Italy

To which language should you translate to localize in Italy?

“Italian may not be spoken by the largest numbers of people, but its impact and influence over global culture are undeniable: as everything in Italy, it’s more a matter of quality than quantity. For any company, a presence in the Italian market is about making a statement.

Italian makes a distinction between “tu”, the colloquial form, and “lei”, the formal way to address someone. The “lei” is used as a form of respect – for teachers, in-laws or any older people outside of the family – but it’s also much colder than “tu”, so it’s ruled out in advertising, for example. A variety of dialects are proudly spoken by the natives of each region, although mostly with family and friends. Regional accents are very recognizable and each comes with their own stereotype attached, that’s why brands have more than once tapped into those to convey a sense of authenticity or, sometimes, a comedic effect.”

Official language

Italian (94.1%)

Actual languages

Italian (94.1%), Sardinian (2.7%), Friuli (1.2%), German (0.5%), French (0.5%), Albanian (0.2%), Romany (0.2%), Slovenian (0.2%), other (0.4%).

What the top 150 best localized websites in the world do in Italy

(Top 150 websites listed in the Global by Design ranking – published annually by Byte Level Research, this report provides a list of globally localized websites, showcasing best practices and emerging trends in their globalization)

• 133/150 localize by translating into Italian
• 1/150 localizes by translating into both Italian and Italian Sign Language
• 1/150 localizes by translating into both German and French
• 1/150 localizes by translating into Italian, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Russian
• 1/150 localizes by translating into Italian, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Russian
• 1/150 localizes by translating into Italian, German, Spanish, French and Simplified Chinese
• 1/150 localizes by translating into Italian, French and Simplified Chinese
• 1/150 localizes by translating into Italian, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Czech, Hungarian, Dutch, Polish and Swedish
• 1/150 localizes by translating into Italian, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Arabic, Hungarian, Polish, Bahasa Indonesia, Romanian, Turkish, Thai and Ukrainian