LocTerms

Hi there,

Welcome to LocTerms. My name is Alaina Brandt. I’m the subject matter expert, terminologist and author behind the LocTerms project.

I first became interested in documenting multilingual terminology dealing with localization because of my role as an instructor in the translation and localization management program at the Monterey Institute. A student who was interviewing for jobs in their mother language, which is not the English language of instruction of the program, recounted not being able to talk naturally about their area of subject matter expertise. This challenge inspired me to create the LocTerms project following the recommended practices for terminology work.

My teaching and training have taught me important lessons about building up the ability to communicate about a specialized topic in any language. Language is evolving all of the time, a second language requires ongoing practice to be maintained, and building up a glossary is ongoing work to be completed a few minutes a day and a few days a week at a time.

Throughout my time as an instructor, I’ve written and collected definitions for the key concepts within translation and localization. I’ve written discussions about the nuance to key terminology too. I look forward to gathering this content into a single resource here on the LocTerms website. I look forward to writing more about translation and localization terminology in English and Spanish too.

The way that practitioners conceptualize and communicate about their area of expertise is primarily through the use of specialized terminology. The ability to use the terminology of a field correctly is therefore a sign of subject matter expertise and a pre-requisite for efficient communication, accurate writing, and quality translations.

I hope the LocTerms project in English and Spanish for the United States and Latin America is of interest and use to anyone who happens upon this website and this project.

Cheers,

Alaina Brandt
Subject Matter Expert, Terminologist and Author