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EspañolINTERNATIONALIZATION AND LOCALIZATION
(Redirected from I18n)
'Internationalization and localization' are means of adapting products such as publications, hardware or software for non-native environments, especially other nations and cultures.
Focal points of internationalization and localization efforts include:
★ Language
★
★ Computer-encoded text
★
★
★ Alphabets/scripts; different systems of numerals; left-to-right script vs. right-to-left scripts. Most recent systems use the Unicode standard to solve many of these character encoding problems.
★
★
★ Spelling variants for different countries where the same language is spoken, e.g. ''localization'' (American English) vs. ''localisation'' (British English)
★
★ Graphical representations of text (printed materials, online images containing text)
★
★ Spoken (Audio)
★
★ Subtitling of film and video
★ Date/time format, including use of different calendars
★ Formatting of numbers (decimal points, positioning of separators, character used as separator)
★ Time zones (UTC in internationalized environments)
★ Currency
★ Images and colors: issues of comprehensibility and cultural appropriateness
★ Names and titles
★ Government assigned numbers (such as the Social Security number in the US, National Insurance number in the UK) and passports
★ Telephone numbers, addresses and international postal codes
★ Weights and measures
★ Paper sizes
★ Any other aspect of the product or service that is subject to regulatory compliance
The distinction between internationalization and localization is subtle but important. Internationalization is the adaptation of products for ''potential'' use virtually everywhere, while localization is the addition of special features for use in a ''specific'' locale. The processes are complementary, and must be combined to lead to the objective of a system that works globally. Subjects unique to localization include:
★ Language translation,
★ National varieties of languages (see language localization)
★ Special support for certain languages such as East Asian languages
★ Local customs,
★ Local content
★ Symbols
★ Order of sorting
★ Aesthetics
★ Cultural values and social context
In making software products, internationalization and localization pose challenging tasks for developers, particularly if the software is not designed from the beginning with these concerns in mind. A common practice is to separate textual data and other environment-dependent resources from the program code. Thus, supporting a different environment, ideally, only requires change in those separate resources without code modification, greatly simplifying the task.
Some say that the development team needs someone who understands foreign languages and cultures and has a technical background and such a person may be difficult to find. Others argue that the commercial case to localise products into multiple languages is very obvious, and that all is needed is a budgetary commitment from the producer to finance the considerable costs. It costs more to produce products for international markets, but in an increasingly global economy, English only is scarcely an option. For instance, if a message displayed to the user in one of several languages is modified, all of the translated versions must be changed. Software libraries that aid this task are available, such as gettext.
Since open source software can generally be freely modified and redistributed, it is more prone to internationalization. Most proprietary software is only available in languages considered to be economically viable whereas the KDE project, for example, has been translated into over 70 languages[1]. Linux is generally available in many languages. The
Debian distribution currently loads over 200 languages. Ubuntu's LiveCD allows you to conveniently pick to load any and all choices you want from
dozens of languages when you boot up or when you choose System>Administration>Language Support. Ubuntu's 7.04 version covers languages from
Afar to Zulu including dialect choices such as Ancient or Modern Greek or several varieties of English. GnomeSword makes the Bible available in
57 languages and many dialects in the space of a small USB stick or other storage device.
The current prevailing practice is for applications to place text in resource strings which are loaded during program execution as needed. These strings, stored in resource files, are relatively easy to translate. Programs are often built to reference resource libraries depending on the selected locale data.
Thus to get an application to support multiple languages one would design the application to select the relevant language resource file at runtime. Resource files are translated to the required languages. This method tends to be application-specific and at best, vendor-specific. The code required to manage date entry verification and many other locale-sensitive data types also must support differing locale requirements. Modern development systems and operating systems include sophisticated libraries for international support of these types. However, many development environments still lack full Unicode support, which drastically hampers the translation effort, especially to East Asian languages.
New methods are evolving all the time to handle these complex issues.
One such method, known as NLSO or Natural Language Support Objects uses databases to store resource strings. Another approach is the elimination of all references to culture, politics, history, etc.; avoidance of images (especially text embedded in images); and use of a controlled language. An example of an implementation of these principles is Uwe Muegge's website that uses Google's language tools to create virtual versions of his site in eleven languages.
''Internationalization'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''globalization'' to refer to economic and cultural effects of an increasingly interconnected world.
While internationalization most commonly refers to the addition of a framework for multiple language support, especially in software, it sometimes refers to the process whereby something (a corporation, idea, highway, war, etc.) comes to affect multiple nations. This usage is rare; ''globalization'' is preferred. Because of globalization, many companies and products are found in multiple countries worldwide, giving rise to increasing localization requirements.
''Localization'' may describe production of goods nearer to end users to reduce environmental and other external costs of globalization.
In software development, after a product has been internationalized, "localization" refers to the process of making it ready for a specific market.
