Talkr is the lightest i18n provider for React applications. It supports Typescript, provides autocompletion, has 0 dependencies, and is very easy to use.
- Auto-detect browser language
- Auto-detect plural rules based on any language
- Dynamic translations with multiple keys
- Access deeply nested keys in json translations files
- Adapts syntax to gender
- Supports lists
- Supports React Native
- Provides typescript autocompletion for your keys
// with npm
npm install talkr
// with yarn
yarn add talkr
- Create your JSON translation files.
- Surround dynamic values by double underscores:
__dynamicValue__
. - To allow automatic plural detection, you will need to pass a
count
parameter to Talkr's translation function. Talkr will then chose the right word or sentence betweenzero
,one
,two
,few
andmany
.
🤓: Some languages have more complex plural rules, that may require these five options to offer a perfect user experience. For instance, Arabic handle
zero
,one
,two
,numbers between 3 and 10
andnumbers over 10
as separate entities. If a language doesn't need all these subtleties - like english - you can only writezero
,one
andmany
in the JSON file.
{
"hello": "hello",
"feedback": {
"error": "The connection failed",
"success": "The connection succedeed"
},
"user": {
"describe": {
"simple": "You are __name__",
"complex": "You are __name__ and you like __hobby__"
}
},
"idiom": {
"sovereign": {
"female": "Long live the Queen!",
"male": "Long live the King!"
}
},
"message-count": {
"zero": "you don't have new messages",
"one": "you have 1 message",
"many": "you have __count__ messages"
},
"days": ["Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday"],
}
- In your index file, import your JSON translations
- Wrap your App with Talkr's
Provider
- Pass it your available
languages
and yourdefaultLanguage
. - You also have the option to let Talkr detect browser's language with the prop
detectBrowserLanguage
(see [props](#Available props)).
import * as React from "react";
import { createRoot } from "react-dom/client";
import { Talkr } from "talkr";
import App from "./app";
import en from "./i18n/en.json";
import fr from "./i18n/fr.json";
const root = createRoot(document.getElementById("root"));
root.render(
<Talkr languages={{ en, fr }} defaultLanguage="en">
<App />
</Talkr>,
);
- In any component, import Talker's hook
useT
. - Destructure the translation function
T
fromuseT
- Fetch the desired sentence as if you were directly accessing an object, by adding
.
between each key. Based on the JSON example above, we could print the sentenceThe connection succedeed
by simply writingT("feedback.success")
import React from "react";
import { useT } from "talkr";
export default function MyComponent() {
const { T } = useT();
return (
<>
<h1>{T("hello")}</h1>
<div>{T("feedback.success")}</div>
</>
);
}
- To handle dynamic translations, just add an object with all necessary dynamic values
- To make it work, you need to surround the dynamic values by double underscores in your [JSON files](Add translation files) (
__dynamicValue__
)
"user": {
"describe": {
"simple": "You are __name__",
"complex": "You are __name__ and you like __hobby__"
}
}
import React from "react";
import { useT } from "talkr";
export default function MyComponent() {
const { T } = useT();
return (
<>
<h1>{T("user.describe.complex", { name: "joe", hobby: "coding" })}</h1>
</>
);
}
- To handle plural, just add a
count
property to the object - To make it work, you need to provide both
zero
,one
andmany
values to your JSON files.
"message-count": {
"zero": "you don't have new messages",
"one": "you have 1 message",
"many": "you have __count__ messages"
}
import React, { useState } from "react";
import { useT } from "talkr";
export default function MyComponent() {
const { T } = useT();
const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
return (
<>
<h1>{T("message-count", { count })}</h1>
<button onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}>+1</button>
</>
);
}
- Some languages have different syntax for masculine and feminine genders.
- To adapt your sentence accordingly, just pass the param
gender: m
formale
, orgender: f
forfemale
. - To make it work, you need to provide both
male
andfemale
values to your JSON files.
"idiom": {
"sovereign": {
"female": "Long live the Queen!",
"male": "Long live the King!"
}
}
import React from "react";
import { useT } from "talkr";
export default function MyComponent() {
const { T } = useT();
return (
<>
<h1>{T("idiom.sovereign", { gender: "m" })}</h1>
</>
);
}
- You can render a list of string
- The last junction can be styled thanks to the following parameters:
listType?: "conjunction" | "disjunction"; // ""conjunction" by default
listStyle?: "long" | "narrow"; // "narrow" by default
"days": ["Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday"],
import React from "react";
import { useT } from "talkr";
export default function MyComponent() {
const { T } = useT();
return (
<>
<h1>{T("days", { listType: "conjunction" })}</h1>
</>
);
}
- Access and update the locale by using the hook
useT()
- If the provided locale doesn't match any JSON translation files, Talkr will use the
defaultLanguage
sent to the provider.
import React, { useState } from "react";
import { useT } from "talkr";
export default function MyComponent() {
const { T, setLocale, locale } = useT();
return (
<>
<h1>{T("hello")}</h1>
<p>{locale}</p>
<button onClick={() => setLocale("fr")}>speak french</button>
</>
);
}
Autocompletion for translation keys is available in Typescript projects. Because json must be parsed at compile time, you will need to create your own useAutocompleteT
hook with Talkr's Autocomplete
type wrapper.
