Wikiversity translations

Wikiversity translations is a community service project to support Wikiversity Beta and to promote Multilingualism and Interlingual discourse

Summary

The Wikiversity Beta website coordinates all of the Wikiversity projects for speakers of different languages. This coordination is guided by the Wikiversity mission that was approved by the Wikimedia Foundation.

The Wikiversity Beta website is a central location for discussion of general guidelines for all Wikiversities. The prime example:

The Board of Trustees has requested that the Wikiversity community develops a policy for original research during the first six months of the project. This pesents the dreaded (conceptualization) of the deadline. So where on the Wikiversity Roadmap is this presumed "dead line"? Who gives a *** ??? fig

Wikiversity Beta is an incubator for new Wikiversities in several languages. Wikiversity Beta needs help translating documents into the many different languages spoken and written by Wikiversity participants (Wikiversitans).

Likewise many documents in many languages need to be written and translated into English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Chinese, Hawaiian, Cherokee and Klingon... for this Wikiversity.

A Wikiversity Beta support network called the Wikiversity:Interlingual Beta Club (IBC) has been framed (from the grass roots, in the spirit of your Beta Club back on Earth. (...but out here your As and Bs come from within you.)

Goals

This learning project offers learnings activities that give participants experience in performing translations. Experienced translators are providing comparitive texts, descriptions of the tools of the trade, (machine translation, computer-assisted translation, etc. ) and are there to "show you the ropes" of the Art / Science of Translation.

Right now (24 October 2006) There is a draft version of a Translator's Handbook being worked on collaboratively by the IBC and the Translation Taskforce. The new Translation learning group is starting up a three-language program to translate documents between English, German and Spanish.

Translation	Wikiversity translators Translation Dept. - Multilingual Studies
German {{deu}}	German-English {{Translator deu-eng}}	German-Spanish {{Translator deu-spa}}
English {{eng}}	English-German {{Translator eng-deu}}	English-Spanish {{Translator eng-spa}}
Spanish {{spa}}	Spanish-German {{Translator spa-deu}}	Spanish-English {{Translator spa-eng}}

Learning materials

Topic:German Language • German {{deu}}
Topic:Hebrew • Hebrew {{he}}
Topic:English Language • English {{eng}}
Topic:Spanish • Spanish {{spa}}
add the other 6492 languages here

Activities

English to German, translate: Scope of research, Research, Original research, Secondary research, Project reports.

Translation requests

High priority German to English (source)

Ich stimme Purodha zu und möchte für eine generelle Freigabe der original research / empirischen Forschung anführen, das deren Regeln entscheidend sind: jede empirische Forschung sollte nicht nur vom Ergebnis, sondern auch von der Beschreibung der Durchführung bzw. der Herkunft der Ergebnisse so präzise dokumentiert sein, das sie eindeutig reproduziert werden kann. Umgekehrt: Ein Versuch, der aufgrund ungenauer Beschreibung nicht reproduziert werden kann, falsifiziert das Ergebnis des ersten Versuches ebenso wie ein abweichendes Ergebnis bei präziser Wiederholung. Dietrich 18:09, 12. Nov 2006 (CEST)

- Machine translation (needs human attention!):

- I agree Purodha and would like for a general release of the original research / research of empirical cite, that are its rules decisively: each empirical research should be documented not only by the result, but rather also by the description of the execution and/or the origin of the results so precise, unambiguously reproduced will can that it. Reversed: An attempt, that cannot be reproduced based on inexact description, falsifiziert the result of the first attempt just as as a deviating result in precise repetition.

- - I agree with Purodha and would like to state, in general, crucially, that: each piece empirical research should contain not only the result, but also the precise documentation of execution and/or the origin of the research, so as to allow others to reproduce the results. Turned around: An attempt, which cannot be reproduced due to inaccurate description, falsifises the result, in the same way as result deviations under a more precise attempt. (translation by Hillgentleman)

on-going: Scope of research and related pages at Wikiversity Beta.
completed translations Wikiversity translations/De to En archive (please check/improve)

Interlingual collaboration

The Wikiversity Beta incubator site is coming along, but could use a lot more participation. Multilingual Studies at this version of Wikiversity is working on communicating directly with the German and Spanish Wikiversities and the main Beta incubator. We hope to establish communication lines directly with versions (those with subdomains and working interwiki links):

Other language wikiversities may exist as betas. See the nav bar at the top of Beta Wikiversity for versions under development.

Technical note: - For some odd reason, beta.wikiversity is not mapped into the local Interwiki map. This may be a job for the MediaWiki Project.

Parallel texts

We are developing two methods for dealing with parallel texts:

bilingual comparative texts - A simple method by which two versions of a block of text are presented on a single page. (learning projects such as German to English, Japanese to English...)
Topic:Multilingual Studies - A socio-technical approach to Multilingual collaboration and translation (Challenging but rewarding! See the Challenges section below)

We are in the process of organizing Language departments, building on the massive efforts at Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Wikibooks, Meta and many other projects inside and outside of Wikimedia. The m:Translation process is a strange and wonderful study for those with enough patience to pursue it. The Interlingual Beta Club and the Wikiversity Embassy are looking at the social and academic prospects for evaluating and rewarding such effort. (Again, see the Challenges section below)

Corpus linguistics

Computational linguistics combines Computer Science and Linguistics to develop a model of a natural language. As an institution, Wikiversity Proper (all versions present and future) is developing its own universal context:

Technical context: MediaWiki-specific terminology inherited from the application — Help: Category: User: Template: Special: etc.
Academic context: Schools, Departments, Divisions, Topics, Courses, etc.

