Try lack of translation. The bar of soap shown above was …
In search of a better translation icon
A few years ago I wrote about the translation icon and its many variations at that point in time. I thought now would be a good time to revisit this icon. Let’s …
Measuring translation quality: A Q&A with TAUS founder Jaap van der Meer
Every translation vendor offers the highest-quality translations. Or so they say. But how do you know for sure that one translation is better than another translation? And, for that matter, …
Transcreation is here to stay
In 2005, I wrote transcreation is gaining momentum. I predicted that we’d see a lot more use of this word in the years ahead. Why? Because “translation sounds like a …
Looking for a translation icon?
If you haven’t visited the Noun Project yet, take a moment and drop by. It’s a great initiative to provide open source icons. All you have to do is provide …