[Edu-sig] Request advice/opinions on translations for Crunchy

[Andre Roberge]

Hi Johannes,

Now, edu-sig readers will get a feel for the kind of discussions that
goes behind the scene while Crunchy is being improved upon ;-)

On 8/17/06, Johannes Woolard <johannes.wollard at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hiya,
>
> > [snip other stuff]
>
> > 4. [and this is what I'm mostly asking about]  Graphics commands, for
> > example circle() or set_line_color() or set_line_colour()  [we support
> > both syntax ;-)].  The strings are ready to be translated [i.e.
> > replace circle() by cercle(), or set_line_color() by
> > couleur_de_ligne()] but, since the documentation (and tutorials) are
> > likely to be only in English, I'm wondering about the wisdom of
> > translating them.
>
> While the docs and tutorials will only be in English for now I think
> the infrastructure for translating the API should be present. One of
> the main aims of the Ubuntu project is that all the included software
> has full translations into as many languages as possible, so if we
> want Crunchy to be part of EdUbuntu at some point in the future we
> should to at least make it possible to translate everything.
>
Well, as Johannes knows, everything in the code is in place for
translating these graphics instructions.  So, it is possible to
translate everything.

The actual translation process involves the creation of a "catalog"
(that's the term used in i18n) for each language, where every
translatable string included in Crunchy is mapped to an appropriate
translation in that language.  I am currently in the process of
translating the various strings into French.  All messages to the
user, button labels, menus, etc., will definitely be translated.

At this point, I am inclined to have the French catalog contain the
string "color" as a translation of "color"  (that's right... no actual
translation performed) since there's no documentation or tutorial
written that would indicate that the graphics command in French would
be "couleur".  I imagine someone reading the English doc and trying a
program with "color" get extremely frustrated getting the message
"color n'est pas une commande reconnue", not realising that he can't
trust the docs but has to guess how that command has been translated
in French.  (Easy here ... but not so easy for other commands like
set_fill_color...).

Of course, when thousands of people start using Crunchy in a myriad of
languages, with tutorials translated ... the decision of providing a
true translation in the "catalog" of graphics commands will likely be
different.

André