Is it ok to write biographies (in the individual records) in a second language, like spanish?

Question

I mean, tell the same in both languages, with the same sources, because I have a lot of relatives that don't speak english and I'd like to share my work about our family with them.  Or it's english-only mandatory? Hello everybody, btw :) .

Comments

Hello Cristina.

Besides English (and Spanish), there is a bunch of different languages used for profiles. See

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Different_Languages_Used_for_Profiles

Answer 1

Great question Cristina.  Not only is it allowed but it is encouraged!  Yes, by all means, write it in both languages if you can.  We had a discussion about best ways to set up the sections, let me find it.  If I remember correctly, the only requirement is that the sources section be in English only or be the bottom one if you duplicate it in Spanish (and one <references /> tag under the sources section header):

== Sources ==

ah, here it is: https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1062039/feedback-on-my-first-bilingual-dutch-english-profile

Comments

Thank you! I started in english only because its obviously an international language, but now I want to share some profiles with non-english speakers... Good point about the sources, I'll check them.

Answer 2

Perfectly OK.

 It is encouraged to write Bios in both the native language and in English if at all possible.

Comments

Thank you! Well, writing the bios in everyone's native language would be a bit complex since I have Italian, Austrian and Czech/bohemian roots (and a few from all over Europe I think). I think many of them spoke more than a language and even the records have the names translated (Johan/Jean/Giovanni/Juan/etc) according to the source.Translating the german/czech records is a real challenge beacuse both language are mixed over the years, but very exciting! But the family I'm in touch nowadays today is spread mostly over the USA, Argentina and Italy and italians manage both english and spanish pretty well.

Answer 3

My preference is to write up the profile in the language that person spoke first, and then put an English translation underneath if possible. In fact, I've been working on a Profile Headers in Different Languages page to help with doing that.