An embodiment of the present invention includes a method of displaying an application in the GUI of a computer display, where the application has been instructed to display text objects using a first language locale, and the GUI of the computer display is set to use a second language locale. The method includes a processor intercepting a command from the application to display a text object in the GUI, where the text object incorporates a text string corresponding to the first language locale and the processor retrieving, from the text object, a reference to a set of text strings associated with the text object, where each text string in the set of text strings has an associated language locale. The method also includes the processor sending a command to the GUI to display the object using a text string from the set of text strings associated with the second language locale.