Hello!

The Wikimedia Foundation is seeking community members to join a new “Organization communications translators" group.

We are looking for 3–5 translators in each of the target languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Russian, and Spanish) to join an experiment for paid translations which we project will last for the remainder of 2019.

This is an experimental translation model we are testing for Wikimedia Foundation materials primarily used in external communications (such as the Foundation's website, transparency report, and organizational policies). These tend to be much longer than materials we generally seek translations for, and with more stringent requirements on languages, quality, and timeline. We have heard that for translations of this nature, fair paid compensation is often necessary, so we have designed this trial around lengthy organizational-message oriented materials. We are asking translators to be responsible for the translations in a way that we simply can not ask of volunteers.

This model was developed based on experiences with past translation efforts and feedback from community translators, affiliates, and staff within the Foundation. It is not a replacement for any existing translation work, and will not be utilized for things like project content, newsletters, or fundraising materials (as those have existing translation models in place).

We will be testing this model out over the coming months, and will make changes based on feedback and what we learn. We may also be making changes to things like the pay model and process before the model is implemented as we collect additional feedback from applicants and others within the movement.

For more information, please visit this Meta-Wiki page:  https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Communications/Organization_communications_translators_group

Individuals interested in participating should contact Gregory Varnum (gvarnum@wikimedia.org) in the Wikimedia Foundation Communications department by 16 May 2019 and provide:

1. On-wiki username

2. Languages which you have high proficiency in and are interested in doing translations for (must include at least one of the target languages)

3. Examples of past translation activities (can be links to wiki pages you have translated)

4. A brief statement on how you manage quality when translating

5. A brief statement sharing why you are interested in participating in this experiment

6. Acknowledgement that this model is an experiment, subject to change, does not apply to all content produced by the Foundation, and requires translators to assume responsibility for the accuracy and quality of their translations

Thank you!

-greg