# Can 3D slicer support other languages? Or how to add additional language libraries, such as Chinese?

**URL:** <https://discourse.slicer.org/t/can-3d-slicer-support-other-languages-or-how-to-add-additional-language-libraries-such-as-chinese/14751>\
**Category:** Development\
**Created:** [November 24, 2020, 2:12am UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/can-3d-slicer-support-other-languages-or-how-to-add-additional-language-libraries-such-as-chinese/14751 "2020-11-24T02:12:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Aitekk](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/aitekk/32/7890_2.png) [@Aitekk](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/Aitekk)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2020, 2:12am UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/can-3d-slicer-support-other-languages-or-how-to-add-additional-language-libraries-such-as-chinese/14751/1 "2020-11-24T02:12:59Z")

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Is there any way to make slicer support other languages? Such as add an extra language library. We need to translate slicer to Chinese. Slicer is an excellent tool for medical image. If it is compatible with more languages, its generalization will be greatly increased. Can you give me some suggestions？Thanks!

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**Author:** ![lassoan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/lassoan/32/13_2.png) [@lassoan](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/lassoan)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2020, 2:53am UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/can-3d-slicer-support-other-languages-or-how-to-add-additional-language-libraries-such-as-chinese/14751/2 "2020-11-24T02:53:00Z")

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There are ongoing efforts for translation to Spanish and Arabic and there have been previous work on Chinese that could be .

Some parts of the application can be translated already, while other parts require some software development work. See some more information here:

> [@Slicer Internationalization](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/slicer-internationalization/579/4):
>
> Thanks for the information @jcfr I have compiled the slicer with Slicer\_BUILD\_I18N\_SUPPORT enabled in cmake gui but cannot see the language combobox and international panel in general settings, do I miss something to make it works? cmake settings [image] I also check with visual studo, seems Slicer\_BUILD\_I18N\_SUPPORT is not really enable in codes? [image] Ted

> [@Is there any tutorial "how to translate the English language to another"?](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/is-there-any-tutorial-how-to-translate-the-english-language-to-another/1829):
>
> Operating system: Slicer version: Expected behavior: Actual behavior: I was deeply attracted by the powerful function of 3DSlicer. And I think that If there was no language barrier, it could spread more widely. If there are any open program like that “Change Language” and I am very interesting to translate the English to Chinese. As a doctor, however, I donot know how to deal with that. So dose anyone could give a video tutorial to do.

I think right now what we miss is software engineering effort to review/update [this pull request](https://github.com/Slicer/SlicerGitSVNArchive/pull/898/files) for the latest Slicer version and get it integrated into Slicer core. It could be done either by finding a volunteer (preferably by someone who speaks Chinese) or by giving a contract to Kitware.