Closed Bug 984582 Opened 12 years ago Closed 12 years ago

Should "Web Literacy Map" be localized

Categories

(Webmaker Graveyard :: Localization, defect)

Product:
Webmaker Graveyard
Component:
Localization
Platform:
x86
macOS
Type:
defect
Priority:
Not set
Severity:
normal

Tracking

(Not tracked)

Status:
RESOLVED INVALID

People

(Reporter: cassie, Unassigned)

Details

(Whiteboard: localization)

Occurred to me that Web Literacy Map, as a brand that encourages legitimacy and authenticity in teaching web literacy, maybe *shouldn't* be localized, so that if/when it receives branding it stays recognizeable across cultures. Of course, localizing it makes it more digestible / relatable. Perhaps this is something we (re)consider depending on our stage of adoption. Looking at http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/styleguide/communications/translation/ which says, "Our brand names do not get localized, translated or transcribed. Anything that’s a proper noun with a leading capital letter (Firefox, Marketplace, etc.) remains in the original English and is always spelled out in Roman characters. In some languages, depending on the grammatical case of the word, it may need to have a different ending or be otherwise rewritten to make sense. In these instances, please rewrite the sentence instead to keep the brand name unchanged. All other names (add-ons, themes, etc.) should be localized as usual." This would have bearing on any branding pieces and even illustration created around the web lit map. Thoughts?
There was an interesting discussion over this in our Transifex community (I can't seem to find the link, yet) that if we should consider translating Web Literacy Standard (At the time it was standard) and in different language agreed on (1) translating it into their language simply because they have that in their language (2) It's really hard to pronounce that in some language. Another question come up at that time was if we don't want them to translate the word, but should they write it in their language but not translating that? I also remember in Summit 2013 when we had our session with people from Latin America and they were talking about how it's hard to say our brand in their language. ------ Adding humph here because he might remember better on that conversation.
Flags: needinfo?(david.humphrey)
I think the choice to transliterate vs. translate vs. substitute is on the specific language and language team. In some cases it makes sense to use our word, and in others a totally different one is necessary. I don't think there's a single answer for this that will always be correct. http://www.l10n411.com/2011/01/new-starbucks-logo-is-localization.html
Flags: needinfo?(david.humphrey)
This is a really interesting discussion. It's a delicate balance, not least because of the nuances and implications of words in certain languages. For example, I can remember Alvar Maciel talking about why in Argentina you'd *never* use the literal translation of 'competencies' because of how that word has been used in the past. The problem, given how much thought and work has gone into making sure the map is representative, is ensuring the meaning doesn't get mangled in localisation. I'm not sure whether we've got a workflow for that yet?
Let's take this to email or irc if we need more discussion. I don't think this is an actionable bug, but more an approach.
Status: NEW → RESOLVED
Closed: 12 years ago
Resolution: --- → INVALID
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