[Localization] Poor translators, poor translations [was Etoys]

[s.boutayeb at free.fr]

Following the discussion between Bert and Bastien, let me share my toughts, as a
professional translator dealing on a daily basis with original documents and
their translations!

What do we need a translators involved in a localization effort like the sugar
UI or the xo-activities, in order to avoid to feel as a poor translator making a
poor translation?

1/ Understanding the original texts:
We need sufficient sources helping to understand the subject:
- the strings and their context
- the comments (accompanying the strings) of the developers
- to RUN the applications/activities: that's why translators do need to "play"
and experiment with the XOs. As for Etoys, our chance is that this environment
has been made runnable in a few environments, for example in Debian. This is a
valuable help for us translators. But I have to confess that Etoys is not
especially the most easiest localization project.
- a functioning questionning/answering system, either involving the - basically
busy developers - or the user community
The screenshots, the running activities, the help of the experts: that is what
the translators need to understand correctly the original texts:
2/ Expressing the target texts:
A language for special purposes, able to express new concepts in a general
language without prior exposure with Information Technologies. This issue has to
be addressed locally by the language community itself (see the case of
Aymara/Quechua, Créyol, etc.) or by the localization teams.

Basically, we need a rich ecosystem for the translators... but as well for the
developers, the educators, the documentation writers, etc. Our end users, that
is the kids and their environment - family, teachers - will then have a rich
toobox in their hands and finally construct their education in a rich ecosystem.

Consequeltly, "rich" translators with adequate tools are a must for a "rich
feeling" user base.

Best regards,

Samy