Localization/subpage

Language
For the purpose of language planning and defining language sets for new or existing products, a language or language variant should be defined as the outcome of localization work for a product following a certain set of conventions: The written language of an application/software product might differ from spoken-language components (for example, French (Canada) in spoken, French (France) in written).
 * Engineering conventions: Being enabled in the localization infrastructure (i.e. translation management system, engineering system, build system, etc.) and marked with a unique language identifier (for example, en-US)
 * Translations conventions: Following a common orthography in a certain writing system and, quite commonly in the translation industry, the rules of a style guide and a terminology set
 * UI conventions: Following a certain set of conventions around user interface adjustment, like mirroring or font sizes

Common confusions pertaining to language in terms of localization
There are a few sources of confusion when speaking of languages in terms of localization, most prominently:
 * Confusion about writing systems --- some languages may use two (or more) official writing systems and/or orthographies. For instance, Serbian is written in both the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. In the context of localization then, Serbian Cyrillic and Serbian Latin count as two distinct languages.
 * Confusion about “localization infrastructure languages” and written languages --- in some cases there is a discrepancy between the “engineering” code of a language and the actual language. For example, a translation tool might enforce the use of a language with the code es-ES, but in fact the released products are supposed to be in an “international” version of Spanish.
 * Confusion about written and spoken languages. In terms of reach, the numbers cited for language use are most often those for the use of a spoken language (for example, from Ethnologue), while the definition of language sets mostly focuses on written language. For some languages the distinction between written and spoken is highly relevant – prominent examples include Arabic and Chinese.

When a product is said to be released in a certain language, what does that mean
Language means
 * 1) User Interface language/Language documentation or a website is written in
 * 2) and/or written language for text input by the user
 * 3) and/or spoken language in language output (for example, in videos)
 * 4) and/or recognized spoken language for language input via voice recognition

Usage means A user can use a language when
 * 1) They can understand the UI and find it appealing enough to use it in the language. For example, a highly academically translated version of Hindi might not be understood nor be appealing and therefore not get used, and users might use English instead.
 * 2) They can enter text where text input is required in a spelling system they are familiar with, most often through education, sometimes through the use of printed material.
 * 3) They can understand spoken language wherever spoken language is used. In most cases this will be a standard variant of the language (if such a standard exists) or one that the user is familiar with through television or radio.
 * 4) They can use spoken language where spoken language input is required and be understood. Dialects or accents might impede that understanding.