diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index ee10bea..f3e6503 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,8 +1,5 @@
 WORKING_DIR := recommender
-EXTRACT_DIR := $(WORKING_DIR)/conf/locale/en/LC_MESSAGES
-EXTRACTED_DJANGO_PARTIAL := $(EXTRACT_DIR)/django-partial.po
-EXTRACTED_DJANGOJS_PARTIAL := $(EXTRACT_DIR)/djangojs-partial.po
-EXTRACTED_DJANGO := $(EXTRACT_DIR)/django.po
+JS_TARGET := $(WORKING_DIR)/public/js/translations
 
 COMMON_CONSTRAINTS_TXT=requirements/common_constraints.txt
 .PHONY: $(COMMON_CONSTRAINTS_TXT)
@@ -22,12 +19,8 @@ upgrade: $(COMMON_CONSTRAINTS_TXT)  ## update the requirements/*.txt files with
 	pip-compile --upgrade -o requirements/ci.txt requirements/ci.in
 
 extract_translations: ## extract strings to be translated, outputting .po files
-	cd $(WORKING_DIR) && i18n_tool extract
-	mv $(EXTRACTED_DJANGO_PARTIAL) $(EXTRACTED_DJANGO)
-	# Safely concatenate djangojs if it exists
-	if test -f $(EXTRACTED_DJANGOJS_PARTIAL); then \
-	  msgcat $(EXTRACTED_DJANGO) $(EXTRACTED_DJANGOJS_PARTIAL) -o $(EXTRACTED_DJANGO) && \
-	  rm $(EXTRACTED_DJANGOJS_PARTIAL); \
-	fi
-	sed -i'' -e 's/nplurals=INTEGER/nplurals=2/' $(EXTRACTED_DJANGO)
-	sed -i'' -e 's/plural=EXPRESSION/plural=\(n != 1\)/' $(EXTRACTED_DJANGO)
+	cd $(WORKING_DIR) && i18n_tool extract --no-segment --merge-po-files
+
+compile_translations: ## compile translation files, outputting .mo files for each supported language
+	cd $(WORKING_DIR) && i18n_tool generate -v
+	python manage.py compilejsi18n --namespace RecommenderXBlockI18N --output $(JS_TARGET)
diff --git a/dev_settings.py b/dev_settings.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..acc9d54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev_settings.py
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+"""
+Django settings for xblock-drag-and-drop-v2 project.
+
+For more information on this file, see
+https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.11/topics/settings/
+
+For the full list of settings and their values, see
+https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.11/ref/settings/
+"""
+
+# Build paths inside the project like this: os.path.join(BASE_DIR, ...)
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+import os
+BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__))
+
+
+# Quick-start development settings - unsuitable for production
+# See https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.11/howto/deployment/checklist/
+
+# SECURITY WARNING: keep the secret key used in production secret!
+# This is just a container for running tests, it's okay to allow it to be
+# defaulted here if not present in environment settings
+SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get('SECRET_KEY', '&=@m=qyqg#l!f99ouuuinpbsv0ah001unk@q^7)bkr^^n5@q1=')
+
+# SECURITY WARNING: don't run with debug turned on in production!
+# This is just a container for running tests
+DEBUG = True
+
+TEMPLATE_DEBUG = True
+
+ALLOWED_HOSTS = []
+
+
+# Application definition
+
+INSTALLED_APPS = (
+    'statici18n',
+    'recommender',
+)
+
+# Internationalization
+# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.11/topics/i18n/
+
+LANGUAGE_CODE = 'en'
+
+TIME_ZONE = 'UTC'
+
+USE_I18N = True
+
+USE_L10N = True
+
+USE_TZ = True
+
+
+# Static files (CSS, JavaScript, Images)
+# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.11/howto/static-files/
+
+STATIC_URL = '/static/'
+
+# statici18n
+# http://django-statici18n.readthedocs.io/en/latest/settings.html
+
+LANGUAGES = [
+    ('ar', 'Arabic'),
+    ('de', 'German'),
+    ('en', 'English - Source Language'),
+    ('eo', 'Esperanto'),
+    ('es_419', 'Spanish (Latin America)'),
+    ('fr', 'French'),
+    ('he', 'Hebrew'),
+    ('hi', 'Hindi'),
+    ('it', 'Italian'),
+    ('ja', 'Japanese'),
+    ('ko', 'Korean (Korea)'),
+    ('nl', 'Dutch'),
+    ('pl', 'Polski'),
+    ('pt_BR', 'Portuguese (Brazil)'),
+    ('pt_PT', 'Portuguese (Portugal)'),
+    ('ru', 'Russian'),
+    ('tr', 'Turkish'),
+    ('zh_CN', 'Chinese (China)'),
+]
+
+LOCALE_PATHS = [os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "locale")]
+
+STATICI18N_DOMAIN = 'text'
+STATICI18N_NAMESPACE = 'RecommenderXBlockI18N'
+STATICI18N_PACKAGES = (
+    'recommender',
+)
+STATICI18N_ROOT = 'recommender/public/js'
+STATICI18N_OUTPUT_DIR = 'translations'
diff --git a/manage.py b/manage.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..44a316e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/manage.py
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+import os
+import sys
+from django.core.management import execute_from_command_line
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    os.environ.setdefault(
+        "DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE",
+        "dev_settings"
+    )
+
+    execute_from_command_line(sys.argv)
diff --git a/recommender/__init__.py b/recommender/__init__.py
index 6e5ec82..40dad5f 100644
--- a/recommender/__init__.py
+++ b/recommender/__init__.py
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 This XBlock will show a set of recommended resources which may be helpful to
 students solving a given problem.
 """
-from .recommender import RecommenderXBlock
+# We avoid importing RecommenderXBlock here, because it's importing Filesystem from xblock.reference.plugins
+# which is not loaded when running `manage.py` commands (which is used by `make compile_translations`)
+# from .recommender import RecommenderXBlock
 
