Beyond Translation: Language Service Providers Help Global Enterprises Build Strong Foundations

Most people would probably hire a translator or translation company if they want to convert a written document from one language to another.
But what if you want to translate a video? Or a website? Or a piece of software? What if you need more than simply converting one language to another? For example, perhaps the text has to be laid out attractively on a poster or presentation. Maybe the translation will be used as subtitles in a video. Perhaps it'll be read out by a narrator or voice actor. Or possibly the translation would have to be inserted into software or websites. And what would you do if your finished translation also has to be in line with government regulations, or follow company rules related to legal compliance, IT regulations, marketing requirements, research and development, etc.?
You would have to scour the Internet for companies that can provide translation, certification, graphic design, video post-processing, website design etc., and figure out how to coordinate these companies' services with your organization's internal departments. But, in fact, all of this hassle can be avoided if you simply search for a “language service provider."
The core concept of translation is to convert information from one language to another. Generally speaking, the translation industry revolves around written translations and oral interpretation. However, starting from the late 20th century, advances in technology and communication have allowed the global population to come into contact with increasingly rich and diverse information and content. This has led to more complex and specific requirements for communications between companies and across national borders. Many translation companies around the world could see this paradigm shift on the horizon, and consequently sought to improve their services to make them more diverse, detailed, and comprehensive. They wanted to offer better services by handling more of the client's requirements and making life easier for the client.
Since the 1990s, the translation industry has been gradually expanding to become the language services industry, and translation companies have transformed into language service providers (LSPs). LSPs started handling a wide range of services related to interlingual and cross-cultural communications, integrating such work into the translation and interpretation services they provide. This has inexorably changed the translation industry into the language service industry we see today.
So what services do LSPs provide aside from translation and interpretation? What are the advantages of hiring an LSP?

What Language Services Are There?

The above image was taken from a report issued by CSA Research (formerly known as Common Sense Advisory), an independent market research organization for the language services industry worldwide. It shows the language services provided by LSPs as well as the proportion of revenue they account for.

1. Translation accounts for the largest proportion, and is generally the primary service item for most translation companies and language service providers.
2. Interpreting, in which spoken output is converted verbally from one language to another, also accounts for a large percentage. Interpreting can generally be divided into simultaneous interpreting and consecutive interpreting. The image also divides interpreting further based on the mode of communication, such as on-site interpreting, telephone interpreting, conference interpreting, remote interpreting, etc.
3. If translated documents need layouts and images applied afterwards, then services such as desktop publishing or even graphic design will be required.
4. If the source text is a video, then after translating the text, the client may require subtitling, dubbing, or narration/voice-over. Additionally, if the original video does not come with a script (for example a video of a meeting or an interview), then prior to translation it is necessary to write down everything that is said in the video, which calls for the transcription service listed in the image.
5. Companies need to reach international customers through their websites, while software and games developers/publishers want to attract players and users from all over. In contrast to traditional written documents, newer forms of media—such as websites, software, games, and mobile devices—aim to present their translated texts in ways that correspond to the local reading and operating habits of users worldwide. This has led to localization, globalization and internationalization requirements among such organizations.
6. When translating specific types of texts (such as marketing or creative texts), if a direct word-for-word semantic equivalence strategy is used, then it will fail to resonate with audiences of varying cultural backgrounds, and cannot create an equivalent effect to the source text. A transcreation strategy would be more suitable for such texts, in which the translator understands and absorbs the various facets of the source text before creating an equivalent in another language. In addition, sometimes LSPs will provide copywriting services, in which native speakers of the client's target language are hired to write texts from scratch.
7. In response to the requirements of digital marketing, some LSPs have started to provide search engine optimization (SEO) services, in which they translate and research the right keywords for clients to establish themselves in the global market.
8. Finally, as artificial intelligence (AI) language technology continues to advance, machine translation post-editing (MTPE) and machine interpreting services have also started to emerge, in which automated software provides services to greatly speed up project completion speeds and make up for manpower shortages.

In addition to the services listed in the above image, there are also many other services that LSPs can provide, such as the language assets management we discussed in another article, technical writing for clients' technical manuals and user manuals, and cross-language public opinion analysis for different markets.

Why Do Companies Need Language Service Providers?

Individual providers of most of the above-listed services can easily be found with just some rudimentary searching. Some companies or organizations may prefer to hire a translator or translation company to handle the translation itself, while also contacting separate vendors for design, layouts, subtitling, dubbing, marketing, and creating software or websites in different languages. The client plays a coordinating role in this whole process.

If you already have trusted partners for these services, then you may be more comfortable with such a workflow. However, you must keep in mind that each step in the production process can easily affect other vendors. For example, the length of a translation may have to be customized based on the design of a game or website's UI; where translations cut off can affect how subtitles are presented; a graphic designer may choose to use a certain image, not knowing that this image has negative connotations in certain regions. All of these details and interactions need to be taken into account by the coordinator, wasting both time and effort.

This is where LSPs come in. LSPs, their language experts, and their contracted vendors are already familiar with the various requirements of companies' globalization and localization. From the initial translation phase to post-production and delivery, LSPs customize their services based on the client's requirements. In other words, LSPs take care of the minutiae so that clients don't have to. Furthermore, LSPs can provide their insights on languages and cultures when necessary.

A mature and well-established LSP will have a professional translation team capable of analyzing each project early on in the negotiation stage. This allows them to propose a set of customized services and technologies (such as language asset applications, automated connections between translation and development, etc.) that would satisfy the client's needs, thereby accelerating and facilitating the project's implementation.

Linking together the various steps of the project would fall under the purview of project management. The account managers and project managers at elite LSPs can create optimized processes for each individual project. This means the project can be analyzed, coordinated, translated, processed, and delivered in one smooth process. After the client accepts the completed project, they will be able to use it directly without any further work necessary; in other words, LSPs offer a one-stop service that makes life much easier for clients.

Linguitronics is an LSP that can provide comprehensive solutions. Founded in 1993, Linguitronics has always positioned itself as a language service provider, offering complete，based on its elite translation and interpretation capabilities. With A-to-Z™ Solutions, Linguitronics is a trusted partner for many international Fortune 500 companies, and is listed as one of the top 100 language service providers in the world,Linguitronics is a trusted partner for many international Fortune 500 companies, and is listed as one of the top 100 language service providers in the world.

If you're looking for a partner you can trust as your company embarks on the road to globalization, then you are welcome to contact Linguitronics, so that we may provide our expert language services and suggestions.

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