Translation

Translation

Working Translations

Translations part working

Translating the Pageset

So you are interested in translating CommuniKate to be used in another langugae? That’s good news! We love hearing from anyone whose found that they work for them. It really keeps us going. The more people that help us with translations and making the pageset make sense for local people, the more people we can help globally!

Here is how this works. We use PowerPoint to make the pagesets because it is a common program that lots of people can access. To make a local version of CommuniKate, you only have to download the PowerPoint file, and change the labels (and some of the pictures) so that they make sense in the local language.

You should also take out symbols that are don’t help people in the local language: for example, CommuniKate has a lot of British and American foods that might never be eaten in the local enviroment so translators often change these for more helpful words.

Once you’ve made your changes please send it to us so we can add it to our set - then many other people can make use of your work!

All of our files work with the Open Voice Factory, and that site has many videos showing how to add pictures and special commands. You can also use the upload page with your files to see what the final version will look like!

Where can I find the files to start with?

If you are putting CK into language we’ve never had before, then please start from either of the templates on this page. If you want to make changes to, or finish one of the sets in this place, please do. Sometimes it is good to start from the language of a close country (like Portugal and Spain) because, even if the words are very different, some of the changes that have been made to the symbols, will save you a lot of time.

Can I continue one of the translations that still need work?

Please do! We know these can be big jobs so we really like it when people share the effort. This also means that if you get half way thought a translation - you can send us it and we’ll put it up for others to use.

Also, and this is important - NO translation is ever ‘finished’. There will always be improvements that need to happen, typos to fix, more localisation that can be done. It’s always nice to go over and check things and proofread and make changes. These are ‘living’ files.

How close do my changes have to be?

We want CK to feel ‘local’ in every language. So some things might need translating carefully (“I am sick”), but some pages might need changing a lot (The breakfast food page would have different things on it) and some pages might need removing (some places want an entire page for cheese, others want to remove the page for alachol). To find out more about how to add new pages and change links, please see this page.

Should I change the images?

Please do. Many of the images we have used make sense where we are, but not in other places. Try to chose symbols that are clear and avoid photos. Also - please make sure that the symbols you use are under a Creative Common’s licence - that way we can share your work with others. Good places to find open-licenced symbols are: Straight Street and ARASAAC.

I am changing this for someone important to me, can I just send you the one that they use?

You can, but it please take out any private information first (my brother’s Voice has his address on it). In a perfect world, you would do the translation first, send it to us, and then put in all of the user’s favourite things. However, we know that we would want to sort out the people important to us first.

What shall I do about slang?

Slang is very interesting. We would say that it’s best to change the slang words to use the words that teenagers would use - those words are so the user can say ‘who they are’ rather than ‘what they need’ so they don’t need to be a direct translation.