Things to know about on-demand Twitter translation

Last July 5th we released Twitter.com in two new languages - Ukrainian and Catalan. These two languages were among the six most requested ones, which we opened for translation in May 2012. With this post, we want to delve a little bit deeper into this new language release process and address some frequently asked questions.

How does the release process work?

Every month, before the intended release date, we notify the communities behind all release candidate languages. If the translator community agrees that the language is ready for prime time, we’ll launch it to the public. If the general sentiment within the community is that more time is needed for translation, the release candidate language is not released, and, instead, the community continues its work, aiming for the following month’s release date.

What happens once a language is released?

When a language is released, it becomes available for all Twitter users, who can select it by accessing their account language settings. Important to note is that, since they are part of our on-demand service, these languages are differentiated by a “beta” sign, which lets users know that the selected languages are in the beta stage - as the community might still be finalizing translations, and some phrases might as a result appear in English or with incorrect translations.

How do I fix translation errors?

You can fix translation errors you happen upon by searching for the relevant phrase on the Translation Center and voting up the translation you think is the most fitting for that phrase. If you can’t find an appropriate translation, you’re welcome to submit one yourself. The more people submit and vote for the best, higher-quality translation, the higher the chances it will move to the top of the rank and be eventually visible for all users of Twitter.com in your language.

Thank you, as always, for your great work supporting Twitter in your language - and don’t forget that you can request languages to be opened for translation through this form.