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mexicanhere
3 days ago
AlanF_US
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vxern
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gillux
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mexicanhere
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DJ_Saidez
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Tom9358
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ecorralest101
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Guybrush88
9 days ago
ecorralest101
10 days ago
Hello,
Maybe one of the problems Tatoeba may encounter adding new languages to its platform is that many are left abandoned or neglected and only have 3 or 5 sentences.
You can find languages facing this situation like Pulaar, Haida, Aymara, Sango and Bikol, and this was not the goal. I have even feared that the admins might delete some of these languages due to having very few phrases. The admins and corpus mainteners are more familiar with the platform. Is there any way to attract speakers of these languages and make them have more sentences, at least over a hundred.
I would like to hear your thought about this matter. Thanks.
In my opinion, having new languages added after a very long time might be a bit discouraging for people requesting them. They might see that such languages are sort of neglected, so maybe they could leave for other platforms and leave very little sentences here on Tatoeba.
Hello,
Correct, the way you said makes more sense. I wish the languages with few sentences could have more content in the coming days.
I find the current process of adding new languages already a bit intimidating. You have to find an appropriate iso code (not always easy), create a list of sentences, decide on your own what image should represent the language (not always obvious). And then there's the warning that "we are currently putting on hold the addition of new languages"! Is it even worth trying in that case?
Of course it's sad that some languages don't get (much) new content, but for the speakers of those languages there are no drawbacks, and for language learners anything that is there, is more than nothing..
I have been thinking of requesting Ecuadorean Highland Kichwa (or maybe if that's not allowed due to it having multiple iso codes, then only Imbabura Kichwa (qvi)), and since I only have limited knowledge of the language, I fear I would not be able to create a very long list of sentences. I would however be able to translate existing sentences to quite a few languages (English, Dutch, Spanish, German, Gronings, Afrikaans). I also have contacts with native speakers who could contribute. But it might take a while for people to really pick up the language here, and start writing lots of sentences. I do expecit it to get going eventually, as the language is being taught in some schools in recent years and it is an official language of Ecuador
I'm one of the people involved in adding new languages.
You could probably go ahead and submit the request so it's on file, if I recall correctly we are set to resume requests soon, but I could be wrong, since I'm not involved in admin decisions. You could also add original sentences yourself, provided they are either written or proofread by native speakers, to move the process forward. It doesn't have to be very long, just a few should suffice for now.
The process is not meant to be intimidating, sorry if it gives that impression. I think it's partly to ensure that the database is not bloated with sentences of conlangs with 5 speakers, or overly-specific microdialects. But we really do want to add more languages if there are people interested in contributing in them, including Imbabura Kichwa. I believe this is part of the philosophy of what Tatoeba is all about.
I'm probably not one to respond so you can disregard this if it's not of importance or if it's been considered before but here's my take.
I think that reaching out to native speakers and asking them phrases would be the best course of action in this case. If you want to find native speakers you could go online and make some friends I suppose? I mean there's a subreddit full of people who speak Bikol so maybe we could reach out to them to see if they could contribute on to here?
> I have even feared that the admins might delete some of these languages due to having very few phrases.
I can say for sure that your fear is groundless. Rest assured, langages that have been added to Tatoeba already, no matter how few sentences they have, will never be deleted from Tatoeba. (The only situation this could possibly happen is when the SIL removes a language from its list, which happens occasionally, for example when two languages are merged back.)
Please, understand that Tatoeba is a fully volunteer-based project. As such, whatever part of Tatoeba looking neglected is only because nobody stepped in to take care of it so far. Anybody can take part as long as they follow the code of conduct.
Having read your message, I'm not sure what the discussion point is here.
Tatoeba gives speakers a place to submit sentences in their language of choice, and document usage through text. That's Tatoeba's job, and it's a job that it's already doing very well. If a language has 3-5 sentences, for me, the sentiment is that the native speakers thereof could really do a better job adding sentences to the platform, especially whoever requested the language to be added to it. The fact that a language with _400 million speakers_ (Bikol) has 5 sentences on Tatoeba is almost ridiculous.
As for attracting more speakers, I'm not sure what one could do other than tell their friends about the platform - Tatoeba is a volunteer project, and the donations it receives are not sufficient to run any sort of marketing campaign to 'get out there'. All that we can do to support Tatoeba in this matter, really, is to just take it upon ourselves to put in better effort to make the platform more known.
I mean the thing with the native speakers doing a better job at contributing to these languages is that some of the native speakers are not active anymore. Take Bikol for example, the last sentence added was in late 2017, a little over 7 years now. I'm not sure about the other languages as the example I used is Bikol but I might take a look.
I'd say spreading it to reddit or other forums where native speakers of those languages are located could be an idea but that's just a thought for me.
I'd like to see your thoughts!
@attention, can you folks please change the flag of this sentence? It's not Cebuano language. I'm reporting here because it was notified last year and nothing happened.
Sentence #12548201
Currently, Burj Khalifa ge Otesai ren salangiùtar Skyscraper.
It looks like it has already been changed to Ho.
The content of this message goes against our rules and was therefore hidden. It is displayed only to admins and to the author of the message.
The content of this message goes against our rules and was therefore hidden. It is displayed only to admins and to the author of the message.
The content of this message goes against our rules and was therefore hidden. It is displayed only to admins and to the author of the message.
The content of this message goes against our rules and was therefore hidden. It is displayed only to admins and to the author of the message.
The content of this message goes against our rules and was therefore hidden. It is displayed only to admins and to the author of the message.
Name: West-Central Oromo
ISO code: GAZ
List: https://tatoeba.org/en/sentences_lists/show/173460
Flag: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wi...mia_Region.svg
✹✹ Stats & Graphs ✹✹
Tatoeba Stats, Graphs & Charts have been updated:
https://tatoeba.j-langtools.com/allstats/
Greetings to all participants! I would like to immediately suggest that the leaders of this project add the missing Siberian Tatar language to the database. Its code is (sty). Sincerely, TATAR1.
Hi and welcome to Tatoeba. This is what should be done to have a new language added: https://en.wiki.tatoeba.org/art...guage-request#
Thank you!