Localization, translation memories, CAT tools, instant translation … WHAT???

This is exactly what I was thinking when I started my internship at Wordbee 3 months ago. As a bachelor’s degree candidate of Management & Law I didn’t know anything about the translation & localization industry - nothing at all - and now I realize that I had no idea about what I got myself into when I decided to move to Luxembourg for an International Sales & Marketing Internship at Wordbee.

During my first weeks as an intern I heard so many terms and expressions I had never heard before that I was seriously worried I would never understand what this company is actually doing. It may all seem logical and simple to people who know this line of business but personally, I was totally lost.

At the same time, I was super excited about it because I knew it was a great opportunity for me to expand my knowledge and so I decided that I wanted to learn as much as possible about it – and I did! In the following weeks, I got to know how useful instant translations are, how much time and money can be saved when using translation memories, how localization has nothing to do with locating a person’s or company’s whereabouts and that CAT tools are like a painter’s brush and easel for translation professionals. Thanks to my colleagues who taught me very patiently I now understand the basics of the industry and I have come to realize that the technology Wordbee offers can be of huge value to every international company, translation agency and anyone that has to deal with translation and localization tasks.

There is one thing I find pretty ironic and here it comes. I have always been interested in languages and have also started learning a couple, I just haven’t yet managed to learn them properly. However, becoming a translator crossed my mind when I was younger but apparently, I have never thought about how translators do their job. With the knowledge I have today, I almost laugh at myself for thinking they would still use two documents and just translate from one to the other – as if they were stuck in ancient times, not making use of the great technology that exists today. Ridiculous, right?

Somehow, I still believe that I am not the only one who lacks that kind of information which is why I just want to go out there and tell every single person how great translation technology is. It’s no secret that cost and time overruns on internationalization projects are commonplace in many industries, so how comes some still haven’t implemented TMS (Translation Management Software) solutions?

Being at the end of my internship now, I can truly say that I grew to be passionate about translation technologies and all the great things you can do with it. I suggest you simply check it out and see for yourself. Just follow this link to sign up for a free trial. And don’t forget – it might be overwhelming at the beginning but there is nothing you can’t learn!