G11n, I18n, L10n, Translation – Sure you know what these mean? OR Feeling GILTy because you need clarification?

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Many businesses who are in the initial stages of taking their products to new markets get confused by the terms Globalization, Internationalization, Localization and Translation.  Collectively, these terms are referred to as “GILT”, and represent all of the language and culture related processes involved in global business.   The differences between the terms are subtle, and you need not feel “guilty” if you don’t understand!  Let me try to shed some light on the subject.

First, you will often see the first three referred to by the abbreviations below:

  • G11n     Globalization
  • I18n      Internationalization
  • L10n     Localization

How were these strange abbreviations created?  They are simply the first and last letter, with the number of letters listed in between.

There are many different definitions for all of these terms, one set of definitions that I like is:

  • Globalization- Refers to a broad range of processes necessary to prepare and launch products and company activities internationally.
  • Internationalization- Developing content that is easily localizable, doesn’t include local/regional references.
  • Localization- The process of adapting a product or service to a particular language and culture.
  • Translation- The process of converting text from one language to another.

Still confused?  Let me explain by showing some specific examples of each.

Globalization

  • Refers to a broad range of processes necessary to prepare and launch products and company activities internationally.

This includes addressing the business issues associated with launching a product globally, such as integrating localization throughout a company after proper internationalization and product design.   It goes beyond localization and includes the revision of business processes, management procedures and even the adaptation of marketing tools, among other initiatives.

Internationalization

  • Developing content that is easily localizable, doesn’t include local/regional references.

One company that is successful at Internationalization is Ikea.  In fact, they put so much work into developing generic content for all markets that their instructions usually require almost no localization effort at all!  As you can see by the example below, they use graphics without text
embedded so it can easily be used for all markets.

Localization

  • The process of adapting a product or service to a particular language and culture.

Some products don’t require much in the way of localization.  Others require a major localization effort to be successful in other markets.  Take, for example, the game Trivial Pursuit.  Many of the questions are specific to American pop culture.  Sure, you could translate this game, but how well would a game with questions about 1920’s baseball teams and dance moves like the “Twist” and the “Jitterbug” sell in say, Brazil?  Perhaps questions about Soccer and the Samba would be more appropriate for that market, and full Localization would be required.

Translation

  • The process of converting text from one language to another.

That is the most straightforward way of defining translation in a scientific manner.  A lot more can be said about the topic and its manifold faces, such as the way it can be divided into different subjects, for example, literary translation, software translation, and even bad translation!Nevertheless, it is the concept of translation that has become more mainstream than any of the other concepts described above and even more so in today’s world with the widespread appeal of funny (and strikingly bad) translations.

In summary, though at first sight the concepts might be hard to grasp, all four concepts are very logical and deserve their own space in today’s globalized world. You will continue to hear about these, so it is practical that you gain a basic understanding. And no, it is not Unbelieveable!

Category : Localization
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