Index: includes/language.inc
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/drupal/drupal/includes/language.inc,v
retrieving revision 1.19
diff -u -r1.19 language.inc
--- includes/language.inc	1 Feb 2009 16:45:53 -0000	1.19
+++ includes/language.inc	3 Feb 2009 12:05:05 -0000
@@ -142,3 +142,23 @@
     }
   }
 }
+
+/**
+ * Return array of localized variables from modules.
+ * 
+ * This will only work after modules have been loaded, thus variables used
+ * before module loading won't be localized.
+ */
+function language_variable_init($langcode) {
+  if ((variable_get('language_count', 1) == 1)) {
+    return array();
+  }
+  if ($cached = cache_get('variables:'.$langcode, 'cache')) {
+    $variables = $cached->data;
+  }
+  else {
+    $variables = module_invoke_all('variable_init', $langcode);
+    cache_set('variables:'.$langcode, $variables);
+  }
+  return $variables;
+}
\ No newline at end of file
Index: includes/bootstrap.inc
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/drupal/drupal/includes/bootstrap.inc,v
retrieving revision 1.269
diff -u -r1.269 bootstrap.inc
--- includes/bootstrap.inc	31 Jan 2009 16:50:56 -0000	1.269
+++ includes/bootstrap.inc	3 Feb 2009 12:05:05 -0000
@@ -628,11 +628,33 @@
  *   The name of the variable to return.
  * @param $default
  *   The default value to use if this variable has never been set.
+ * @param $langcode
+ *   The language code to get the value for. Defaults to the code of the
+ *   language used on the page, but then falls back to the global variable
+ *   if a language specific is not found. Set it to empty to explicitly
+ *   ask for a global variable.
  * @return
  *   The value of the variable.
  */
-function variable_get($name, $default = NULL) {
-  global $conf;
+function variable_get($name, $default = NULL, $langcode = NULL) {
+  global $conf, $language;
+
+  // Before language_init, $language is empty.
+  if (!empty($language)) {
+    // If no language code, default to current language
+    if (!$langcode) {
+      $langcode = $language->language;
+    }
+    elseif (!isset($conf[$langcode])) {
+      // This will only happen when variable_get() is called with a language code.
+      // So it must be from a module, not during bootstrap.
+      $conf[$langcode] = language_variable_init($langcode);
+    }
+    if (isset($conf[$langcode][$name])) {
+      return $conf[$langcode][$name];
+    }
+  }
+
 
   return isset($conf[$name]) ? $conf[$name] : $default;
 }
@@ -1117,7 +1139,7 @@
 }
 
 function _drupal_bootstrap($phase) {
-  global $conf, $user;
+  global $conf, $user, $language;
 
   switch ($phase) {
 
@@ -1228,6 +1250,10 @@
     case DRUPAL_BOOTSTRAP_FULL:
       require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/includes/common.inc';
       _drupal_bootstrap_full();
+      // Load variables for current language
+      if (function_exists('language_variable_init')) {
+        $conf[$language->language] = language_variable_init($language->language);
+      }
       break;
   }
 }