Points to Keep in Mind when Creating a Multilingual Website

Let me tell you what to keep in mind when creating a multilingual site.

 

Text length varies by language

A good design is created by neatly arranging the size and length of text. However, switching languages causes layout collapses because the length of text varies greatly from language to language.

For example, “雰囲気 [atmosphere] (3 letters)” in Japanese is completely different in length from “atomosphere (11 letters)” in English and “khí quyển (8 letters)” in Vietnamese.

There is a large difference in text length, especially between languages that use Chinese characters, such as Japanese and Chinese, and those that use the alphabet.

Therefore, if you simply convert the text when switching languages, the design may not be beautiful in one language, so you need to check the layout for each language and make minor modifications.

 

Same font, different sizes per languages

For example, if the text “Works” is displayed in English at a size of 20 points, and you switch to Japanese and display the Japanese text “実績” at 20 points, the Japanese text will seem much larger.

Apparently Japanese characters look larger than alphabets for the same number of points.

Therefore, if you keep the number of points smaller for Japanese than for alphabetic languages, it will often be displayed nicely when you switch languages.

 

Different languages have different fonts available

There are many fonts for the alphabet, but fashionable fonts for Japanese and Vietnamese are few.
Even if you make it stylish in English, other languages may not have a similar font, and substituting a different one may make the design look a little inferior.

 

More languages double the number of pages

Supporting a variety of languages is a very good thing from the perspective of universal design, but every additional language tends to add the same number of pages.

For example, if a small site with 10 pages per language is to be made available in Japanese, English, Vietnamese, Korean, and Chinese, the total number of pages will be 50. 100 pages would be 500 pages, and the effort and cost to maintain will be greater. (This is not the case for a simplified site depending on the language.)

 

Time-consuming to make revisions and updates

We may be very enthusiastic when we first create a site, so we do our best when we create a multilingual site. But even after the site is released, we always need to create multilingual versions when we make revisions and add additional pages.

What would be an easy fix for one language is time-consuming and labor-intensive for multiple languages, so it tends to gradually become a chore.

Even if you have a CMS for news and blogs, it can be a challenge to upload a single news item if it is in multiple languages.

 

Language content checks are difficult

When creating a multilingual site, native speakers of each language check for content and errors, but it is quite difficult to check across other languages.

Even in ALIVE Vietnam, the Japanese director can check the Japanese, but the Vietnamese has to be left to the staff, and it is difficult for one person in charge to check everything, so they have to go ahead believing that probably the same content is written.

 

Direct translation is not enough

At ALIVE Vietnam, we often start by creating websites from Japanese, but it is not always a good idea to translate that Japanese directly into Vietnamese or English.

In particular, if a catchphrase such as “未来へはばたけ (Mirai e Habatake=Wings to the Future)” in Japanese is directly translated into English, the text tends to be unintelligible.

Also, when translating English into Japanese, English has many pronouns such as “I” and “you,” while Japanese is ambiguous, so a direct translation tends to be difficult to understand as Japanese.

Therefore, when translating, it is necessary to take an attitude to translate the text according to the expressions of each language while taking into account the original message.

 

Which language will be the main language?

For example, when you display https://alive-web.vn/, you must decide which language you want to display it in. And that language will essentially be the main language of the site.

If it is for Vietnamese, you should use Vietnamese as the main language, and if it is for Japanese, you should use Japanese as the main language.

These days, there are ways to switch automatically. For example, it is possible to automatically switch languages according to the language of a web browser such as Chrome or Safari.

For example, if my Chrome language is Japanese, I can automatically display Japanese on a website that is primarily in Vietnamese.

Even so, the main language needs to be decided.

 

Multilingual sites cost more than single language sites

It is obvious, but it costs more to create a multilingual site than a single language site.

It’s easy to think, “Well, it’s just the same design in different languages, so the cost won’t be that much different, right?” However, as mentioned above, the text size adjustment, layout adjustment, doubling the number of pages, and CMS are also more complex than when creating a single language site. There are considerably more things to take into account when creating a multilingual site.

If we also ask for translations into other languages, the budget will increase very much.

 

In the end

These are points to keep in mind when creating a multilingual site.

There are many more points to keep in mind when creating a multilingual site than when creating a single language site. Please try to create a multilingual site with care.

 

About ALIVE Vietnam

ALIVE is a digital creative company based in Vietnam and Japan that uses the power of design and technology to solve business problems.

Branding & Marketing
We will accompany and support you to grow your products and services in the Vietnamese market.
UI/UX Design
Our designs will help your business grow further by improving the UI/UX of your app or web design.

Plese feel free to Contact us!