Hello All,

First of all, thank you all for the great work you have done on the all the language files for our software. It is very appreciated.

I have a few recommendations in regards of lang. files:

- Try to be consistent in the word use:
Example: in English a "Online" word is used in different combinations though out Skype. If you translated "Online", please make sure that you find all the locations "Online" is used and replace it with the selected word.

- Check the correctness of the translation in regards of the text length:
Example: in English a "Advanced >>" button has enough space for 10 characters, then please try to find an appropriate word for this button with matching (or shorter) words count. The translation that is too long will not appear properly on the button.

- Check the correctness of the translation in regards of the sentence length:
Example: in English a "Request authorization to see his/her status and allow this user to see when I am online" sentence fits into the "Request Authorization" window. The translation that is too long will not fit properly in the window.

- Last one, try not to leave any lines or buttons untranslated.



Well, this is all for now and keep up the good work!
Thank you again for all the help.

Cheers,

These guidelines where already followed by the members of the community members helping me in translating the german version [ Link ] and i think that it's worth paying attention to all of them.
Furthermore it can be very helpfull to present the translation to a larger audience e.g. by creating a "translation QA team" like i did because the chance is very high that while translating you are getting into your own "circle". That is because i often keep strict to the english original and therefor end up with really strange terms. Keep asking: "Would my mother understand it?" helps a lot ;-)

Another question to the Skype-team: What do you think about the question raised regarding to alow TPL-file upload in this forum [ Link ]?

Done,
u can upload IM.tpl files to the translation forums. Enjoy!

Chao.

BG

Hi,

Just started translating Skype into Tamil. Translated a little over 100 obvious strings. However, I see a problem. The tooltips appear as question marks.... as if unicode is not supported there. Any suggestion? Or is it a fault with Skype? Otherwise, I don't face any problem with the translation.

elan

Hi,
You have to switch your windows to run Tamil as default regional language.
Then the toolstips will work. Try it.



BG

Setup strings translation

And, Need we start setup-strings translation?

This is a specail status for Chinese (Traiditional). Now Skype has following langs in SETUP (not in UI), such as Chinese (Simplified), Dansk, English and so on.

1.Now user which OS in Chinese (Traditional) will auto enter in Chinese (Simplified) mode, and see many garbage error display in charastors.

2.I reviewed Chinese (Simplified) strings in SETUP, its translation is only a done but not perfect and not precisely translations. Especially in tech jargons, it appeared non-professional translation style.

So, can we begin to start -- translation of SETUP strings?[b][/b]

Native lang name translation

I suggest NOT translating lang name to native name. Such as: German vs. Deutsche. ==> Yes, keep the name in English style, otherwise add a column to place a native lang name.

Reason 1: Cause East-asian languages, including CHT/CHS/JPN/KOR using a hi-bit charactors. If we translated the name, such as Chinese (Traditional) to 繁體中文 , Chinese (Simplified) to 簡体中文, Japanese to 日本語 , it is meaningless and hard to read for other people in different languages.

Even I write the language name in Chinese (Traditional) , it is also the same hard to read for prople in Chinese (Simplified).

Reason 2: Some charactors will appear error display, ex. the "n" charctor in Espnol (Spanish) .the "c" in Francias.

If skype want to be a world-wide ready program, it is a need for see noting error displays.
[/b]

Hi,
what are the Terms of including translated file into Skype installation ??
Polish users are very impatient, because the still have to use old translation from Very old version, which is build in Skype Instalation, and there's only 30% lines translated (when compering with 0.98.0.42) :?
Could you add the Polish_0.98.0.42_20040630_K4r0lsz.lang into Next Skype version :?: :wink:

FYI,

free "dictionary" and terminology translation list for European Community languages at:
http://europa.eu.int/eurodicautom/Controller

I use it often for technical terms!

Hi,
I may not be a super user (although I use Skype a LOT).
I just wanted to let you guys (and staff) know that the current Hebrew file is not good and I have improved it a lot, can be dnld'd at
http://houlite.co.il/he/heb-xp.zip.