Keywords like these must be translated immediately for the application to function effectively across languages. The table below is concentrated on English, German, Spanish and French language articles that can be synchronized on the four established Wikiversity versions. The selected articles are about translation itself and were chosen to expedite the establishment of Multilingual Studies Divisions with native language and translation departments for fast-track translation:

Local (English)	Translation	Computational linguistics	Translator's Handbook
Beta	Translation	Computational linguistics]	Translator's Handbook/En
Deutsch	de:Übersetzung	de:Computerlinguistik	Translator's Handbook/De
Español	es:Traducción	es:Lingüística computacional	Translator's Handbook/Es
Français	Fr:Traduction	Fr: la linguistique computationnelle	Translator's Handbook/Fr

Note: The Translator's Handbook has no "master" copy. Each local copy residing in the Wikiversity project space on the three established Wikiversities are "draft" versions. Once the native speakers of English, German and Spanish are satisified with their version, it goes to the Wikiversity project space at Beta for review and editing by French, Chinese, Dutch, Portuguese, Russian, Korean, Italian and many other native language users. It is a living document. Join the Interlingual Beta Club if you dare. (It's not for the faint-of-heart.)

See the Wikiversity Divisions and Departments subsection below

Taskforce objectives

To reiterate: the Local Translation Taskforce (English Language Wikiversity) is focused on a German/English/Spanish/French translation matrix. If you have translation interests and abilities beyond those four languages, please do not add language versions to {{translators}} until their subdomain resolves. (see Template_talk:Translators for more information) Please participate at Translation taskforce at Beta or Multilingualism at Meta instead.

Social Note: Keep in mind that it is OK to be anglocentric here at the English Language Wikiversity. Please get rid of that when you go to Wikiversity Beta.

Translation Projects

Spanish to English

Sugar in the times of cholera - translating an historical document from Spanish

English to French

Telemedicine in French-speaking Africa - help translate public health information into French.

Multilingual Studies:

Wikiversity the Movie/multi-lingual - create publicity materials for Wikiversity, including sound and video production.

Language orientation

English, German, Spanish and now French are primary departments, simply because those are the initial language implementations of Wikiversity. We can't stop there. These pages and the secondary ones Chinese, Dutch, Portugese and the other hundreds of languages will have an English disambiguation and Native redirects (examples: Deutsch -> German, Español -> Spanish, 中文 -> Chinese) to their proper local learning/teaching group here. English speakers who "reside" here will also follow Wikiversity fellows to other language Wikiversities where they should find an English-friendly area for Orientation. A good entry point for those who are on this learning path may be translation, which is the core module of the beta version of the w:Corpus mentioned above.

Special Note: Repeating... It is natural, acceptable and predicatable to be anglocentric here at the English Language Wikiversity. This is perceived to be the host with the most. As you learn and grow, you might consider a more circular conceptualization of the role and character of your particular language and culture.

Naming conventions

Wikiversity:Naming conventions need to be consulted to homogonize the disambiguation pages, redirects, and language departments which point to things like German, English as a second language, Category:Spanish Language Division, German to English, Zh:中文, or Learning to speak Cherokee. This will make it easier for Non-English visitors and newcomers to find what they're looking for. See the Multilingual worksheet for more insight. discuss

Repeting...The technical context of MediaWiki requires an absolute treatment of namespaces and linkage all the way down to the case and character level. The technical aspects of interlinking contexts (not simply content) is staggering when your aim is to be inclusive. Wikiversity is, by definition non-exclusive in terms of who can participate and at what level. This culture of "liberty" (libre) is technically challenging and can be politically disturbing. Most would agree that Wikiversity is "standing upon the shoulders of giants".

Terms from the application — Help: Category: User: Template: Special: etc.
Terms from the institution — Schools, Departments, Divisions, Topics, Projects, Courses, etc.

American Challenge: Now, translate those across Eastern and Western character sets and propogate Wikiversity to all languages and cultures without starting WWIII. Let's learn to balence convention against innovation when dealing with Wikiversity:Naming conventions. What works "here" may not work "there" at all.

Challenges

Wikiversity Divisions and Departments

A myriad of work needs to be done:

Translations for Wikiversity departments.
Portal pages in every language at Wikiversity Beta.

If there is a Wikimedia project in language:X, there should be a page written in that language at Wikiversity Beta explaining what Wikiversity is and how to use Wikiversity Beta as an incubator for efforts leading to the creation of a Wikiversity domain specific protocol for language:X.

Readings

Each activity has a suggested associated background reading selection. You have the collective resources of the whole Wikimedia Foundation at your disposal. Use them!

Multilingualism system at Wikiversity Beta.
Consider your self a resident in training at The Wikiversity School of Medicine. You're on the verge of discovering a cure for Leukemia.

References

Additional helpful readings include:

w:blah
...

External links

Go for it!

AltaVista - Babel Fish Translation online translation software
OmegaT+ - free cross-platform computer-assisted translation tool
OmegaT - a computer-assisted translation tool