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Help us to translate AfterDawn into your own language!

5 January 2009 10:57 by Petteri "dRD" Pyyny | 31 comments

As many of you might have noticed, our site is one of those with various "flags" located in the top-right corner of the site, meaning that our site is published in several languages (currently in English, Finnish and Swedish). Now, we're planning to extend our reach to new language areas and we are hoping for your assistance with this plan.

That being said, if you speak/write fluently any "foreign" language (namely, something other than Finnish, Swedish or English) and are willing to volunteer for our translation project, please contact us via our feedback form.

Our translation projects are typically divided into small chunks, so the workload is quite small for each participating member. Translation includes software descriptions, site navigation elements and some technical terms. The project is meant to be run by volunteers, as we can't pay for your time. But of course, we'll hand out "AfterDawn merchandise" such as T-shirts, coffee mugs, etc to those who have helped us in these projects :-) And if you think your CV might benefit from it, we can also send you a letter describing your volunteer work with our translation project as well.

So, if you think you can spend some of your precious time on getting AfterDawn to your own language, contact us. Pretty much any language is welcomed -- German, Norwegian, Portuguese, Japanese, Danish, Italian, Greek, etc.. Just let us know that you're interested and tell us what your "fluent language" is and we'll see if we can gather a team for that particular language.

Oh, I'd also like to mention that "I read Spanish/German/Swahili back in high school for two years" is typically not considered as "fluent" :-) And ability to use Google Translate can't be considered as "fluent language skill" either..

