Sixty Students Receive Localization Certification from CSU Chico, GALA, LI

Last week, California State University at Chico hosted its first comprehensive educational workshop in localization. Sixty students received the localization certification offered by CSU and its organizing partners, the Globalization and Localization Association (GALA) and the Localization Institute.

Last week, California State University at Chico hosted its first comprehensive educational workshop in localization. Sixty students received the localization certification offered by CSU and its organizing partners, the Globalization and Localization Association (GALA) and the Localization Institute. Participants included professionals from translation agencies, freelance translators and companies that are new to the challenges of localizing their products.

The program included forty-five hours of online coursework on topics such as global website development, cultural adaptation of user interfaces, software internationalization and multilingual content management for global enterprises.

The online course was followed by a certification exam and a three-day workshop on the CSU Chico campus with modules on strategies and processes for today's industry. Speakers included practitioners from Google, HP and Microsoft, as well as seasoned providers and buyers of localization products and services. Workshop participants also benefited from a substantial number of hours of lab training in major localization tools.

The certifying partners -- GALA and the Localization Institute -- played a key role in shaping the program as well as connecting the academic components to the larger professional community.

Corporate sponsors of the program -- Lionbridge, TIBCO and SDI Media -- provided support for the program as well as scholarships for 4 full-time localization students at CSU Chico to attend. Additional support of the program was provided by MultiLingual Computing and Idiom Inc.

In addition, the program included on-campus recruiting opportunities, which offered newly-trained localization professionals the chance to interview with recruiting industry companies.

"I am extremely pleased with the success of our first professional certification workshop," said Professor Nitish Singh, head of the localization program in the College of Business at CSU Chico. "The spaces were sold out, and we?ve already begun taking reservations for next year's program." The next North American localization workshop will take place in Chico, CA, June 12-14, 2007.

GALA is an international non-profit association that promotes translation services, language technology and language management solutions. The member companies worldwide include translation agencies, localization service providers, globalization consultants, internationalization specialists and technology developers. GALA companies share a commitment to quality, service and innovation in helping clients reach global markets. Visit www.gala-global.org.

Source: press release