TAMARIND LINGUISTS' FORUM, APRIL 2009, 5.30-6.30PM

INVITATION : TAMARIND LINGUISTS' FORUM MEETING 24 APRIL 2009, 5.30-6.30PM Topic: ‘LANGUAGE TRANSLATION IN ICT LOCALIZATION’ Guest speaker: Denis Gikunda, Google Localization Manager for Africa The next Tamarind Linguists' Forum will be held on 24 April 2009 5.30pm-630pm. Venue : Tamarind Translations Office, Victoria Towers Upper Hill, Nairobi. Google’s Localization Manager for Africa Mr. Denis Gikunda has kindly accepted to attend the next TLF meeting as guest speaker, to discuss the month’s topic ‘LANGUAGE TRANSLATION IN ICT LOCALIZATION’. He will be accompanied by Google East Africa Business Lead Mr. Joseph Mucheru whose kind support has made this exciting session possible. Google Kenya has been at the forefront in the area of localization and www.google.co.ke now presents an option to search in Swahili. Mr. Gikunda will provide an overview of Google’s current approaches to localization projects, and how it intends to achieve quality while moving forward. Specifically he will touch on: - What is the role of translation (English>Swahili) in Google localization projects? - IT and language skills in constituting translation teams in Kenya - Quality Assurance Procedures - Translation and advertising on Google This to be be followed by a Q & A open session Tamarind Translations and Localization In Stockholm Tamarind Translations has carried out several localization projects, the largest one is one that is "permanently" ongoing, the end client, is one of the largest software producers there are. We have also worked on the following projects: - Market leading program suite for computer graphics and photo editing - Terminology maintenance and research for a major software company - OCR and scanning software - Software for surveying and geo-positioning It is our hope to replicate these services in Kenya and TLF members should find this session beneficial given the rapid expansion of localization needs across the world. The Google experience will certainly be an eye opener on the status of these projects in Africa. Light refreshments and snacks will be served.