Translation and Localization: What's the Difference?

As a translation agency offering language translation services and localization for almost 3 decades, we’ve localized thousands of documents and videos of all shapes and sizes.  At least once every few weeks a client searching for document translation services asks, “What is the difference between translation and localization?” In order to answer this, let’s first look into the whole picture.

By itself, translation, in the context of language, refers to the rendering of a word, a thought or idea from one language into another. Or more specifically, according to Merriam-Webster, “a process of rendering from one language into another.”

Localization is a subheading under the broad term of translation.  It refers to translating a document or video for use in a specific location or region. Several countries have more than one official language. Here in America, our closest example is Canada with both English and French as official languages.  We can break this down further into countries that have the same official language, but one that varies from country to country, this wikipedia page lists territories where English is an official language.

Why Does Language Localization Matter to Business?

A company or entity wanting to sell products or services to any of the aforementioned English speaking countries would do well to research the local nuances in order to successfully communicate their interests. This is because of the subtle differences between dialects from region to region.  In a previous article, we discussed different words with the same meanings in various versions of English. This is a key example of the importance of localization translation.

A Localization Case Study

Let’s say you’re living in America and you see this ad about an upcoming art installation.  Aside from the cool photo, what pops out to you? Perhaps the spelling of the word “colour?”  While numerous English speaking countries use “colour” as the official spelling, the United States isn’t one of them.  What message does this send to the customer? It could seem like a lazy translation with no attention to detail in regards to language localization. 

While an example like this may be okay for a hoity-toity art piece, it surely wouldn’t be okay for a technical document translation. For businesses, branding and communication is key.  If that first impression is botched, your likelihood of a potential customer moving on to a competitor of yours increases. But wait- that’s not all…

Date, Time & Unit Localization

In addition to making sure your written words are correctly localized for your target demographic, you also have to consider localizing numbers, date and time formats, currency, symbols and more.  Let’s zoom in on our previous example's details:

The date and time is nothing short of confusing to an American reader.  To meet American standards, this would need to be localized to 12/28/19 @ 5:30pm- a big difference!  While this is a simple example, other instances are more complex- especially regarding metric to imperial conversions which if done incorrectly, could result in product failure, or even a lawsuit should someone use an improperly localized technical translation.

Internationalization

Last but not least is the concept of internationalization in regards to translation and localization.  The definition varies greatly, but in our context here, internationalization is the design and layout of a document or product so that translation and localization can be easily implemented.  A simple example here would be if a client needs Spanish translation services, or Chinese translation services, they require more page space in comparison with English because they have more text per sentence on average. Equally important is leaving additional space on product labels to add numerous unit formats, like inches vs. millimeters.

Whatever it may be, we are a translation company that has offered online translation services for hundreds of clients throughout the world.  Unlike many of our competitors, we specifically use native translators to ensure that your document is localized properly to ensure your client or customer gets the message as you intended. With your new understanding of translation, localization and internationalization, don’t hesitate to reach out and contact us for a free quote on your next project.