[Wikimedia-l] Translations of WMF documents [was: Re: Wikimedia Foundation Report, March 2012 [was: Re: Wikimedia-l Digest, Vol 97, Issue 43]]

[Delphine Ménard]

On Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 3:20 PM, Osmar Valdebenito
<osmar at wikimediachile.cl> wrote:
> If increasing global reach and participation is part of our strategy, then
> it is important to communicate in the principal languages and engage with
> new people.
> Certainly, communities can help to translate. But the Foundation can leave
> that work only to the communities.
> What if nobody in the Chinese, Spanish or Arabic communities of speakers is
> able to do a decent work translating? Well, we leave billions of people
> outside and our expansion in developing countries will be affected.
> Also, it is important to have a coherent message across the world, without
> misspellings or uncomplete translations that can hurt it. Volunteers do a
> great job, but not the professional one we expect from the WMF.
> Every respected international organization publishes in different
> languages... when will the Wikimedia Foundation start doing it?

For what it's worth, translating Wikimedia stuff is _not easy_,
especially for a professional translator who has (at least at the
beginning) no experience whatsoever with the Wikimedia world. My take
would be that a joint effort of volunteers and paid translators would
be an idea to explore, as my experience with both all volunteer and
all paid translation on things Wikimedia is pretty... well, let's say
interesting (and just for the record, I hate doing translations and I
am really bad at them, but proofreading something already translated
is, at least for me, much easier).

On another note, the same way that Wikimedia Deutschland has started
the Wikimedia Woche (a "Wikimedia international highlights" of sorts),
I think chapters should help with this, by trying to find good
resources (both paid and volunteers) to help translate the important
things.

On yet another note, I don't think that _everyone_ is looking for
_exactly_ the same information, and as a person involved in many
different parts of the movement across the world, I think it might
also be worth brainstorming about what exactly needs to be translated
and how. The Wikimedia Woche in that regard is interesting in that it
does not translate stuff from A to Z, but rather tries to give
pointers to things that might interest the German community.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to see more stuff translated (from
the foundation as well as from anyone else, chapters, community
reports, the Signpost, the Kurier, etc.), but I don't think it's all a
black and white thing, starting of course with the difficult answer to
the question "which are the major languages?" ;) (yeah, I know,
Spanish is top of the list :P).

Best,

Delphine
-- 
@notafish

NB. This gmail address is used for mailing lists. Personal emails will get lost.
Intercultural musings: Ceci n'est pas une endive - http://blog.notanendive.org
Photos with simple eyes: notaphoto - http://photo.notafish.org