We (Tutmonda Esperanto Junular/Worldwide Esperanto Youth), Johan Derksen, and I was the translating of Skype in Esperanto and I have uploaded it to the Forum:

http://forum.skype.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=6871

Esperanto tranlation ready, now in beta test status, now I want to translate the Setup strings.

How can I receive this :?:

Thanks!

Could someone please post instructions on how to adopt a translation in Skype for Mac OS X? Or tell me where to find them.

I downloaded the Lithuanian file Lithuanian_1.0.0.106_2004-11-25_VorMeX.lang but I have no idea what to do with it... :? Do I need to edit the name of the file at all, or I'm just not putting in the right place? So far, /Applications/Skype/Contents/Resources/ subfolders aren't working for me. I do have LT language enabled under System Preferences as one of the highest priority, so once I have the right file, I'm sure it would work.

Thanks

Greetings. Please accept a few comments on the guidelines.

- Try to be consistent in the word use:

This might not be so much of a problem if the phrases in the .lang files would not repeat repeat so often often . To solve this at least in part I made a lang to po converter that binds all the same phrases together. Should be helpful.

- Check the correctness of the translation in regards of the text length:
- Check the correctness of the translation in regards of the sentence length:

Please note that programs are there for the people, and not the other way around.

If in a certain language "Next" is expressed by a long word, there should be nothing preventing the "Next" button to be translated that way. The GUI should form itself so that it accommodates the length of whatever the translation is in effect. No matter how many letters there are in the original text. If the translation for Next is "Abcdefghijklmop", the button should be as big as to incorporate the full word. Same goes for the sentence length vs. window space economy. Don't force the translators to make sentences as long as to fit the window. Rather take the text metrics and make the window as large as to fit the entire message. The translators work on their own to make the most compact translations of various terms.

Whether it looks nice is a secondary question. IMHO a program should first be understandable, and only then fancy.

Of course, you might be interested that your GUI always looks shiny and flawless, and of course the structure of various languages does not always help you in this respect.

But you should not put the software in front of the language, and culture of your international users. People should be first, software only second.

- Last one, try not to leave any lines or buttons untranslated.

This is the goal we all strive to. More details on PO conversion, that might help in this respect, are available here: http://forum.skype.com/viewtopic.php?t=23102

f

[quote=sjolit]Could someone please post instructions on how to adopt a translation in Skype for Mac OS X? Or tell me where to find them.
[/quote]DITTO THAT!
We use OS X and I just realized in User Guide>Skype for Mac OS X
>LANG SUPT>(bad link, so use last one)

Skype for Mac OS X was originally developed in and is currently only available in English. Please visit our forum in order to share and discuss our localization efforts.[/quote]

Hello gumble_barneygumble!

During translation I met the following problem:
The combo box Automatic proxy detection on window Connections (Tools; Options) has not enough space for correct translation to Latvian. Now the combo box shows 30 characters, and list - 33 ones. Translated text (in formal language) requires space of 36 characters. Maybe it's possible to enlarge this in next Skype versions for correct view?

The best regards,
aivarstmv.

Hi,

Just a small error in the example Skype gives to call a Belgian number. On the "Dial" tab, under 2 "Enter Belgian phone number (with area code)" an example of a Brussels phone number is being given: 02 224 XXXX. In fact, we would write it "02 224 XX XX" or, even more Belgian, "02/224.XX.XX". Just see if you find it important enough to change as no-one will probably notice!

Goodbye

Jean,

Pas terrible ton dictionnair. J'essaye de traduire Guía de Despacho en Anglais!!

Hi,
what are the Terms of including translated file into Skype installation ??
Polish users are very impatient, because the still have to use old translation from Very old version, which is build in Skype Instalation, and there's only 30% lines translated (when compering with 0.98.0.42) :?
Could you add the Polish_0.98.0.42_20040630_K4r0lsz.lang into Next Skype version :?: :wink: