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Offer HN: We'll translate your iOS application to Japanese for free

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Offer HN: We'll translate your iOS application to Japanese for free

#1
Here's the offer:

My partner — a native Japanese speaker and actively working translator — and I want to translate a handful of iOS applications from English into Japanese for free.

Why?

Well, we're hoping to snag a few testimonials, smooth out any snags in the process (although my partner has translated multiple apps already), and also be able to say on our website, "These are some of the apps we've translated..."

Here's the catch:

* We're a two-person team, so we can't handle a lot of volume. (The exact amount will depend on the complexity of the apps that people send us.)

* There's no hard limits on the amount of words we'll translate, but we probably won't accept apps that have thousands upon thousands of words (like games with a lot of dialogue).

But for those who we do accept, the translation will be done with a lot of care (which is important, since Japanese is a highly contextual language) and, since Japan has one of the fastest growing App Stores, we're hoping you'll also see an uptick in sales.

To take us up on this offer, send an email to hello@davidturnbull.com. We'll get back to you within 24 hours if you're selected.

Regards,

David Turnbull, iostranslate.com

Re: Offer HN: We'll translate your iOS application to Japanese for free

#4
post #3

Why only iOS? If you and the developers use a tool like GetLocalization.com you can support many platforms easily.

Because we feel like we can offer better service by specialising, since we can test the apps ourselves, etc. We want to give every app a considerable amount of attention so the final result isn't just a translation that "makes sense," but that will be truly appreciated by users in Japan.

Re: Offer HN: We'll translate your iOS application to Japanese for free

#5
Would you be willing to translate an open-source web-app / chrome extension? I've currently autotranslated the stuff through google translate but I can imagine that's hilariously wrong:

https://github.com/SchizoDuckie/DuckieTV/blob/angular/_local...

Even if you won't : kudo's for posting this offer to hn!

Re: Offer HN: We'll translate your iOS application to Japanese for free

#6
post #3

Why only iOS? If you and the developers use a tool like GetLocalization.com you can support many platforms easily.

Because we feel like we can offer better service by specialising, since we can test the apps ourselves, etc. We want to give every app a considerable amount of attention so the final result isn't just a translation that "makes sense," but that will be truly appreciated by users in Japan.

That's a fair point; though I am not sure what limits you from testing on other platforms. Even if you don't have real hardware for them, most of them have cross-platform emulators.

Re: Offer HN: We'll translate your iOS application to Japanese for free

#7

Note: We were having trouble with the original email in this post so I've switched it over to my personal email. If anyone's sent a message already, please resend. Thanks. :)

I can't locate your personal email in this post. Am I missing something? Or you edited the original post and the email in it is the personal email?

Re: Offer HN: We'll translate your iOS application to Japanese for free

#8
post #7

Note: We were having trouble with the original email in this post so I've switched it over to my personal email. If anyone's sent a message already, please resend. Thanks. :)

I can't locate your personal email in this post. Am I missing something? Or you edited the original post and the email in it is the personal email?

Sorry for not being clearer. I edited the original post, so use that email. :)

Re: Offer HN: We'll translate your iOS application to Japanese for free

#9
post #3

Why only iOS? If you and the developers use a tool like GetLocalization.com you can support many platforms easily.

Because we feel like we can offer better service by specialising, since we can test the apps ourselves, etc. We want to give every app a considerable amount of attention so the final result isn't just a translation that "makes sense," but that will be truly appreciated by users in Japan.

That still doesn't explain, for instance, cutting out translating web applications or PC/Mac software.

Re: Offer HN: We'll translate your iOS application to Japanese for free

#10
post #3

Why only iOS? If you and the developers use a tool like GetLocalization.com you can support many platforms easily.

Because we feel like we can offer better service by specialising, since we can test the apps ourselves, etc. We want to give every app a considerable amount of attention so the final result isn't just a translation that "makes sense," but that will be truly appreciated by users in Japan.

You should be specializing in translation, regardless of the format you work for. And I'm pretty sure you can find a cheap Android phone around to test if things work right.
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