Localization and translation alphabet. From A to Z

When starting work on the localization tasks, you may encounter many new phrases or words, such as L10n, i18n, or t9n, which may initially be confusing and require Google support to understand what they mean precisely. Then, you start working with localization tools, and your glossary of unknown words grows exponentially. Of course, after some time working in this area, the problem disappears, but we want to help all the pioneers and newbies by providing this localization and translation vocabulary. Find the most common terminology and Lingohub terms below, and share them with your team and new colleagues to maintain consistency through your communication and increase efficiency.

Localization and translation ABC

Agile localization

Agile localization is an approach that uses the agile methodology under the hood for translation and localization processes. With Agile, localization tasks are integrated into each sprint, and translators can work in parallel with the development team to speed up time to market.

API

API (Application Programming Interface) allows custom integration between different software to extend their existing abilities. Lingohub API provides developers with flexible options to view and manage localization processes.

Back-translation

This is a method of quality assurance when the text is translated back to the original language to check the meaning's correctness. Back translation is widely used for prioritized and crucial content.

Bidirectional language

It is a list of languages supporting right-to-left and left-to-right spellings, such as Arabic, Persian (Farsi), Urdu, Uyghur, etc.

Branching

It is a version control system that creates separate code lines for different features or actions during development to keep the main code clean. The Lingohub branching feature allows working directly with the individual branches and pulling and pushing changes without affecting others.

CAT tools

This pool of computer-assisted translation tools supports translators during their tasks and focuses on speeding up and simplifying the entire process. The CAT tools term includes the following instruments: machine translation, translation memory, glossary, translation history, etc.

Context images

The UI screenshots allow translators to better understand where the specific text is placed. The Lingohub context images tool allows both manual and automatic screenshot uploading to provide a comprehensive understanding of the project's content.

Continuous localization

Continuous localization involves integrating localization with the development pipeline. This means that the translated content is updated and deployed simultaneously with new features or changes to the software.

Discussions

Discussions are the Lingohub tool for communication about localization and its particular parts inside the application. The tool allows users to mention projects, segments, and teammates and add additional information for comprehensive communication and issues-solving.

Encoding

Encoding is a process of converting data, typically from a human-readable to a machine-readable format or vice versa. Encoding allows characters from different languages to be readable for machines for further work with them.

Fallback language

A fallback language is used when the needed language is unavailable or unsupported. With Lingohub, you can select the fallback language that will be used for the empty segments to avoid the situation when the new language version of your software is empty.

G11n

G11n, or globalization, is the process of scaling a business and adapting it to users worldwide. Businesses that take this approach aim to influence the global market by considering internationalization and localization requirements.

Global standardization

Global standardization is a strategy for scaling and streamlining existing business approaches and products/services across different regions to maintain brand consistency.

Glossary

A glossary or term base is a database that collects information about company-related terms and their correct translation.

Hosted text segments

At Lingohub, the hosted text segments are the number of all text segments in the source language multiplied by the number of target languages. So, if you have 100 segments in the original language and want to translate them into 3 target languages, you will have 300 hosted segments.

i18n

i18n, or internationalization, prepares software for future adaptation to new regions. i18n includes implementing Unicode encoding, formatting date/time measurement, etc., and externalizing content that needs to be translated from the source code.

ISO code

ISO codes are standardized systems that represent countries' names (ISO 3166), languages (ISO 639), date and time formats (ISO 8601), etc., to ensure consistency during localization.

JSON

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a data format commonly used in localization to store and exchange data. Its advantages are that it is lightweight, structured, and human-readable.

Key

For translation management systems like Lingohub, a key is a unique identifier for the strings. Each string, in turn, references a corresponding text content. Take a look at the example below. The "welcome_message" will be a key for English and French translations in this file.

{
 "welcome_message": {
   "en": "Welcome to Lingohub!"
   "fr": "Bienvenue sur Lingohub!"
 }
}

L10n

L10n, or localization, is the process of adapting and customizing software to meet the region's specific linguistic, cultural, and technical needs. Localization includes adapting visual and textual content, transforming marketing campaigns, and restructuring other business processes.

Labels

Labels is a Lingohub tool that allows you to tag needed text segments with the appropriate color label to simplify their filtering and sorting.

Language code

Language code is an identifier defined commonly by ISO 639-1 (two-letter) and ISO 639-2 (three-letter) representing the language. Examples: ISO 639-1 "en"- English, "fr" - French; ISO 639-2 "eng"- English, "fra" - French.

