Pseudolocalization, also known as pseudo-localization, is a software testing method that helps evaluate a product’s internationalization features. Unlike localization, which translates text into another language, pseudolocalization tweaks the original language, modifying the text to mimic the look and feel of a foreign language.
This technique is handy for developers who want to fill in placeholder content before the actual translation work begins.
For example, after pseudolocalization, "Account Settings" might appear as [!!! Àççôûñţ Šéţţîñĝš !!!].
Applying pseudolocalization
To get started with pseudolocalization, head over to Lokalise and open your project. Select the keys you want to pseudolocalize by ticking the checkboxes next to their names. Then, from the bulk actions menu, choose the Pseudolocalize action.
Pseudolocalization uses the base language values, so it can't be applied to the base language itself. Also, it only applies to the languages currently displayed. To choose which languages are shown, simply tick or untick the checkboxes in the languages dropdown.
Pseudolocalization settings
Before you apply the pseudolocalization, you can tweak a couple of settings:
Increase length, % — enter a number here to increase the length of the pseudolocalized string relative to the original text. This is useful when pseudolocalizing into languages that tend to be longer than the source language (for example, German is usually about 30% longer than English).
Add brackets — it's a good idea to add brackets to pseudolocalized strings so they stand out more in the app or on the website. This option will enclose the resulting string in brackets with exclamation points, like
[!!! !!!].
Once you are ready, click Proceed.