Localization of LibreOffice in Urdu Language

l10n
#1

Hi

As you might know, *Urdu *is one of the FOURTH most spoken language of the
world.

Wikipedia says:

There are between 60 and 70 million self-identified native speakers of *
Urdu*: There were 52 million in India per the 2001 census, some 6% of the
population; 12 million in Pakistan in 2008, or 14%; and several hundred
thousand apiece is the United
Kingdom<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom>
, Saudi Arabia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabia>, United
States<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States>,
and Bangladesh <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh>, where it is
called "Bihari". However, a knowledge of *Urdu* allows one to speak with
far more people than that,
asHindi-Urdu<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindustani_language> is
the fourth most commonly spoken language in the world, after
Mandarin<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_Chinese>
, English <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language>, and
Spanish<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_language>
.

For details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urdu

As now you can see that, *Urdu* is National Language of *Pakistan* and I
am from Pakistan. I already have experience in translating some open source
software into *Urdu*.

I love *LibreOffice* and i would love to have it in my Language. So,
instead of waiting for someone else to do it, why not me?

I assure you that I will do my best to produce the *Urdu* version of *Libre
Office *as well as *Documentation* inUrdu for it. I will also work to
create an Urdu Localization Team for this project.

I am waiting for your Permission and Instructions to take my first steps.

Thank you so much.

Regards
*Yasir Aman*

#2

Assalāmu ’alaikum Yasir!

Welcome to LO!

05/02/2012 13:53, sgrìobh Urdu Localizer:

Hi

As you might know, *Urdu *is one of the FOURTH most spoken language of the
world.

The good thing is, it's open to any language, big or small so you don't have to justify your language :slight_smile:

I am waiting for your Permission and Instructions to take my first steps.

Most of the localization happens via the Pootle server (https://translations.documentfoundation.org/), in order for an admin to set up Urdu and give you editing rights, you should set up an account there and let the list know what your username is so they can grant you rights.

You can then translate online (handy for bigger teams) or offline (by downloading the po files and translating them in Virtaal or something similar) and then uploading them again.

Michael

#3

Just a thought in passing... I see that Hindi is 83% translated. I *know* the two are not exactly the same language (i.e. that Urdu uses more Persian/Arabic terminology, rather than Sanskrit) but I wonder if it could save Yasir a lot of time if there was a way of converting the completed Hindi strings into Urdu script and add them as fuzzy matches? He'd still have to proofread them but that's often quicker than translating from scratch.

I've had a quick look but most converters go from Latin script <> Nastaliq/Nagari but not between the two.

Although, Google Translate can do Hindi > Urdu. Is that an option? Virtaal is capable of using Google Translate (http://translate.sourceforge.net/wiki/virtaal/features) but I have no experience of it as my locale isn't on GT.

Michael

#4

Walaikumussalam Michael,

Brother, thank you so much for this warm welcome and encouragement.

I am going to follow your guidelines and will ask you for help throughout
this journey.

Yes, you are right about Hindi and Urdu, as both occur "mostly" in the same
geographical region. But, I think when it comes to save time, I would
prefer to use Google Translate for English > Urdu translation rather than
Hindi > Urdu translation. And this is because I think if go for Hindi >
Urdu translation, it will be in-fact
English > Hindi > Urdu.
I think you are getting my point that I do not want to go for a "second or
third level" translation. I want to translate directly from the root-level
language.

Once again thank you for your consideration.

Regards
Yasir Aman

Note: I have joined the forum with nick name "urdulizer" :slight_smile:

#5

When using Pootle you can choose to have another language visible on the page
with the text you are working on. So you can use both English and the Hindi
translation to make the translation to Urdu. You can either copy the English
text or the Hindi text or even part of it.

My extra language, when translating from English to Dutch, is German.

#6

I have joined the Document Foundation with the username "urdulizer" to work
for the localization of LibreOffice in Urdu Language.

But I am surprised and disappointed to see that the name of the Fourth Most
Spoken language of the world is NOT included in the Languages List.

I request the administrators to kindly take steps to include Urdu in the
languages list.

Thank you so much.

#7

Yasir, kōi bāt nahīñ :slight_smile:

And before you ask, I only speak a tiny bit. Not many chances to learn here.

05/02/2012 14:32, sgrìobh Urdu Localizer:

Walaikumussalam Michael,

Brother, thank you so much for this warm welcome and encouragement.

I think you are getting my point that I do not want to go for a "second or
third level" translation. I want to translate directly from the root-level
language.

I'm not sure if GT goes via English or not. I hadn't considered that. I'd try taking some of the longer strings from the Hindi translation (something longer than 10 words or so) and test in on GT.

But I am surprised and disappointed to see that the name of the Fourth Most
Spoken language of the world is NOT included in the Languages List.

No slight intended but the list doesn't include all 6,000 languages on the planet. I had to have my locale added too if I remember rightly. I think the one's you see are languages which are or at some point were active on the Pootle server.

Michael

#8

Hi Yasir,

2012.02.05 17:05, Urdu Localizer rašė:

I have joined the Document Foundation with the username "urdulizer" to work
for the localization of LibreOffice in Urdu Language.

But I am surprised and disappointed to see that the name of the Fourth Most
Spoken language of the world is NOT included in the Languages List.

I request the administrators to kindly take steps to include Urdu in the
languages list.

Thank you so much.

Okay, let's kill the other thread. I guess you used the contact form on Pootle and ended up simply posting here.

Your language has now been added, I've made you the admin for this language and initialized the LibreOffice 3.5 UI project for you. You can start working on the project.

Still, PLEASE list yourself as Urdu maintainer in the table on http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Language_Teams .

Regards,
Rimas

#9

Hi,

Welcome to LibO (:

Beside l10n, any help with RTL issues will be welcomed.

See
https://liorkaplan.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/rtl-status-for-libre-office-3-5-0/for
the current status.

Kaplan

#10

Michael, aap ka shukria :slight_smile:

#11

Hi Rimas,

Your language has now been added, I've made you the admin for this language

and initialized the LibreOffice 3.5 UI project for you. You can start
working on the project.
Still, PLEASE list yourself as Urdu maintainer in the table on
http://wiki.**documentfoundation.org/**Language_Teams<http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Language_Teams>
.

Thank you so much bro. According to your instructions, I have listed my
self in the said table. Also I have started working on the LO 3.5 UI
project.

Still, I am browsing through the files of the project and help resources to
familiarise myself with the "taste". Also I am trying out various available
tools to find the most efficient way to deal with the localization work.

Any suggestions/tips/guidelines/precautions are always welcome.

Regards,
Yasir

#12

Hi Lior,

Welcome to LibO (:

Beside l10n, any help with RTL issues will be welcomed.

Thank you so much dear.