Global writing: how to write when you know your words will be localized

It’s one thing to write for a very local audience (in my case French, which might not be obvious here) with a common background, references, and environment. It’s a different story when you know that the content you’re writing will be adapted to way many other languages than the ones you speak.

At Deezer, we speak 32 languages, some with accents, some without, some Latin, some Cyrillic, some with simple grammar and others with those bloody declinations. Some let me tell you that when it comes to writing for all those peeps, your brain needs to be seriously trained and curious.

Google, in its Bible-like Material Design Guidelines, states:

“Text should be understandable by anyone, anywhere, regardless of their culture or language.”

Well yes, it might sound simple. But when it comes to writing, sometimes, you’ve got that perfect tagline, but you know it can’t be transferred to any other language. Too bad.

Everyone has to understand your product, tech-savvy or not, young or old, coming from any culture. Let’s talk about some tips to help you write content that’s simple and easily localizable.

Keep it short

English is a fairly short language: efficient words, punchy sentences. French…Not at all. Just so you know, when you localize from English to French, volume is up by 15%, from English to German by 20%.

Keep the sentences short and keep one idea per sentence. Write simply: if it’s easy for an English user to understand, it will also be the case for a translator.

Avoid metaphors and cultural references

I agree, sometimes you want to use beautiful expressions to describe a very simple thing. Culturally-referred language can be really difficult to adapt.

Go for “You did great” or “Good job” rather than “You rocked your socks off” (yeah I love this expression even though it’s kind of tacky). Forget the “Blah, this did not work” and just write “This didn’t work”. See, easy.

Image-wise, it also matters. Rockers know the horn sign but did you know that in South America, it also designates someone who’s been cheated on. So yes, pay attention to that.

Remove any equivocality concerning gender

Know those languages that make a difference between male and female genres? Well, there are many of them, you can see a list here. In French, for example, we’ll have to say “They listen to his/her music” and not just “They listen to their music”. Try to be as specific as possible concerning gender: add those his/her/he/she.

Context: the key to any good localization

Last but not least, after you’re done with your writing, add as much context as you can for the translators who’ll work after you. It can be done in a spreadsheet but also as comments in the actual code, showing screenshots or just where the text lies. Good information will be key for the translator to really localize the content in their own culture.