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 (e.g., in Japanese one’s last name usually precedes their first name, whereas in other languages like English and Italian the first name comes first)
• 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 (“…” in Italian and „…“ in German)
• 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.