Meet our keynote speaker at #LocWorld30, Rochelle Kopp, Founder and Managing Principal of Japan Intercultural Consulting
Rochelle, how does it feel to speak for the localization industry?
Over the years I’ve had the chance to meet quite a few people involved in the localization industry, and it has always been fascinating talking with them. I have a profound interest in languages and it’s great interacting with people who have made that the focus of their work.
How would you introduce yourself to our audience?
I’m a specialist in cross-cultural communication, working with companies in Japan who are interested in doing business globally and companies wanting to expand into the Japanese market.
Is Japan an opportunity market for the localization industry?
Oh yes, there is an increasing interest in Japan about languages as part of an emphasis on becoming more global. Japan has come to realize they can’t ignore the rest of the world. There has also been a trend in Japan to acquire companies in other countries and that brings new language challenges, like interactions with employees with different language backgrounds.
Japanese companies have a big focus on doing business in the U.S., which creates a high demand for localization into English, but they are also starting to do more business in Asia, which drives the need for localization into other Asian languages like Chinese and Korean.
If you want to establish your business in Japan, what is the most important thing to remember?
You have to be very clear on what you are good at and what is the value you bring to Japan. Have an outstanding differentiator. Also, you need to make sure you have adapted your offer, message and product to the local market.
And localization into Japanese is essential, right?
Absolutely! For two reasons; Japanese people in general are not confident in understanding written English, so having high quality Japanese text will make them feel more comfortable with your offering. And, localizing into Japanese will confirm your seriousness about doing business in Japan. But keep in mind; the Japanese translation must be as good as if it were originally created in Japanese. A poor quality translation can be worse than no translation.
Thank you Rochelle, we are looking forward to learning more from your insights at your keynote speech, 11:30 on April 18, at #LocWorld30.
