Language localization for texts perfectly in tune with the target culture
Thinking about marketing your products or services abroad? A simple translation might not be enough. To be certain that your texts are appropriate for a given country and a specific culture, you need an ad hoc service. You need language localization.
How is localization different from translation?
Whereas a translation is the conversion of a text written in one language into another, with localization the text is adapted for the target culture, so the final product reads as if it were conceived and developed for that culture from the start. This is why localization poses a number of extra challenges. Localizers don’t just focus on the meaning of the words; they consider various cultural aspects and think about the overall context.
The elements to consider when localizing a product include, for example:
- Alphabets
- The direction of the writing (from right to left or left to right, from top to bottom, etc.)
- Naming conventions
- The formats used for dates (DD/MM/YYYY, or MM/DD/YYYY or YYYY/MM/DD)
- The formats used for time
- The formats used for telephone numbers
- Currencies (both how they are written and the conversion of amounts into local currency)
- Measurements (metric or imperial system) and conventions for writing units of measurement
- Use of punctuation, such as quotation marks
- Symbols and icons (including the use of certain images which may have a positive or negative connotation in different cultures, or the use of color, which may have more or less positive connotations depending on the target culture).
- Legal requirements (e.g., regulations that apply only in a certain country or region, like the GDPR in the European Union)
- Plays on words in the text (including irony and sarcasm, which are not always perceived the same way in different cultures).
Experts in both the source and target languages, translators can tweak all these tiny details when localizing a text and advise the client for a translation tailored to the target context.
When does a text need to be localized?
When you expect to communicate on national or regional markets, it is important to use a localization service to satisfy users who speak a different language and live in a different region with its own culture. This is the only way to keep from disorienting users with your text and to ensure that they may use the content as naturally and simply as possible.
This service is essential for user interfaces on various digital devices (whether for software, websites, video games or mobile apps), but it is also extremely important for advertising and promotional texts in that it makes the content easier to use and conveys the essence of the intended message.
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