Deep cultural adaptation of translated blog posts

Blog Localize, Cultural Deep-Adaptation

Takes a translated blog post and performs cultural adaptation so the result feels like it was written for the target market, not translated into it. This is the layer above blog-translate: it replaces examples, adjusts tone, swaps references, and localizes the entire reading experience.

Adapted from claude-blog-multilingual by Chris Mueller (Pro Hub Challenge, March 2026). Original: https://github.com/Chriss54/multilingual-int

Key References

• ../blog-translate/references/cultural-adaptation.md, the shared cultural profiles file with substitution tables for DACH, Francophone, Hispanic, Japanese, and a custom template. Do not duplicate this file.

When to Use

• Right after blog-translate produces a base translation.
• When existing translated content reads like "translated from English".
• When targeting a specific market, not just a language.
• When content needs local statistics, examples, and brand references.

Workflow

Phase 1: Locale Understanding

1. Parse the locale code with the shared multilingual locale rules used by blog-translate, blog-multilingual, and blog-locale-audit: ISO 639-1 language in lowercase, optional ISO 15924 script in title case, optional ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 region in uppercase. Accept full codes (de-DE, fr-CA, es-MX, pt-BR, zh-Hant) and unambiguous plain language codes (de, fr). Require a region or explicit neutral mode for ambiguous language-only targets such as es, pt, and zh.
2. Load the cultural profile from ../blog-translate/references/cultural-adaptation.md.
   • If the locale has a profile, use it.
   • If not, follow the "Custom-locale template" section in that reference to build a minimal profile inline.
3. Read the translated post only after resolving it inside the project root/current working directory. Reject symlinked paths, traversal outside the root, files over 10 MB, and binary files. Then identify adaptation targets.

Phase 2: Cultural Audit

Scan for elements that signal foreign origin:

Element	What to look for
Brand examples	US or UK brands with no relevance locally
Statistics sources	US-only studies and surveys
CTAs	American-style aggressive calls-to-action
Idioms	Literally translated English expressions
Legal references	Foreign laws (CCPA, FTC) where local law applies (DSGVO, RGPD)
Cultural references	Foreign holidays, events, customs
Currency and pricing	USD without conversion or context
Tone	Too casual or too formal for the target market
Address form	Inconsistent Sie/du, tu/vous, formal/informal

Output an audit report listing every target with severity (critical, recommended, optional).

Phase 3: Adaptation

3a. Example Substitution

Swap foreign examples for local equivalents:

• Use WebSearch to find local case studies, brands, or scenarios.
• Replace inline, preserving the same argument and structure.
• Record source URL, access date, and rationale for every non-obvious local replacement.
• If no local equivalent exists, keep the original but add local context ("In the German market, the equivalent dynamic is X").

3b. Statistics Localization

• Use primary or high-quality local sources for replacement statistics: national statistics offices, regulators, official industry bodies, academic datasets, or named research reports with methodology.
• Do not rely on generic WebSearch snippets as evidence. Fetch the cited page, verify the figure and context, and record the source URL and date.
• Fetch cited pages only after SSRF checks: allow https URLs only; reject javascript:, data:, file:, localhost, loopback, private, link-local, multicast, and reserved IPs after DNS resolution; disable redirects or validate the final URL with the same checks; cap redirects, response size, and request time; log the final URL and access date.
• If local data exists with comparable methodology, swap the source and the figure together. Keep one named source per claim.
• If local data is related but uses a different methodology or timeframe, do not silently swap it. Keep the original claim scoped, or rewrite the claim to match the local source.
• If not, keep the original stat but mark its geographic scope ("In the US, ...").
• Never strip source attribution.

3c. CTA Adaptation

Rewrite calls-to-action per the cultural profile:

• Adjust aggressiveness level (DACH and JA prefer informational, US prefers imperative).
• Use culturally appropriate action verbs.
• Adapt urgency framing.

3d. Tone Calibration

• Match formality per profile (DACH defaults to Sie for B2B, du for B2C lifestyle; FR defaults to vous; JA shifts register sharply by audience).
• Ensure consistent formal or informal address throughout the entire document.
• Match local content-style conventions.

3e. Legal and Regulatory Context

• Map legal references by issue and jurisdiction. Keep the original law when the claim is specifically about US compliance. Only substitute when the local law addresses the same issue, such as CCPA to DSGVO in DE, RGPD in FR, LGPD in BR, LFPDPPP in MX, Ley 1581 in CO, or Ley 25.326 in AR.
• Add local compliance notes where they help the reader.
• Remove irrelevant foreign regulatory references.

3f. Brand Example Swaps (Quick Map)

Profiles in ../blog-translate/references/cultural-adaptation.md provide substitution tables. Common examples:

Source (US)	DACH	FR	ES (Spain)	LATAM	JA
Walmart	MediaMarkt	Carrefour	El Corte Inglés	Walmart MX	Aeon
Target	Saturn	Auchan	Hipercor	Liverpool	Ito-Yokado
FTC	Bundeskartellamt	DGCCRF	CNMC	PROFECO (MX)	JFTC
CCPA	DSGVO	RGPD	RGPD	LFPDPPP (MX), Ley 1581 (CO), Ley 25.326 (AR), LGPD (BR)	APPI

Phase 4: Quality Verification

• All critical adaptation targets addressed.
• Tone is consistent throughout.
• No remaining foreign-origin markers.
• Statistics have valid sources (original or localized).
• CTAs match cultural expectations.
• Formal or informal address is consistent end to end.
• Content still supports the same argument as the original.
• SEO elements remain optimized beyond keyword placement: localized title and meta, heading intent, slug, alt text, internal-link anchors, same-language canonical, hreflang compatibility, and schema inLanguage.
• Word count is within the expected ratio for the language pair.

Phase 5: Save and Report

1. Save the localized version. Default: write a reviewed copy as {slug}-localized.{ext}. Only overwrite the translated file when the user asks for overwrite; before overwriting, create a timestamped backup and show a diff summary. Resolve every output path inside the project root and reject traversal, symlinked paths, or writes outside that root.

2. Present the summary:

   ## Localization complete: [Title]
   
   ### Target locale: [locale-code] ([locale-name])
   
   ### Adaptations made
   | Type | Count | Examples |
   |------|-------|----------|
   | Brand examples | [N] | Walmart -> MediaMarkt |
   | Statistics | [N] | US survey -> DACH survey |
   | CTAs | [N] | "Buy now" -> "Jetzt entdecken" |
   | Tone adjustments | [N] | Casual -> Sie |
   | Legal references | [N] | CCPA -> DSGVO |
   | Cultural references | [N] | Thanksgiving -> Weihnachtsgeschaeft |
   
   ### Cultural fit score
   - Naturalness: [1-10]
   - Market relevance: [1-10]
   - Tone match: [1-10]
   - Overall: [N]/30
   
   ### Remaining recommendations
   - [Optional adaptations not applied]
   

Error Handling

Scenario	Action
No cultural profile for the locale	Build a minimal profile from the custom-locale template, proceed
File is not in the expected language	Warn the user, offer to translate first
No local statistics available	Keep the original stat with a geographic-scope note
Locale code ambiguous (e.g., pt)	Ask: "Did you mean pt-BR (Brazil) or pt-PT (Portugal)?"

Cross-References

• Pre-step (translation): /blog translate <file> --to <code>
• QA across language versions: /blog locale-audit <directory>
• One-command pipeline: /blog multilingual <topic> --languages <codes>