[Kreyol] Fwd: Translation into Haitian Creole

Thu Jul 10 18:13:20 EDT 2008

----- Forwarded message from degraff at MIT.EDU -----

    Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:09:38 -0400
    From: Michel DeGraff <degraff at MIT.EDU>
Reply-To: Michel DeGraff <degraff at MIT.EDU>
 Subject: Translation into Haitian Creole
      To: Bastien <bzg at altern.org>
      Cc: Dale Joachim <joachimd at mit.edu>, Edith Ackermann
<edith at media.MIT.EDU>, David Cavallo <cavallo at media.MIT.EDU>, Fequiere
Vilsaint <educa at aol.com>, Renold Telfort <retelf at hotmail.com>, Guy Serge
Pompilus <guysergep at gmail.com>, Max Larson Henry
<maxlarson.henry at fds.edu.ht>, Jacques Yvon Pierre
<jacquesypierre007 at yahoo.fr>, Wanda Eugene <eugenwa at auburn.edu>,
Jacqueline Karaaslanian <jk at laptop.org>, Claudia Urrea
<calla at media.MIT.EDU>, Josiane Hudicourt-Barnes
<josiane_hudicourt-barnes at terc.edu>, Alice Cavallo
<mello at media.MIT.EDU>, Claire Cecile Pierre <cecilecpierre at gmail.com>,
Shaundra Daily <sbryant at mit.edu>, julian.daily at g84consulting.com,
projet.xohaiti at gmail.com, Edward Cherlin <echerlin at gmail.com>

Bonjou tout moun,

Bastien: Thank you for the update.  Indeed the sooner we get Haitian
Creole on the XOs, the sooner OLPC can start promoting
constructionist learning in Haiti.  So, yes, mèsi anpil for your
upbeat message.

Now, two points, one minor (re: a translation correction), the other
more substantial (re: volunteer vs. professional translation).

1. Re the Haitian Creole title "OLPC Ayiti pwojè an kreyòl"
on the website http://olpchaiti.org/interne/haitian_creole.php :

As is, the syntax is incorrect--that particular string is not my
translation, is it?   One correct, and more appropriate, translation
would be:

"Pwojè OLPC ann Ayiti: Annou mete kreyòl ladan l"

2. Re the translation/localization aims to be achieved and the
role of volunteer translators therein:

Here are the aims described on the website:

"1. translate the Sugar interface into Haitian Creole
2. translate the Sugar activities into Haitian Creole
3. translate or produce pedagogical materials Haitian Creole"

I think Step 3 is what we should ask volunteers to participate
in---but not Steps 1 and 2.  Here's my rationale, which I've
already shared with Bastien in earlier email:

Steps 1 and 2 go to the core of the XOs.  The Haitian Creole
strings for the Sugar interface and activities will, in
many cases, be the first time ever that these kids will see
anything in Haitian Creole on a computer.

My hunch is that such translations should be of the highest
quality, to be produced by professional translators who already
have experience in translating technical texts---with many words
that don't yet have straightforward counterparts in Haitian
Creole.

Even as a Haitian linguist, I've faced first-hand how hard it is
to translate technical texts (e.g., computer terminology) into
Haitian Creole, a language without a tradition of terms in
Information and Communication Technology.  NB: I am (mostly) a
theoretical linguist, not a professional translator.  But my
linguistic training and my research and personal interests do
allow me to evaluate the quality of texts in Haitian Creole.  I
also did linguistic-training work in the mid-1990s with Haiti's
(now defunct!) Creole Language Bureau, which housed Haitian
translators working for the Ministry of Education and various
literacy programs.

And I've been looking at the Haitian Creole strings that have
recently produced by OLPC's volunteer translators, as reported on
https://dev.laptop.org/translate/ht .  I have lots of respect for
these valiant and enthusiastic volunteers. Yet, the results of
their efforts are perforce limited by their linguistic
knowledge---it seems that some of them are not even fluent
Haitian Creole speakers.  So the translations are often less than
satisfactory---with erroneous spellings and linguistic gaffes
that range from lexicon to syntax and semantics.  These gaffes
undermine the translation of even the simplest (e.g., 1- to
3-word) commands.  I don't think it's a good idea to have basic
interface commands show up on the XOs in "broken" Haitian Creole,
especially in light of the already-stigmatized status of the
language.  These problematic translations go against their
purpose, in both practical and symbolic ways---especially in
comparison with the available translations in other languages
(e.g., French).

It seems to me that having professional translators promptly
produce some benchmarks that can then be updated for further
translation would make more sense than having the translation
project *start* with (sometimes non-native) volunteers that may
have never translated this sort of material beforehand.

