Adjusting your world view
Internationalisation (i18n)
The numeronym i18n comes from the 18 letters between the i and the n in the word internationalisation.It is the process of designing & writing software and websites so that it can be easily changed for use with various languages or in different regions without having to any extra programming work. This is mostly followed by the process of localisation (L10).
The process of i18n and l10n has become much easier with the rise and support of Unicode which allows databases and programming languages to use the same charactersets but still display different languages.
Links
w3c
XA International - i18n Links Page
i18nguy
Localisation (L10n)
The numeronym L10n comes from the 10 letters between the l and the n in the word localisation. (a capital L is used to distinguish it from the numeral 1.It is the process of changing software, websites, products, documents that have been internationalized (i18) to a specific language or region by adding translated text, menu's, ... or adapting certain components to meet the local needs & requirements. This is more then just translation but taken in consideration local traditions, variations in language, cultural sensitivities, currencies (RMB, TWD, HKD) , calendar (Western, Chinese republic)... therefore there are different Chinese language versions for PRC, Taiwan (ROC) and Hong Kong.
In websites and linux translation is very often achieved by unique translation files in text format that are the result of community efforts.
Glocalisation
Definition by Wikipedia: Glocalization (a portmanteau of globalization and localization) is business jargon for the adaptation of a product or service specifically to each locality or culture in which it is sold. It is similar to internationalization.[ < back ]