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Many "beginner" developers would like SO in other languages (German, French, Spanish). Will this be possible someday?

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From Stack Overflow Funding Chat

Edosoft: @Joel, any plans for translated/localized SE sites?
Joel: edosoft yes

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English-only Stack Overflow and Server Fault was not an issue because most good developers/adminstrators have some fluency in English - but last time I checked, the chinese clone of SO seems quite vibrant

It already becomes less true for power users. And because the software behind Stack Overflow will be used by non-technical communities - welcome stackexchange.com - you can't expect them to have a working knowledge of English, so localization must and will be done.

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  • It's indeed a problem that I can't sent my parents to Super User, if they won't understand the answers or let alone ask a question
    – Ivo Flipse
    May 5, 2010 at 10:21
  • Jeff has come don hard on this issue and basically says "We're using English; tough #$%^#$". Joel originally seems to think that internationalization was a good idea and was wise enough to understand that it could be a huge problem later on.
    – tim
    Oct 4, 2010 at 2:18
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I don't see what being a beginner has to do with wanting localization for your own language...

Anyhoo, this was discussed in podcast #48.

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The Spanish Stack Overflow will be launched in late October/early November of 2015! The actual work for the site will begin on August 1, 2015.

Once the site is launched, we will be taking a break from creating more international sites for a time. This is due in part to our desire to focus on our current international sites and also to allow for those sites to grow in critical mass as we track the progress and impact they have on the world's developer population. You can read more about it here.

In the meantime, we'll be focused on getting the Spanish SO site off to a great start.

We hope you see you there!

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Interesting, as I was pondering over the same question and I reached the following conclusion: you can't really be a good developer unless you know (at least basic) English. I know this is tough but whether we like it or not that's reality. Adding new languages would turn SO more into 'discussion' site I feel rather than a pure Q&A. Not to mention how much more complicated some of the aspects would become - dupes, tags...

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  • Except for the fact that really good developers don't ask as much as beginners do in StackOverflow in first place. And programming beginners may also be English beginners.
    – OscarRyz
    Feb 24, 2010 at 19:16
  • all of this questions about L18n is placed here not for stackoverflow, but for stackechange general L18n. don't forget that the www.stackexchange.com meta's site is... this. Mar 27, 2011 at 7:42
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For the same reasons that Johan have mentioned, I think that the Stackoverflow core will be l10n ready eventually, but I wouldn't hold my breath for stackoverflow.es, desbordamientodepila.com, stackoverflow.it or stackoverflow.cn.

English is the lingua franca of the web, moreso for developers. Good documentation in most languages is definetly lacking, with honourable exceptions.

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  • Funny that stackoverflow.com.ar (Argentina TLD) is taken since 2001 Aug 7, 2009 at 20:52
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What about a Bānglā (bn) localization?

I'm a Wikipedia contributor, localizing Wikipedia to Bangla (bn.wiki). So, is there any way, we be a part of it to make the whole thing in Bangla.

P.S.: It's the language that acquired by blood and 21st February is an International Mother Language Day is the reminder of that achievement. And the local name of the language is "Bangla" (Bānglā), NOT 'Bengali'.

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