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{#} To reply to the author, write to Jason Townsend <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
on 3/26/2002 10:27 AM, Colter Reed <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>> Why not send both the original message and the translated version?
>>
>> I agree... Please file a feature request for this:
>>
>> http://sourceforge.net/projects/fire
>>
>> We should also probably send the translations of incoming messages to the
>> remote user so they know how their message is being interpreted. That way
>> both people can see the complete transcript.
>
> I don't think this is a good idea. The fact that they're speaking *another
> language* entirely should be clue enough that there may be some
> miscommunications. Besides, even without Fire's help, miscommunications
> happen when someone is speaking a language in which one is not fluent.
> Miscommunications happen even when people are speaking the same language,
> native to both speakers.
>
> All that will be accomplished by echoing back the translated copy is the
> confusion of the remote user and and the convolution of the conversation.
> If a Spanish-speaker is using Fire to talk with me in English, having the
> Spanish translation of what I send them in English echoed back to me is
> going to be of no use to me. I don't speak Spanish, so being able to see
> how what I said translated is literally meaningless.
If the other person is bilingual or understands some of the translated
language it might help the conversation. You could have the word
"Translation:" translated into the remote language preceding the translated
text which would indicate automatic translation was happening.
I think this makes sense at least as an option. (Certainly if a Spanish
speaker was chatting with me using Fire and automatic translation, I would
like to see the original text since I know some Spanish.)
-Jason
--
<http://homepage.mac.com/townsend/>
"Always two there are: a master and an apprentice."
- Yoda (_The Phantom Menace_)
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