My first contribution to Wikipedia was a translation of an article, though I wasn't registered yet. I actually joined the project to waste my time more productively.
Which languages do you translate from? (If you translate from English to another language, please mention it here.)
I have translated from English, French, Finnish, German and Swedish to English and Finnish.
Do you translate from more than one language at a time? (For example, a translation could be primarily done from the German-language Wikipedia, but with parts translated from the Italian-language and French-language Wikipedias.)
Yes, I have tried to translate full articles instead of doing partial translations, and I have included bits from other Wikipedias as well in case there was more information.
Do you add information not in the text of the source language? If so, during or after your translation?
No, unless Wikipedias in multiple languages count as sources. In that case I read all the articles through and add any extra information to the article translated from the main source language, both during and after.
Do you correct errors in the source language article when you come across them while working?
No, I omit the mention in the translation if there's an error, unless it's something very relevant to the article... lazy one track mind!
How do you choose the articles you translate?
I've gone through lists of requested translations and chosen something that I thought would be read by more people than just the one who requested, though a request counts for more already than none at all. That's all hoping that the translation would then be more useful for people than something I pick from my own interests.
What kind of rhythm do you work at? (Frequency of translation, length of time spent translating...)
I've used a couple of days with each translated article. But despite what you may have been thinking while reading the above bits, my work record isn't too impressive; I've only translated like 7 or so articles throughout the years.
Do you translate more for one wikiproject in particular?
No, I've helped wherever my language skill let me.
Do you use your home Wikipedia's version of Project:Translation, or do you translate solo? In both cases, why?
It's been such a long time since I translated for my "home Wikipedia" that I don't know if a translation project exists now, but back then it didn't I think. In other projects I've participated in the translation process of course, starting from choosing the article from their lists and also to get a thorough review once my work is done.
Have you translated at your "real-life" job? Are you a professional translator?
No.
What do you think of your work in translation on Wikipedia?
Despite all the self-confidence, it's good to see the language I used evolve by time while still maintaining the same meaning, when people correct my odd structures. So there's that, and already the fact that people bother to correct the article means to me that someone is interested enough to look at it, so that makes me feel that the translation was a useful contribution.
How do you think your work is seen by the rest of the community?
More articles, yay. I have seen articles translated blindly though, with all sorts of unsourced untruths that then propagate, but the community probably hasn't brought that up as a specific problem with translation, as the problem is common with all WIkipedia articles.
Have you seen criticism of translations because the bibliography and sources are primarily or entirely in a foreign language?
Yes I have, and I understand them. But I think that it's better to have something, even if it's not available to all readers, than nothing at all. The sources in the language of the Wikipedia will be added by time.
Have you translated the text in images (diagrams, graphs...) while translating articles using said images?
I haven't translated image text while translating articles (because there haven't been any), but I have translated image text separately just to have the image translated for no particular bigger reason.
Would you like to see something changed in the way translation is done on Wikipedia?
All in all I think it's very bad that there is no software support to help keep articles across all the Wikipedias in sync, so people don't know what they're missing unless they check all languages or at least the main ones. Different things are relevant for people depending on the language so the articles can't all be the same, but some kind of fact relations or some such would be very useful. In 10 years if we're not limited to simple flat text articles anymore, maybe...
