Real-Time Welsh Translation for Childcare Software: How We Built Bilingual Tools for Wales

How We Built Real-Time Welsh Translation Into Wootzoo.  And Why Wales Deserves Better Than Google Translate

When I first began building Wootzoo, I quickly realised (being a Welsh native and all) that the Welsh language is a massively underserved segment for applications, and I wanted to build a platform that is genuinely Wales-first.

Why Welsh matters to me

During my previous life as an agency owner, I set up an agency, Pobl Tech during the pandemic, with two partners - Jon and Gweirydd.   Gweirydd, is a first-language Welsh speaker. It made me realise how important the language is.  It's our language, our identity, our history...  Our connection to the past. It's important and should be preserved. And Gweirydd really made me appreciate it. Thanks G.

So with that in mind, and with his vision of a truly bilingual Internet for Wales, I took that on board and made Wootzoo a Wales-first, bilingual platform.

Why not just use Google Translate?

Yes, there's translation tools like Google Translate which will plug and play; that is, to just translate your content on the fly using their tools. But that's more of a sticking plaster than a Welsh-first, from the bottom up approach. This is where we wanted to establish ourselves as THE PLATFORM FOR WALES.

And since we made that decision early on, it has been at the core of everything we do.

And considering our initial market is bilingual childcare, our providers need a tool that is truly bilingual.

Starting with Helo Blod

As we moved into the bilingual space, we worked closely with Helo Blod.

Helo Blod is a service from Welsh Government and they provide a free 500 words per month service. Which is great for web content. They're professional, know their Welsh grammar, and brilliant for our static webpages.

The real-time translation problem

As Wootzoo grew and developed, a lot of the main functionality of the platform involved day-to-day communication with parents.

Now... although Cylch Meithrin is an organisation that prides itself on promoting the Welsh language and Welsh culture, a lot of the settings (in South Wales at least) are run by staff whose first language is not Welsh. And in some cases, the understanding of the language was, at best, beginner level.

And then came along, like a Christmas miracle: Techiaith.

We were researching ways to make Wootzoo truly bilingual. As stated, some staff would struggle to communicate bilingually; so having a system that could help translate English to Welsh in real-time would be massive. It would literally save hours of translation work.

Finding Techiaith

After looking around the Internet, we stumbled upon the brilliant work that Techiaith, a Bangor University spin-out, had created. They describe themselves as:

"A self-funded research unit that develops artificial intelligence models and datasets for the Welsh language, the Celtic languages, and for multilingual situations in general."

Techiaith is led by Delyth Prys and Dewi Bryn Jones. Delyth heads the unit, guiding the vision of creating robust Welsh-language technology, while Dewi leads development, making real-time translation and speech tools possible. Their multidisciplinary team of linguists, developers, and researchers built Techiaith to ensure Welsh remains fully supported in the digital age.  And I also want to say there is a whole team there, behind the scenes doing wonderful things. So a special mention to Stefano Ghazzali and everyone else working there.

What they offer is simply amazing. A game changer. A perfect solution for what we were looking for. Their services include a real-time Welsh-to-English translation service, with a deep understanding of the intricacies of the Welsh language.

Building it into Wootzoo

I digress. With the tech laid in place, and our sector eager for a solution, we began development on a sleek, intuitive design that would seamlessly translate Welsh into English at the touch of a button.

If a childcare setting operates bilingually, each section now has a 'translate' button. If the setting is English only, the option is hidden. Simple, elegant, seamless.

What this means in practice

In real terms, what does this mean? A setting can now offer a fully bilingual experience, in line with the Welsh Promise, straight out of the box.

The Welsh Promise is a framework that helps childcare settings embed the Welsh language into everyday practice, supporting children to experience Welsh naturally and consistently.

A nursery in Wales can be bilingual in a matter of minutes, not months. For CIW, this reduces admin time, ensures compliance without manual rewriting, and makes inspections smoother because everything is consistent. At the same time, it shows respect for Welsh identity and meets parents' expectations.

Now parents can receive real-time information in their preferred language of choice, without the childcare setting having to speak to a translator. That's a huge cost saving and time saving. #win.

What's next

We're just getting started when it comes to making Welsh front and foremost in tech.

We're not just pioneering innovative solutions in our sector we're doing it bilingually. We're building Wootzoo for our community, as a bootstrapped, community-focused, Welsh-first app.

By putting Welsh first, we're not just building software, we're making a statement! We're making it easier for childcare providers to deliver fully bilingual experiences, reduce admin, and meet CIW and parental expectations. With Wootzoo, following the Welsh Promise and embedding Welsh into everyday practice isn't a months-long project, it's ready to go from day one.

Matthew Webley.