 __version__ = '2.1.0'
diff --git a/recommender/conf/locale/config.yaml b/recommender/conf/locale/config.yaml
index a968d94..c0fb690 100644
--- a/recommender/conf/locale/config.yaml
+++ b/recommender/conf/locale/config.yaml
@@ -2,3 +2,6 @@
 
 locales:
     - en  # English - Source Language
+
+ignore_dirs:
+    - public
diff --git a/recommender/conf/locale/en/LC_MESSAGES/django.po b/recommender/conf/locale/en/LC_MESSAGES/django.po
deleted file mode 100644
index 4eccdb1..0000000
--- a/recommender/conf/locale/en/LC_MESSAGES/django.po
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,54 +0,0 @@
-msgid ""
-msgstr ""
-"Project-Id-Version: \n"
-"POT-Creation-Date: 2016-05-27 11:04+0500\n"
-"PO-Revision-Date: 2016-05-27 11:04+0500\n"
-"Last-Translator: \n"
-"Language-Team: \n"
-"Language: en\n"
-"MIME-Version: 1.0\n"
-"Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\n"
-"Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\n"
-"Plural-Forms: nplurals=2; plural=(n != 1);\n"
-
-#: recommender.py
-msgid "The resource you are attempting to provide already exists"
-msgstr ""
-
-#: recommender.py
-msgid ""
-"The resource you are attempting to provide has been disallowed by the staff. "
-"Reason: "
-msgstr ""
-
-#: recommender.py
-msgid "The selected resource does not exist"
-msgstr ""
-
-#: recommender.py
-msgid "Size of uploaded file exceeds threshold"
-msgstr ""
-
-#: recommender.py
-msgid "The configuration of pyfs is not properly set"
-msgstr ""
-
-#: recommender.py:729
-msgid "Endorse resource without permission"
-msgstr ""
-
-#: recommender.py
-msgid "You don't have the permission to remove this resource"
-msgstr ""
-
-#: recommender.py
-msgid "Only staff can import resources"
-msgstr ""
-
-#: recommender.py
-msgid "Please submit the JSON file obtained with the download resources button"
-msgstr ""
-
-#: recommender.py
-msgid "Tried to access flagged resources without staff permission"
-msgstr ""
diff --git a/recommender/conf/locale/en/LC_MESSAGES/text.po b/recommender/conf/locale/en/LC_MESSAGES/text.po
deleted file mode 120000
index 0082074..0000000
--- a/recommender/conf/locale/en/LC_MESSAGES/text.po
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-django.po
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/recommender/conf/locale/en/LC_MESSAGES/text.po b/recommender/conf/locale/en/LC_MESSAGES/text.po
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4eccdb1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/recommender/conf/locale/en/LC_MESSAGES/text.po
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+msgid ""
+msgstr ""
+"Project-Id-Version: \n"
+"POT-Creation-Date: 2016-05-27 11:04+0500\n"
+"PO-Revision-Date: 2016-05-27 11:04+0500\n"
+"Last-Translator: \n"
+"Language-Team: \n"
+"Language: en\n"
+"MIME-Version: 1.0\n"
+"Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\n"
+"Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\n"
+"Plural-Forms: nplurals=2; plural=(n != 1);\n"
+
+#: recommender.py
+msgid "The resource you are attempting to provide already exists"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: recommender.py
+msgid ""
+"The resource you are attempting to provide has been disallowed by the staff. "
+"Reason: "
+msgstr ""
+
+#: recommender.py
+msgid "The selected resource does not exist"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: recommender.py
+msgid "Size of uploaded file exceeds threshold"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: recommender.py
+msgid "The configuration of pyfs is not properly set"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: recommender.py:729
+msgid "Endorse resource without permission"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: recommender.py
+msgid "You don't have the permission to remove this resource"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: recommender.py
+msgid "Only staff can import resources"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: recommender.py
+msgid "Please submit the JSON file obtained with the download resources button"
+msgstr ""
+
+#: recommender.py
+msgid "Tried to access flagged resources without staff permission"
+msgstr ""
diff --git a/recommender/recommender.py b/recommender/recommender.py
index 9173beb..d1e2ad2 100644
--- a/recommender/recommender.py
+++ b/recommender/recommender.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 
 import bleach
 from webob.response import Response
+from django.utils import translation
 