So you can refer to a product as being "internationalized" if it has been developed to meet most of the needs of an international community, but not yet customized to a specific region. The customization to a specific region is called "localization".
'Product localization' consists of adapting products to a local market and/or culture.
E.g., car manufacturers will adapt models to suit the Chinese market from/to versions from the western market, both of which have specific tastes.
Another good example is themed dolls, in Muslim countries they will sport hijabs whereas their European counterparts tend not to.
'Software localization' is a process of translating software user interfaces from one language to another and adapting it to suit a foreign culture. This process is labor-intensive and often requires significant efforts from development teams. There are tools that can simplify the localization process. A lot of these projects get outsourced to specialized companies to cut costs.
Software localization can also refer to adapting software from one culture to another. During localization, some references to history or culture are replaced with an equivalent native reference which ideally does not change the meaning of the statement.
Pseudolocalization is a software testing method that is used to test a software product's readiness for localization.
Game localization is the process of translating entertainment software products (i.e. video games) from one language/culture to another. English tends to be the pivot language, (independently of what the development language was). Many games nowadays are simultaneously released in English and at least four other languages in the western world: German, French, Italian and Spanish. Other common languages include Japanese, Korean and Chinese.
As the international demand for video games rises, successful titles depend on their adaptation to various cultures and languages in a slightly different way from other audiovisual creations such as films. These products tap into a very emotional activity within society: “play”. It is “play” that first bonds us to our own culture and history, to what we see as normal, fun, appropriate, or funny. Semiotics play a great part on this adaptation since the function of signs and symbols in natural languages can be significantly different from one culture to another, differences that extend from the syntactic layer of communication, to the semantic and the pragmatic one. Some of these disparities may be so small they are easily adaptable, but many other can be notably distinct or even contradictory, so translators may have a challenging task ahead because their input might require the alteration of the actual game in some cases.
In console gaming, localization also describes the controversial process of designing consoles and cartridges so as to make cartridges unplayable outside of the geographic regions for which they were intended. For example, a European cartridge might not function in a North American machine. Additionally, it entails the change of dialogue and plot elements to better suit the country's audience. One reason for doing this is local censorship variations; the rules of censorship for Nintendo of America may be different than those in Japan. 'Localized' titles which have undergone censorship are typically regarded as inferior to original, and the advent of widely available broadband Internet connections has affected sales of localized products.
''Internationalization'' is often abbreviated as the numeronym 'i18n' (or 'I18n' or 'I18N') where the number 18 refers to the number of letters omitted (nternationalizatio).[2][3] ''Localization'' is often abbreviated 'L10n' or 'l10n' in the same manner. (The most common forms are ''i18n'' and ''L10n'', respectively. These forms won out because many fonts do not readily distinguish uppercase "I" and lowercase "l", but lowercase "i" and uppercase "L" are always clear.) These abbreviations also avoid picking one spelling (internationalisation vs. internationalization, etc.) over the other. Both notions are sometimes collectively termed ''globalization'' ('g11n'), but that word has a more common meaning. Also seen in some circles, but less commonly, are "p13n" for personalization, "m17n" for multilingualization, and "r3h" for reach, as in the ''reach'' of a website across countries and markets. A related concept is a11y (accessibility), which is concerned with adapting products for people with disabilities or age-related limitations.
1. For the current list see KDE.org
2. Origin Of The Abbreviation I18n
3. W3C Internationalization (I18n) Activity
★ ''.NET Internationalization: The Developer's Guide to Building Global Windows and Web Applications'', Guy Smith-Ferrier, Addison-Wesley Professional, 7 August 2006. ISBN 0-321-34138-4
★ ''A Practical Guide to Localization'', Bert Esselink, John Benjamins Publishing, [2000]. ISBN 1-58811-006-0
★ Lydia Ash: ''The Web Testing Companion: The Insider's Guide to Efficient and Effective Tests'', Wiley, May 2, 2003. ISBN 0471430218
★ ''Business Without Borders: A Strategic Guide to Global Marketing'', Donald A. DePalma, Globa Vista Press [2004]. ISBN 978-0976516903
★ Bidirectional script support
★ CJK ''(Chinese, Japanese, Korean)''
★ Globalization Management System
★ Glocalization
★ Separation of concerns
★ Sustainable development
★ Region code
★ Language localization
★ Pseudolocalization
★ Multilingual text rendering engines:
★
★ Uniscribe (Windows)
★
★ Apple Type Services for Unicode Imaging (New Macintosh)
★
★ WorldScript (Old Macintosh)
★
★ Pango (Open source)
★
★ Graphite (Windows & Linux, open source)
★
Screenshot of software programs localised to Italian.
