Abstract
We have been running Minna no Hon'yaku (MNH: Translation of/by/for all), an open online translation hosting and translation-aid service, since April 2009, with use by NGOs specifically in mind. We subsequently started two sibling services, i.e. Ryugakusei Net @ MNH, a commercial "crowdtranslation" site, in March 2010, and Kotoba no Volunteer @ MNH, a project for collecting and making available expressions useful in disaster and post-disaster situations in different languages, in May 2011. This paper aims first to introduce basic features of these three systems and their state of usage, and second, to clarify the nature of activities being carried out using these systems and the relationships between the nature of activities and various factors that contribute to shaping the activities. While what is discussed is based mainly on the insights we have obtained from our experience designing, developing and running these systems, we attempt to situate the observation within a general framework discussion of online and/or collaborative translation.
Highlights
IntroductionIn accordance with the ongoing process of “globalisation”, the new mode of or environment for translation has been under discussion for quite some time (Cronin, 2002), and online collaborative translation, “crowdtranslation” and user-generated translation (UGT) have become a hot topic (Désilet, 2010; Malcolm, 2010; OTT, 2009; Perrino, 2009; Prior, 2010)
In accordance with the ongoing process of “globalisation”, the new mode of or environment for translation has been under discussion for quite some time (Cronin, 2002), and online collaborative translation, “crowdtranslation” and user-generated translation (UGT) have become a hot topic (Désilet, 2010; Malcolm, 2010; OTT, 2009; Perrino, 2009; Prior, 2010).In the practical arena, several successful cases of a new model of translation, such as Yeeyan1 or the “crowdtranslation” of the Facebook interface,2 have become widely known
The multiplicity and diversity of online collaborative translation services, projects and systems indicate that the nature of the activities being carried out as well as the factors that lead to the success of these activities, and the system features useful for these activities, can be rather different from situation to situation
Summary
In accordance with the ongoing process of “globalisation”, the new mode of or environment for translation has been under discussion for quite some time (Cronin, 2002), and online collaborative translation, “crowdtranslation” and user-generated translation (UGT) have become a hot topic (Désilet, 2010; Malcolm, 2010; OTT, 2009; Perrino, 2009; Prior, 2010). The multiplicity and diversity of online collaborative translation services, projects and systems indicate that the nature of the activities being carried out as well as the factors that lead to the success of these activities, and the system features useful for these activities, can be rather different from situation to situation (cf., DePalma & Kelly, 2008) This issue, has remained underaddressed, especially from the point of view of those who design, develop and manage systems and/or services. We have made public two sibling sites: Ryugakusei Network @ MNH (MNH for the foreign student network: RNMNH) in March 2010, and Kotoba no Volunteer @ MNH (MNH for language volunteers: KVMNH) in May 2011 Against this backdrop and on the basis of our own experiences, this paper first introduces basic features of the three systems we developed and their state of usage, and examines and clarifies the nature of the activities being carried out using these systems and the relationship between the nature of these activities and the various factors that contribute to shaping them. The status of the systems and the activities being carried out on these systems are examined in relation to the general concepts of online collaborative translation, “crowdtranslation” and UGT
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