Dear developers:
As a former translator of the Danish version of QGIS I have a few - very
personal, perhaps a bit caustic - comments:
* The transfer from using QT linqguist to Transifex was a mistake from
my POW. Without the user interface context is sometimes impossible
to translate correctly. My method (around ver. 2.12) was to use a
simple editor like notepad++ on the raw xml translator files and get
a significant part of the job done. And afterward using QT-Linguist
to get the difficult translations. From that standpoint Transifex is
simply a delaying factor.
* The translation effort is very important. Even in Denmark , where
the population generally is competent in English, the majority of
"ordinary" users prefer using QGIS with the Danish translation. I
assume, that the situation is the same or more pressing for most
countries.
* The translation is difficult and time consuming and you are not
being compensated for your effort. Throw some money or prestige
after it. Even a small token would help.
* Treat the translation effort with respect. Don't ridicule people's
earnest efforts. Think how you would react If you were a rookie
developer and the first reaction from an old shark was ridicule of
your programming efforts ?
* Make the translation stage a significant step in the development cycle.
* Create a group or list of highly technical GIS related terms that is
*not* to be translated. There is a lot of GIS terms that is English
in origin, but haven't a well defined local translation. (With some
hilarious results if they are translated). Not all translators is
well versed in every aspect of GIS.
--
Med venlig hilsen / Kind regards
Bo Victor Thomsen
Den 30-06-2020 kl. 00:20 skrev Alexandre Neto:
Hi,
I have been looking into the Portuguese translations of the GUI and
the Docs, and I got really scared. Many translations were done
completely out of context, making it very hard to read or understand
what was originally written in English, even if you are familiar with
the terminology.
I don't know how other languages are going, and if you face the same
problems. In Portugal, we have a very small community. Because of
that, translation efforts are not really coordinated or even reviewed
in most cases.
Now, the biggest problem is that I think this deeply affects QGIS
credibility. When you install QGIS, it defaults to the machine's
locale, and many users don't even know how to change it (seen it in
several courses). This means that many people will only know the badly
translated version of QGIS in their native language... and It looks bad.
In training, people sometimes make fun of the translations. I always
enforce the idea that the translation work is fully done by volunteers
in their spare time, but I am afraid if for some people it just
looks like the full application was done by volunteers and hobbyists.
So, I wanted to know if more of you face the same issues. If so, would
it be wiser to default the language always to English and let the user
find out how to change to his language if he wants to?
Thanks,
Alexandre Neto
PS: Sorry for the cross-posting
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