Cultural focus in multimedia localization for Russia, Ukraine and other CIS countries

1. Cultural focus in multimedia localization for Russia, Ukraine and other CIS countries Anatoly Murzintsev, Head of Multimedia Dept., Janus WWI

2. Definition Multimedia localization — a mixture of text, sound and picture.

3. Definition multimedia ≠usual translation

4. Case study had great importance for the client completed on time with no mistakes whatsoever Translation Multimedia Localization

5. Translation project Translation project for the large transnational corporation.

6. Localization project Localization project of the training course for the same client.

7. Russian multimedia localization

8. Russian – dubbing vs. subtitles Voice-over or dubbing of the foreign language source. Subtitles are used in much less extent.

9. Russian – dubbing vs. subtitles: example In 2004, the game The Sufferingwas released in Russia in two versions.

10. Russian – pay attention to quality Quality of translation is very sensitive issue BUT Game publishers tendto lower the costs

11. Russian – pay attention to quality: examples The award winning MMORPG “World of Warcraft” “Lord of the Rings Online”

12. Russian – language issues Language itself and the accent are important.

13. Russian – language issues: example In 2007-2008 about 80% of Russian game localizations were performed in Ukraine

14. Russian – experience Last, but not least is the professional level of the voice talent.

15. Ukrainian multimedia localization

16. Ukrainian – language issues Same as for Russian, if the person claims s/he speaks Ukrainian, it isn’t always the truth.

17. Ukrainian – language issues: example Latest “Terminator 4” movie. «моторні хлопці»

18. Ukrainian – language issues Going further old-fashioned Ukrainian, which is not used in usual life, is also widely used in dubbing project.

19. Ukrainian – language issues: exceptions TV-series «Friends» have been perfectly dubbed and most of the Ukrainians consider it as one of the best dubbing works of the recent time.

20. Ukrainian – language issues: exceptions Disney’s «Cars» is also an example of a good localization.

21. Ukrainian –general rule Before making the choice for one voice talent or another you have to make sure voice talents speak modern Ukrainian, which is used by ordinary people.

22. Ukrainian – dubbing or subtitles? Opposite to Russia, subtitles are widely used in Ukraine. The fact is that almost every Russian TV-show or TV-series as well as movies are subtitled in Ukrainian.

23. Ukrainian – quality Quality is also an issue when localizing into Ukrainian. As of 2010 most of the Russian TV-series are being translated by machine translation engines.

24. Other CIS languages – Azerbaijani The most important thing when dealing with Azeri is to understand that people in this former Soviet republic do speak Russian.

25. Other CIS languages – Kazakh Kazakhstan has its own particularities – even if the movie has some other source languages, it has to be dubbed in Kazakh with Russian subtitles or vice versa. Almost all of the Turkish and Korean movies broadcasted in Kazakhstan are dubbed in Kazakh with Russian subtitles.

26. Other CIS languages – Georgian and Kirghiz As for the Georgia and Kirgizstan – dubbing is used for everything, including Russian movies. Subtitles are not widely spread. For Kirgiz, however , there is one important remark – Kirgiz voice-over and dubbing are performed by Kirgiz, living outside Kirgizstan, for instance in nearby China.

27. Conclusion Each state -> its own distinguished features and particularities Н A special attitude towards their native languages. Important!Every person prefer to listen to his/her own languages

28. Thank you for your time!