There are various facilities for translating Web pages to alternative languages (i.e. any other than your original) and many browsers can do it automatically or at least through the use of a plugin. It's cool that they can do it mostly the result is quite putrid in appearance.
I had solicited translations in Russian, French and Italian but then withdrew the request as it would be too easy to prank me. Even with validation in Google Translate, anyone who really knows a language could still prank me in using 'the words beyond the words' that anyone would know if they really spoke it but no machine translator would ever see.
The translations are by request, purchase or whatever and the reason is as I said above, this will get the best possible appearance and also the best possible translation. The bigger reason is thinking worldwide.
Russian, Italian, and French are very deliberately chosen with Chinese, Japanese, and Korean only behind because of the difficulty in getting translations and implementing them. Combine those languages with English and German and almost anyone in the world will understand you. For America it's probably better to put Spanish at a higher priority than Italian but, ideally, both would be present for nine total.
Spanish seems a gimme. Surely someone reading knows someone you can trust to do a good translation of the text. There isn't that much of it but the biography page is a senior writing for University so it's heavier reading. (Euros: 'gimme' is American slang for something so easy to make, take or whatever that you just give it away)
Don't worry about this as designers are supposed to think big. If it ever happens that's good and if not then at least we considered it. There is no big redesign needed to add any of it as everything in the site is designed to expand.
Don't think of yourself as being arrogant in trying to pitch yourself to a worldwide audience but rather think of it as giving them the opportunity to see you. The people in France have sophisticated taste in jazz and yet think Jerry Lewis is a comic genius. So ... give people a chance as there's no possible chance you can anticipate their tastes.
I had solicited translations in Russian, French and Italian but then withdrew the request as it would be too easy to prank me. Even with validation in Google Translate, anyone who really knows a language could still prank me in using 'the words beyond the words' that anyone would know if they really spoke it but no machine translator would ever see.
The translations are by request, purchase or whatever and the reason is as I said above, this will get the best possible appearance and also the best possible translation. The bigger reason is thinking worldwide.
Russian, Italian, and French are very deliberately chosen with Chinese, Japanese, and Korean only behind because of the difficulty in getting translations and implementing them. Combine those languages with English and German and almost anyone in the world will understand you. For America it's probably better to put Spanish at a higher priority than Italian but, ideally, both would be present for nine total.
Spanish seems a gimme. Surely someone reading knows someone you can trust to do a good translation of the text. There isn't that much of it but the biography page is a senior writing for University so it's heavier reading. (Euros: 'gimme' is American slang for something so easy to make, take or whatever that you just give it away)
Don't worry about this as designers are supposed to think big. If it ever happens that's good and if not then at least we considered it. There is no big redesign needed to add any of it as everything in the site is designed to expand.
Don't think of yourself as being arrogant in trying to pitch yourself to a worldwide audience but rather think of it as giving them the opportunity to see you. The people in France have sophisticated taste in jazz and yet think Jerry Lewis is a comic genius. So ... give people a chance as there's no possible chance you can anticipate their tastes.
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