Research: Translations od documentation

[Tomáš Ehrlich]

Hello,
tonight is regular python/ruby meetup in Brno (Czech republic) about documentation. Last few months I’ve been working on project concerning localization of documents. I would like to know your opinion about localization of documentation:

Do you think it would be useful to translate documentation of:
1) Django
2) Python
3) Any project documented using Sphinx (like numpy, scipy, request, …)

Three simple answers Yes/No would help me a lot. If you write a short paragraph about your opinion, I will very appreciate it.

Thank you


Cheers,
Tom

[Tim Graham]

Maybe you aren't aware of the existing opportunity to translate Django's documentation?

https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/internals/contributing/localizing/#documentation

[Tomáš Ehrlich]

Hi Tim,

I'm aware that it's possible to translate Django documentation. I also know that it's translated to french only.

My question is one step behind: Does it makes sense to translate Django documentation and (more important) keep it updated? Would anyone use it? Is English language the common tongue for programmers? Why is Django docs translated to one language only? There isn't enough translators or users just don't find it useful?

I asked the same question in Czech django user group and most of them agreed that it doesn't make sense to translate whole Django documentation. It would make sense to translate materials for beginners, like tutorials, django book, etc.

So, at the moment, I don't care about the *tool* or *process*. I'm trying to figure it out if there is some kind of motivation to do this stuff.

Cheers,

   Tom

Dne čtvrtek 26. února 2015 13:25:38 UTC+1 Tim Graham napsal(a):

[Russell Keith-Magee]

On Thu, Feb 26, 2015 at 9:51 PM, Tomáš Ehrlich <tomas....@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Tim,

I'm aware that it's possible to translate Django documentation. I also know that it's translated to french only.

My question is one step behind: Does it makes sense to translate Django documentation and (more important) keep it updated? Would anyone use it? Is English language the common tongue for programmers? Why is Django docs translated to one language only? There isn't enough translators or users just don't find it useful?

I asked the same question in Czech django user group and most of them agreed that it doesn't make sense to translate whole Django documentation. It would make sense to translate materials for beginners, like tutorials, django book, etc.

So, at the moment, I don't care about the *tool* or *process*. I'm trying to figure it out if there is some kind of motivation to do this stuff.

You're going to be in a much better position to judge this that we will. You're in the middle of a Czech language community; if you were to spend a week of volunteer time translating the tutorial, do you think it would help enough people in that community to make the exercise worthwhile? Ironically, the one place you're *not* going to get a good answer is this mailing list - because the audience for your translation aren't going to be able to read it.

From the perspective of a native English speakers, it makes sense to me that people would want to have translations in their native languages. What I don't know is how many Czech speakers speak English well enough that translating the tutorial wouldn't yield any real benefit. My usual experience of non-English speaking Europeans is that they speak better English than I do :-) - but I don't know if that's just selection bias, and I'm not talking to the ones that don't speak English.

So - it really comes down to how you want to spend your efforts, and your understanding of the needs of your language community.

Yours,

Russ Magee %-)

[Kelvin Nyota]

I thought there was a plugin for that? You can also do some research and find some articles on how to implement it.