Web 2.0 interface and text translation
Immediately I apologize to those who are tired of the words Web 2.0, startup and other now fashionable words. This topic is not an advertisement of the created solution, but a real idea for a startup (service, project, solution).
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The idea of how this (localization) is happening now, I have quite superficial, but here's what I managed to learn from various sources and hear from a couple of interlocutors. Many companies, from small to large, when translating products resort to the help of freelancers-translators. Not so long ago, in Computerra, there was a note about how the interface transfer takes place in one of the phone manufacturers. The girls were translated by Ukrainian students who were miraculously brought to China, and they were hired to verify translations and write new ones. It is understandable, to keep constantly the staff of translators in dozens of languages of the world - this is clearly a bust. It is much easier to resort to the help of freelancers or translation agencies.
The problem is that hiring a whole staff of freelancers to translate the next interface is quite a chore. They need to look, they need to negotiate. As a result, all this translates into considerable deductions, which far from any developers can afford. And if you and your friend-student released another web 2.0 project that could become very popular, but all you can do is translate it into English, while it could be popular in Germany and France, and maybe even China !? You can ask for volunteers to translate it to the users themselves, but how much time will you spend waiting for a user who knows the language you need!? And if there is a lot of text, then one enthusiast may not be enough. And it is possible that you have some budget for translation, but it is clearly not enough to address the translator into many languages.
Web 2.0, because UGC (user generated content). It's no secret that English is international, and a very large number of people understand it and can translate from English into their native language and back. These people are missing all over the world. In Germany, in France, in China, in Japan, anywhere. Have you already felt what it smells like ?! Yes, if you mix the interests of a company that needs translation from English to, for example, French (and being a native speaker), and ordinary Internet users in France who are able to translate from English to French, and even pay some amount to these users then there can be mutual satisfaction of needs. The vendor will receive the translation, and ordinary users will get an additional opportunity to make money on the Internet, as they say, without leaving home.
A company that is interested in translation puts a file with phrases, texts and comments into the service, indicating what language this text is and what languages it wants to receive. (There are generally accepted formats for such data). I see such a use-case, at first the company translates the text only into English, and then, translated English, puts it out for translation into other languages. Also, the company lays out two bonus funds: a transfer fund, and a verification fund. About this later. The company indicates how many translation options it is possible to make for a phrase, and how many verification must be in order to assume that the translation phrase is selected.
Users are registered on the website of the service. Suppose there is a user from Russia, and he can translate technical texts from English to Russian. He looks, whether it is necessary for some company to translate something from English to Russian, and if necessary, he begins to translate those phrases that have not yet been translated, or the translation options of which are so far less than the company indicated. For those phrases that have already been translated, and new variants cannot be added, the user verifies the correctness of the translation (votes for one of the options, which seems to him more successful).
When all the phrases are translated, then those bonus funds appear on the scene. The translation fund is distributed between users whose translation options have been verified (received more votes), and depending on the level of users. A user with a higher level will receive a higher percentage. About user levels later. The same situation is with users who perform verification, but the verification fund is distributed for them. The size of both funds is determined by the company that needs translation or verification, and the user is shown how much, approximately, he can earn on the translation of each phrase. The company has the right not to allocate any funds at all, and to rely on enthusiasts who might like a project that needs a translation, or may be interested in service newbies, since they will be able to raise their level, and go to the next step. However, the company will still have to pay for the placement of the service.
Well, I said that this is Web 2.0. Users will monitor each other. In addition, with an increase in the number of correct translations, a certain user counter, its level, will also grow. When it grows up to certain levels, the user is transferred to another level, and it is considered that his level is potentially higher, which means he can receive more. Also, the service will carry out a paid certification (certification) of users, as a result of which a confirmed user level will be exposed that he is a professional and an expert. When sending a request for translation, the company has the right to indicate with what level of users it would like to work, more precisely, what level of users can translate or verify its phrases. Or the company can choose one or two users, and make a closed from prying eyes translation, issuing a certain fee to these users.
Users
Producers (developers)
Service
The gut is not thin. I myself do not develop this idea and project for a banal reason: lack of time. We have to work in the company, and spend time on the development of other people's projects, and not our own. Well, I don’t have my own finances in order not to work. In addition to this idea, there are a number of interesting ideas that are still waiting, or are sluggishly developing =) Of course, this is not a description of a solution ready for implementation, since you need to explore the markets and the interest of companies in such a decision. Think over small and large parts. Tell us what everyone thinks about the idea!?
There are a very large number of companies that translate their products, both hardware and software, into different languages.
There are a large number of users who can translate from their language into English and vice versa, who are not averse to getting money for this knowledge. There are many examples when users voluntarily spend their time in vain (Wikipedia, questions and answers, etc.).
Someone heard about the existence of such services ?! I will be glad to hear criticism and comments!
Somehow, miraculously, it turned out that my topic was not the first on this topic. Previously, rimmer333 spoke about it, in its topic, crowdsourcing translation service . He also suggested a link to me, where a similar service has already been implemented, although, so far, focused on working with the English language. Thank!
Introduction
| There are a very large number of companies that manufacture computers, household appliances, cell phones and other technical solutions. An even greater number of software developers, both for desktop computers and website and service developers. All of them are located in completely different parts of the world, and, accordingly, they speak and use different languages. It's no secret that you can get much more profit or visitors (which is also converted into profit) if you localize the product and sell it in foreign markets. As all the largest vendors do, and the most popular sites are translated into different languages. |  |
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How do they do it?
