Foreign Languages in Hubs- uploaded as images

1. 95

   leahleflerposted 12 years ago

   I was hub hopping and saw a rather innovative approach to having a hub written in two languages. The text portion of the hub was written in English, and then a photo was uploaded containing the same article, written in Spanish.
   
   I didn't flag the hub, but I am looking for some feedback - does this violate the requirement that hubs be written in English?

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2. 61

   paradigmsearchposted 12 years ago

   Hmmm. Bilingual may actually not be a bad idea! Especially if HP were to include a button option. Spanish option on English page; English option on Spanish page; etc. Not automatic or mandatory; and not an auto-translation feature; but only for those Hubbers who want to do it as you described, except all text instead of the photo scenario.

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3. 74

   WriteAngledposted 12 years ago

   I don't see why it shouldn't be OK, providing the hub author is also the author of the Spanish article, or has the right to publish it. Having said that, I personally would probably stick the original article onto another web site/blog and give a link to it for those who prefer to read it in Spanish.
   
   I think it is sad that language restrictions are in place here. It should at least be made possible to post in some of the major languages since there are plenty of people who would catch any dodgy shenanigans.
   
   Unfortunately, far too many people assume English is spoken universally. That is however not the case.

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4. 95

   leahleflerposted 12 years ago

   I speak Spanish fairly well, so I thought it was a rather good idea. The article was also translated well - it would be a nice option!

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5. 63

   Froggy213posted 12 years ago

   As I moved to Puerto Rico some months ago and have a Spanish/English speaking wife, I have voiced that we need to have a Spanish hubpages. Lastheart is my wife and we do have a lot of readers of Spanish speaking origins. I believe it could be a great move.

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6. 67

   Moon Willow Lakeposted 12 years ago

   I think that was a rather creative idea and I would not think that it violates the policies since the article was written in English. The Spanish pieces, after-all, are in a photo rather than "written" in a capsule.
   
   I also agree that those who primarily speak other languages should have a HP catered to their needs. If the main staff of HP do not want to man it, then they could sort-of "franchise" it out to those who speak the other languages. That way, it's still HP in that they are connected, but the main staff don't have to spend their limited resources running it.

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7. 60

   Ruchi Urvashiposted 12 years ago

   I agree that it is a good idea. I am on my way to learning German and if I can find bilingual articles, it will be very useful.

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8. 67

   2uesdayposted 12 years ago

   I think I that I've read that search engines cannot read photos and that they use the text etc. that accompanies them to identify the image, which leads me to wonder what happens to the text in a photo capsule when it comes to search results? It's late here so maybe I will find the answer tomorrow of I do a search for it.

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9. 95

   leahleflerposted 12 years ago

   It would be nice if there were a way for search engines to identify the text in the image. You're probably right, though - the program would simply identify it as a .jpg file and not "read" the text in the image. The caption could be written in the foreign language, though, and that might bring some search results (without getting the hub flagged for foreign language use - some foreign language is allowed, as long as the bulk of the hub is in English).
   
   Still, the image thing could be an interesting way to have the hub article broadcast in two languages at the same time. It would be nice to allow the option of having a direct translation alongside the original article in text format, though.

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   1. 70

      Danposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      It would depend, to a certain extent, on the subject of the hub, but generally speaking we would not allow a hub that's effectively written half in English and half in another language.  An exception might be an informative hub written on the topic of translation, linguistics, etymology, etc.

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      1. 74

         WriteAngledposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         So what is your response to the original text being presented as a graphic image, with a translation below?

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         1. 70

            Danposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I haven't seen the Hub, so I can't say for sure, but my hunch is that it would be taken down.

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            1. 87

               Cardisaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               But if the language is n photo format wouldn't that be okay to leave it?

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               1. 70

                  Danposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  As a moderator manually reviewing the hub, it wouldn't make any difference how the text was added.  If anything, the author might be risking running into additional formatting issues, which would make the Hub that much more susceptible to flagging.
                  
                  Again, I have not seen the Hub, but assuming that it's written on a random topic and then simply repeated in Spanish, a moderator would most likely take it down.

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10. 95

    leahleflerposted 12 years ago

    It was a hub on a personal travel experience - the article was written entirely in English, with images of the travels. Then a large image at the bottom of the article contained the translation in Spanish - I didn't flag it, since the situation was rather ambiguous and the translation was a good one.
    
    So no translations are allowed, even if they are uploaded in photo format?

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    1. 70

       Danposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       As I have not seen the Hub, I can't say definitively, but a Hub that's half in English and half in Spanish would probably come down.  I'm not sure why the fact that it's uploaded as a photo would be perceived to make any difference.

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11. 95

    leahleflerposted 12 years ago

    Rats. Oh, well - at least the issue is more clear. No foreign translations of articles included in the hub (unless, of course, the hub is on etymology or something of that nature). Thanks for clearing it up, Dan.

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12. 74

    WriteAngledposted 12 years ago

    Well, I guess the answer is to set up a free blog somewhere, with the foreign language text and insert a link to that in the hub.
    
    If that blog allows Adsense and other advertising, it might even be a win-win situation for the author and a lose-lose situation for Hubpages.
    
    If someone wants to do this a lot and runs out of free blog/site places on the two links per domain rule, I guess putting an image of the text on a domain like Flickr, which Hubpages does not consider threatening, would be a further option.
    
    There is always a way round pettiness and bureaucracy.

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