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I am working on a desktop application which is in German. And this isn't comfortable for me to see the words and go to Google translate to translate it.

So I am looking to make extra effort for myself to try to translate the App into English using Google translate web service. But the Application doesn't use a Spring or AOP in order to make a single point of calling the web service.

My question is there a way to create a new project to introduce spring with AOP in order to achieve this.

or there is another way to achieve this ?

Mohamed Ramadan
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2 Answers2

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user12539,

If your set on using Spring for I18N support then take a look at this example at mkyoung.com.

I've been working on something similar with Arabic and I've found Google Translate to be problematic in some areas. Some of the translations were inaccurate, but Google do have the disclaimer telling you that it's a collaborative effort, so you can't really blame them for any inaccuracies.

In the beginning, I followed the usual steps of isolating user visible messages into resource bundles (text files) and I created a Python script that would parse the file for the words and use a Google translate web service to translate each word and finally dump the translations into a new resource bundle. This is fine if you know both languages well, but it's a very bad idea if you don't.

I would recommend getting someone who knows both languages very well and can look at the application as it is and offer suggestions in adapting it work for an English reading audience. You can also create a script like the one I used and show the resource bundles to the translator, but it would be better for him/her to look at the application and create the resource bundles for you. It will save you a great deal of time in the long run.

Desolate Planet
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I think what you should do depends a lot on the application itself and the business’ plans with it. If the application is only targetted for the German market, and the business does not plan to include localization, then you shouldn’t really localize it for yourself just so you can use it easier. If a localization is however planned anyway, it might be a good idea to involve the rest of the team with the process and make an actual localization system that works for everyone and isn’t just some “workaround”.

In case you do go with a localization and that solution is not only for yourself, I would not advise you to use Google Translate for it. Hire someone to do the translation, or at least let one do it who understands both German and English good enough. Being German myself, I can say that translation of German using Google Translate won’t work well – especially if you are using some German technical terms.

However again, if you are just planning a translation so you alone can work easier with it, don’t do it (YAGNI). Instead just keep continue using the program and eventually you will learn the program and those German terms good enough to be able to work with it smoothly.

poke
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