How is cultural adaptation different from translation?

Translation makes the words correct. Cultural adaptation makes the message appropriate, changing examples, imagery and framing so it fits the target community. A translation can be accurate and still need adaptation.

Do I always need cultural adaptation?

Not always. Straightforward, factual content often needs only accurate translation. Adaptation earns its place where tone, imagery or cultural framing affect whether the message is trusted and acted on, which is common in health and community messaging.

Core localisation

Cultural adaptation

Cultural adaptation is adjusting translated content so it fits the target community's context, assumptions and beliefs, not just its language. It addresses the failures literal translation cannot: content that is accurate word for word but reads as though it was never written for the people receiving it.

How it works

Cultural adaptation looks past the sentence to what the content assumes: examples, humour, imagery, gender and family norms, religious references, colours and symbols, and the level of directness a reader expects. Where any of these would land wrong, the adapter changes them so the meaning survives.

It is judgement work, not a lookup. The same health message may need different framing for different communities, even when both read the same language, because what reassures one audience can alienate another.

How SourceTarget uses it

SourceTarget builds cultural adaptation into human review rather than treating it as an add-on. Reviewers with the target community in view flag content that is accurate but tone-deaf, and adapt it.

This matters most for the CALD-facing government and health content the platform is built for, where a literal translation can be technically correct and still fail the people it is meant to reach.