Internationalization and localization
The terms are frequently abbreviated to the numeronyms i18n (where 18 stands for the number of letters between the first i and the last n in the word internationalization, a usage coined at DEC in the 1970s or 80s)[3][4] and L10n for localization, due to the length of the words.
i18n means internationalization
Translation
Magento translates words and phrases when all of the following conditions are met:
- ddThe Magento code base has the necessary translation dictionaries for a language
- This language is configured by the store administrator to be used in specified scope (that is, storefront)
The Magento application automatically assembles translation dictionaries located in modules’ i18n directory into a dictionary per language. For example, Brazilian Portuguese (pt_BR) translation dictionaries might be located inmodule and theme directories similar to the following:
app/code/Magento/Checkout/i18n/pt_BR.csv
app/design/frontend/Magento/demo/i18n/pt_BR.csv
Assembling the preceding
pt_BR.csv files across all modules and the current theme results in a Portuguese translation of the entire application area (storefront or the Admin).
Magento 2 