diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fe45f23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16)
+project(WinoMailQt VERSION 1.0.0 LANGUAGES CXX)
+
+set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
+set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
+
+# Find Qt components
+find_package(Qt6 COMPONENTS Core Gui Widgets Network Sql WebEngineWidgets REQUIRED)
+
+# Find optional libraries (example: libetpan, gmime)
+# find_package(PkgConfig REQUIRED)
+# pkg_check_modules(LIBETPAN REQUIRED libetpan)
+# pkg_check_modules(GMIME REQUIRED gmime-2.6)
+
+# Include directories
+include_directories(${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/src)
+
+# Source files - we will add them later
+set(SRC_FILES
+    src/core/translator.cpp
+    src/services/synchronizer.cpp
+    # placeholder
+)
+
+# Executable
+add_executable(wino-mail-qt ${SRC_FILES})
+
+# Link Qt
+target_link_libraries(wino-mail-qt PRIVATE Qt6::Core Qt6::Gui Qt6::Widgets Qt6::Network Qt6::Sql Qt6::WebEngineWidgets)
+
+# If using external libs
+# target_link_libraries(wino-mail-qt PRIVATE ${LIBETPAN_LIBRARIES} ${GMIME_LIBRARIES})
+# target_include_directories(wino-mail-qt PRIVATE ${LIBETPAN_INCLUDE_DIRS} ${GMIME_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+
+# Install (optional)
+install(TARGETS wino-mail-qt DESTINATION bin)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/resources/translations/en_US/resources.json b/resources/translations/en_US/resources.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6053100
--- /dev/null
+++ b/resources/translations/en_US/resources.json
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+{
+  "appName": "Wino Mail",
+  "welcomeMessage": "Welcome to Wino Mail",
+  "settings": "Settings",
+  "inbox": "Inbox",
+  "sent": "Sent",
+  "drafts": "Drafts",
+  "trash": "Trash"
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/core/translator.cpp b/src/core/translator.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e3b97a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/core/translator.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+#include "translator.h"
+#include <QFile>
+#include <QJsonDocument>
+#include <QJsonObject>
+#include <QDebug>
+
+Translator& Translator::instance()
+{
+    static Translator instance;
+    return instance;
+}
+
+bool Translator::loadLanguage(const QString& langCode)
+{
+    QMutexLocker locker(&m_mutex);
+    m_translations.clear();
+
+    QString filePath = QStringLiteral("resources/translations/%1/resources.json").arg(langCode);
+    QFile file(filePath);
+    if (!file.open(QIODevice::ReadOnly | QIODevice::Text)) {
+        qWarning() << "Failed to open translation file:" << filePath;
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    QByteArray jsonData = file.readAll();
+    file.close();
+
+    QJsonParseError parseError;
+    QJsonDocument doc = QJsonDocument::fromJson(jsonData, &parseError);
+    if (parseError.error != QJsonParseError::NoError) {
+        qWarning() << "Failed to parse translation JSON:" << parseError.errorString();
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    if (!doc.isObject()) {
+        qWarning() << "Translation JSON is not an object";
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    QJsonObject obj = doc.object();
+    for (auto it = obj.begin(); it != obj.end(); ++it) {
+        if (it.value().isString()) {
+            m_translations.insert(it.key(), it.value().toString());
+        }
+    }
+
+    m_currentLang = langCode;
+    return true;
+}
+
+QString Translator::tr(const QString& key) const
+{
+    QMutexLocker locker(&m_mutex);
+    auto it = m_translations.find(key);
+    if (it != m_translations.end()) {
+        return it.value();
+    }
+    return key; // fallback to key
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/core/translator.h b/src/core/translator.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..508a254
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/core/translator.h
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include <QString>
+#include <QMap>
+#include <QMutex>
+
+class Translator
+{
+public:
+    static Translator& instance();
+    ~Translator() = default;
+
+    // Load translation file for given language code (e.g., "en_US")
+    bool loadLanguage(const QString& langCode);
+
+    // Translate a key, returns translated string or key if not found
+    QString tr(const QString& key) const;
+
+    // Get current language code
+    QString currentLanguage() const { return m_currentLang; }
+
+private:
+    Translator() = default;
+    Q_DISABLE_COPY(Translator)
+
+    QMap<QString, QString> m_translations;
+    QString m_currentLang;
+    mutable QMutex m_mutex;
+};
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..880bd0e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+#include <QCoreApplication>
+#include <QDebug>
+#include "core/translator.h"
+
+int main(int argc, char *argv[])
+{
+    QCoreApplication app(argc, argv);
+
+    // Load English translation
+    Translator& translator = Translator::instance();
+    if (!translator.loadLanguage("en_US")) {
+        qWarning() << "Failed to load translation";
+    }
+
+    qDebug() << translator.tr("appName");
+    qDebug() << translator.tr("welcomeMessage");
+
+    return 0;
+}
\ No newline at end of file