Striving for success and independency calls for determination, expert knowledge and flexibility of the character. On the other hand, success does not only depend on the level of entrepreneurship, but also on how wide the covered audience is. It is impossible to imagine the modern world without a number of companies and products from various countries, which have held strong positions in the global market. Their prosperity, however, would be impossible without translation. That is why it is also very important for software developers to hear about news in the field of multilingual localization.
One of such news is covered in the article titled "Origins and Functionalities of Microsoft MAT Tool" in the Multilingual Computing and Technology Magazine (www.multilingual.com), July-August 2016 issue. It is an interview of Serge Gladkoff with Jan Nelson - the main thought leader and developer of the evolutionary product for multilingual localization, senior program manager at Microsoft (Seattle).
MAT 4.0 (Multilingual App Toolkit 4.0) is a special extension for Visual Studio. Jan is one of the two visionaries of this project. The authors insisted that this simple and fine tool for software translation into foreign languages must be absolutely free. Thereby they strove to achieve their main goal - easiness of access to the global market for all software developers, including small teams and individual enthusiasts. However, MAT 4.0 found popularity also among the major companies as a result of its effectiveness. It is worth noting that the extension is not only the door into the multilingual world, but also the medium of exchange of best practices for developers.
Serge Gladkoff and Jan Nelson have known each other since working on the ITS 2.0 project, which was sponsored by the European Commission as part of W3C work group. During the interview, they discuss various aspects of architecture and application of MAT 4.0.
In conclusion, Jan Nelson says that, despite the fact that the product is valuable for companies of various sizes, services of professional translators still remain highly sought after. The need for high skilled specialists is inevitable for multilingual translation, because using machine translation is dangerous, and even the most talented programmer would not speak more than three languages. Besides, the demand of the market to high-quality products dictates resorting to a professional agency.
MultiLingual Computing and Technology (www.multilingual.com) is a magazine for translation industry and international business with the audience of thousands in 92 countries.
Serge Gladkoff - CEO of Logrus Global
Jan Nelson - Senior Program Developer at Microsoft Corporation (Seattle), co-author of MAT 4.0