[Foundation-l] Wikimania translation update

[ Wikimania translation update Nr.1 / 1st week of April. ] Hello, Wikimania, the International Wikimedia conference, is being held in Boston, MA, USA this August 4-6. This is an update on its translation and multilingual content. == General == * Translation of the Wikimania website main page CfP has begun on meta. * The deadlines have changed; so the CfP and short announcement need to be changed. * Translation of the CfP is continuing on on meta; some will be released in this week. * You are invited to help translate visa info * Wikimania translations and their status are now listed directly on the Wikimania website. See http://wikimania2006.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania:Translations Spanish, French, and Chinese translators are especially welcome. == Main Page translation == * Main Page #1 of the Wikimania website is ready to translate. Drafts are being worked on in: Chinese (zh), Japanese (ja), Dutch (nl), and Polish (pl). * Other languages also need attention from their translators, especially Spanish. * Wouldn't you like to have Main Page in your own language? Create your language version on meta or contact User:Aphaia or User:Sj on meta. * This main page will be a visitor's portal to wikimania2006.wikimedia.org and will provide visitors with an overview of what Wikimania is. Workplace: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Translation_requests/Wikimania/Main_Page == CfP translation == * Translation of the CfP is now in its last stage. In addition to four languages (Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Japanese), Polish is now waiting for proofreading. Native speakers are invited review those versions; if you find mistakes, please fix them. If you think it is okay, please leave your comments on talk. * A German translation is going on. German speakers are invited to help. * French & Chinese translators will be a great help for us; you can start your work from which you prefer - either Main Page or CfP. Workplace: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2006_Call_for_Participation == Visas == * Some attendees to the conference will need visas from the US government, and visa information will be helpful for them. We have information available in English, but it would be more helpful if it were multilingual. * Polish translators are working on this; this also needs for a proofreader. If you speak Polish, please review it if improvement is necessary. If it looks good, you are then invited to join Main Page translation ;-) * Chinese, French, and Arabic translations would be welcome. Workplace: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Translation_requests/Wikimania/Visas == Email distribution == * This update is sent not only to Wikimedia mailinglists. If you receive extra copies, please let us know. * If you know a translation-related mailinglist and are sure this newsletter wouldn't violate their policies, you are welcome to post it there. Or you may want to forward it to a friend. We will appreciate your help greatly. == Special note: proper names, cultural details == * Sometimes proper names are a headache for translators. Especially so when one is not sure how to transcribe a name. The difficulties can increase when your source and target languages have different scripts - between English and Japanese, or between Chinese and Russian ... ** One example - the letter Z is pronounced as [z] in many languages, but in German it alone is normally [ts]. The letter S is [z] at the top of a word in German but in many others [s]. Most German speakers know this, and can be aware of this when they read out foreign proper names. * Another cause of headaches is cultural differences; sometimes phrases, descriptions, or nicknames have special cultural significance, and are difficult to translate. These often require extra explanation by a native speaker. * If you are dealing with a difficult transcription or a cultural issue, other translators are probably facing the same difficulty. Please use translators-l or our noticeboard [[m:Meta:Babylon]] on meta for discussion. Workplace: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meta:Babylon ======== Wikimania translation update Editors: Aphaia, Sj Wikimania 2006 Translators' team http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Translation_requests/Wikimania