Russian Translator Available

Hello Everyone! I have lived in the U.S. for the past decade and spoken English, but I am also a native Russian speaker. While recently browsing through SuttaCentral, I looked at both English and Russian translations of a certain Sutta, and got an idea: why not try to add Russian translations since I have the ability? I am not even going to pretend to understand Pali, but I can translate the most excellent English translations into Russian, if I am so permitted. I don’t know much about copyright with the exception of GNU, so you’d have to enlighten me on that, but I am fully prepared to commit to this project!

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Wonderful - what a meritorious intention!

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Greetings DF Owl and welcome to the Forum. :slight_smile:
Thank you for your kind offer re Russian translations. I’ll just tag @sabbamitta and Bhante @sujato into this post :slight_smile:

I

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Hi, thanks so much for offering! We’d love to have your help.

A couple of things for you to know.

There are two kinds of things we translate:

  1. The site UI: we want to make the site readable in different languages. If you select Chinese from the menu in the toolbar, you’ll see everything in Chinese! This is a somewhat easier and small-scale job to do. However, we are not currently set up to do it.
  2. Translate suttas.

Okay, so just to let you know, we originally set up translation using a software called pootle. However, in the middle of our work, the Pootle project essentially fell apart, leaving essential functions broken. Lacking agood alternative, we decided to make our own. This is not easy! Our translation software is a web app called Bilara. It’s working, but currently on alpha testing with limited users.

Meanwhile, may I ask for some more information about yourself? Your background, any education or experience that might be useful?

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I grew up in Ukraine, and my first language was Russian and second was Ukrainian. Russian I learned on my own from experience, so I have a strong grasp on it’s use. While English is my third language, I have been speaking it in a native English environment for a decade.

I am still working through High-School, so I done not have any college qualifications. However, I have read large novels from both languages, and some books in both languages. So, I would say I have an equal grasp on my Russian and English, and because I think in both, I find that translation is quite easy — especially when it is text-based.

Previously I have helped others out, such as the administration of my school and family members in translating English to Russian and vice versa for Slavic immigrants who do not have a background in speaking English. My mother also frequently asks me to check over her college papers for proper grammar, and translating her Russian diction into English. I hope that counts for something.

I don’t quite know how I could prove my language abilities to you. In school I primary focus on the humanities, such as history research and writing. I also have a side hobby of writing code, so I think I may be able to help with the UI if it would involve any coding. If you find like I can help, I will be glad to!

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Well, that all sounds good. When translating, by far the hardest thing is the target language. Reading the source is the easy part!

Just to follow up, what about your Buddhist experience?

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Just a reminder that if one is uncomfortable sharing personal information on the public space, it can be done via the Personal Messaging facility :slight_smile: Just click on the persons avatar/icon and choose Message :slight_smile:

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Good point, thanks for mentioning!

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Sorry for not responding, I went to sleep.

In regards to my Buddhist experience, I have been researching Buddhism for 2 years, but actively practicing it every day for only a month. I have found a good community where I get help with my questions and help me better my practice. Just yesterday I followed Uposatha, and it was quite an experience! I may not be a seasoned Buddhist, but I am always willing to learn more.

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Okay, no worries, thanks for sharing. Tell you what, why don’t we start by having a conversation? I’ll contact you by PM.

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