Brothers & friends:
I can't speak for all of you, but to me the information presented on this page is significant. For one, it exposes some issues which go over the head of a lot of people. Irrespective of whether we like the WTS or not, if we are fair, we give credit where it is due, just like we also reserve the right to make constructive criticisms when the need be.
Last century, the WTS championed religious freedom in the courts worldwide, so the rest of us could gather free of harassment and persecution. We are in debt to the WTS for this. At the same time, I am sincere enough to acknowledge that while the WTS fought for religious freedom in courts on behalf of the worldwide community and its own adherents, they have failed us in the last decades in restricting our own freedom of speech within the congregation itself. That is not good! This is one big factor which explains why so many here are disenchanted (even hateful) with this organization.
That said, I must point out that one thing that stands out in this announcement, as an outside reader, is that many people all over the place love to downplay how inefficient the WT translators are, that they don't know a thing about translation, and so on. But here is the thing, while those critics amount to a big heap reaching the moon, the WTS quietly is proving them wrong. They are doing what others have a very hard time to accomplish. Do you think this is a small matter? Not me.
The WTS is providing Bible material in languages which have no printed characters and scripts. They are creating their own... true, to serve their specific interests, but one cannot overlook the fact that everyone else are likely going to benefit from their accomplishments. How significant is all this? Their efforts to provide sign language in some many languages is amazing. Below, I have put some of their statements in bold which I find particularly interesting, like this one: "In fact, many of those 1,000 languages have no
other publications available on the web.”
The
website offers a wealth of downloadable material in 1,000 languages. Of
these, jw.org’s home page and other pages can be navigated in an
unprecedented 821 languages, making it the most widely translated
website in the world. Much of the translation is done by well-trained
volunteers who work in some 350 remote translation offices around the
world.
“Translating
into and publishing in so many languages can pose special challenges,”
explains Brother Izak Marais, who oversees Translation Services at the
world headquarters in Warwick, New York, U.S.A. “At times we wanted to
publish in a less common language, but all the characters were not
available for that language. So, over the years, we have provided
artwork for countless characters and font sets, allowing us to produce
printed publications in hundreds of languages. Similarly, we have
overcome many challenges to make our publications available in so many
languages on jw.org. In fact, many of those 1,000 languages have no
other publications available on the web.”
Brother Clive
Martin, who oversees the MEPS Programming department added: “One
challenge we have faced is how to represent an article in hundreds of
languages, with different scripts and layouts, on a single website. For
example, 21 of the languages we support are written from right to left.
For the 100 sign languages we support, we had to create a unique design
that is easy for deaf users to navigate.” (End of quote.)
There is a website here which makes its living from translating material for customers who have that need:
https://www.tomedes.com/translator-hub/most-translated-website.php
What does he say about the WT efforts? See for yourself.
Also: https://www.pangeanic.com/knowledge_center/which-is-the-most-translated-website-in-the-world/#
https://www.geekinsta.com/what-is-the-most-translated-website-in-the-world/
