New in GradingPal 2.0
Feedback in Their Language
Judge the work to the right standard. Send feedback in the language your student actually reads. Two separate choices on every assignment — one for how the writing is marked, one for how it is explained.
Teaching in the UK? Your account is already set to UK English.
Two Teachers Who Need Opposite Things
One has a student who arrived in September, writes in Spanish, and gets feedback they cannot read. The other teaches in Manchester and is tired of software that flags “colour” as a mistake. Neither problem is exotic and neither has ever been well served — and they turn out to be the same two settings, pointed in different directions.
Two Choices, and They’re Not the Same Choice
Most tools have one language setting, which quietly assumes the language a student writes in is the language they should be spoken to in. Often it is. Frequently it is not.
Language of the Student’s Work
The standard the writing is judged against, down to the dialect.
How it is marked.
Language of the Feedback
What the student reads when the comments come back.
How it is explained.
Marked to the Right Standard
This setting decides what “correct” means for a piece of writing.
UK English Is Its Own Standard
Not a variant, not an exception, not something to be dismissed one word at a time. English (UK) work is held to UK conventions, and the grammar check follows the same setting — so “colour” is correct and “color” is flagged, exactly as it would be in your classroom.
Set From Your Country, Not From Ours
A UK teacher’s account defaults to UK English on every assignment, with no setup at all. You should not have to configure your way out of being treated as American.
Auto-Detect for Mixed Classes
When there is no single right answer — a class writing in several languages — auto-detect reads each submission in its own language rather than forcing one setting onto all of them.
Change It Per Assignment
A Spanish essay in an English department is one dropdown, not a support ticket.
Written in the Language They Read
Three options, and the default is right for most classes without touching anything.
Same as Their WorkDefault
A student who wrote in French gets feedback in French. For most classes this is simply correct, and it is why most teachers never open this setting.
One Language for the Class
Pick it explicitly. Work written in English, judged to US conventions, feedback in Spanish — because that is what this class reads at home.
Matched to Each Student
Every student gets feedback in the language they wrote in, decided per submission rather than per class. One setting covers a room where no two students need the same thing.
You Can Still Read Your Own Gradebook
This is the objection everyone raises second, and it is a fair one. If feedback goes out matched to each student, does that leave you reviewing thirty submissions in five languages?
No. When feedback is matched per student, the explanation of why each score was given stays in English for you. You read one language; each student reads theirs. If you explicitly choose a feedback language for the whole class, everything renders in it including the reasoning — you chose it, so you read it.
Quotes Stay in the Student’s Words
Evidence quoted from a student’s work is never translated. Not into your language, not into theirs. A quote is proof of why a score was given, and proof that has been through a translation is no longer proof — it is a paraphrase with a citation attached. So the quote stays exactly as written, and the explanation around it moves.
The Languages
Fully supported, with the regional variants that actually matter:
- English (US and UK)
- Spanish (Spain and Latin America)
- French (France and Canada)
- German
- Brazilian Portuguese
Plus automatic matching to each student’s work.
Beyond that list, matching still works on a best-effort basis — and GradingPal says so rather than pretending otherwise. If your class writes in a language we have not named here, try it on one assignment before you rely on it.
Two Classrooms
Period 2, New York
A newcomer writes their Gatsby essay in Spanish. Feedback is set to “same as the student’s work”, so their comments arrive in Spanish they can act on tonight. Their teacher’s view — including why each criterion scored as it did — stays in English.
Year 10, Manchester
The account was already set to UK English, so nothing needed configuring. Essays are marked to UK conventions, the grammar check agrees, and “colour” has never once been flagged as a mistake.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which languages are supported?
English (US and UK), Spanish (Spain and Latin America), French (France and Canada), German, and Brazilian Portuguese, plus automatic matching to each student’s work. Quotes from a student’s writing always stay in their original words.
Will I be able to read my students’ feedback?
Yes. When feedback is matched to each student, the explanation of why each score was given stays in English for you. Reviewing a mixed-language class never requires a translator.
Does it mark UK English as UK English?
Yes, and a UK teacher’s account defaults to it with no setup. Work set to English (UK) is held to UK conventions, and the grammar check follows the same setting.
What if my class writes in several languages?
Set the language of student work to auto-detect and each submission is read in its own language. Set feedback to match each student and everyone gets comments in the language they wrote in.
Are quotes from student work translated?
Never. Evidence quoted from a student’s writing stays exactly as they wrote it, in any feedback language. A quote is proof of why a score was given, and proof stays verbatim.
What about a language you don’t list?
Automatic matching still works on a best-effort basis beyond the named languages, and GradingPal says so rather than pretending otherwise. Test it on one assignment before relying on it.
Feedback They Can Act On Tonight
Judge the work to the right standard, send the comments in the language your student actually reads, and keep your own view in English.