News TED Translators

Now on Android: Get the TED app, localized in 20 languages

Posted by:
The TED Adroid app has long brought you talks subtitled in a wide variety of languages. (Here, Angela Lee Duckworth's talk is translated to Arabic.) But with our new 2.0 version, this is only the beginning—the entire app has been localized in 21 languages.

The TED Android app has brought you subtitled TED Talks in the past. (Here, Angela Lee Duckworth’s talk is subtitled in Arabic.) But with the new 2.0 version of the app, this is only the beginning. The entire app has been localized in 20 languages.

The TED Android app has long let you watch more than 1,500 TED Talks, with subtitles in 102* languages. But with the launch of version 2.0 today, our award-winning app is now localized in 20 languages — from Spanish to Swedish, Chinese to Czech, Arabic to Korean. This means that fans in more than 100 countries will be able to browse and search for talks, read the FAQ and Help sections, and get the overall TED experience in their native language. With the new app, speakers will see headlines and talk descriptions in the language they speak. Even navigation menus have been translated.

The localized app gives easy access to translated and subtitled TED Talks, while still providing the full library of talks and a curated audio stream. We are thrilled that, for the first time, TED fans who speak languages other than English will get the full experience of browsing talks with language that is understandable to them. We hope this proves invaluable in spreading ideas.

TED's Android app, localizes in Korean, Arabic and German.

TED’s Android app, localized in Korean, Arabic and German.

(English speakers, never fear. Your TED Android app will function as normal with all the features you love, including offline viewing, bookmarking, easy sharing, and up-to-the-minute updates of new TED Talks.)

Localizing our Android app into 20 languages was no small feat. The subtitles and translations for the updated app were created by an incredible group of volunteer translators from TED’s Open Translation Project. We owe them a big thank-you as, without their time and dedication, this effort would not have been possible. Below, the translators who helped with this project … and the languages in which the TED Android app is now available:

  1. Arabic: Ayman MahmoudKhalid Marbou
  2. Chinese (Simplified): Zachary Lin ZhaoTony Yet
  3. Chinese (Traditional): Coco ShenGeoffrey C. Chen
  4. Czech: Jan KadlecJakub Helcl
  5. Dutch: Valérie BoorErik Mulder
  6. French: Elisabeth Buffard, Helene Batt
  7. German: Judith Matz, Helene Batt
  8. Hebrew: Ido Dekkers
  9. Hungarian: Peter OraveczJudit Szabo 
  10. Italian: Anna Cristiana MinoliMichele Gianella
  11. Japanese: Yasushi Aoki
  12. Korean: Keumseong BangSurie Lee
  13. Polish: Krystian ApartaRysia Wand
  14. Portuguese (Brazil): Gustavo RochaTulio Leao
  15. Portuguese: Isabel V. Belchior Rita Maia
  16. Romanian: Brandusa Gheorghe
  17. Russian: Aliaksandr AutayeuOlga Dmitrochenkova
  18. Spanish: Marie RodioSebastian Betti 
  19. Swedish: Matti Jääaro
  20. Turkish: Meric AydonatAhmet Yukselturk
A look at the easy browsability of translated TED Talks on the new localized TED Android app.

A look at the easy browsability of translated TED Talks on the new localized TED Android app.

Even the navigation menus have been localized.

Even the navigation menus have been translated, for the most intuitive viewing experience.

*Language enthusiasts, please note that the Open Translation Project added the 102nd language to its archive last week: Somali. The first TED Talk with Somali subtitles is Mikko Hypponen’s “Fighting viruses, defending the net,” translated by Ahmed Kadiye.