Skip to content

Update README for translation clarity and contribution process #2349

New issue

Have a question about this project? Sign up for a free GitHub account to open an issue and contact its maintainers and the community.

Sign up for GitHub

By clicking “Sign up for GitHub”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy statement. We’ll occasionally send you account related emails.

Already on GitHub? Sign in to your account

Merged
RodriSanchez1 merged 1 commit into from
Sep 18, 2026
Merged

Update README for translation clarity and contribution process #2349

Changes from all commits
Commits
Show all changes
1 commit
Select commit
File filter

Filter by extension

Filter by extension
Conversations
Failed to load comments.
Loading
Jump to
Jump to file
Failed to load files.
Loading
Diff view
Diff view
24 changes: 19 additions & 5 deletions README.md
View file
Open in desktop
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -22,16 +22,30 @@ This video shows Srna. She is one of the children who have received the Cboard C

## Translations

The app supports 40 languages.
Languages were machine translated and require proofreading: if you want to help proofread, please use our translation management platform: https://crowdin.com/project/cboard
Cboard is available in +50 languages, but almost all of them were machine translated and have never been reviewed by a human speaker. There are no official translators on the team: for most languages, the first person to proofread them is a volunteer from the community or a special translator chosen for that language.

**You do not need to be a programmer!**
**You do not need to be a programmer!** Machine translation gets the words roughly right and the meaning often wrong — a speaker who knows the language and sees the app in context produces something no automatic translation can match. For a child using Cboard to communicate, that difference is the difference between a board that makes sense and one that does not.

Translations play a major role in this project and they contribute a lot for the inclusion of children, specially in non developed countries. Please consider collaborating with us!
Ongoing translation work is tracked in [issue #89](https://github.com/cboard-org/cboard/issues/89) — comment there to claim a language or to ask for one to be added.

### Contributing as a translator

Translation happens on [Crowdin](https://crowdin.com/project/cboard), our localization platform. No installation and no code required.

1. Create a free [Crowdin account](https://crowdin.com/join).
2. Open the [Cboard project](https://crowdin.com/project/cboard) and join it, selecting the language you want to work on. If your language is not listed, ask for it in [issue #89](https://github.com/cboard-org/cboard/issues/89).
3. Say on [issue #89](https://github.com/cboard-org/cboard/issues/89) which language you are taking, so two people don't review the same strings, and ask there for **proofreader** rights on it. Do this before you start: only proofreaders can approve strings, and approved strings are the ones shipped to the app.
4. **Translate** empty strings and **proofread** the existing machine-translated ones. Watch for context: many strings are symbol labels (single words that must read as a child would say them), others are settings and buttons. Crowdin shows the source string.
5. **Approve** each string as you review it, so your pass through the language leaves nothing to redo later.
6. Work in manageable batches — a partially reviewed language is already an improvement, and approved strings reach users on the next release.

A maintainer pulls approved translations into the codebase periodically, so there is nothing else you need to do to publish your work.

### Translations for developers

To add support to a new language, [follow this guide](https://github.com/cboard-org/cboard/wiki/How-to-Add-a-New-Language).
#### Adding a new language

To add support to a new language, [follow this guide](https://github.com/cboard-org/cboard/wiki/How-to-Add-a-New-Language). The language must also exist in the Crowdin project. If it doesn't, ask a maintainer on [issue #89](https://github.com/cboard-org/cboard/issues/89) to add it.

#### Pulling translations from CrowdIn

Expand Down
Loading