Using iNaturalist to learn names in other languages


Now, you can see common names in multiple languages!

iNaturalist has been translated into 57 languages, but many people want to use the platform in one language while learning common names in another.

We’ve recently added functionality to address this, allowing you to experience iNaturalist with multilingual common names. For instance, the image to the right displays the Mayan Name Ta alongside the Spanish name Chamiso for an observation of Viguiera dentata on the iNaturalist iPhone app. (Viguiera dentata is also known as known as Tahonal and Tajonal in Spanish and Taj and Sak xo´ xiiw in Mayan)

This feature aims to facilitate knowledge sharing and learning on the platform. In the Yucatan peninsula, Maria Cecilia Alvarez (@naturalista_cecilia) has been working with university students in citizen science and environmental education. Proficiency in both Spanish and Mayan names opens up broader opportunities to engage with and share knowledge with local Mayan communities about indigenous species.

The image below features @jhovannyflota and @yessi_yam, two students from the Regional Technological University of the South, Yucatán, observing Ta on their campus. The Yucatan Peninsula is one of the most important regions for the production of honey and Ta is an emblematic pollinator species for beekeeping. Ta's antimicrobial properties also makes it an important medicinal plant used by indigenous people across Mexico.


To use this feature, go to your account settings (A) and navigate to the Content & Display section (B). From there you can select lexicons (C), add them (D), and control how they are displayed alongside Common names in the same language as your locale. Your locale determines the language that the whole site appears in and is set in the Account section or from the footer of the website. You must configure multiple common names from the website but once you do, they will display on the iNaturalist Android and iPhone mobile apps. Additional detail is available on the iNaturalist Forum.

Posted on 2024년 01월 16일, 03시 42분 13초 UTC by loarie loarie

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Awesome feature, I love it and will totally use it. BTW, the account settings link doesn't currently work.

Posted by kevinfaccenda 27일전

Sounds tika/cool.

Posted by islandnaturespotter 27일전

link fixed - thanks!

Posted by loarie 27일전

I have been wanting this feature for ever, very excited it has been added :)

Posted by koos_the_reader 27일전

The blog inspired me to add 20 mushroom names in Dutch. Is there a way to reverse the species list from less frequent upwards? Something like this https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=7506&subview=table&taxon_id=47170&verifiable=any&view=species&order=desc

Posted by rudolphous 27일전

This is why Im still using iNaturalist
thank you staff!!!

Posted by diegoalmendras 27일전

This will make many very happy! Nice!

Posted by maryah 27일전

This is really neat! i did notice one confusing thing though. I added Abenaki and Mohawk languages as well as English. Both Abenaki and Mohawk have names only for some species, and oftentimes there is a name in one or not the other. For instance when I look at Moose there is an Abenaki name but not a Mohawk name... vice versa with hemlock. For both the name is displayed in the same place and it doesn't say which language it is. It would be helpful to know which name was being displayed. Not sure the best way to do that... but just a thought.

Posted by charlie 27일전

@loarie, Do you have some basic stats on vernacular names by language?

Posted by apseregin 27일전

Great stuff!

Posted by u49a11vd 27일전

Thank you, this is awesome! I have been switching my language from english to spanish to help me learn names I havent had to use in the past and for signage for my job. It is so important to have these up =)

Posted by steph_thecnidarian 27일전

Sounds like a great feature!

Posted by sharrow-sparrow 26일전

Super exciting! Will be using this a lot to help me learn my Spanish. Will be very helpful when travelling too!

Posted by danicalockett 26일전

While very nice feature, this makes UI messy. I would prefer some hover effect or button to show desired translations when needed.

Posted by kaupunkilinnut 26일전

I think people have been messing around with vernacular names by making them up. Here are examples of German common names which i really like but they seem to be nowhere except for iNaturalist:
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/486814-Mallota-cimbiciformis
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/887762-Acalypta-musci

I think it would be important that names cannot be added anonymous.

Posted by bagous 26일전

@bagous em, they're not anonymous, data is stored, just not displayed

Posted by marina_gorbunova 26일전

Thank you very much. Great job you are doing.

Posted by darwinsbloodhound 26일전

@bagous if you think a name is wrong or shouldn't be there, plesae flag the taxon in question by going to the taxon's page, clicking on Curation, then clicking on Flag for curation.

Posted by tiwane 26일전

Amazing! @andrawaag, you were one of the people who requested this feature https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/display-common-names-in-multiple-languages-on-taxon-labels/9378/17 I am so excited this has been implemented!

Posted by radrat 25일전

What I love about this feature is that it will also help me see when common names in one of my main languages are missing (so I can add them!)

Posted by radrat 25일전

Fantastic! Since I am always juggling with three languages this is very useful. Unfortunately most Spanish names don't show, probably because they are not assigned to a place? Most insects don't have common Spanish names anyway, but at least the birds should.

Posted by susanne-kasimir 25일전

Love this update, thanks! I changed my settings and now I can see everything in English, Spanish, and French at the same time. For the UI, it would also be interesting to see a hover effect (maybe as an experiment?), just like what @kaupunkilinnut has suggested.

Posted by finding_remo 13일전

This is awsome feature! Thank you.

Posted by deniszp 11일전

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