diff --git a/frontend/gettext.lua b/frontend/gettext.lua
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4e0533e68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/gettext.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+
+lua_gettext.init("./i18n", "koreader")
+
+
+function _(string)
+	return lua_gettext.translate(string)
+end
+
+function gettextChangeLang(new_lang)
+	lua_gettext.change_lang(new_lang)
+end