Appropriate translation[edit | edit source]
Appropriate translation involves putting an article in another language while taking into consideration the material conditions obtaining in the intended audience. In other words an appropriate translation is not an exact version of an article in another language. It should be an article tailored and thus fitted to all of the material conditions obtaining in the new audience. Care should be taken to avoid mechanical translation as the new article may considerably fail the appropriateness test. Try to make a translation your own- make it belong to the new audience.
What you may do[edit | edit source]
To make sure that the new article is really appropriate to the intended audience you may make any necessary changes or improvements. While you do this it may be necessary to, say, cite new sources of where to obtain materials used in that particular project. And if you ventured to do or adopt the project you may upload new pictures or drawings. And it is also very important that if there are other sources of information or links that you know to add them up.
How to translate Appropedia articles[edit | edit source]
As long as you can communicate in two or more languages, translation of articles found on Appropedia should be fairly easy for you. Well, you may notice that we don’t have the ´translation´ tab or click icon on Appropedia articles. Do not be discouraged by this, follow the easy steps outlined below to start translating on Appropedia.
1.Choose an Appropedia article that you want to translate and open it.
2.Above that article there will be an `edit`tab. Click it and it will lead you to a sort of changed page with a text box that contains your chosen article.
3.Move your cursor and insert it inside that text box and click to make sure it is there.
4.Now press and hold control key (Ctrl) and press A to select all. All the texts inside the box will be highlighted (turn black).
5.Move your cursor inside there again and right click to reveal options, scroll and select copy then click. And leave it for now.
6.Open a new word document, move and insert your cursor inside that new document or blank page and click. Now right click to reveal options, scroll and select paste and click. Your article (template now) should come here.
7.Now go back to your chosen Appropedia article and close it. Once you have closed it find an icon `start a new page` and click it (you will arrive somewhere else follow all the procedures and you will return here). On filling in the title of that page you may either type the same title as your chosen article or add /language name for example for article titled Pedal power translated into French the title may read Pedal power/french. Or you may simply put another title name in new language.
8.Done with that go back to the word document, press and hold control key (Ctrl) and then press A to select all. After this right click scroll and select and click copy.
9.Now return to your create new page and insert your cursor inside the text box. Right click scroll and select paste and click. Your chosen article will arrive here. Down the text box there is an option to save, you may save to see your new article (not yet translated but a good template) with only the title changed. This is good because from now onwards you may translate at your own pace or in little pieces and also others may join the venture. You will simply be doing this by browsing that article and then click `edit` to continue the translation or make any improvements. The result of this is that we will have an article with sections written in different languages. This is still good because by using edit you and others will be translating one piece at a time until the whole article is finished and now appears in one language.
Strengths of this procedure[edit | edit source]
Many words have been said to it to make sure everybody understands but the procedure is indeed simple and fast to do. And it does not require one to translate an article at a go or alone for that matter. And also the fact that the translation is not mechanical articles will surely maintain their appropriateness.
