Some of my best friends are localisersA developers guide

Dwayne Bailey, Translate

A little about me✔ Started Translate.org.za - non-profit focused

on South African languages

✔ Translate - focused on assisting languagecommunities across the globe

What we do and why● We assist localisation teams● We assist companies● We develop tools● Essentially our tooling is community needs

expressed by localisers

Why this talk● We’ve bumped out head against developers

● We’ve often had a different focus toupstream

● We’ve hit the same problems accessprojects

Some history● Why can speak to this?● Localising South Africa● 11 languages - think differently● Saw PO as useful● Built converters not because PO was great,

but because the tools where better● Pain * 11

This talks long term goals● Been threatening to do this for 11 years● Really to distil some of what we’ve know● See this as a workshop and we’ll make this

better over time

The Social

Lower the barrier toparticipation

● Technical skills mismatch● Web based localisation tools can help● Complex processes might help you but likely

don’t add any benefit to the localisers● You need some process, but be careful that

you aren’t designing out contributors● Nobody has complained● Try not to force localisers to be coders

Own team own goals● Yes, they’re part of your team and some only

do your software● But many are spread across multiple projects● They’re doing their language● Bad tooling? - they’ll work around it. We did

with oo2po, moz2po and Pootle● Bad process? - they’ll learn it, try fix, give up,

just live with it

Best localisers are yourlocalisers

● They use your software● They care about what you do● Snake oil, or millions of localisers.

The Assumptions

Translators use tools● Introducing a new file format which matches

your projects needs won’t necessarily matchlocalisers needs.

● Imagine being told that you can’t use vim,you need to use emacs, or visa versa

● Its kind of what you’re doing.● Yip you can do a quick localisation. But you

do lose things

Assumptions of language● The way your language works is not the way all

languages work● Marketing - be most careful if you are from

California● Idioms - it might be crucial to your software, don’t

assume everyone reads scoff or understand yourreferences to Faulty Towers

● Tone/chatty/register - you can’t change it, but beaware of it

Technical

Use a standard format● Either an accepted standard PO, XLIFF or

what is expected in your domainproperties, .ts, etc

● A new file format means people can’t usetheir tools

Variables● If only there was one variable style? We live with what upstream

language gives us● We’d all want to avoid the situation as in OpenOffice.org with 11 different styles

● What do variables contain?● %d vs %s but then you need to be a programmer● Comments can help

● Only variable info - don’t put your program name in a variable● Allow reordering - some languages need to reorder your variables.

● %s %s doesn’t help here● %1 %2 does

● Careful named variables● %(file)s -> %(leer)s

Split sentences● I am a good sentence.● “I am a “, “bad”, “ sentence”● Why? “I am a sentence that is “, “good”.

Punctuation andcapitalisation

● Don’t assume that how your sentences workworks the same in other languages

● sentence[sp]? in French● Name: [ ]

● Capital N and colon are a convention that mightnot work for some languages

● Title Case is not common in most languages,don’t force it to be built in

Terminology● Rasterisation and Posterisation - does

anyone know that that means● Your tool will have terminology● Office suite: format, justify, word processor● Audio: levels, balance, volume, track

Comments● The best people to add comments are localisers

- see if you can help them be able to do that● Too many comments are a pain when they

restate the obvious● Good comments enhance or explain what might

be confusing● All comments need to be parsed by the localiser

Context is everything● Don’t take away context● Don’t sort a list of strings

Plurals● We have them, let’s use them● They don’t work like yours● CLDR plurals “zero” and “one” don’t mean 0

and 1

i18n

Localisation from the start● Adding it later means you’ve baked in

badness● RTL from the start, mostly solved by

frameworks● Don’t assume layout goes LTR and you’e

almost there● Use UTF8, etc and you are almost there

Number and dates● While I’m comfortable with 1,000,000.00 I

actually want 1 000 000,00 and so do manyothers.

● 6/10 6 November, 10 June? - it just makesbe feel foreign in your software

Names● Names don’t work like yours

● Alaa and el Fattah - is my friends name, buthow exactly does he squeeze that into yourFirst name, Surname widgets? He hacks it,but you made him feel foreign

● Brand names are translated in somelanguages.

Conclusion● Hopefully you’re not overwhelmed● Help me expand and clarify this list● Take away:

● You have some information to help you bebetter when you are localising

● Not make assumptions about language● Listen and ask your localisers● We want to localise your software!

Baie dankie

Contact me:Dwayne Bailey <dwayne@translate.org.za>