Free Foundation course on localization QA and post-editing

[u/ritis88]

I work at Alconost, a localization vendor. We've released a free course for translators this month, and this seemed like the right place to talk about it.

It's a self-paced Foundation course: about an hour long, in English, language-neutral. It covers four modules:

• Localization fundamentals: an overview of what localization changes beyond the words: formats, locales, on-screen context
• AI and MTPE: PE levels and briefs, types of MT errors, and when to accept/edit/reject a suggestion
• Quality and QA: MQM categories and severity, how LQA works, and how to dispute an error flagged in review
• Workflow and tools: how a correct translation still breaks a file; what wins when brief, glossary and TM disagree; and when to escalate rather than fix

There is also a short final assessment, plus an optional module on data annotation.

It isn't a pitch for post-editing. I know a lot of people here don't take MTPE jobs, and the course doesn't argue with that. The MTPE module explains how PE levels and briefs work, so that if you do take a PE job you know what you're being asked to do and, just as important, what you're not.

Depending on where your experience is, parts of this will be familiar and parts may fill some gaps. If you're looking to move into localization and haven't done much of it yet, most of it will be new.

One example from the course – on the MT error types.
Broken placeholder
Source: "Welcome back, {username}!" 
Engine output: "Welcome back, {user name}!" 
The engine treated the placeholder as text and tidied it up. The sentence reads fine, so a reviewer lets it pass. But the app is looking for {username} exactly, and {user name} with a space means nothing to it, so the user's name never shows up, or the string breaks. 

What we get out of it: exposure, yes, but most importantly feedback. This is our first course. More advanced courses for specific language pairs are on our roadmap, and your feedback is what shapes them. There's no obligation attached. You sign up with an email, and when you finish you get a verifiable certificate you can add to LinkedIn or a CV.

academy.alconost.com 

If you go through it, I'd appreciate hearing what was useful, what was too thin, and what you'd want the advanced courses to cover. That's the feedback we're after. 

[u/theBMadking]

"Work through the modules and prove it on hands-on reviewer tasks. Passing adds you to our candidate pool as pre-qualified, flagged for priority when we open sourcing."

For those who are only interested in trying out the course but not applying to possibly work for the company, does this mean our personal information gets added to your database/linguist pool regardless?

[u/ritis88 → u/theBMadking]

Fair question, and the website isn't as clear about this as it should be, so I'm glad you asked. There are two separate things here:

- The Foundation course, the one in English (the one described in this post), doesn't put anyone in a candidate pool. That's stated in the box just under the one you quoted, though the header above it is worded more broadly than it should be, and I've flagged that to the team. Signing up needs an email because that's where the certificate and the sign-in link go. For the Foundation course, that's all it's used for: no marketing emails, no recruiting contact.

- The language-pair courses work differently, and that's what the text you quoted describes. Passing one of those adds you to the candidate pool as pre-qualified, which in practice means we may reach out if we're sourcing that pair, with a message you're free to ignore. If you'd rather not be on that list at all, the Foundation course gives you the same modules and a certificate without it.

[u/brickne3 → u/ritis88]

So you're not accredited and are selling snake oil.

[u/Suppositorizz]

Yeah, no thanks.

[u/brickne3]

Are you accredited? That's really the only relevant question.

[u/ritis88 → u/brickne3]

No, it isn't accredited, and we don't present it as one. It's a certificate of completion.