Locale

A locale is a set of parameters that define a particular region or country, such as language, date and time formats, measurement, currency, etc. To identify the locale identifiers, use the combination of country and language codes: "en_US" for English (United States) or "fr_FR" for French (France).

Localization management system

A Localization Management System (LMS) is a tool designed to automate, streamline, and comprehensively manage the localization process, including text translation, reporting, cost control, etc.

LTR language

LTR is an abbreviation used to describe languages with left-to-right spelling directions.

Machine translation

Machine translation (MT) translates text using computer algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies without human intervention.

Multi-editor

The multi-editor tool is an instrument designed by Lingohub as a separate part of the context panel. It allows simultaneous translation/checking for different languages. With a multi-editor, a translator or manager can see and edit all the languages, which is extremely useful for identical changes (for example, changing untranslatable words such as proper names, etc.).

Multilingual SEO

Multilingual SEO is one of the directions for search engine optimization, which is focused on optimizing content/app store descriptions/URLs/meta information, etc., to improve rankings in search engine results for multiple languages and regions.

Neural machine translation (NMT)

NMT is the software for translating content based on neural networks, improving translation results. At Lingohub, we use a combination of neural translation engines like Google Translate, Amazon Translate, and DeepL to achieve the best results.

Over-the-air (OTA)

OTA is a technology that allows updates to be delivered to users' devices without physical connections. Lingohub provides a mobile SDK Over-The-Air (OTA) solution that allows you to update mobile apps without releasing a new version. With OTA, all changes, like translated text, UI elements, etc., will be delivered to users' devices over the air seamlessly and automatically.

Placeholder

Placeholders are characters that represent the variable with dynamic content like figures, metadata, interactive elements, etc. During localization, placeholders "keep the space" for future content, which will be placed programmatically.

Post-editing

Post-editing is one translation approach that implies editing the machine translation results instead of translating texts from scratch. The MTPE (machine translation post-editing) is a time-saving method widely used in the industry. In turn, we at Lingohub provide the AI pre-translation, allowing easy post-editing implementation in your processes.

Pseudo-localization

Pseudo-localization is a testing approach that imitates the localization process to quickly understand potential issues with a new language. The original text can be replaced with fake content, such as special language characters or lengthening strings.

Quality checks

Lingohub quality checks is a feature designed to "catch" common mistakes in the content, such as issues with terms usage, placeholders, HTML tags, double-spacing, segment length, etc. It saves enormous time by early detection of some kinds of mistakes.

Resource file

Resource files contain text strings, images, configuration data, and other content that requires localization. Resource files allow separate content from code, making updating, translating, and maintaining localized versions easier.

RTL language

RTL is an abbreviation that describes languages with right-to-left spelling directions, such as Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian.

Source language

Source language is an original language from which the translation is made (will be made.)

Style guide

A style guide is a set of standards and recommendations for communicating with business audiences, the tone of voice required for these communications, and the use of certain words, versions of pluricentric languages, expressions, etc. Style guides support consistency in all business-related content.

Target language

Target is a language into which the translation is made.

Text segment

A text segment is a unit of text associated with a key. Depending on the key, it can contain one word or a long sentence or paragraph.

Transcreation

Transcreation is a translation approach in which the creative part is higher than a literal translation. It is often used for slogans, CTRs, and other highly creative content adaptations to the local market.

Translation memory

Translation memory (TM) is a database or repository that stores previously translated text segments for future use. Lingohub translation memory offers two options: file-based translation memory when you can upload your ready translations, or virtual translation memory, which can train from the selected project(s.)

Unicode

Unicode is a character encoding standard representing every character from every language using a unique numeric code point. It allows the creation of software that handles different languages without encoding issues.

Visual localization

Visual localization is the adaptation of visual elements of software or other digital content to suit target audiences' linguistic, cultural, and regional preferences. Here, localization includes colors, icons, images, and logos.

Waterfall localization

A waterfall approach to managing the localization process involves completing each phase sequentially. Each phase must be completed before proceeding to the next, which can limit flexibility.

Workflows

Lingohub workflows allow the creation of sequences for text segment processing. The workflow can include checking segments with quality checks, setting up the status, removing spaces, etc.

XLIFF

XLIFF (XML Localization Interchange File Format) is an open standard XML-based format designed to exchange localization data and translation content between different tools and systems in the localization industry. The XLIFF advantage is keeping the file structure during translation and exchange.

YAML

YAML - a human-readable data serialization format for configuration files, data exchange, and structured data representation. It is designed to be easily readable by humans and straightforward to parse by machines.

Zero-translation words

Zero-translation words are new words created in the target language using informal words from the source language.