Welcome to New Translators
This is an archived entry, please go to the current page at http://community.globalvoicesonline.org/guide/lingua-guides/welcome-to-new-translators/
Thank you for joining Global Voices Lingua Project as a volunteer translator! This document explains our mission and how our community works.
Other important documents:
Contents
Getting Started
We don't have an office, so our more than 800 mostly volunteer contributors operate virtually. Most of the activity revolves around the main website in English. We also have more than 30 translation websites that have their own editorial teams and translators as well as two special projects, Advocacy and Rising Voices.
Your role as a translator is to make Global Voices posts available in your language. We cover important stories coming from marginalized and misrepresented communities and interesting conversations taking place in the blogosphere and citizen media around the world.
Learn more about Global Voices:
Who Is Who at Global Voices?
A lot of people are involved in making Global Voices tick from day to day, including you!. Make sure you have at least one editor who is your primary contact person and that you are subscribed to the appropriate GV Google Groups.
The easiest way to see who is who is to visit:
Global Voices translators
Among Global Voices translators, there are three distinct groups:
English into Lingua translators
You mainly translate from English into your mother tongue, choosing one of the posts available daily from the Global Voices in English website. The translation is published on one of the many Lingua websites
Lingua into English translators
You mainly translate posts from one of the many Lingua websites into English, working in close collaboration with the regional and language editors to find out which posts are available for translation. Your translation is published on the Global Voices in English website.
Lingua into Lingua translators
You translate posts from one of the Lingua sites into your mother tongue for another Lingua website without the need to use English as a bridge language.
Translating Your First Post
Your editor will send you a username and password to log in to Global Voices' WordPress platform. The first thing you should do is edit your profile, add a photo, and change your password to something you can remember.
Before you start translating, make sure you read the Lingua Translators Guide for a technical explanation of how to create translations using WordPress. Also, please read the Style Guide to understand what is expected in terms of style and formatting. If you have any questions, please ask your editor.
Once you have finished, save the draft, tick your editor in the Users box below the post and leave an editorial comment letting them know that it is finished.
Mailing Lists
You will be added to one or more Google Groups] email lists. The main list is called the "GV Community" email group. Everyone at Global Voices is included in the conversations on the GV Community group, where we discuss editorial and organizational issues.
There are also regional email groups with other bloggers from your own region, language specific groups for the Lingua project and some lists used only to request translations.
Being Part of the Community
As a Global Voices community member you help decide what happens to the website, what our priorities should be, and what the future of our project is. You should always feel free to suggest ideas or raise concerns. We also try to connect to each other through Social Networking sites. Global Voices Board of Directors also has three elected members, two chosen from volunteers and one from staff.
It is hard work being a Global Voices translator, but it can be very rewarding. Translating for GV often leads to many new friends and even professional opportunities because you build an impressive profile while helping a worthwhile cause.
Everything on Global Voices is published under a Creative Commons license, so be prepared to see your best translations appear on other news websites and blogs too.
Global Voices Meetups
Every year and a half or so, Global Voices holds a summit in a different location to bring as many Global Voices contributors together as possible. In the past, we've been able to invite some our most active volunteers to travel to these summits at no cost. We will always strive to bring as many people as possible.
At other times, Global Voices authors and editors who live in the same cities or regions have organized their own smaller meetings. Feel free to reach out to fellow GVers who are in your area. You could also be invited to blogger events or conferences where you meet other Global Voices contributors.