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Discuss this article!	There are more user comments available, read them here
laduqesa (Newbie) 5 January 2009 19:20
I have fluent french and a "working knowledge of" German. I could try! [ + quote]
ricshos (Newbie) 5 January 2009 19:25
It just so happens that i'm interested and it just so happens that I speak and write spanish quite fluently... [ + quote]
dral (Newbie) 5 January 2009 19:59
I can do Chinese but may only have time for really small projects... [ + quote]
katz_61 (Newbie) 5 January 2009 22:49
Can't we use www.translation.com it's free? or is there a software that would convert a word file to another language? I'd be willing to type up some guides and convert them if theres a software that will do this effectively? let me know....I only speak,read,write fluently in english ........katz [ + quote]
BTFan (Senior Member) 5 January 2009 22:58
*Originally posted by katz_61:* Can't we use www.translation.com it's free? or is there a software that would convert a word file to another language? I'd be willing to type up some guides and convert them if theres a software that will do this effectively? let me know....I only speak,read,write fluently in english ........katz *Quote:* And ability to use Google Translate can't be considered as "fluent language skill" either.. I think that was pretty clear... Dude, online translation sucks and is innacurate. [ + quote]
katz_61 (Newbie) 5 January 2009 23:02
Sorry Dude! LOL I think you mean dudette? I was only offering to help really but I only speak english so I was offering my services of typing but I guess there is no software to convert a word document duh me or afterdawn would surely know this already again my apologies.......katz [ + quote]
BTFan (Senior Member) 5 January 2009 23:06
*Originally posted by katz_61:* Sorry Dude! LOL I think you mean dudette? I was only offering to help really but I only speak english so I was offering my services of typing but I guess there is no software to convert a word document duh me or afterdawn would surely know this already again my apologies.......katz No need to say sorry, it's just that the answer to the exact same thing you asked is in the text..it's kind of dumb to ask a question that is answered right above you. Anyways, Mr. dRD, whenever AfterDawn starts the French website, count me in, I have time to spare, especially on weekends. Xbox 360 Pro with Guitar Hero III (Expert) iPod touch 32GB 2G [ + quote]
ddp (Moderator) 5 January 2009 23:20
BTFan, i think your french is french canadian which is habitant french not parisian french. which part of canada are you in as i'm in ontario? [ + quote]
BTFan (Senior Member) 5 January 2009 23:22
*Originally posted by ddp:* BTFan, i think your french is french canadian which is habitant french not parisian french. which part of canada are you in as i'm in ontario? I'm in Montreal, Quebec. My French is very fluid, like I said, my first language, and I'm in the number 1 class so I can help AfterDawn anytime you guys want. Xbox 360 Pro with Guitar Hero III (Expert) iPod touch 32GB 2G [ + quote]
ddp (Moderator) 5 January 2009 23:47
thought you were from quebec. my mother was born in montreal. [ + quote]
BTFan (Senior Member) 5 January 2009 23:53
It's a small world after all! By the way, I don't speak like "Quebecois" people, with the "asti" and "tabarnak" expressions. I have a more French (France) accent. Xbox 360 Pro with Guitar Hero III (Expert) iPod touch 32GB 2G [ + quote]
rainofire (Newbie) 6 January 2009 0:45
I have some understanding of Japanese, I have been studying it for 3 years, 2yrs in highschool and 1yr in College. I can read and write all hiragana and katakana, I can read and write basic kanji. I do Japanese tours on College campus, so I can somewhat speak it to an understandable extent. Hope that can help. [ + quote]
Eddy0412 (Newbie) 6 January 2009 1:55
If you wan't you could add Spanish to the Language list to translate. I could help. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 6 January 2009 6:40
pokernice (Newbie) 6 January 2009 5:22
Hi, It sounds like an interesting project. i will be glad to help. I do translations in to spanish. Please let me know [ + quote]
Hyasuma (Newbie) 6 January 2009 9:52
I can help translate Mandarin Chinese for you. I was born in Taiwan, moved to US since 1996, but I"m still quite fluent with Mandarin. I'm still improving my speed on my keyboard. I can start doing small projects since I'm still in school. Just let me know. Thank You. [ + quote]
collarian (Newbie) 6 January 2009 12:13
I can translate to Persian language :) [ + quote]
dRD (I hate titles) 6 January 2009 13:56
Whoa, pretty unbelievable response so far -- we've received tons of emails since posting this request for help. Thank you guys (and gals) and keep sending us feedback if you have the fluency and will to participate to this project -- more people we have for each translation project, the faster we should get the new language versions online and less work there is for each participant to do. So, if you want to volunteer, use the feedback form: http://www.afterdawn.com/general/feedback.cfm We'll contact each one of you during next 7 days and see how quickly we can get the ball rolling. We have already an online system in place for translating software descriptions, so that's probably the most logical step to begin with. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 6 January 2009 14:00
Kivo (Newbie) 8 January 2009 10:55
I can translate it to spanish guys. I'm looking forward to help . [ + quote]
Baccusboy (Newbie) 16 January 2009 19:13
I teach English at a university in South Korea. My Korean is certainly not good enough to translate, but I might be able to find some students interested in translating the articles. How much workload is involved? Thanks. [ + quote]
ariminum (Newbie) 17 January 2009 3:36
*Originally posted by ariminum:* I am Italian national live in england for the past 30+ year i speak italian and inglish, if i can be of any help I will do my best your Ariminum [ + quote]
martasan (Inactive) 17 January 2009 22:08
I am going to be glad to help with small projects, since my native language is spanish, so , contact me! [ + quote]
HilfeBaer (Newbie) 20 January 2009 10:09
Hey Guys, as a typical student of psychology, my time is rare - less typically I also have 2 little Kidz (5, 3), thus making time as a ressource even more precious... Nevertheless, I do like the idea of working together on such a projekt not just for money, though not for "nothing".. - I have never noticed this strategy acted out that straight before. (Do you guys know about the role of rewars for our reward-system..?) So let's see..., my english seems to fit well, as I am doing quite fine with reading nearly all of my literature for my studies in english plus having learned some IT-business-job a few years ago (and thus still being always interested in technical systems). My native tongue btw is german - so let's see if you will need me. At last: Have a fine: 2009! (to the all of us:) [ + quote]
ariminum (Newbie) 20 January 2009 13:04
*Quote:* *Originally posted by ariminum:* I am Italian national live in england for the past 30+ year i speak italian and inglish, if i can be of any help I will do my best your Ariminum [ + quote]
spichri (Newbie) 19 May 2009 16:21
Hi guys, I can help you with the greek translation. I'm Greek. So if you're interesting please let me know.. [ + quote]
playguy (Junior Member) 16 June 2009 12:23
hello, I'm a native Portuguese speaker, could you guys give me more info about what is there to translate? Thanks. I'm actually studying translation so this is perfect eheheh. [ + quote]
v6gtr (Newbie) 12 July 2009 17:33
I am in :) i'm a Peruvian, i'm a advance english student and my native language is Spanish. Pm me or send an Email if you need a hand translating the Forum to Spanish. Nice to meet you guys! [ + quote]