Offer HN: We'll translate your iOS application to Japanese for free
My partner — a native Japanese speaker and actively working translator — and I want to translate a handful of iOS applications from English into Japanese for free.
Why?
Well, we're hoping to snag a few testimonials, smooth out any snags in the process (although my partner has translated multiple apps already), and also be able to say on our website, "These are some of the apps we've translated..."
Here's the catch:
* We're a two-person team, so we can't handle a lot of volume. (The exact amount will depend on the complexity of the apps that people send us.)
* There's no hard limits on the amount of words we'll translate, but we probably won't accept apps that have thousands upon thousands of words (like games with a lot of dialogue).
But for those who we do accept, the translation will be done with a lot of care (which is important, since Japanese is a highly contextual language) and, since Japan has one of the fastest growing App Stores, we're hoping you'll also see an uptick in sales.
To take us up on this offer, send an email to [email protected]. We'll get back to you within 24 hours if you're selected.
Regards,
David Turnbull, iostranslate.com
https://github.com/SchizoDuckie/DuckieTV/blob/angular/_local...
Even if you won't : kudo's for posting this offer to hn!
I'm asking because I have this feeling it has become more and more common during the last years. Just because I sent a header that I can read a certain language, a lot of websites send me completely unreadable autotranslations.
There is nothing hilarous about it. If it's not a proper translation, if it's not something a native speaker would understand, then why send it at all?
Why butcher a beautiful language, put the pieces back together with random dung and then throw the resulting muck in the face of your users?
Are you that afraid that someone from France, Finland or the Faroe Islands would stumble upon your site, in the vast sea of the English speaking Internet, and then never come back just because it's not translated to their mother tongue?
Truly sorry for the rant. It was something built up. I do wonder about the prevalence of autotranslations however.
And fun is important when you're doing something for free.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1z-bF17uM76g7YsGB0Cbn...
I've got several language apps but my reviews in Japan haven't been good.
Spanish: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/h4-spanish-lite/id388918463?...
French: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/h4-french-lite/id687567532?m...
Anyway, if you could verify my app localization, that would be great.
The big unknown in this: For such arbitrage to work, the key is to demonstrate there is good understanding of the language, culture, and market on both sides, and that there is a mature process for delivering a quality product. I can't think off the top of my head how such things can be demonstrated to developers who don't already understand the language, culture, and market on both sides.