We are excited to have members from all around the world participating in our community. Our membership really reflects the global nature of the Internet. [8D]
In an attempt to (hopefully) make it easier for people who visit the forums but may not be fluent in English, I’ve added some links towards the bottom of the page to make it easier to utilize some of the translation services available on the Internet. The two services used here are Google and Babelfish - depending on the translation.
What I would like to know - mainly from anyone who speaks/understands any of the following languages - Would you consider these links be helpful? Are the resulting translations fairly accurate and/or understandable?
TRANSLATIONS PROVIDED
English to Spanish
English to Chinese
English to French
English to German
English to Japanese
English to Italian
English to Portuguese
English to Korean
I would appreciate any feedback anyone has about the translation links.
How about Russian? I used to be fluent in German, but it’s probably gotten a bit rusty since I moved back to the US. I’ll have a look at the German and also invite some German modeling friends to look in (if they have not yet done so).
Pat, I would appreciate it. I’m sure it’s going to be okay or decent. Google has always been an excellent in the things it does. So I’m sure the translations will be okay.
It’s pretty cool seeing the site in Russian (not sure how it actually reads when translated). [;)]
Coming back from one of the gaming forums I frequent, I had seen one of their moderators “warning” one of the members to post in English. Something I guess we never really thought about here - just really took it for granted (or hoped) that everyone would post in English. I’m thinking we could politely insist that people post in English (however we’re not going to ban people who don’t), but still provide these links so it’s easier for people who aren’t fluent in English to follow the discussions. I think it would be a good thing.
Just looked at those pages. I think it’s pretty good. I did, however, get a laugh out of what it did to my name. I never knew that my name, translated into German, is “Klaps” !!!
David, I concur on the posting in English. I doubt this will be an issue as the FSM site is English in its original form. BTW, is FSM published in other languages? I once had a Russian friend bring me the Russian edition of a popular American “naughty” magazine, but that’s a discussion for a forum somewhere else![}:)]
I’ve been playing around with having one service translate the translation of the other. The results are kind of humorous. For example I had Babelfish translate this page into German. On the results page, I right clicked and select properties to get the actual url. Then I pasted it into another translation service [PROMT - http://translation.paralink.com/url_mode/urlmode.asp ]. This is what the results of your message was:
Had a look at the French translation of the above messages and had a good laugh…! [:D]
The main thing of course is that the message is still clear and understandable, even if some words come out a bit on the funny side, making sentences a bit weird too…
By the way, ‘Pat’ has of course been changed to ‘Tapotement’ as in ‘pat on the shoulder’ kind of pat… [:I]
Anyway, I think it’s good this service is available. I’m sure most people visiting or joining this site have at least a bit of knowledge of the English language. In French speaking countries, most of the modeling mags and books are in English, and so, by constant use, we all know a few words in English…
Well, I’m off to see what Google makes of weathering, wash, Future, Trumpeter, and more!!! [:D]