Support language learners in understanding what langstrings mean

Bug #1955584 reported by Kristina Hoeppner
6
This bug affects 1 person
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
Mahara
Triaged
Wishlist
Unassigned

Bug Description

It is possible to install language packs in Mahara and display the infrastructure, i.e. help files, descriptions, menu, error messages etc. in the chosen language. This is great for those fluent in the language, but not necessarily for those that are learning the language who could benefit from some assistance when they want to learn rather than always having to revert to the 'easier' language where they can understand more. By switching back to the default language, they may not go back to the language they are learning.

Chris Cormack at Catalyst brought this up in a conversation with me: It would be great if learners could switch to te reo (or any language other than English) but get some help for words or phrases in error messages etc. that they don't yet know. That would aid in their learning and comprehension rather than only using English.

He pointed to https://tehiku.nz/te-reo/te-reo-o-te-kainga/5439/he-kumara-he-kai-he-kainga as an example of where words are highlighted in a video transcript that then start the video at that point and have an explanation on the side.

Thinking for Mahara, translating individual words may not be so good as their meaning could change depending on the context. Since we have an entire string (word, short phrase or sentence or an entire paragraph) available in English, we could offer to display that if a learner would like to see a translation.

They could hover over text (that doesn't already have an action such as a menu item or button) and see the translation. In their preferences, they would define whether they wanted to see translations and if so, in which language. That way, you could have a German living in Aotearoa where the site is in English, but the German and te reo language packs are available as well. Thus, the German learner could display the site in te reo but decide that any translation tips would be displayed in German as they are more comfortable reading more complex concepts in German rather than English. When they hover over a description in te reo, the German description is displayed.

This would also need to work on click / press for mobile or a way be found so that learners using mobile devices can access this feature as well.

However, displaying translation advice is not mandatory.

We'd need to think carefully about other interactions such as links, hovers, menus etc. and decide whether we can offer translations for all items or only for specific ones (initially) to avoid double actions.

Tags: translations
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