After more than 5 months of absence, I'm back with a renewed determination to share what interesting tidbits of information about localization I can with the world.
This weekend, as many of you know, is Easter weekend. In the US, it generally means Easter eggs, the Easter bunny, etc. In several other countries, however, it means at least a three-day weekend, as many predominantly Christian countries have Good Friday as a holiday. Some also have Thursday and/or Monday off.
What does that mean to the localization professional? Well, while localization is more than translation, translation is still a key component of localization. If you take translation out of the equation, you're out of luck. And if you try to find a freelance translator in a country where a holiday is widely celebrated by doing anything but working... you may be out of luck.
It's key to let your clients know, as soon as you do, when international holidays are coming up that may delay delivery time for some of their usual languages. It's also key to communicate with any international resources that you may work with, to see which major holidays they have that might affect their availability. As always, it's important to maintain reasonable expectations, and to set reasonable expectations for your clients.