'Internationalization and localization' are means of adapting products such as publications, hardware or software for non-native environments, especially other nations and cultures.
| Contents |
| Scope |
| Difficulties |
| Methods |
| Relation to globalization |
| Relation to localization |
| Product localization |
| Software localization |
| Game localization |
| Alternative names |
| Notes |
| Books |
| See also |
| Wikibooks |
Scope
Focal points of internationalization and localization efforts include:
★ Language
★
★ Computer-encoded text
★
★
★ Alphabets/scripts; different systems of numerals; left-to-right script vs. right-to-left scripts. Most recent systems use the Unicode standard to solve many of these character encoding problems.
★
★
★ Spelling variants for different countries where the same language is spoken, e.g. ''localization'' (American English) vs. ''localisation'' (British English)
★
★ Graphical representations of text (printed materials, online images containing text)
★
★ Spoken (Audio)
★
★ Subtitling of film and video
★ Date/time format, including use of different calendars
★ Formatting of numbers (decimal points, positioning of separators, character used as separator)
★ Time zones (UTC in internationalized environments)
★ Currency
★ Images and colors: issues of comprehensibility and cultural appropriateness
★ Names and titles
★ Government assigned numbers (such as the Social Security number in the US, National Insurance number in the UK) and passports
★ Telephone numbers, addresses and international postal codes
★ Weights and measures
★ Paper sizes
★ Any other aspect of the product or service that is subject to regulatory compliance
The distinction between internationalization and localization is subtle but important. Internationalization is the adaptation of products for ''potential'' use virtually everywhere, while localization is the addition of special features for use in a ''specific'' locale. The processes are complementary, and must be combined to lead to the objective of a system that works globally. Subjects unique to localization include:
★ Language translation,
★ National varieties of languages (see language localization)
★ Special support for certain languages such as East Asian languages
★ Local customs,
★ Local content
★ Symbols
★ Order of sorting
★ Aesthetics
★ Cultural values and social context
Difficulties
In making software products, internationalization and localization pose challenging tasks for developers, particularly if the software is not designed from the beginning with these concerns in mind. A common practice is to separate textual data and other environment-dependent resources from the program code. Thus, supporting a different environment, ideally, only requires change in those separate resources without code modification, greatly simplifying the task.
Some say that the development team needs someone who understands foreign languages and cultures and has a technical background and such a person may be difficult to find. Others argue that the commercial case to localise products into multiple languages is very obvious, and that all is needed is a budgetary commitment from the producer to finance the considerable costs. It costs more to produce products for international markets, but in an increasingly global economy, English only is scarcely an option. For instance, if a message displayed to the user in one of several languages is modified, all of the translated versions must be changed. Software libraries that aid this task are available, such as gettext.
Since open source software can generally be freely modified and redistributed, it is more prone to internationalization. Most proprietary software is only available in languages considered to be economically viable whereas the KDE project, for example, has been translated into over 70 languages[1]. Linux is generally available in many languages. The
Debian distribution currently loads over 200 languages. Ubuntu's LiveCD allows you to conveniently pick to load any and all choices you want from
dozens of languages when you boot up or when you choose System>Administration>Language Support. Ubuntu's 7.04 version covers languages from
Afar to Zulu including dialect choices such as Ancient or Modern Greek or several varieties of English. GnomeSword makes the Bible available in
57 languages and many dialects in the space of a small USB stick or other storage device.
Methods
The current prevailing practice is for applications to place text in resource strings which are loaded during program execution as needed. These strings, stored in resource files, are relatively easy to translate. Programs are often built to reference resource libraries depending on the selected locale data.
Thus to get an application to support multiple languages one would design the application to select the relevant language resource file at runtime. Resource files are translated to the required languages. This method tends to be application-specific and at best, vendor-specific. The code required to manage date entry verification and many other locale-sensitive data types also must support differing locale requirements. Modern development systems and operating systems include sophisticated libraries for international support of these types. However, many development environments still lack full Unicode support, which drastically hampers the translation effort, especially to East Asian languages.
New methods are evolving all the time to handle these complex issues.
One such method, known as NLSO or Natural Language Support Objects uses databases to store resource strings. Another approach is the elimination of all references to culture, politics, history, etc.; avoidance of images (especially text embedded in images); and use of a controlled language. An example of an implementation of these principles is Uwe Muegge's website that uses Google's language tools to create virtual versions of his site in eleven languages.
Relation to globalization
''Internationalization'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''globalization'' to refer to economic and cultural effects of an increasingly interconnected world.
While internationalization most commonly refers to the addition of a framework for multiple language support, especially in software, it sometimes refers to the process whereby something (a corporation, idea, highway, war, etc.) comes to affect multiple nations. This usage is rare; ''globalization'' is preferred. Because of globalization, many companies and products are found in multiple countries worldwide, giving rise to increasing localization requirements.
''Localization'' may describe production of goods nearer to end users to reduce environmental and other external costs of globalization.
