In reply to mark k..

There are many things that can be done to improve the platform, but even now many non-developers are successfully translating core. They're all WordPress users, which is enough to get involved, a huge part of them have never touched code. The core team is getting much better in providing context and comments for translators, so believe me, it's not that much of a mission impossible to translate core if you don't code.

There's no money or glory in it, but there's great fulfilment and a sense of purpose when contributing to your local community. Some people also do it because they run successful WordPress businesses in their countries where English is not spoken at all and they need quality translations for their client projects or products.

Anyway, there are a lot of improvements to the platform on the way, you can follow them in the #meta-i18n channel on Slack if you're interested. Developers who are willing to get involved with improving the translation management system are always welcome. If more of them joined, non-developers would have a far easier time getting involved with translations.