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A Quick Start Guide for New Contributors

The Aims of the Tatoeba Project

  • Briefly, ...
    • We are collecting sentences and their translations into other languages.
    • Sentences we create are used by various projects under the Creative Commons - Attribution 2.0 license.

The 6 Basic Rules

You can click the links to read [Translations] or read the [Source] documentation.

  1. We want complete sentences.

  2. Don't change sentences that are correct.

  3. Don't add sentences from copyrighted sources.

  4. We want natural-sounding translations, not word-for-word direct translations.

  5. Make a good translation of the sentence that you are translating. Don't let translations into other languages influence you.

  6. Don't include annotations as part of sentences.

    • Don't include things like the following inside your sentences.
      • He/she (He/she said it was hot.)
        • Instead, you should submit 2 sentences.
          • He said it was hot.
          • She said it was hot.
      • (By Mark Twain)
        • Instead, put this as a comment and ask for someone to add it as a tag.
        • If you have tagging rights, then tag it yourself.

For more details, see the Rules and Guidelines page.

Things a Contributor Can Do

  1. You can translate a sentence by clicking on this icon whenever you see it.
    • Please do not forget capital letters and punctuation.
  2. You can add alternate translations. ()
    • If you feel there are several possible translations, you can add them all.
    • Just make sure you are adding the translations to the other language. (In other words, don't add an English translation to an English sentence.)
  3. You can proofread sentences and "adopt" () sentences that you think are good.
  4. You can correct mistakes that you find, if the sentence is not "owned" by another user.
    • To do this, ...
      • Adopt the "orphan" ("unowned") sentence.
        • Then click the text to edit it.
        • Then, optionally, "unown" (Let go) the sentence if you want others to be able to easily edit it again.
    • Special Note
      • Tatoeba.org prefers that you DO NOT CHANGE any sentence that could be considered correct.
      • Instead of changing correct sentences, you should add an alternate translation.
  5. You can add comments to sentences.
    • If you find a mistake, but it's "owned" by another user, then leave a comment telling the "owner" how it can be corrected.
      • If you see something that seems strange or you don't understand, you can leave a comment and someone may explain it to you.
      • If you find things that are absolute nonsense or are not sentences, you can leave a comment alerting moderators that perhaps the item should be deleted.
  6. You can add new sentences.
    • The best approach is to search first to make sure the sentence is not already in the database.
    • Search with the sentence in quotes to find exact matches. 
      *   LIKE THIS: "I have a dog."
*   NOT:  I have a dog.

For more information, read the FAQ.

Warning! There are errors!

  • Briefly, ...
    • Some sentences sound unnatural and are likely contributed by members who are overconfident in their abilities in their non-native langauges.
    • Some sentences use archaic and/or old-fashioned language and perhaps aren't really suitable for people learning a foreign language.
    • Some sentences contain grammar and vocabulary errors.
    • Some linked sentences may not be good translations.

Recommendation

  • To help maintain the quality of our sentences, it is recommended that you only translate from a non-native language into your native language.
  • It is also recommended that you should be careful to only translate from sentences "owned" by native speakers. This helps to avoid problems.
  • If you want to experiment in a non-native language, perhaps you should try a site such as http://lang-8.com instead.

Link to This Page

There is an easy-to-remember, short bit.ly link to this page.

http://bit.ly/tatoebaquickstart

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