Here's how to do it:
- Make sure you use
Typescript >=4.5.5
(we don't guarantee it will work on older versions) - Create a
translate.tsx
file anywhere in your app(translate.tsx
can be named as you want) - Import your main language JSON translation (ex:
en.json
) - Instantiate autocompletion with Talkr's
Autocomplete
- Export a
useAutocompleteT
hook around Talkr'suseT()
import { useT, Autocomplete, TParams, tr } from "talkr";
import en from "./en.json";
type Key = Autocomplete<typeof en>;
export const useAutocompleteT = () => {
const { locale, languages, defaultLanguage } = useT();
return {
T: (key: Key, params?: TParams) =>
tr({ locale, languages, defaultLanguage }, key, params),
};
};
If you prefer to keep the useT
naming, just write:
import { useT as useTr, Autocomplete, TParams, tr } from "talkr";
import en from "./en.json";
type Key = Autocomplete<typeof en>;
export const useT = () => {
const { locale, languages, defaultLanguage } = useTr();
return {
T: (key: Key, params?: TParams) =>
tr({ locale, languages, defaultLanguage }, key, params),
};
};
You now have the choice between using your own useAutocompleteT
hook - which provides real-time autocompletion - or using Talkr's useT
- which doesn't provide autocompletion - in your app.
import { useAutocompleteT } from "./translate";
function App() {
const { T } = useAutocompleteT();
return (
<>
<h1>{T("feedback.success")}</h1>
<h4>{T("user.describe.complex", { name: "joe", hobby: "coding" })}</h4>
</>
);
}
🤓 Pro-tip: since you will need to import
useAutocompleteT
fromtranslate.tsx
, it is highly recommended to add an aliastranslate
to your builder's config andtsconfig.json
.
This will allow you to write
import { useAutocompleteT } from "translate" 👍
instead of
import { useAutocompleteT } from "../../translate" 👎
Exemples: webpack
resolve: { extensions: [".ts", ".tsx", ".js", "jsx", ".json"], alias: { translate: path.resolve(__dirname, "src/translate/"), }
tsconfig
{ "compilerOptions": { "paths": { "translate/*": ["src/translate/*"] } }}
for other bundlers, please refer to their respective documentations.
- Add your provider directly in App.(js|tsx)
import { StyleSheet, Text, View } from "react-native";
import { Talkr } from "talkr";
import en from "./src/i18n/en.json";
import fr from "./src/i18n/fr.json";
import MyComponent from "./src/MyComponent";
export default function App() {
return (
<Talkr languages={{ en, fr }} defaultLanguage="en">
<View style={styles.container}>
<MyComponent />
</View>
</Talkr>
);
}
- All the exemples above are valid in React Native. You only have to replace html tags (
div
,h1
, etc.) byText
. - Since
Intl
api is not available in React Native, thecount
param will only return three types of plural keys:zero
,one
andmany
. Please adjust your json files accordingly.
import React, { Text, Button } from "react-native";
import { useState } from "react";
import { useT } from "talkr";
export default function MyComponent() {
const { T } = useT();
const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
return (
<>
<Text>{T("hello")}</Text>
<Text>
{T("user.describe.complex", { name: "joe", hobby: "coding" })}
</Text>
<Text>{T("message-count", { count })}</Text>
<Button onPress={() => setCount(count + 1)} title="+1" />
</>
);
}
You can pass these props to Talkr's provider
Type | Role | |
---|---|---|
languages | object |
object containing all your json files. Typical format: {en: {...}, fr: {...}}
|
defaultLanguage | string |
default language of your app (a similar key must be included in the language prop) |
detectBrowserLanguage | boolean |
if true , Talkr will automatically use browser language and override the defaultLanguage . If the browser language is not included in your available translations, it will switch back to defaultLanguage . Not available in React Native. Use expo-localization to fetch the default user locale instead. |
🤓: The auto-detect language feature will always return a simple key such as 'fr' instead of 'fr_FR'. Keep things simple and always declare your languages with 2 letters.
DoneDeal0
If you or your company uses Talkr, please show your support by becoming a sponsor! Your name and company logo will be displayed on the README.md
.
https://github.com/sponsors/DoneDeal0
Also see our website