17 September 2009

2,000 translations for TEDTalks

Late last night, TED volunteer translators Danye West and Tony Yet completed their work on Chris Abani's 2008 TEDTalk in Simplified Chinese -- and in the process, notched the 2,000th translation of a TEDTalk. Since we started TED's Open Translation Project four months ago, we've been thrilled and humbled to see it grow. TEDTalks are now available subtitled in 55 languages, with even more in progress. If you'd like to help translate TEDTalks, learn more here. To watch a TEDTalk that's been translated, look for the button in the player window that reads "Subtitles" -- or, on any Talk page, look for the small red link in the right-hand bar that reads "Open interactive transcript."

Watch Chris Abani's musings on humanity, with subtitles in Simplified Chinese, Russian, Spanish, English, and Portuguese (Brazilian):

Posted by Emily McManus | Permalink

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21 July 2009

TED volunteer translators' notes on Session 1 -- Now in Greek, Turkish, Albanian, Hebrew, German, Hungarian, Mandarin Chinese and Spanish!

A team of volunteer translators who are participating in TED's Open Translation Project have stepped up to help bring TEDGlobal 2009 TED Blog running notes outside of the English-speaking world.

Click through to view the unedited running notes in ...

Ελληνικά - Türkçe - Shqip - עברית
- Deutsch - Hungarian - 中文 - Español

Enjoy!

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16 July 2009

Over 1,000 translations of TEDTalks

As of today, TEDTalks have been translated over 1,000 times, with more than twice that many translations in progress. The TED Open Translation Project has seen great success since its launch in May, recruiting almost 1,500 new volunteer translators and constantly adding new languages. Thanks to the efforts of translators around the world, TEDTalks can now be viewed in over 50 languages.

Today, we'd like to highlight the voices of our dedicated volunteer translators. Here are a few excerpts from their emails to us:

For me, TED is a inspirational tool which fuels me with new ideas and inspiration. I wanted to share all the inspiration and thoughts with the world in my native language. I used to write inspirational posts in Tamil in my blog too. By translating TED talks, I can enable my native people get to know all these great ideas and it is an idea worth spreading, I reckon. -- Tharique

I KNOW that TED is the media support of the 21st century. The contents of your segments are essential for humankind to progress towards peace. It is vital for humankind growth of consciousness and it is aligned with my vision of the world I wish to live in. Allowing more people to have access to your programs makes me an active element to build a better world, a better humankind, a better life. -- Aline

Under my perspective, Brazil suffers from a great lack of knowledge sources in its educational system. I believe that translating TED will provide a new teaching and research tool that might inspire a educational revolution around the country. Bold thinking, I know, but if there is something that I learned from TED Talks is that you can't be afraid to aim high. -- Henrique

I believe that access to knowledge is important. Some TED talks have changed my perspective on social and environmental issues, and I hope to help spread the word in Romania as well. I truly believe TED can have an influence in what the world will look like tomorrow, and I am willing to help as much as I can. -- Carmen

Ideas are the most valuable things we have, and I think that making them accessible to as many people as possible is very important. -- Martin

An enormous thank you to all the translators who have contributed and continue to contribute, driven only by their passion for spreading ideas.

To see their hard work in action, watch Hans Rosling's talk on the best stats you've ever seen, our most translated talk to date. To become a volunteer translator, visit the Open Translation Project homepage.

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10 June 2009

TED's embeddable video player: Now with subtitles!

Because you asked: TED's embeddable video player now has subtitles built right into the player. So wherever you've embedded a TEDTalk, you can now see English subtitles and any languages into which the talk has been translated. Check out the effect below:

(You may need to refresh your browser once, to see the new embed player.)

Learn more about TED's Open Translation Project >>

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