Gwyneblyfr

As of last night Facebook is now available in the Welsh language. I got one hell of a surprise to log into Facebook this morning and find everything written in Welsh! Apparently it is not finished yet, there are 17,000 phrases still to be translated (down from 20,000 last night).

Facebook has a very clever way of translating itself. Instead of paying huge sums to a translator and then suffering the wrath of users who don't like the translations used Facebook lets the users do the hard work themselves. Facebook chooses what languages it wants itself translated into (Welsh is one of about 35, many of which are different Chinese languages) and then lists all words and phrases used in the system. Normal users then offer translations, while other users vote on which translations they prefer.

As far as I can find out, the process for translating into Welsh only started a week or two ago (when only the basic words were up fro translation). Phrases only started to be translated last night, and already enough has been done to fill my News Feed with Welsh.

Congratulations to those who have been translating - anyone else with any time to spare (be it 5 mins or an hour) go vote on translations!

Note: If your Facebook is still in English, all you need to do to get it translated is to add the "Translations" application (just use search) and choose Cymraeg. It will switch automatically. Enter this application then to help with the translating.