By Ana Clara Teixeira Caribé (Clara Carybé)
This article is edited from a Modlingua internship assignment submitted in July 2018. It records the author's learning at that time. Terminology has been clarified using W3C guidance; country-wide generalizations and an unverified vocabulary table have been removed.
Globalization, internationalization, localization and translation describe related work, but they are not interchangeable. In my assignment, I explored how understanding the differences could help me explain language services to clients and pay closer attention to the audience for a translation.
Global ambitions need local preparation
I approached globalization from a business perspective: a company deciding to offer its products or services across markets. That decision creates language and cultural questions, as well as technical ones. It is a useful business context for this discussion, rather than a complete definition of globalization in every field.
A company cannot answer those questions by translating words alone. It needs to consider how its product will work for different readers and users, what can be prepared in advance and what must be adapted for a particular market.
Internationalization makes adaptation possible
The W3C explanation of internationalization and localization describes internationalization as designing and developing a product, application or document so that it can be localized for audiences with different languages, cultures or regions.
My original example was a date such as 01/02/2018. Without a clear format, a reader can interpret the day and month differently. The lesson is to plan for local formats rather than assume that one presentation will suit every audience. W3C also discusses support for writing systems and separating localizable text from source code or content.
Internationalization is preparation for adaptation. It does not mean that all of the adaptation or translation has already been done. Planning early can make later localization less difficult than trying to change a product that was designed around one language or locale.
Localization looks beyond the sentence
Localization adapts a product or its content to the language, cultural and other requirements of a specific audience. W3C includes dates, numbers, currencies, symbols, colors and graphics among the areas that may need attention.
In my assignment, I used a fitness application to think about visual choices. The useful question is whether an image fits the intended users, not whether everyone in a country shares a single sporting preference. Images need review alongside the wording.
The same care applies to Portuguese varieties. My assignment contrasted Brazilian Portuguese with Portuguese used in Portugal. Its vocabulary examples were a reminder that a language label alone may not give a client enough information about the audience. A project brief should identify the intended variety and use, rather than make blanket judgments about a translator's nationality.
Translation is part of the wider work
Translation carries a message from one language to another. Within localization, the translator also considers context and the audience's expectations. A character name, place reference or expression may raise a question that needs agreement about the purpose of the text before anything is changed.
I associated effective localization with a reading experience that does not distract the user with awkward language. That was a reflection on readability, not a rule that translators should be invisible or that every text should be adapted in the same way.
Better questions for clients
The practical change I described in 2018 was learning to be more specific about English and Brazilian Portuguese in discussing my work. I wanted to ask clients which audience they meant, which variety they needed and what the translated material was expected to do.
Clients may not know the stages behind a language project. Explaining the difference between preparing a product for localization and adapting it for an audience can help make a request clearer. For me, the main lesson was to treat language choices as part of a planned process, with attention to the details that readers will actually encounter.
