Chess.com Feedback: Internationalization w/ Different Languages?

Ze eeenglish lingua here, it is verra verra diificile - je translate it por google to somali, zen somali -> urdu, zen urdu -> inca, zen inca -> aztec -> haitian-creole which Je un peu comprende! ;)

Facebook accomplished the internationalization of their site in perhaps a few months.  They enlisted volunteer translators, and then got people to edit other people's work.  The main changes were in the heading buttons and help files.  The content and applications remain mostly in English, but just translating the interface makes it a lot easier for people to sign up, and participate.  The tournament I'm playing in right now has people from Germany, Italy and the Netherlands in it, so obviously chess.com's member base is already pretty international.  Obviously, a large percentage of the world's chess players speak Russian, German, Dutch or Spanish.  People will probably continue to communicate in English when they speak different languages, but having the headers and help files in other languages would be an excellent touch.

I don't have a problem with using languages other than English.  For annotations, use the "Informent" series of symbols.  That has worked for the international community for years.  For conversing with your opponent during a game, however, the symbols can be used only to a limited extent.  Perhaps there could be a page devoted to common expressions in several languages (Russian, German, French, Chinese, Japanese) where players could click on to send an appropriate message in the other players' native tongue.  I don't have a short-cut solution for an attempt to converse with a non English-speaking opponent.  One would have to make the effort to learn the lingo.

I think there should be a translation button next to something that's not in English. AND for members who use a different language other than English, they should also have a translation button as well. => To make it easier; (AFTER clicking the translation button), their should be two bars, 1. The language that they want to translate. 2. The language they want it in.

ADK

Sorry but you are ignoring the facts I posted and suggesting that your opinion and/or experiences as a world traveler prove that "People who speak English worldwide are certainly a minority in the world." Let's just stick to facts, not opinion:

1. In addition to the facts I posted, the British Council has put the number of people that speak English as a foreign language at 750,000,000.

2. The number of people that speak English as a second language is estimated at 375,000,000.

3. One out of every five people in the world can speak English at some competent level.

4. More than one billion people are in the process of learning English.

I could go on and on but the facts speak for themselves.

I think you could consider translating chess.com "official" stuff, such as commands, menu bars and help files.

As for contributions, I think it would be okay to leave people in groups use whatever language they want, so that local content becomes available to newcomers, without any technical constraint.

I have just started a game with a non-English speaking Spanish speaker. We're using BabelFish. The conversation has gone like this ...

artfizz: hi!

DonJuan: espeack spanish

artfizz: Miro adelante a un juego emocionante.

artfizz: (I look forward to an exciting game.)

artfizz: No puedo hablar español.

artfizz: (I can not speak Spanish.)

artfizz: Puedo utilizar este traductor libre - Babelfish. http://babelfish. http://yahoo.com/translate_txt

artfizz: (I can use this free translator - Babelfish. )

DonJuan: tjank you

DonJuan: i use the tranlator to comnunicate you

DonJuan: tell me if the translator works well. understand this:

DonJuan: (dime si el traductor funciona bien, entiendes esto9

artfizz: El traductor está funcionando perfectamente. Lo entendía sin ningunas dificultades.

artfizz: (The translator is working perfectly. I understood it without any difficulties.)

artfizz: El tiempo ahora es 14:40

artfizz: (The time is now 14:40)

DonJuan: muy bien, ahora ya entendí que sí puedo comunicarme con los jugadores extranjeros utilizando el traductor, nunca se me había ocurrido. que buena idea tuviste

DonJuan: (very well, now already I understood that yes I can communicate with the foreign players using the translator, had never been happened to me. that good idea you had)

artfizz: He estado en este Web site por 6 meses

artfizz: (I have been on this website for 6 months.)

Not perfect - but entirely adequate for meaningful communication.

Would there be any virtue is using one of the international languages to converse with an opponent, with whom you do not share the same first language. Latin springs to mind as a candidate. Here's a handy phrase:

Auribus teneo lupum - "I am playing for a draw by repetition."   (Literally: "I hold a wolf by the ears." i.e. I am in a dangerous situation and dare not let go.)

Here's what I would do: when the percentage of members from a non English-speaking country exceeds x% (to be determined) I'd open up a translated site called that_country's_tld.chess.com.

That way, you don't attract players who can't speak English to www.chess.com, but you still expand your user base.

Basically, member quota is an index to the probability that there is a prospective separate community out there.

I like a lot this page and I got no problem to write and read in english , but it's always better to read and navigate trough the page in your natural language, thanks.

I think trying to automatically translate the content wouldn't work (anyway the translation would be of poor quality which would be detrimental to the rich content we can find here). What could maybe work, is to provide language-specific content.

For example, if spanish speaking (paying) members were interested, say, in news from the Spaniard team championship, chess.com could try to provide this content to the Spanish community in Spanish.

Old thread, but still had to say this. Please, never, EVER use google translate for translation of any type of content on chess com. never. EVER

Por ejemplo, Google no me dice lo que significa chupacabras. Y estoy bastante seguro de que esto suena raro en español.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chupacabra