There is a great opportunity this month to get together with other WordPress translators and take part in mini translation events with others across the world.

UPDATE 15 September 2020
If you are planning to take part in some way during the week of International Translation Day, please fill in the form to help with planning and promotion. New form to help localesLocale Locale = language version, often a combination of a language code and a region code, for instance es_MX denotes Spanish as it’s used in Mexico. A list of all locales supported by WordPress in https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/teams/ with the planning and preparation (updated 15 September 2020)

We held briefings and open drop-ins on SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. on 11 and 14 September.
➡️ Wanting to run a mini-event
❓If you have a question about WordPress Translation Day mini events, can you please put them in the polyglots-events channel on Slack. This is also the channel we will be using throughout the celebration week. Thanks so much for understanding. If you are able to help for the next few weeks, please do come and chat, and we would be glad to involve you.

Complete the mini event planning and promotion form (deadline 23 September) https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSclQ_DH_OfNV4q6MbJ_zD5KDwjRmatlvUoJUJqp999Ev_hRjA/viewform

🎤 Make the onboarding videos available in your language
If you would like to discuss translating the captions and recording a video for the onboarding guide for WordPress.orgWordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/ and the Make Slack, you can get help on the polyglots-events channel in the run up to the celebration week. Please contact myself or @OGlekler there and we will be pleased to help you.

🎉 Drop-in hour on Slack to celebrate your localeLocale Locale = language version, often a combination of a language code and a region code, for instance es_MX denotes Spanish as it’s used in Mexico. A list of all locales supported by WordPress in https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/teams/
• If your locale can not support a mini event at this time but would like to participate and celebrate translation in some way, please sign-up to host an hour slot on polyglots-events Slack channel on Wednesday 30 September or Sunday 4 October 2020.
• This will be an opportunity to share with other contributors and celebrate your locale’s translation achievements, encourage new joiners and highlight your locale.
• Some locales are hoping to participate in this drop-in session on both their own locale Slack channel (with specific translation queries) and on the Make Slack channel (to be part of the global celebration).

For the rota for the polyglots-events channel, select the hour you will be hosting the drop-in on the Google Sheet. We will include it in the promotions too. If you can help with sharing this rota or organizing arrangements, please let us know. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OSfntwxrj2PCqLOYhGu20pBfdPsrsaNhK02LtFNeIc0/edit

It is shaping up to be a great celebration week.

What is planned?

The United Nations has designated 30 September 2020 as International Translation Day, building on foundations previously laid by the International Federation of Translators.

A number of WordPress locales, mainly across Asia at this stage, are planning mini events to take place around that date. Some other meetups are planning mini translation events for a date in November 2020, potentially focusing around a WordPress contributing event. 

This means exciting opportunities arising for existing contributors in all parts of the worldwide WordPress community. Also, these mini events create opportunities for new translators to connect with other polyglots. All this activity will make WordPress available to even more people on a truly global basis. 

This year we have had celebrations and mini-events inspired by the global WordPress Translation Day in the Bengali, French, Italian language communities.

Linking in with international themed days or major WordPress events is a great way to recruit and re-engage contributors to our community. It’s a good opportunity for your team to raise awareness for translating WordPress and to help onboard new contributors. You may even use the time to take care of pending translation or documentation projects that you’ve been putting off! The really great part is that you will have polyglots across the world to inspire and encourage you in this shared enterprise.

Unlike previous WordPress Translation Day events, there will not be a global 24-hour live streaming for this initiative as events will be spread out across a longer time period. We are exploring video conferencing aspects with locales. Coverage of the week of events will feature on WordPress Translation Day social media channels and on the polyglots-events channel on the Make WordPress Slack. We will also promote opportunities to get involved in the polyglot, community and marketing channels on Slack.

Some locales are planning a mini event for later in the year too. The marketing and polyglots teams are co-ordinating a diary of planned events. The earlier we know, the more we can help you. 😀

We will also be cross-promoting the first WordPress Accessibility Day which is on 2-3 October 2020. Two great events to promote inclusion and diversity in the community. #WPDiversity

How You Can Get Involved

Organize or Join a MeetupMeetup All local/regional gatherings that are officially a part of the WordPress world but are not WordCamps are organized through https://www.meetup.com/. A meetup is typically a chance for local WordPress users to get together and share new ideas and seek help from one another. Searching for ‘WordPress’ on meetup.com will help you find options in your area. Event

Your event can be for just a few hours, a week long celebration with drop-in times on days within the week, across a weekend or be more theme-based. Let us know what you are planning. We have been working alongside many locales on their initial ideas during the last few weeks with support on running events and marketing. International Translation Day falls on a weekday. However, you should choose the day, time and format that’s best for your community. After all, you know your own locales best, so go with what works for you. Some suggestions could involve:

1. A short contributor event (even if just a few hours), day or evening time
2. A half-day event on the weekend before or after the International Translation Day itself
3. Celebrating it throughout the week by inviting people to one of the channels on your local Slack
4. Holding a video discussion meeting to talk out concerns, questions, or ideas around translation projects in your locale
5. Picking a project to finish together and working on it
6. Or, any other format! Be creative 🙂

Some examples of the planned events. There is room for plenty more across the global WordPress community:

• Bhutanese event, using the national language Dzongkha
• Tamil language event
• Venezuelan Spanish event
• Japanese event organized by WordPress Tokyo
• Bengaluru WordPress Meetup group in Bangalore, India, using the Kannada language
• event in Mumbai, India, using Hindi, other Indian languages also welcome
• event in Kerala, India
• event in Kolkata, India
• event in Indonesia

Just Translate on Your Own

If organizing a contributor event is not something you want to do, or your locale is not doing anything for you to join in with, you can still mark the day by translating something!

• Join Make WordPress Slack #polyglots-events and say hi! It would be good to share what you are doing and why (a simple statement, such as, “In celebration of International Translation Day, I’m translating XX (project name) into XX (locale language) today!” is enough) and tell us your city or district
• Use #WPTranslationDay hashtag to share what you have been doing on social media

I would be interested in running a mini translation event, where do I start?

Join us at 7am UTC this Friday 11 September 2020, on the polyglots channel in the Make WordPress Slack to find out about the plans for the celebrations, hear and chat with other event organisers and help develop your own ideas about what you could do. The session will be led by @nao and @webcommsat, you will be most welcome. Let us know in the comments or on Slack if you will be attending.

If 7am UTC does not work for you, we will be running a shorter briefing session this Friday at 12pm UTC. There will be a drop-in with the Marketing Team at 7pm UTC on Monday 14 September 2020. [Thanks to everyone who attended and also provided additional briefing sessions]

Thanks to @webcommsat and @nao for the post.
Thanks to @webcommsat, @oglekler, @lmurillom, @meher, @nao , @pascal, @marybaum , Erica and Hari from the community team for the organizing and support to locales. And to @yvettesonneveld and @chaion07 who also helped organizers with the initial briefing information form.