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Identify the working languages …

On the basis of the answers from the interested parties, and given the possibilities of the machine-translation software that we use (see below, Chapter IV), you will be able to determine the working languages of the forum. Given the features of this machine-translation program, if more than one language proves to be necessary, one of these languages will inevitably be English, with French and/or Spanish in addition, and in certain cases Italian, Portuguese, and German as possible "source" languages.¹ This means that persons can send their messages in one of those languages, but that messages will only be translated into the established working languages.

It is highly recommended to limit working languages (number of languages into which messages are translated) to three, privileging English, French and/or Spanish. Beyond that, the time involved in translation of messages can easily become unmanageable.

There are several possibilities:

1. a single working language

One language is identified as a reading and writing language for all the persons subscribed, whether or not this language is everybody’s “strongest” language. This will be the working language for everybody, that is, the language of the single discussion list. There will be no translation.

2. several “writing languages,” one “reading language”

One language is identified as a reading language for everyone, but not everyone can write it. Choose this language as the language in which the messages will be published on the discussion list, and offer the possibility for everyone to send their messages in one of the three languages in which they can write. It will be up to you to make sure that these are translated for publication into the working language, followed by the original message, for reference.

For instance, if the reading language is English, you will publish a slightly post-edited machine translation into English of all messages received in French / Spanish / any other language included in the machine-translation software, followed by the original in French / Spanish / other language.

3. several working languages

There is no one language that everyone can read. You will have to make sure that all messages are translated.

See an example of a message in a 3-language forum here and in a 2-language forum here.

However, you might not have the time or the human resources needed to accomplish this job (the machine translation + editing of a message takes between 15 and 45 minutes, depending on how long it is and how well it is written).

In that case, you have other options.

1. You can publish the messages only in the language they were written. It will then be absolutely necessary to write up a weekly summary of the contributions (recommended for every forum, regardless of language issues), and translate only the summaries.

2. You can choose to write a short abstract for every message (strongly advised – see F Layout.txt), followed by the post-edited machine translation(s) of this abstract. These abstracts can then be followed by the complete message as received, followed by its “raw” (non-edited) machine translation (a raw machine translation only takes a few seconds, but can produce unintelligible sentences and mistranslation).

3. You can choose to publish the original message followed by just its raw translation(s) (with the disadvantages of possible mistranslation and meaningless sentences). The intelligibility of the message will then depend entirely on the quality of the original message and the application by participants of the guidelines provided in F Translation.txt.

4. In every case, you must indicate at the top of every message and in all the languages, what the message contains: a weekly summary in several languages; the abstract of the messages + post-edited machine translations of the abstract + raw translations of the message; or message + raw machine translations.

Managing languages is not easy, and every solution includes some kind of disadvantage.

Depending on the linguistic profile of the persons subscribed to the list, opt for the least number of publication languages: only one whenever possible, two if necessary, and three only if absolutely necessary. We strongly advise not to choose more than three languages.

Every single participant needs to be able to follow the debate (read) and contribute to it (write). Sometimes, in a small workgroup, the addition of an extra working language can be justified by the presence of a single person who would otherwise not be able to work with the group.

Keep in mind that managing three languages takes twice as long as managing two languages.

When you provide only raw machine translations, responsibility for the comprehensibility of the translation rests on the author of the message. Encourage raw-translation readers to point out the parts that they don't understand or are not quite clear, and to ask the author to rephrase his/her original text.