 from xblock.core import XBlock
 from xblock.exceptions import JsonHandlerError
@@ -944,6 +945,21 @@ def _construct_view_resource(self, resource):
 
         return result
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def _get_statici18n_js_url():  # pragma: no cover
+        """
+        Returns the Javascript translation file for the currently selected language, if any found by `pkg_resources`
+        """
+        lang_code = translation.get_language()
+        if not lang_code:
+            return None
+        text_js = 'public/js/translations/{lang_code}/text.js'
+        country_code = lang_code.split('-')[0]
+        for code in (translation.to_locale(lang_code), lang_code, country_code):
+            if pkg_resources.resource_exists(resource_loader.module_name, text_js.format(lang_code=code)):
+                return text_js.format(lang_code=code)
+        return None
+
     def student_view(self, _context=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
         """
         The primary view of the RecommenderXBlock, shown to students
@@ -990,6 +1006,9 @@ def student_view(self, _context=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
         frag.add_css(self.resource_string("static/css/recommender.css"))
         frag.add_css(self.resource_string("static/css/introjs.css"))
         frag.add_javascript(self.resource_string("static/js/src/jquery.tooltipster.min.js"))
+        statici18n_js_url = self._get_statici18n_js_url()
+        if statici18n_js_url:
+            frag.add_javascript(self.resource_string(statici18n_js_url))
         frag.add_javascript(self.resource_string("static/js/src/cats.js"))
         frag.add_javascript(self.resource_string("static/js/src/recommender.js"))
         frag.initialize_js('RecommenderXBlock', self.get_client_configuration())
@@ -1007,6 +1026,9 @@ def studio_view(self, _context=None):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
         ))
         frag.add_css(load("static/css/recommenderstudio.css"))
         frag.add_javascript_url("//ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jqueryui/1.10.4/jquery-ui.min.js")
+        statici18n_js_url = self._get_statici18n_js_url()
+        if statici18n_js_url:
+            frag.add_javascript(self.resource_string(statici18n_js_url))
         frag.add_javascript(load("static/js/src/recommenderstudio.js"))
         frag.initialize_js('RecommenderXBlock')
         return frag
diff --git a/recommender/static/js/src/cats.js b/recommender/static/js/src/cats.js
index 8e58a0e..7d77f87 100644
--- a/recommender/static/js/src/cats.js
+++ b/recommender/static/js/src/cats.js
@@ -3,10 +3,26 @@
    //
    // Note: The global `window.*` variables should be converted into local ones to avoid over-using global variables. This is a 2014-era legacy XBlock coding standard that should be refactored -- @OmarIthawi at Apr 4, 2023 
    //
-    var gettext = window.gettext || (function (string) {
-        // Shim Django's `gettext` if unavailable.
-        return string;
-    });
+    var gettext;
+    if ('RecommenderXBlockI18N' in window) {
+        // Use Recommender's local translations
+        gettext = function(string) {
+            var translated = window.RecommenderXBlockI18N.gettext(string);
+            // if Recommender's translation is the same as the input, check if global has a different value
+            // This is useful for overriding the XBlock's string by themes (only for English)
+            if (string === translated && 'gettext' in window) {
+                translated = window.gettext(string);
+            }
+            return translated;
+        };
+    } else if ('gettext' in window) {
+        // Use edxapp's global translations
+        gettext = window.gettext;
+    }
+    if (typeof gettext == "undefined") {
+        // No translations -- used by test environment
+        gettext = function(string) { return string; };
+    }
 
