La localizzazione di applicazioni per dispositivi mobili: il caso di un'app di fotoritocco

This dissertation is aimed at presenting and discussing the localization project from English into Italian of a photo-editing app. The project comprises a revision phase of some previously translated strings and a translation phase of all the remaining textual contents. The work can be divided into two major parts, each consisting of two chapters: the first part provides a theoretical framework, while the second presents the practical work. The first chapter examines the concept of localization and begins with the definition of locale. It also includes a brief historical overview of the development and expansion of the phenomenon, the analysis of the GILT model, the different levels of localization and the professional figures involved in the process. Furthermore, the different types of localization are presented, focusing in particular, on the characteristics and issues related to software localization and mobile app localization. The second chapter deals with localization technologies and the debated role they play within this sector. Firstly, there is an introduction to CAT tools and the concepts of translation memory and termbase, which are key elements of this localization project. Afterward, it analyses two other very common practices in mobile apps localization, namely machine translation and crowdsourcing. The third chapter is dedicated to the presentation of the company and the translation assignment, followed by a section that focuses on the analysis of the application and the source texts, according to the different text types and the looping model conceived by Nord. The fourth and final chapter focuses on the translation tools and terminological resources used during the localization of the app by outlining the creation process of the bilingual glossary and the project in SLD Trados Studio. Furthermore, this final chapter provides an overview of the main translation issues encountered in both the revision and the translation phases.