Multilingual launch: which languages first

Localisation is more than words: date formats, currency, faces in images, legal requirements. Without them the text reads foreign.

Task: Going global and unsure which languages to start with.

[Before you start, do three things]
1. Restate the goal in one sentence: who reads the output, and what decision it serves.
2. If I have not given you the following, ask me. Do not assume:
   - existing traffic sources
   - willingness to pay
   - compliance cost
   - translation and upkeep
3. Say how you plan to do it (at most 5 steps) and wait for my go-ahead.

[Go through each of these]
- rank by traffic times willingness over cost
- two or three at first
- state the upkeep burden of small languages
- entry and exit criteria

[Process]
1. List every localisable element: text, formats, images, law
2. One rule set per market
3. Check for hard-coded strings
4. Design a verification
5. Say what should stay untranslated

[Output]
Element list, market rules, gap check, verification.

[Do not]
- Never translate only the UI strings
- Do not ignore plurals and gender
- One format never fits all markets
- Never force-translate a brand name