     var span = function(text) {
         // Surround text with a span.
diff --git a/requirements/base.in b/requirements/base.in
index f3ca6f6..7a8fbb9 100644
--- a/requirements/base.in
+++ b/requirements/base.in
@@ -8,3 +8,4 @@ mako
 simplejson
 webob
 web_fragments
+edx-i18n-tools
diff --git a/requirements/base.txt b/requirements/base.txt
index 804ca0b..6b7d50c 100644
--- a/requirements/base.txt
+++ b/requirements/base.txt
@@ -6,21 +6,43 @@
 #
 appdirs==1.4.4
     # via fs
-bleach==6.0.0
+asgiref==3.7.2
+    # via django
+bleach==6.1.0
+    # via -r requirements/base.in
+django==3.2.22
+    # via
+    #   -c requirements/common_constraints.txt
+    #   edx-i18n-tools
+edx-i18n-tools==1.3.0
     # via -r requirements/base.in
 fs==2.4.16
     # via -r requirements/base.in
+lxml==4.9.3
+    # via edx-i18n-tools
 mako==1.2.4
     # via -r requirements/base.in
 markupsafe==2.1.3
     # via mako
-simplejson==3.19.1
+path==16.7.1
+    # via edx-i18n-tools
+polib==1.2.0
+    # via edx-i18n-tools
+pytz==2023.3.post1
+    # via django
+pyyaml==6.0.1
+    # via edx-i18n-tools
+simplejson==3.19.2
     # via -r requirements/base.in
 six==1.16.0
     # via
     #   bleach
     #   fs
-web-fragments==2.0.0
+sqlparse==0.4.4
+    # via django
+typing-extensions==4.8.0
+    # via asgiref
+web-fragments==2.1.0
     # via -r requirements/base.in
 webencodings==0.5.1
     # via bleach
diff --git a/requirements/ci.txt b/requirements/ci.txt
index 5285a01..9ce47fc 100644
--- a/requirements/ci.txt
+++ b/requirements/ci.txt
@@ -8,26 +8,65 @@ appdirs==1.4.4
     # via
     #   -r requirements/test.txt
     #   fs
-bleach==6.0.0
+asgiref==3.7.2
+    # via
+    #   -r requirements/test.txt
+    #   django
+bleach==6.1.0
+    # via -r requirements/test.txt
+django==3.2.22
+    # via
+    #   -c requirements/common_constraints.txt
+    #   -r requirements/test.txt
+    #   edx-i18n-tools
+edx-i18n-tools==1.3.0
     # via -r requirements/test.txt
 fs==2.4.16
     # via -r requirements/test.txt
+lxml==4.9.3
+    # via
+    #   -r requirements/test.txt
+    #   edx-i18n-tools
 mako==1.2.4
     # via -r requirements/test.txt
 markupsafe==2.1.3
     # via
     #   -r requirements/test.txt
     #   mako
-pycodestyle==2.10.0
+path==16.7.1
+    # via
+    #   -r requirements/test.txt
+    #   edx-i18n-tools
+polib==1.2.0
+    # via
+    #   -r requirements/test.txt
+    #   edx-i18n-tools
+pycodestyle==2.11.0
     # via -r requirements/test.txt
-simplejson==3.19.1
+pytz==2023.3.post1
+    # via
+    #   -r requirements/test.txt
+    #   django
+pyyaml==6.0.1
+    # via
+    #   -r requirements/test.txt
+    #   edx-i18n-tools
+simplejson==3.19.2
     # via -r requirements/test.txt
 six==1.16.0
     # via
     #   -r requirements/test.txt
     #   bleach
     #   fs
-web-fragments==2.0.0
+sqlparse==0.4.4
+    # via
+    #   -r requirements/test.txt
+    #   django
+typing-extensions==4.8.0
+    # via
+    #   -r requirements/test.txt
+    #   asgiref
+web-fragments==2.1.0
     # via -r requirements/test.txt
 webencodings==0.5.1
     # via
diff --git a/requirements/common_constraints.txt b/requirements/common_constraints.txt
index 7e39123..afe6aa8 100644
--- a/requirements/common_constraints.txt
+++ b/requirements/common_constraints.txt
@@ -25,8 +25,3 @@ django-simple-history==3.0.0
 # tox>4.0.0 isn't yet compatible with many tox plugins, causing CI failures in almost all repos.
 # Details can be found in this discussion: https://github.com/tox-dev/tox/discussions/1810
 tox<4.0.0
-
-# edx-sphinx-theme is not compatible with latest Sphinx==6.0.0 version 
-# Pinning Sphinx version unless the compatibility issue gets resolved
-# For details, see issue https://github.com/openedx/edx-sphinx-theme/issues/197
-sphinx<6.0.0
diff --git a/requirements/pip.txt b/requirements/pip.txt
index c9cbf00..3e7d8f4 100644
--- a/requirements/pip.txt
+++ b/requirements/pip.txt
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 #
-# This file is autogenerated by pip-compile with python 3.8
-# To update, run:
+# This file is autogenerated by pip-compile with Python 3.8
+# by the following command:
 #
 #    make upgrade
 #
-wheel==0.40.0
+wheel==0.41.2
     # via -r requirements/pip.in
 
