Hoi,
There are many arguments on many levels why Wikipedias in all languages is
something that you want to reply to on many levels. Wikipedia contains
educational content; it is used by students in schools. Students will do
better in their academic career when they first learn to read and write in
their mother tongue. Working on a quality wikipedia in your language you are
part of the people that care and help preserve both the language and the
culture of the language. Many things are hard to express in another
language, by having information expressed in many languages, the same topic
can be read approached in different ways, this helps in the understanding of
the topic. Having people work on a Wikipedia in a language does not detract
from the effort put into a Wikipedia in another language; it is
complementary. The farmers or a daily workers of India may finds their
information in their native language, but the farmers and daily workers of
Great Britain and the US do the same. When you write in your language the
fruit of your labour is shared by all the people that share your language.
Having a Wikipedia in a language allows people who learn a language to find
topical information in the language; this information is rich in the
terminology of that subject.
Hmmm, they are a bunch of one liners. All arguments why there is wealth in
the diversity of Wikipedias in many languages. They are united in bringing
information to the people that are looking for information. In the end it is
not only the reader that has the big benefits; the writer learns a lot when
he practices his writing and puts knowledge into words.
Thanks,
GerardM
On Feb 10, 2008 7:35 AM, Pradeep Makineni <makineni.pradeep(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
Hi All,
This was one question raised, at one of the groups I am member of... I
felt it would be good if I share it with you people.
Here are some of the snippets from the mail sent to the group.
Snippet 1:
*I better go for the English websites to get that info, as it might even
help me in having discussions and exchange of ideas with a group who knows
the same language. (English is known by many and hence the group size will
be large and will have the cream too).*
Snippet 2:
*I am not criticizing the work you are doing. Infact you are doing a great
job. But, the real use of your efforts will be, when a farmer or a daily
worker wants to get information on web and browse this website for that.*
I have answered this question, and I think I am successful in converting
that person into believing local language wikipedias are good and they are
really useful :). But I personally felt that my answer was a bit vague, so
I am not going to tell what I answered to him. What would you tell, if are
going to answer these questions or concerns? Note that most (or all) of
wikipedians who contribute to Indian language wikipedias are fluent in
English also. And I believe, most of the folks who read (if any) these
wikipedias are also fluent in English.
--
Pradeep Makineni
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