General Prerequisites
Students, teachers and trainers should all be familiar with principles and methods of terminology, terminology management, translation memory and project management. They should make sure that they know the contents of all eCoLoTrain ICT Skills, terminology, translation memories and project management courses – with the exception of courses on project management tools.
General Software Localisation courses should be prerequisite for both courses on Software Localisation tools and courses on LSP translation with integration of software localisation.
Technical Prerequisites
Software localisation courses, where students learn the principles of software localisation and may work with L10N tools should ideally be held in a room equipped with enough computers – if possible, one for every student. An Internet connection, a software localisation tool as well as word processing software should be available.
Learning Objectives
The main objectives of a software L10N course are to learn:
- Basic concepts in localisation: internationalisation, globalisation, glocalisation
- Importance of software L10N
- Components, people and processes involved
- Essential aspects for localisation:
- Software-related aspects
- Language-related aspects
- Culture-related aspects
- File formats:
- Different types
- Main features
- Relevant features for their localisation
Course Preparation Issues
- Software localisation courses must be planned for one or two semesters. Courses should be held regularly – e.g. two hours per week. This would depend on the time dedicated to them in the relevant study courses – since they are very specialized courses in translators training they should be restricted to MA study courses.
- Depending on the course objectives and students' level, teachers or trainers can point out which parts of eCoLoTrain courses are relevant for teaching theoretical issues, such as basic concepts and principles in software localisation, essential aspects, etc.
- Teachers can also use eCoLoTrain online materials to prepare for their face-to-face lectures.
- When working with a specific L10N tool to practise some of the theoretical principles, teachers or trainers can also use or refer to our eCoLoTrain L10N exercises, which contain different activities, such as localising a software application by using *.exe files and the L10N tool PASSOLO, and localising a webpage using *.htm files and also PASSOLO.
- Teachers and trainers should bear in mind that besides preparing and organising course contents, they must also consider technical issues when working with L10N tools. For example, defining user rights and user IDs for the use of L10N tools by students – this is, however, usually done by system administrators or tools specialists
- If raw materials are not available, eCoLoRe training kits can be used.
- Teachers may also need to provide students with style standards for localisation of software (see eCoLoTrain Software Localisation Course V).