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Translation coordinators per language

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Translation coordinators per language (TCPL) are people who coordinate Wikimedia Foundation related translations in one or some specific languages. They are translation team leaders and they are expected to organize a translation team that they are responsible for. They are not expected to translate but rather to keep the team active, informed and make translations process go smoothly. TCPL are volunteers and they are not officially bounded to Wikimedia Foundation. TCPLs are also called local translation coordinators.

Although they are volunteers and are not official parts of the Foundation, they collaborate with translation subcommitee. They have 2 key responsibilities:

  1. The information about Wikimedia Foundation is being translated into their language(s)
  2. Important information in their language(s) is being translated into the working language(s) of the Foundation (usually English).

The list of active TCPLs will be maintained by Transcom and the TCPLs themselves. Interested people may enroll themselves on the talk page. Recommendations are also encouraged. If a translation coordinator has been inactive for a month without notice in advance, their name will be moved to the "Inactive coordinators" list. They can move their names back and restart their activities whenever they are back online.

The way that Translation Coordinators work

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Translation Coordinators oversee the entire process of translation. They keep track of what is being requested for translation, the status of each ongoing translation, the deadlines, who is working on the translations, and where/whom they can ask for further help, etc.

To maintain their role effective, Translation Coordinators will:

  • Keep an eye on Translation requests pages and the translators-l mailing list
  • Find people working on the meta pages and/or the mailing list
  • Watch on-going translation pages and their progress
    • Seek further help, if necessary (more translators and/or copyeditor and proofreader)
    • Keep the deadline in mind, if one exists

Rarely, for some translations using the pre-Translate system:

  • Update request statuses on TR/WMF, TR/WMFnews and sometimes on TR/quick
  • Maintain individual translation pages (the pages above and their subpages)
  • If possible and required, upload translation source and/or ready-to-upload pages to the appropriate location(s), especially if you are updating the Foundation website
  • Keep an eye on released translations, and update them, if necessary

What Translation Coordinators aren't

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It may happen that coordinators are translators at the same time, but this may not always be the case. In other words - Translation Coordinators are not necessarily translators. In some cases, they can even coordinate translations into languages they do not understand.

Of course they can involve into translations too, if they want to or if they planned it. Depending on the situation, if they cannot do something for a certain reason, they are expected to find another person who will be able to do the task instead. Good coordinators are those who know what kind of requests can be fulfilled by whom and can ensure that tasks are done by the appropriate deadline. What's important is whether or not the translation gets done, not who does it. TCPLs will ensure this by all cost.

Becoming a Translation Coordinator

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Being a Translator Coordinator brings serious responsibilities. A good candidate should be able to let the translators work together comfortably and make them do the tasks properly and on time. Also s/he should be ready to help translators if necessary.

For doing this work effectively, Translation Coordinators are expected to:

  • Speak good English (the working language in Transcom; the members of Transcom are currently French, Italy-based German, and Japanese)
  • Speak the language concerned at the highest level of competency (ideally as the mother tongue)

In addition, Coordinators must:

  • Have a keen sense of responsibility - keep requests and their deadlines in mind
  • Collaborate with other editors - work with both local translators and Transcom
  • Be knowledgeable about the Foundation to some extent; help translators find appropriate terms if necessary
  • Be knowledgeable about meta, the main workplace for translators

Although not mandatory, it would be helpful if they:

  • Subscribe to foundation-l or at least read the summary (to know what's going on in the foundation)
  • Have an account on the Foundation wiki
  • Subscribe to Transcom's internal (closed) mailinglist and join Transcom discussions
  • Visited #wikimedia-translation on IRC

The list of active TCPLs will be maintained by Transcom and the TCPLs themselves. Interested people may enroll themselves on the talk page. Recommendations are also encouraged. If a translation coordinator has been inactive for a month without notice in advance, their name will be moved to the "Inactive coordinators" list. They can move their names back and restart their activities whenever they are back online.

Please note: TCPL team is rather informal than official. TCPLs are no liable for Wikimedia Foundation activity, and vice versa, TCPLs cannot speak on behalf of the Foundation or in the name of the Foundation. All their statement should be thought on basis as individual. TCPL teams are being currently organized and in its experimental phase; this page may be altered abruptly.

Active Translation Coordinators

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Recommendations & nominations may go to the talk.

  • Ar/Arabic/العربية
  • Es/Spanish/español
  • Ja/Japanese/日本語
  • Ml/Malayalam/മലയാളം

Inactive translation coordinators

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See also

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This is a working draft. Comments will be appreciated on the talk page.

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