Language vs Locale: Understanding the key differences for better software localization 

In today's globalized world, the success of a software product often depends on its ability to cater to diverse audiences with varying linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Understanding the key differences between language and locale is essential for creating products that resonate with your target users, regardless of their location. This is where the concept of software localization comes into play, a process that goes beyond mere translation to adapting a product's interface, content, and overall user experience to meet the specific needs of different regions.

In this blog post, we will delve into the intricacies of language and locale, two terms that are often used interchangeably but have distinct meanings and implications in the world of software development.

What is language? 

Language is a complex system of communication that allows individuals to convey ideas, thoughts, and emotions through symbols, sounds, and gestures. It is an essential tool for human interaction, enabling people to collaborate, learn, and express themselves. Languages come in many forms, including spoken, written, and signed varieties.

There are several thousand languages spoken worldwide, each with its own unique vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. Some well-known examples include English, Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, and Japanese. These languages vary greatly in the number of speakers, geographic distribution, and historical development.

To facilitate clear identification and classification of languages, international standards have been established, assigning unique codes to nearly all languages in use today. The most widely used system for language representation is the ISO 639 series of standards, which provide two- and three-letter codes for languages. ISO 639-1 is the most common, consisting of two-letter codes that represent languages in a concise and easily recognizable format. For instance, "en" stands for English, "es" for Spanish, and "zh" for Chinese. These codes are instrumental in various applications, such as software localization and international communication, allowing for a standardized way to reference languages across different platforms and systems.

What is locale? 

A locale is a specific combination of language, region, script, and other cultural elements that together define the preferences and conventions for a particular user group or geographical area. It is an essential concept in software development, as it helps developers create applications that can be tailored to the specific needs of users from different cultural backgrounds, ensuring a more inclusive and user-friendly experience.

The components of a locale are:

• Language: The primary language spoken by the user group or in the geographical area, represented by a two-letter code according to the ISO 639-1 standard (e.g., "en" for English or "fr" for French).
• Region (optional): The country or region where the user group is located, represented by a two-letter code according to the ISO 3166-1 standard (e.g., "US" for the United States or "FR" for France).
• Script (optional): The writing system for the language, represented by a four-letter code according to the ISO 15924 standard. This is especially important for languages that use multiple scripts, such as "Latn" for Latin script or "Cyrl" for Cyrillic script.

Locale codes are usually created by combining the ISO 639-1 language code and the ISO 3166-1 region code, separated by either an underscore or a hyphen. For instance, "en_US" or "en-US" denotes English as spoken in the United States, whereas "fr_CA" or "fr-CA" indicates French as spoken in Canada.

Differences between language and locale 

Language and locale are two distinct yet related concepts in software development. Language refers to a system of communication, such as English, Spanish, or Mandarin, while locale encompasses not only the language but also the region and other cultural elements that define the preferences and conventions of a specific user group or geographical area, such as date formats, time formats, and currency symbols.

In software development, understanding the difference between language and locale is crucial for creating applications that cater to users from various cultural backgrounds. While language broadly identifies the mode of communication, locale allows developers to customize the application's behavior and appearance according to the specific linguistic and cultural needs of the target audience, ensuring a more inclusive and user-friendly experience.

The following examples showcase British English ("en-GB") and American English ("en-US"), highlighting the language variations when English is spoken in different countries. Although it's the same language, cultural differences and factors like distinct currencies lead to adaptations in the text.

• "Nice colour!" – "Nice color!"
• "I like biscuits." – "I like cookies."
• "Rent a flat." – "Rent an apartment."
• "Admission is £8.04." – "Admission is $10."

Usage of locales in software localization 

In software localization, using locales instead of just languages offers a more comprehensive approach to catering to diverse user preferences. Locales take into account not only the language but also regional variations and other cultural aspects, such as date and time formats, currency symbols, and metric systems. This additional information enables a more tailored and accurate representation of user preferences.

By leveraging localization libraries, developers can automatically adapt these formatting conventions based on the specified locale, without the need to manually consider every detail during the software localization phase. This streamlines the development process, saves time, and ensures a more consistent and user-friendly experience for users from different cultural backgrounds.

Dashes and underscores in locale representation 

Dashes and underscores are both used in locale representation, resulting in two different formats: "en-US" (with a dash) and "en_US" (with an underscore). The existence of these two formats can be attributed to varying conventions and requirements across programming languages, libraries, and software systems.

The compatibility and conversion between dashes and underscores are essential for maintaining consistency and avoiding potential issues when working with different systems or localization libraries. Some libraries strictly rely on one representation, and using the incorrect format may lead to bugs or unexpected behavior in the software. Consequently, developers must be cautious and adapt the representation to match the specific requirements of the localization library or framework they are using.

Fallback mechanisms in software localization 

Software localization often overlooks one crucial feature: the fallback mechanism. This becomes especially important for websites that support the auto-detection of a user's language preference. Typically, a website identifies a user's preferred language during their first visit, aiming to present the web page in the most suitable language.

Let's explore an example to understand the significance of the auto-detection feature and a fallback mechanism better. Imagine a user visiting our website for the first time with their browser set to Simplified Chinese as spoken in Hong Kong ("zh-Hans-HK"). When they make a request, we gather their language preference in an attempt to serve the page in the most appropriate language. Suppose our website supports English ("en") and Traditional Chinese as spoken in Taiwan ("zh-Hant-TW"). The question arises: In which language should we serve the page? If we choose English (assuming it's our default language), there's a risk the visitor won't understand the content if they're not proficient in English. On the other hand, if we serve the page in Traditional Chinese as spoken in Taiwan, the user is likely to comprehend most of the webpage's content.

Such scenarios underscore the importance of supporting a generic variation of a language alongside its specific variations. In the example above, this means it would be great to also support generic Chinese ("zh") language when supporting Traditional Chinese as spoken in Taiwan ("zh-Hant-TW"). This approach ensures we can always fallback to serve the page in generic language when visitors prefer specific variations of that language, which is not yet supported on our website.

Conclusion 

Understanding the key differences between language and locale is crucial for effective software localization. While language refers to a system of communication, locale encompasses the language, region, and other cultural elements that define the preferences and conventions of a specific user group or geographical area. By acknowledging these distinctions, developers can create more inclusive and user-friendly applications that cater to diverse linguistic and cultural needs.

Embracing the power of locales in software localization allows developers to automatically adapt formatting conventions, such as dates, times, currencies, and metrics, with the help of localization libraries. This streamlined approach not only saves time but also ensures a consistent user experience across different cultural backgrounds.

If you're considering localizing your website or application and are wondering about the most effective way to handle localization messages for your specific locale codes, Localizely might be the solution you're looking for. Designed to foster seamless collaboration among project managers, developers, translators, and other stakeholders, Localizely offers a user-friendly platform that simplifies the localization process. It offers a free plan that is sufficient for smaller projects, and it's completely free for open-source projects.

Try Localizely today.