Poetry on Stanza is written in many languages. When a poem is in a language you don't read, Stanza can offer a machine translation, so the poem can still reach you.
Reading a poem in your language
When a poem's language is different from the language your app is set to, and the poet allows translation, you'll see an offer to Read in your language (for example, "Read in Spanish"). You'll find it on the poem's card, or in its ⋯ menu.
- Tap Read in your language.
- Stanza shows "Translating…" for a moment, then displays the translation in place of the original.
- A banner makes clear what you're reading: Machine translation. Meter, rhyme and wordplay are lost.
- Tap Show original at any time to return to the poet's own words.
Which language you're offered
Stanza uses the language you've chosen for the app, under Settings › Language on the web or your app's language setting. Change it, and the offer changes with it.
A reading aid, never the poem
A machine translation helps you follow a poem, but it isn't the poem. It can't carry the sound of the original, its line-by-line music, or the double meanings poets build on purpose. That's why every translation is clearly labelled, and why the original is always one tap away. Reactions, replies and margin notes always belong to the poem as written.
For poets: choosing whether your work can be translated
Translation is on by default, because it lets your work reach readers who couldn't otherwise read it. You decide.
Your account default
Go to Settings › Privacy › Let readers translate my work. This sets the starting point for new pieces. Pieces you've already published keep their own setting.
Just this piece
In the composer's Settings tab, or in a published poem's settings when you edit it, use Allow translation. You'll see whether the piece is following your default ("From your account default") or set separately ("Just this piece"), with a quick way back to the default.
What switching it off does
With translation off, readers who can't read your language see no translation offer at all. A poem you've opted out is never sent to the translation service.
Good to know
- Only poems you can already open can be translated. Translation never gets anyone past a poem's privacy.
- Very short pieces may not have enough text for Stanza to tell what language they're in, so a translation may not be available for them.
If you're a poet writing in more than one language, set the poem's language in the composer's Settings tab rather than leaving it on auto-detect. It helps readers and search.