Ask HN: Translating your website?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=386600

by yeti • 18 years ago

6 5 18 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

We'd like to translate our English language website into Spanish.

Anyone been through translation process for their site and can give some pointers where to start?

Low cost pls, bootstrapped startup here..thanks!

pwim• 18 years ago

Right now this question is far too broad. Are you looking for help from a technical perspective (i.e., a localization framework) or someone for a translator? If you need technical help, is it a static or dynamic website? If it is dynamic, what framework/language do you use?

yeti• 18 years ago

We have already built in the tech, so now we can assign users to be a special "translator" class and when they log in they can click a button to translate the page. Then they enter the text for the language they are set up with.

Now our challenge is to find good and reasonably priced translators to do the service (preferably uni students who are in our target demographic and "get" the service as well)

But as we're still small it's hard to find volunteers who could do the job well (and we're in Hong Kong so don't know any Spanish native speakers).

theantidote• 18 years ago

Because this is a service most places online will give you quotes for free. Just run a standard google search (http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en-us&...) and get quotes from the top couple results. I haven't personally used any of these services.

If you're lucky find a friend/family member who is fluent in Spanish, a surprising number of people are, and have them do it. It would be best if they learned Spanish in mainland South America, preferably not Argentina, because those places speak the most universal Spanish. Spanish writing from Spain may look to a South American like British writing looks to an American. Caribbean Spanish uses more slang (although that may just be a stereotype) and Argentine Spanish is proper kind of like Spain's (again maybe a stereotype).

vaksel• 18 years ago

you can take a page out of Facebook's book and let the users do it for you.

grosales• 18 years ago

I might be able to help you out (I wouldn't be doing the translating, but I know a couple of hispanic college students who are just starting their winter break and might be interested). Send me an email at grosales at gmu dot edu

Ask HN: Translating your website?

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