Why Arabic Localization Matters?

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Why Arabic Localization Matters

Arabic Localization:

Arabic is the most spoken language in the Middle East and North Africa. It is one of the UN official languages, and also the primary official language in 22 countries in the Middle East, Egypt, Palestine, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Algeria, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Libya, United Arab Emirates, Mauritania, and Yemen. In addition to that, it is one of the official languages in the Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea and other countries. It’s a rich language and is usually ranked among the top six of the world’s major languages. That’s why Arabic localization is important.

Translate to Arabic or Arabics? Different forms but the same language:

  • Classical Arabic (Qur’anic)

The most significant form of them is the Classical Arabic which is the language of the Qur’an. It is the language of Early Islamic Literature, more like the classical/archaic English language that Shakespeare used in his plays, which is no longer spoken as well. Due to such significance in terms of religion and culture, this Arabic language form is primarily learned for reading and reciting Islamic religious texts.

  • Modern Standard Arabic

Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the official language that is commonly used and understood across all Arabic speaking countries. It can be both spoken and written, and there is no difference between its written and the spoken forms.

However, one wouldn’t normally hear Modern Standard Arabic being used in daily conversations. Rather, it is the language of literature and official Arabic documents, news, media, books, magazines, street signs and shop signs, private and business correspondences especially in Arabic. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is also taught at universities around the world because of its standardization and academic Arabic localization use.

  • Colloquial or dialectal  Arabic

As its name suggests, Colloquial Arabic refers to the spoken dialects in countries of the Arab World. Surprisingly, Arabs have various spoken dialects across the region. Some might have similar dialects, while others are mutually incomprehensible. For instance, an Arabic speaker from Iraq can find it impossible to understand a local Algerian, and vice versa. In that case, then, Arabic speakers resort to communicating using Modern Standard Arabic . 

Since it’s the widespread form, it is worthwhile mentioning that it has been a growing trend in some industries such as marketing and game to use colloquial Arabic to give the written content a kind marketing flavor.

Customers always ask this: “Which Arabic should we translate into?” The answer is simple: there is only one form commonly used of written Arabic. Arabic translation is often done using Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), which can be understood by all educated Arabs. There are nevertheless slight differences among regions – in a very limited scale – in terms of terminology, the type of calendar used, numbering formats, naming conventions, etc.

Cultural differentiation

The Muslim-majority region is almost always defined by their Arabic-language religious roots. This can be seen through their adaptation of different habits and lifestyles; for example, the usual working days trend is from Sunday to Thursday, yet they do not work on Friday and Saturday. Moreover, according to their religion and sensitive traditions, you must be cautious especially in graphics and images and sometimes in words, like alcohol and gambling, since such things are forbidden in different levels to them.

“MENA Market”

The Essential Need for Arabic Translation. 

Here are the reasons: With  over 400 million people, the Middle East and North Africa represent a huge potential for global market growth; a lot of companies nowadays are establishing and expanding their products/services to the Arab world especially in software, electronics, automotive, food and beverage, and, of course,  mining and gas industries. Many factors contribute to a revolutionary market expansion in the region:

  • There are over 246 million people just in the Middle East.
  • 147 million of them use the Internet in Arabic.
  • 93 million are active on social media.
  • 54% of Google searches in MENA are now made in Arabic.
  • 70%-80% of web users search in Arabic in Egypt, Saudi Arabia & Gulf region.
  • Internet penetration within the last 2 years has grown on average by 228%.

Desktop Publishing (DTP) in Arabic

Just like the Arabic language is distinguished from English and other Western languages, because of its religious significance and cultural background, it’s also distinguished by being a RTL language; a right to left (RTL) language. For that, there are many challenges in translating into Arabic; the characteristics can raise issues in translation and desktop publishing.

One of these challenges also can be found in the lack of Arabic equivalents for many technologies and business terms. Terminology management is, therefore, a major aspect of translation in Arabic. It seems as a demanding process requiring effort and skill, so it is necessary to choose a localization partner who can provide you with experienced translators and manage your terminology well. translation in Arabic can run smooth with the right people.

Wrapping up & Conclusion

Eyes on MENA; it’s the future ahead. The Arab Market is booming, and international brands have started to take full advantage to uncover the promising business opportunities in the MENA region as a highly potential market for tech and other different industries., One living proof lies within the trend of almost all well-known mobile apps, such as Facebook, twitter, WhatsApp, and even the search engines which started to support the Arabic language due to the huge number of internet users who search in Arabic translation across the MENA region.

Go with the best when it comes to Arabic localization:

Bayan-Tech has strong expertise in translating right to left (RTL) languages such as Arabic, Persian (Farsi), Kurdish, and Hebrew, as well as left to right (LTR) and Latin languages. We skillfully handle the technical pitfalls of bi-directional texts.

With many years of Arabic translation experience embodied in stringent quality assurance steps, cutting-edge technologies, and a wide network of experienced, certified linguists, our teams are proud to offer our unrivaled services, for exceptional work outcomes.

At BayanTech, everyone has got a role to masterfully play; we perfectly integrate the skills of linguists, graphic designers, and engineers under the same roof. The skillful, meticulous localization engineers make sure string wrapping supports various grammar rules, guaranteeing well-extracted strings that preserve the meaning of source strings and allowing translators to produce high-quality translation service. We utilize top-notch technologies to analyze, convert, and check the quality of Arabic localization files. Through applying industry best practices, such as setting text space as auto-fit with the text, we manage to avoid the most common UI problems. And for the convenience of our clients, we support a wide range of file formats, including all multilingual XML, Excel, and CSV files. Got any question? Get in touch!

 

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