 # The following packages are considered to be unsafe in a requirements file:
-pip==23.1.2
+pip==23.2.1
     # via -r requirements/pip.in
-setuptools==67.8.0
+setuptools==68.2.2
     # via -r requirements/pip.in
diff --git a/requirements/pip_tools.txt b/requirements/pip_tools.txt
index 86c333e..fed3370 100644
--- a/requirements/pip_tools.txt
+++ b/requirements/pip_tools.txt
@@ -1,23 +1,30 @@
 #
-# This file is autogenerated by pip-compile with python 3.8
-# To update, run:
+# This file is autogenerated by pip-compile with Python 3.8
+# by the following command:
 #
 #    make upgrade
 #
-build==0.10.0
+build==1.0.3
     # via pip-tools
-click==8.1.3
+click==8.1.7
     # via pip-tools
-packaging==23.1
+importlib-metadata==6.8.0
     # via build
-pip-tools==6.13.0
+packaging==23.2
+    # via build
+pip-tools==7.3.0
     # via -r requirements/pip_tools.in
 pyproject-hooks==1.0.0
     # via build
 tomli==2.0.1
-    # via build
-wheel==0.40.0
+    # via
+    #   build
+    #   pip-tools
+    #   pyproject-hooks
+wheel==0.41.2
     # via pip-tools
+zipp==3.17.0
+    # via importlib-metadata
 
 # The following packages are considered to be unsafe in a requirements file:
 # pip
diff --git a/requirements/test.txt b/requirements/test.txt
index 5089e85..8cbf13c 100644
--- a/requirements/test.txt
+++ b/requirements/test.txt
@@ -8,26 +8,65 @@ appdirs==1.4.4
     # via
     #   -r requirements/base.txt
     #   fs
-bleach==6.0.0
+asgiref==3.7.2
+    # via
+    #   -r requirements/base.txt
+    #   django
+bleach==6.1.0
+    # via -r requirements/base.txt
+django==3.2.22
+    # via
+    #   -c requirements/common_constraints.txt
+    #   -r requirements/base.txt
+    #   edx-i18n-tools
+edx-i18n-tools==1.3.0
     # via -r requirements/base.txt
 fs==2.4.16
     # via -r requirements/base.txt
+lxml==4.9.3
+    # via
+    #   -r requirements/base.txt
+    #   edx-i18n-tools
 mako==1.2.4
     # via -r requirements/base.txt
 markupsafe==2.1.3
     # via
     #   -r requirements/base.txt
     #   mako
-pycodestyle==2.10.0
+path==16.7.1
+    # via
+    #   -r requirements/base.txt
+    #   edx-i18n-tools
+polib==1.2.0
+    # via
+    #   -r requirements/base.txt
+    #   edx-i18n-tools
+pycodestyle==2.11.0
     # via -r requirements/test.in
-simplejson==3.19.1
+pytz==2023.3.post1
+    # via
+    #   -r requirements/base.txt
+    #   django
+pyyaml==6.0.1
+    # via
+    #   -r requirements/base.txt
+    #   edx-i18n-tools
+simplejson==3.19.2
     # via -r requirements/base.txt
 six==1.16.0
     # via
     #   -r requirements/base.txt
     #   bleach
     #   fs
-web-fragments==2.0.0
+sqlparse==0.4.4
+    # via
+    #   -r requirements/base.txt
+    #   django
+typing-extensions==4.8.0
+    # via
+    #   -r requirements/base.txt
+    #   asgiref
+web-fragments==2.1.0
     # via -r requirements/base.txt
 webencodings==0.5.1
     # via
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 0da9bb8..a8dc26c 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -78,10 +78,10 @@ def get_version(file_path):
     license='AGPL 3.0',
     entry_points={
         'xblock.v1': [
-            'recommender = recommender:RecommenderXBlock',
+            'recommender = recommender.recommender:RecommenderXBlock',
         ]
     },
-    package_data=package_data("recommender", ["static", "templates", "translations"]),
+    package_data=package_data("recommender", ["static", "templates", "translations", "public"]),
     cmdclass={
         'install': XBlockInstall,
     },