Internationalization and localization: what is the difference?
Internationalization (i18n) is engineering the software so it can support many languages and regions without code changes. Localization (l10n) is adapting it for a specific language and market: the translations, formats and cultural details. Doing i18n properly first makes every new language faster and cheaper to add.
What we adapt
- Text and scripts: Latin, Cyrillic, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Devanagari, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and more, with full Unicode support.
- Right-to-left layouts for Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and Urdu, including mirrored navigation and mixed-direction text.
- Dates, times, numbers, currencies, units and calendars in each region's convention, plus time-zone handling.
- Plurals and grammar using standard message formats (ICU), so sentences stay correct in languages with complex plural rules.
- Names, addresses and phone numbers in formats that differ by country.
- Sorting, search and text input that respect language rules.
- Payments and tax options that fit each market.
- Legal pages and consent for regional privacy rules.
Translation workflow
- Create a glossary and style guide for your brand terms.
- Extract text into translation files and connect a translation management workflow.
- Combine professional human translation with machine translation and review, depending on content and budget.
- Review in context, inside the running application, so translators see real screens.
- Automate updates so new features are translated continuously instead of in big batches.
For quality, we recommend that each target language is reviewed by a native speaker, from your team or a professional translator.
Testing for every language
- Pseudo-localization to find hard-coded text and layout problems before translation.
- Layout checks for text expansion (German and Finnish often run longer) and compact scripts.
- Right-to-left visual testing.
- Font and rendering checks on iOS, Android and major browsers.
Multilingual websites and search visibility
If you sell in several markets, your website must be found there too. We implement language-specific URLs, hreflang tags, translated metadata and structured data, and localized store listings for the App Store and Google Play.
Multilingual AI agents
AI agents can serve customers in many languages, but accuracy differs between languages. We evaluate every language separately, set language-specific guardrails and keep your terminology consistent. See AI agent development.
Language, location and hosting together
Language and location often go together. We can host your localized application, and its AI models, in the country you specify. See global hosting and data residency.
Frequently asked questions
How many languages can you support?
We can tailor software to any language. Each language needs careful translation and review, so we plan languages in phases, starting with your most important markets.
Can you add languages later?
Yes, if the application is internationalized correctly. That is why we do the engineering groundwork first.
Do you support right-to-left languages?
Yes. We support Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Urdu and other right-to-left languages, including mirrored layouts.
Do you provide the translations?
We coordinate professional translators and use machine translation with review where appropriate, or we work with your own translators and reviewers.
Can an AI agent answer in several languages?
Yes. We build and test the agent separately in each language so quality holds up.