Language Support in the Mentors Project

Question

Through our mentoring work a need for language support, at least at a basic level, has become apparent.

This exists currently as a list of language volunteers who are invaluable to us, and many of us know of  other bilingual Wikitree members who we call on in time of need.

Mentors receive many requests for assistance, especially by new members, and sometimes these are the result of a language barrier.  Even understanding the question can be tricky where we are relying on google translate to help us out.

The Mentors and Greeters are currently putting together translated scripts to use with new members, in as many languages as we can, to assist us.  We are thinking about translating common questions and common solutions also.

As part of this, we hope to contact all language volunteers to see if they are still there, still helping, if they have problems or have spotted areas of great need as far as languages are concerned, and hopefully locate more Wikitreers who are able and willing to assist Wikitreers in their own language.  

I am aware that many projects are finding solutions to this issue in their own ways, within their projects.   Our objective is not to take control of anything other than our own needs at first.  It is likely that 'Language Support' might develop into a project in its own right at some point.

Just putting this out there now to see if anyone has thoughts, comments, ideas .... the idea is in a fairly early stage.

Comments

A just wanted to throw my two cents worth into this topic.  Most languages now contain more slang than ever before. and a majority of people worldwide are trying to learn english.  No, I didn't have Bangers and Mash for breakfast.  Here is an article that may assist in a better understanding:  

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/feb/21/can-i-learn-a-language-online

In many countries outside of the U.S., people are muli-lingual; so I would recommend questions that can assist "greeters" in determining which languages a potential member has any abilities with and rank them according to comprehesion.  I believe all of us are aware of the cantonese or mandarin fight currently being faced in China.  We need to keep in mind that the spanish spoken in Spain has very few similarities with what is found in Latin America.  The portugese spoken in Portugal is extremely different than the portugese of Brazil.

In my travels, the Latin America spanish differs greatly in regions, Mexico, Cuba, and Puerto Rico come to mind.  When written they are much more similar than when spoken. Alphabet and accent marks are often the first clue as to what language a person is most familiar with.  

Perhaps, someday, I'll find a place in noarlens, where I can pauk my caw like in hawvad yad and cheer for da bears? 

 

Answer 1

The problem I've found with most translation programs is they translate each word without the ability to change the contextual usage.  It appears there are many scripts used by greeters to establish membership.  If these scripts could be translated by native speakers and then a list of the most common responses also translated, this would be fantastic.  Perhaps, once a language is determined, a re-direct to a page of instructions could move things forward.  Paul has already initiated some excellent work with:

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Language_volunteers

Perhaps, a how to participate page, that would give the potential new member the ability to choose a response is an idea.  If a greeter is at a loss, perhaps a link to a page that contains several flags would illicit someone to click on a flag of the language they choose.  I've seen this used on other websites.  Just thinking out loud again LOL.  

Excellent Idea Irene, thank-you for posting this!

Answer 2

Irene I think having a basic greeting for each language is a great idea. But, the problem is the response you receive from the member. How to you decide how to translate it? There are several languages that end up a complete disaster when using google translate.

As I was a very active greeter I know the broad spectrum of answers and questions greeters receive. It's gonna be tough dealing with those responses after the initial greeting.

One possibility is a help page for each foreign language that we commonly enounter.The member with that specific language skill could translate a help page for most common questions  guests have & how to get more help in their language. Link the language volunteers on the page so the guest can contact them.

Comments

Our plan at first is to have a line in the script that this is a pre-translated message and the poster does not speak the language.  Then we will link to the language volunteer page.

The help page is a good idea, especially as you say for the languages we most commonly encounter.  French leaps to mind - on my own greeting shift I get a few French guests each night.

Until we sort the matter, there's going to be difficulty.  At this point it is at the guest or family member stage.  With a translated message we move it a single step on.  So a good beginning might be to have a script in use for only those languages for which we have an active language volunteer?

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Irene let me start by saying you are doing a great job with the mentors project. Thank you for taking on such a big project.

I think a help page posted for each language will avoid a lot of communication problems. One time a greeter greeted a Czech member. The result of the translation was "Please go pi_s on this wall & watch this butth__d on youtube. The link was to Paul Bech's video. Yikes!!! This is the "perfect example" why a help page would be extremely helpful. Granted the English need to be transcribed by a native speaker. There are several language volunteers who could possibly translate those pages. I don't recommend using an internet  translator. Not very reliable.  Although, some are very accurate for a small number of languages.

In my opinion, the less communication via translated messages after the intital greeting the better. Yes, we like to communicate & we should. But, in this instance trying to communicate too much with someone who doesn't speak Englsih can result in hurt feelings, anger, & frustration due to translation errors. Guiding the member to a native speaker after the initial greeting would give better results I think.

Answer 3

Irene,       Bing has an excellent translator which I use.  I depend on it because it is more excise and up to date then Google is.  I also understand spanish even though I am not able to speak it at the moment.                                                                                                                                                

Answer 4

I think this is a great idea!

My only input is to share my partially-formed plan that's along these lines. As you may know, I've been trying to encourage the formation of interest groups that serve as hubs for people who share a language. My idea is that these groups could provide messages in their languages that could be used when greeting. The messages would include a link to the relevant language interest group. My hope is that this would result in non-English speaking people serving as mentors to newer members who speak the same language.

I've managed to connect a few Finnish WikiTreers through one of these groups. The Greeters and Mentors have contact with a lot more WikiTreers than I do, so they will have more success, I think, at getting these groups together. But I'd like to continue to be involved with the process and help in any way I can! :)

Answer 5

I have to agree with this being a great idea. Truth is theres so few people anymore that are so "generic" ethnicity wise. Most people dont even know half of the languges thei ncestos spoke

Answer 6

A multilingual FAQ seems to be the easiest way to handle part of the problem.