Relation to localization
In software development, after a product has been internationalized, "localization" refers to the process of making it ready for a specific market.
So you can refer to a product as being "internationalized" if it has been developed to meet most of the needs of an international community, but not yet customized to a specific region. The customization to a specific region is called "localization".
Product localization
'Product localization' consists of adapting products to a local market and/or culture.
E.g., car manufacturers will adapt models to suit the Chinese market from/to versions from the western market, both of which have specific tastes.
Another good example is themed dolls, in Muslim countries they will sport hijabs whereas their European counterparts tend not to.
Software localization
'Software localization' is a process of translating software user interfaces from one language to another and adapting it to suit a foreign culture. This process is labor-intensive and often requires significant efforts from development teams. There are tools that can simplify the localization process. A lot of these projects get outsourced to specialized companies to cut costs.
Software localization can also refer to adapting software from one culture to another. During localization, some references to history or culture are replaced with an equivalent native reference which ideally does not change the meaning of the statement.
Pseudolocalization is a software testing method that is used to test a software product's readiness for localization.
Game localization
Game localization is the process of translating entertainment software products (i.e. video games) from one language/culture to another. English tends to be the pivot language, (independently of what the development language was). Many games nowadays are simultaneously released in English and at least four other languages in the western world: German, French, Italian and Spanish. Other common languages include Japanese, Korean and Chinese.
As the international demand for video games rises, successful titles depend on their adaptation to various cultures and languages in a slightly different way from other audiovisual creations such as films. These products tap into a very emotional activity within society: “play”. It is “play” that first bonds us to our own culture and history, to what we see as normal, fun, appropriate, or funny. Semiotics play a great part on this adaptation since the function of signs and symbols in natural languages can be significantly different from one culture to another, differences that extend from the syntactic layer of communication, to the semantic and the pragmatic one. Some of these disparities may be so small they are easily adaptable, but many other can be notably distinct or even contradictory, so translators may have a challenging task ahead because their input might require the alteration of the actual game in some cases.
In console gaming, localization also describes the controversial process of designing consoles and cartridges so as to make cartridges unplayable outside of the geographic regions for which they were intended. For example, a European cartridge might not function in a North American machine. Additionally, it entails the change of dialogue and plot elements to better suit the country's audience. One reason for doing this is local censorship variations; the rules of censorship for Nintendo of America may be different than those in Japan. 'Localized' titles which have undergone censorship are typically regarded as inferior to original, and the advent of widely available broadband Internet connections has affected sales of localized products.
Alternative names
''Internationalization'' is often abbreviated as the numeronym 'i18n' (or 'I18n' or 'I18N') where the number 18 refers to the number of letters omitted (nternationalizatio).[2][3] ''Localization'' is often abbreviated 'L10n' or 'l10n' in the same manner. (The most common forms are ''i18n'' and ''L10n'', respectively. These forms won out because many fonts do not readily distinguish uppercase "I" and lowercase "l", but lowercase "i" and uppercase "L" are always clear.) These abbreviations also avoid picking one spelling (internationalisation vs. internationalization, etc.) over the other. Both notions are sometimes collectively termed ''globalization'' ('g11n'), but that word has a more common meaning. Also seen in some circles, but less commonly, are "p13n" for personalization, "m17n" for multilingualization, and "r3h" for reach, as in the ''reach'' of a website across countries and markets. A related concept is a11y (accessibility), which is concerned with adapting products for people with disabilities or age-related limitations.
Notes
1. For the current list see KDE.org
2. Origin Of The Abbreviation I18n
3. W3C Internationalization (I18n) Activity
Books
★ ''.NET Internationalization: The Developer's Guide to Building Global Windows and Web Applications'', Guy Smith-Ferrier, Addison-Wesley Professional, 7 August 2006. ISBN 0-321-34138-4
★ ''A Practical Guide to Localization'', Bert Esselink, John Benjamins Publishing, [2000]. ISBN 1-58811-006-0
★ Lydia Ash: ''The Web Testing Companion: The Insider's Guide to Efficient and Effective Tests'', Wiley, May 2, 2003. ISBN 0471430218
★ ''Business Without Borders: A Strategic Guide to Global Marketing'', Donald A. DePalma, Globa Vista Press [2004]. ISBN 978-0976516903
See also
★ Bidirectional script support
★ CJK ''(Chinese, Japanese, Korean)''
★ Globalization Management System
★ Glocalization
★ Separation of concerns
★ Sustainable development
★ Region code
★ Language localization
★ Pseudolocalization
★ Multilingual text rendering engines:
★
★ Uniscribe (Windows)
★
★ Apple Type Services for Unicode Imaging (New Macintosh)
★
★ WorldScript (Old Macintosh)
★
★ Pango (Open source)
★
★ Graphite (Windows & Linux, open source)
Wikibooks
★
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