Level 75
All I know on this is https://laravel.com/docs/5.8/localization
Last topic mentions packages.
Mar 12, 2019
5
Level 15
How Best to Translate a Website ?
Ok, I have built all the infrastructure and my application will select and present sample language files inside Laravel resources / lang. I can dynamically alter the language files through a view - it all works.
However, the obvious question now arises - where in the heck do I get the various language files from, or do I really have to google every word I want in every language ? Does anyone know of downloadable language files which are at least accurate and reliable?
Then I chanced across Google's language translation API for PHP, which appears to make the whole Laravel approach redundant.
So - what is the best way to translate a website ? Where can I get language files? Should I use Google instead? What's quickest and easiest since I now have the Laravel infrastructure built?
Many Thanks !
Level 15
yeah, thanks for that - that actually concerns the issue of how to deal with imported packages and their own language files.
Level 67
If you want it done right, hire a native speaker of each language to translate each page for you, or you will look quite foolish. There are professional services that will do that. They usually aren't cheap.
If you rely on software to do the conversion(s) for you, you will end up with some garbage, which will reflect on you and the company. Things won't be translated correctly in all instances, and then you'll look as ignorant and grammatically incorrect as someone with an English site having stuff like "Your orders is here."
For some fun, type a sentence into google translator and translate it to a different language. Just take one from your site, something that's more than just a simple basic sentence. Now translate it back to English. Is it identical to what your originally wrote?
For instance, I translated "What time of day should we go to the service" into google translator and translated it to Arabic. When I translated it back, it became "At any time of the day we have to go to the service," completely changing its meaning. I'd only trust a native speaker to do the translation for a business, or minimally have them read back the translation to make sure it's accurate before posting it for the world to see.
Level 15
Good point. I think that I can also go off to some foreign language sites and see how they are labeled and then build a file from there. That works ok, for the European languages ( I speak Dutch, German and French), but it's a huge amount of work though. I had hoped someone just knew of ready made language files which you could download. When it comes to something crazy like Chinese, a person is screwed.
I remember some years ago, when google forst came out with their translation api, and a guy entered "the spirit is willing bu the flesh is weak" into Google translate and it came back: "The whiskey is good but the flesh is rotten". :o)
cheers !
Level 75
Don't forget to translate to Texan.
Like howdy y'all.
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