User talk:TheLonelyPather/Essays/Guide for a translator

Please don't encourage ESL editors with only basic English to translate into English

I wanted to respond to your Teahouse question, but it got archived before I could. You have two statements above the table of contents which are in a state of contradiction to each other. In the nutshell at the top, you state that it is about "translating Wiki articles from a different language to the English Wikipedia", which is fine. But then, in the second paragraph of the lead, you say:

This essay is written in simple English for translators who don't speak English as their first language.

In my opinion, this was a tactical mistake, for this reason: by this statement and the one in the nutshell, you appear to be addressing an audience of Wikipedia editors who wish to translate articles into English from some other language, and whose command of English is so sketchy, that when giving them tips on translation, the tips must be written in simple English.

As someone who translates foreign articles into English and takes part in discussions about translation from time to time, this is really bad advice, and we do not want to encourage editors whose English skills are poor from translating anything and publishing it here; it just creates problems for other editor/translators, and increases the backlog at WP:PNT.

If you directed the essay toward translators in the other direction, I would have no problem with rest of the essay. For example, if the nutshell were changed to say that the essay is about

...translating Wiki articles from English to a different language Wikipedia,

then the rest of the essay is fine. If you want to keep your essay geared towards editors translating from foreign Wikipedias into English, then please rewrite your essay using the full panoply of idiomatic English. Don't simplify it, and don't say anything that would encourage an editor with only a basic level of English to translate articles here; that can cause real problems, and may lead to an ESL editor being T-banned or blocked for disruption. I'd hate to see that happen, and then have the forlorn editor say that they were merely trying to follow the instructions in your essay. Thanks, Mathglot (talk) 07:53, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@TheLonelyPather Not sure if you ever saw this? _{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here} 02:14, 22 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Piotrus Thanks for bringing this up.

ESL editors always exist here (such as the students of Piotrus), and I agree with Mathglot that their substandard articles create some kind of problem. This essay is designed to address that: if an ESL editor follows everything here, their work would fit our standard more.

It is beyond the power of one single essay, I think, to encourage or prohibit ESL editors to write articles on en-wiki. To my observation, they are often driven by some kind of message, or they need to complete school work. This essay's been up here for a few months and we see no increase at PNT. So yeah. Cheers, --The Lonely Pather (talk) 06:41, 22 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]