Note that, in this respect (i.e., from a meta-linguistic
perspective), translation into Haitian Creole (a language that
many, even well-meaning and "progressive" intellectuals, think of
as "broken French," "limited," "unable to express complex
concepts," etc.) is not on a par with translation into French,
Spanish, Portuguese, etc. (languages that have a robust tradition
in translation and whose speakers do not consider as, say,
"broken Latin"!).  A related issue is that, for languages like
French, Spanish, etc., those in power are also those who want
these languages on the XOs. Unfortunately it's often the opposite
situation for Haitian Creole.  Thus the need for an extra boost
in the right direction, including adequate and timely translations.

Lastly, it must be noted that the InterAmerican Development Bank
has allocated funds for translation and localization efforts.  To
wit, on page 4 of the bank's "Plan of Operations":

  "The Project will finance a combination of content in Creole
  and French. The user interface for the operation system (Sugar)
  will be translated into Creole. The default software
  applications included on the XO laptops will be translated into
  Creole and a minimum of one additional software application for
  each of the following curricular areas will be developed using
  a combination of Creole and French: reading/writing,
  communications, interaction with the environment, numeracy and
  problem-solving skills, and social skills.

  ...

  To this end, the project will finance individual consultants
  with specific linguistic and technological knowledge."

The document is available online at:
http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=1364380

It thus seems to me that it would make sense to use these
budgeted funds to produce high-quality translations of the core
Sugar interface and bundled activities.  Such translations are
extremely laborious, yet they may be crucial to the success of
OLPC in Haiti.  In any case they require the sort of rigor that,
I think, cannot be reasonably expected from a heterogeneous and
self-selected crew of well-meaning and enthusiastic, yet untrained,
volunteers.

It may also make sense to use some of these funds to promptly
acquire some already available Haitian Creole contents so that
these contents, along with the Sugar interface and activities,
can be ready in time for the real OLPC pilot.

Are there any reasons to why the IDB funds mentioned in the above
quote should be diverted to (which?) other purposes?

Looking forward to continuing this discussion and to coming up
with action items so we can indeed go forward to have the XOs
be a tool that's adapted to the needs of the majority of
Haitian children.

Kenbe la!

                                 -michel.
_____________________________________________________________________
MIT Linguistics & Philosophy  77 Massachusetts Ave Cambridge MA 02139
degraff at MIT.EDU http://web.mit.edu/linguistics/people/faculty/degraff
_____________________________________________________________________

----- Message from bzg at altern.org ---------
    Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:56:58 +0200
    From: Bastien <bzg at altern.org>
Reply-To: Bastien <bzg at altern.org>
Subject: Re: "Créole, école, rationalité"
      To: Michel DeGraff <degraff at mit.edu>, Dale Joachim
<joachimd at mit.edu>, Edith Ackermann <edith at media.MIT.EDU>, David Cavallo
<cavallo at media.MIT.EDU>, Fequiere Vilsaint <educa at aol.com>, Renold
Telfort <retelf at hotmail.com>, Guy Serge Pompilus <guysergep at gmail.com>,
Max Larson Henry <maxlarson.henry at fds.edu.ht>, Jacques Yvon Pierre
<jacquesypierre007 at yahoo.fr>, Wanda Eugene <eugenwa at auburn.edu>,
Jacqueline Karaaslanian <jk at laptop.org>, Claudia Urrea
<calla at media.MIT.EDU>, Josiane Hudicourt-Barnes
<josiane_hudicourt-barnes at terc.edu>, Alice Cavallo
<mello at media.MIT.EDU>, Claire Cecile Pierre <cecilecpierre at gmail.com>,
Shaundra Daily <sbryant at mit.edu>, julian.daily at g84consulting.com,
projet.xohaiti at gmail.com, Edward Cherlin <echerlin at gmail.com>

> Hi all,
>
> I think we all agree that the translation of the XO interface (Sugar)
> and activities into Haitian Kreyol is key for the success of OLPC in
> Haïti. Thanks again to Michel and others who contribute to make this
> point very clear!
>
> I'm glad to announce we now have a mailing list for translators:
>
>  http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/kreyol
>
> The list is about translation into Haitian Kreyol.  But, as I see it,
> the scope of such a translation effort goes far beyond the XO and its
> activities: it may as well be about translation of _any_ existing
> pedagogical materials.
>
> So please don't hesitate to advertize this list to possible volunteers.
>
> To start working, you can now register on the Pootle:
>
>  http://dev.laptop.org/translate
>
> To get some explanations on how to use the Pootle:
>
>  http://olpchaiti.org/interne/pootle_en.php
>  http://olpchaiti.org/interne/pootle.php
>
>  (Click on the headings to expand the sections.)
>
> We also have a trilingual webpage (thanks to Michel for the Kreyol
> translation!) where you can find links to the mailing list and the
> tutorials:
>
>  http://olpchaiti.org/interne/haitian_creole.php
>
> --
> Bastien
>

----- End message from bzg at altern.org -----

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