BetterPoints app now supports Welsh

Following a successful pilot at Cardiff University, we have translated the BetterPoints app into Welsh to enable us to deliver a fully bilingual programme in 2023.

The app will now automatically display in Welsh to anyone who has their device set to that language.

We’re really excited to make our app available for Welsh speakers and look forward to working with Welsh Local Authorities and other organisations to help them achieve behaviour change for transport, health and the environment.

Welsh is one of the oldest languages in Europe, evolving from the Roman invasion of 43AD. However, Henry VIII’s Act of Union in 1536 made English the sole official language of Wales when the country was legally incorporated into England and, by the early Twentieth Century, Welsh had become a ‘minority language’.

Over the years, concerted efforts have been made to restore the language, and in January, the Welsh Government allocated £11 million to boost the economy in leading Welsh language counties. Welsh is currently spoken by around 538,000 (a little under 20%) of ‘usual residents’ aged three and over in Wales.

The BetterPoints app was built for internationalisation and can easily accommodate translations so that it appears to the user in their chosen language. Welsh is the latest to be implemented, joining a list that has included Polish, French, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, Portuguese and Malay.

The Welsh translation means that BetterPoints clients in Wales can provide programmes in both English and Welsh and support the continuation of that ancient language.