The idea of how this (localization) is happening now, I have quite superficial, but here's what I managed to learn from various sources and hear from a couple of interlocutors. Many companies, from small to large, when translating products resort to the help of freelancers-translators. Not so long ago, in Computerra, there was a note about how the interface transfer takes place in one of the phone manufacturers. The girls were translated by Ukrainian students who were miraculously brought to China, and they were hired to verify translations and write new ones. It is understandable, to keep constantly the staff of translators in dozens of languages of the world - this is clearly a bust. It is much easier to resort to the help of freelancers or translation agencies.
So what's the problem ?
The problem is that hiring a whole staff of freelancers to translate the next interface is quite a chore. They need to look, they need to negotiate. As a result, all this translates into considerable deductions, which far from any developers can afford. And if you and your friend-student released another web 2.0 project that could become very popular, but all you can do is translate it into English, while it could be popular in Germany and France, and maybe even China !? You can ask for volunteers to translate it to the users themselves, but how much time will you spend waiting for a user who knows the language you need!? And if there is a lot of text, then one enthusiast may not be enough. And it is possible that you have some budget for translation, but it is clearly not enough to address the translator into many languages.
What does the Web 2.0, and indeed the Web?
Web 2.0, because UGC (user generated content). It's no secret that English is international, and a very large number of people understand it and can translate from English into their native language and back. These people are missing all over the world. In Germany, in France, in China, in Japan, anywhere. Have you already felt what it smells like ?! Yes, if you mix the interests of a company that needs translation from English to, for example, French (and being a native speaker), and ordinary Internet users in France who are able to translate from English to French, and even pay some amount to these users then there can be mutual satisfaction of needs. The vendor will receive the translation, and ordinary users will get an additional opportunity to make money on the Internet, as they say, without leaving home.
And how should this work?
A company that is interested in translation puts a file with phrases, texts and comments into the service, indicating what language this text is and what languages it wants to receive. (There are generally accepted formats for such data). I see such a use-case, at first the company translates the text only into English, and then, translated English, puts it out for translation into other languages. Also, the company lays out two bonus funds: a transfer fund, and a verification fund. About this later. The company indicates how many translation options it is possible to make for a phrase, and how many verification must be in order to assume that the translation phrase is selected.
Users are registered on the website of the service. Suppose there is a user from Russia, and he can translate technical texts from English to Russian. He looks, whether it is necessary for some company to translate something from English to Russian, and if necessary, he begins to translate those phrases that have not yet been translated, or the translation options of which are so far less than the company indicated. For those phrases that have already been translated, and new variants cannot be added, the user verifies the correctness of the translation (votes for one of the options, which seems to him more successful).
When all the phrases are translated, then those bonus funds appear on the scene. The translation fund is distributed between users whose translation options have been verified (received more votes), and depending on the level of users. A user with a higher level will receive a higher percentage. About user levels later. The same situation is with users who perform verification, but the verification fund is distributed for them. The size of both funds is determined by the company that needs translation or verification, and the user is shown how much, approximately, he can earn on the translation of each phrase. The company has the right not to allocate any funds at all, and to rely on enthusiasts who might like a project that needs a translation, or may be interested in service newbies, since they will be able to raise their level, and go to the next step. However, the company will still have to pay for the placement of the service.
And what to do with low-quality translation?
Well, I said that this is Web 2.0. Users will monitor each other. In addition, with an increase in the number of correct translations, a certain user counter, its level, will also grow. When it grows up to certain levels, the user is transferred to another level, and it is considered that his level is potentially higher, which means he can receive more. Also, the service will carry out a paid certification (certification) of users, as a result of which a confirmed user level will be exposed that he is a professional and an expert. When sending a request for translation, the company has the right to indicate with what level of users it would like to work, more precisely, what level of users can translate or verify its phrases. Or the company can choose one or two users, and make a closed from prying eyes translation, issuing a certain fee to these users.
What is the use of all?
Users
- the possibility of additional income without leaving home
Producers (developers)
- cheap translation
- translation by native speakers
- less hassle with finding freelancers to translate
Service
- earnings on interest from premium funds, or fixed payments
- earnings on user certification
Why not do it yourself, intestine?
The gut is not thin. I myself do not develop this idea and project for a banal reason: lack of time. We have to work in the company, and spend time on the development of other people's projects, and not our own. Well, I don’t have my own finances in order not to work. In addition to this idea, there are a number of interesting ideas that are still waiting, or are sluggishly developing =) Of course, this is not a description of a solution ready for implementation, since you need to explore the markets and the interest of companies in such a decision. Think over small and large parts. Tell us what everyone thinks about the idea!?
Conclusion
There are a very large number of companies that translate their products, both hardware and software, into different languages.
There are a large number of users who can translate from their language into English and vice versa, who are not averse to getting money for this knowledge. There are many examples when users voluntarily spend their time in vain (Wikipedia, questions and answers, etc.).
Someone heard about the existence of such services ?! I will be glad to hear criticism and comments!
Somehow, miraculously, it turned out that my topic was not the first on this topic. Previously, rimmer333 spoke about it, in its topic, crowdsourcing translation service . He also suggested a link to me, where a similar service has already been implemented, although, so far, focused on working with the English language. Thank!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/17484/
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