Jul 29 2007
Communicating with Different Visitors
Tonight I was looking over my visitor locations and realized I had forgotten something crucial. Multi-lingual support. So I arrived at - SapphireKnight. He has very nice list of Wordpress Plugins he uses with descriptions. It saved me a lot of time. As for the language support, a plugin at nothing2hide.net.
**update**
Dan raised a valid concern about this plugin. Without being able to correctly translate from english to another language and also keep the same meaning, translating is somewhat pointless.
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I will happen. If people wish to read my content in another language, she can use the tools of the automobile-translation they themselves. That way, knows what to hope.
The tools of the Automobile translation does not translate the content exactly. The shades, the languages and the several do not know applications of the language. And, if your English perfectly correct and is not structured, it is not known how it will be the translation.
When you offer your site in another language, you must do so correctly with a human translator who understands both languages. I have a bilingual Web site in where I do that hardly. When you use the tools of the automobile-translation, the translations are going to be dull, uneven and a times just badly level. In my opinion, it is irrespetuosa to the nonEnglish readers to present/display the content of such way. I do not have taste of her when I read instructions or the content in English seriously translated, and am certain sensation no English of the equal readers.
He is better not to offer your content in foreign languages that is to do so seriously. The right, or does not do it in all.
How much of that made sense to you? I wrote a response (which is shown below in the original English), used auto-translation tools to translate it to Spanish, and then had it translated back into English. That gives you an idea of what your non-English readers will be reading. Is that how you want your blog to come across?
Here’s the original English:
I’ll pass. If people want to read my content in another language, they can use the auto-translation tools themselves. That way, they know what to expect.
Auto-translation tools do not accurately translate content. They don’t know the nuances, idioms and various uses of language. And, if your English isn’t perfectly correct and structured, there’s no telling how the translation will be.
When you offer your site in another language, you should do so properly with a human translator who understands both languages. I have a bilingual website where I do just that. When you use auto-translation tools, the translations are going to be off, odd and sometimes just plain wrong. In my opinion, it is disrespectful to non-English readers to present content in such a manner. I don’t like it when I read instructions or content in badly translated English, and I am certain non-English readers feel the same.
It is better to not offer your content in foreign languages than it is to do so badly. Do it right, or don’t do it at all.
thanks for the information. I really didn’t take that into account and feel a little stupid now. But your response will really help me out.
Sorry, I had no intention of making you feel stupid.
This is something that comes up a lot on some web development forums I visit. People think they can expand their market by using auto-translation tools. And, one day, it may be that auto-translation tools will be able to accurately translate from one language to another. But, they haven’t reached that point yet, and I think that day is still a bit far off.
Auto-translation can assist in translating, where a human translator works with software to produce a final translation. A human can interact with the software results and identify problem areas and fix and tweak badly translated portions. So, if you know some of the languages you would like to translate your blog into, auto-translation services can certainly assist you, but you cannot rely on them for a final result.
Short of that, I would just stick with English until you reach the point where you can afford a professional translator to do the job for you. (Or learn the language yourself!)
This is an interesting post because I have never really given it any thought. I would just assume let readers figure this out on their own…
I downloaded a global translator plugin a while back but never used it. I was also on some of those link trains a few weeks back and surprised that people who speak other languages were participating also!
On some of those pages — even though they don’t speak English — I still thanked them for my inclusion.