Dear All: I hope that some of you will feel able to help out with this important work :) Begin forwarded message:
From: Paul Twomey <paul.twomey@icann.org> Date: 27 August 2007 06:52:57 BDT To: "Icann-Staff@Icann.Org Icann-Staff@Icann.Org" <icann- staff@icann.org> Subject: [icann-staff] Assistance with translation
Dear Colleagues:
As you will remember, an email was sent out requesting for volunteers to check and correct translations of ICANN documents on 11th July. Whilst a couple of volunteers did step forward, we are still well-short of the 5 checkers per language that we require, and it is essential that we have at least five well in advance of the Los Angeles meeting in order to meet the demands for multilingual documents which that meeting will impose on us.
At the same time, we are trying not to ask members of the Staff to volunteer for this task - as you are all fully occupied doing your non-translation-related job. Ideally we are looking for members of the ICANN community to help us out with this key, urgent need.
It would therefore be a great help if you could pass along the text of the email below - modified if you think that's needed - to the constituencies that each of you work with.
Many thanks in advance for your help with this crucial task!
Paul T ------
Dear Colleagues:
As you know, ICANN is working to provide more access to its key documents in non-English editions.
What you may not know is that each translated document must be checked before it is made publicly by someone either on the staff, or in the ICANN community, who is fluent in both English and the language of the translated text, to ensure that the quality of the translation is good, but also that ICANN-specific terminology and phrases are correctly rendered in the translated text.
The increase in volume of translated documents means that the existing pool of translation checkers is no longer sufficient to the task.
If we could get an additional five checkers in the languages listed below, by rotating through the list of checkers we could ensure that the 'fatigue factor' was removed for a good while - and also increase the capacity of the system to release translations in a more timely fashion.
Do you know anyone who would be happy to help? Do you speak any of these languages (alongside English) with sufficient skill to volunteer yourself?
If the answer to either of those questions is "yes" please send an email to: trans-comm@icann.org, with the following information:
1) Name of the Checker 2) Languages they can check 3) Contact info for the person (an email address and, if possible, a phone number too)
The languages we need are:
Spanish Brazilian Portuguese French Arabic Russian Chinese
Please note that no assumptions should be made that the above- listed languages represent anything more than languages in which translated texts of some documents will be made available from time to time, and for which we need checkers in the interim period whilst a more holistic enterprise-wide approach to multilingualism is developed in concert with the community.
There will be some special 'thank yous' to the people who help with this task over time - but the biggest thank you will be from the community themselves. Because of these key people, more people will be able to participate in the work of ICANN throughout the world, and a greater diversity of views and a richer debate will be had by all stakeholders.
We hope you will pass this along to suitable potential checkers and thanks in advance for your help!
-- Regards,
The ICANN Translations Committee
trans-comm@icann.org