Language Translation for TerraCaching.com
Posted By:
cash108
Dear Community:
We are progressively working through the modules. We have had many changes to pages and we plan much more. We realize that many of our members do not use English.
We want to add translation capacity for the site and have been looking at several options. One complication is that if we do it internally, then every time we change or modify a page then we have to try to sync this with the languages. This is our long term goal but were going to work on this after we have stabilized the base site.
What Languages should we target? Spanish, Dutch, Norwegian, German, Czech, French, Russian are some that come to mind.
Are people aware that they can translate all pages using your browser translator. You can right click with your mouse on any page using chrome, and it will ask what language you would want to translate the page into. On IE11 you do the same and it will translate using bing, it is a little bit more clunky than chrome. I did not find this option in Firefox. Do people use these translators and how do they work for you?
Another option would be to use an api from google that would allow you to translate the page. This cost us to use this feature for each member that uses it. Also Google translate works, but not perfectly, should we use this as an in between step?
I was also wondering how big an issue this is for the community.
Cash
Comments [6]
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WindpumpBoy Caister-on-Sea 1/10/2015
Being one of those who regularly have a go at Cybercaches. Spanish is the main language other than English that I come across. Both on the TC pages and also hunting for clues on the worldwide web. I find that Google Translate (although not perfect) generally does the business. I have it pinned to my bookmark bar in Google along with Google Maps for easy access. I wasn't aware of the right click possibilities so I will have to give that a go. Although Google does sometimes kindly offer to translate a page for me. All in all, although translation would be a nice feature I wouldn't prioritise it. Translating foreign languages just adds to the fun for me. Of course I'm speaking as an English speaker and most TC stuff is in english. If a translation facility was to be brought in the community pages could be a good place to trial it as they are probably a nightmare to work out which posts etc you wish to read if you don't speak English10 Points
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SoccerFanatics Alexandria 1/12/2015
There are several free translation sites, including translate.google.com. But they really don't work all that well, especially if they're translating from colloquial language. They translate words fairly literally, so often choose the wrong word when there are multiple choices. You can often work through the translations and make some sense of them, but I've come across several over the years that make no sense when translated that way.
One thing for cache owners to keep in mind is the possibility that others may want to translate them. If you stick with more formal phrasing, it is more likely to be more readable when translated.
10 Points 1
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Castor Fiber Hokksund 1/12/2015
It's a good point. Although I have chosen to do the best I can with my school English.I have thought that it is easier for people to attempt at a cyber cache when it is in English. My local traditional caches are in Norwegian though.But there is a danger that I, with my limited vocabulary, do not make me understood. And that something goes wrong. Maybe a formal Norwegian would be better and then rely on google translate?10 Points 1
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SoccerFanatics Alexandria 1/12/2015
I've been happy to see your cyber caches with English descriptions. I won't say they are exactly perfect English, but they're certainly understandable. I bet that anyone who knows enough of a foreign language to willingly write in that language will write at least as clearly as a Google translation.
That would be an interesting experiment. If you wrote up a couple caches in Norwegian and in English and sent those words to me. It would be interesting to translate the Norwegian to English and compare how the two version of English read.
0 Points 0
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Team Bavaria Holzkirchen 1/13/2015
Are you talking about the cache description or do you mean the site (infrastructure) itself?0 Points 0
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SoccerFanatics Alexandria 1/13/2015
I was thinking mostly of the cache descriptions with that last comment. A bit different from Cash's original topic, but replying to Castor Fiber's post.0 Points 0
