I began working with the Monterey chapter of the JACL (Japanese American Citizens League) in the spring. There were two goals at the outset of the project: localize all existing content on the website and create a framework for continous localization as the organization continued to add to the site. I am very pleased to say that both of those goals have since been achieved.
Translation
After recruiting a translation team, the actual translation work began. We used Crowdin as the TMS for this project. None of us had prior experience working with Crowdin, so it was my responsibility as project manager to educate myself on the platform to assist the team members. As part of this, I created documentation and guides wherever possible. Not only were these guides helpful for a smooth translation process, but they are also an investment on my promise to the JACL to ensure that this project can continue even after I graduate.
I also implemented an issue tracker so translators could report issues they encountered to me. Some of these issues were questions about using the platform, some were linguistic questions, and some were questions that needed to be directed to the client. I managed technical queries and communication with the client, and opened linguistic questions up to the rest of the team for consultation. I was also lucky to have a professional translator and native Japanese speaker volunteering her time to perform LQA who we could also consult with about translation issues like register and formality.
Team Acknowledgements
Completing this project would have been impossible without the translation volunteering their time and energy to make it happen. I am deeply grateful to them all.
QA Specialist:
Ann (Ayumi) Neville
Translators:
Dustin Liaw
Emma Mechling
C.C. Philips
Kyle Johnson
Sarah Blackwell
Hannah Epstein
Client Feedback
After incorporating all the translated strings into the website and installing a language switcher, the JACL board was able to review our work on the newly localized website. They were extremely pleased with the results, and looked forward to sharing the website with colleagues in Japan now that the resources were more readily available.
Larry Oda, Board President for the National JACL and board member for JACL Monterey gave this feedback on our work:
Ms. Linka Wade and her team of MIIS Translation students made a tremendous contribution to our website by translating it into Japanese and allowing our cohort in Japan to easily access our research. Linka was a pleasure to work with and we are very appreciative for the collaborations we can now build upon, We thank MIIS and Globe multilingual Services for helping us reach other interested folks in Japan and look forward to continuing cooperation going forward
Larry Oda, National JAcl board president
Onwards!
After meeting with the board to review the localization of the website, it was agreed that my team would begin localization of the website for the documentary produced by JACL Monterey. The documentary site was created on Webflow, a CMS I have never worked on before, so I am excited for the challenge of learning how to integrate localization with it. Several first-year students also joined the translation team this fall. I will work to cultivate their interest and passion for the project so that they can take over management once I graduate and continue to build the relationship beteween the JACL and MIIS. I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished, and am thrilled to have been able to contribute to such an important organization.
