Windows 95, opening windows to the Basque language

Most PC authors have recognized that Windows 95 will be an operating system of the near future. Moreover, the new system has opened windows to the Basque language, since it has put on the table resources so far inaccessible to the user. However, the advantages and disadvantages of this system have been long and tense. In the following lines we will not delve into this debate, because it should blow a lot. Undoubtedly, the Windows 95 operating system is very advantageous for Euskaldunes, since in principle we can use Basque. The Windows 95 translation was done by the UZEI and Elhuyar team, so we asked Lore Azkarate, UZE1's work coordinator.

ELHUYAR-ZETIAZ: To say that we have a version in Basque of an operating system, will it cause our language to be at the same level of recognition as the rest?

Lore Azkarate: Facing the outside is certainly so. It is a way of saying that the Basques have a special language and that we use it, and very important, because computer consciousness is increasingly used. To say that today we have the way to use a computer operating system that speaks Basque, means that Basque is something for people that gives importance to the image. In any case, looking inward we make a different assessment. From now on we will also have the opportunity to make relations with the computer in Basque.

In this country we are more and more who want to work and live in Basque, and in that sense, being able to use Windows 95 in Basque will mean an increase in our means. We must not forget, moreover, that Basque has entered into teaching and communication, but that there is a great vacuum in the world of work, since the presence of Basque in offices and factories is very small. If people have to get used to working in Basque, they will need adequate work tools. In this sense, I would say that it is a bet of great contribution in the way of the normalization of Basque.

N-D: this work has required the coordination of many people. How would you rate this?

L. A. We must not forget that one of the characteristics of this country is individualism. We tend to walk each one by his side, which leads to a headache. Fortunately in recent years we have started to carry out joint projects coordinating the work of the different groups, but always among the Basques. This time outside companies have also participated, which has been new for us. For Microsoft it has also been quite atypical the participation of so many organizations, but after clarifying who the different sections of the work corresponded, there has been no problem. In this sense, the assessment is positive. The coordination and control of the work of the translation team has given us more ambitious work. Eight people have participated in the first and six in the second phase and it has not been easy to properly combine the different tasks and sections, direct the translation and achieve a homogeneous style in such a short term.

Although the point strangulations have not been forgotten, we highly value the work done. Now it is necessary to know the opinion of the user.

N-D: What institutions have participated in this work?

L. A. For starters there is a huge computer company Microsoft. Windows is yours and has given us access to the material that had to be translated. In addition, a training course and the last retouching of the locations have been carried out by the company itself. Secondly, there is the Madrid company Lexitrans, which has worked on glossaries of work, tests, etc. In a way, Lexitrans has bridged Microsoft and translators in material acquisition and technical troubleshooting. And third, the two institutions responsible for the translation of the Windows 95 product in Basque: UZE1 and Elhuyar. According to the distribution of the work, training, coordination, organization of work and of course translation have remained on our back. In addition to these three sections that have participated directly in the production process, it is worth mentioning the two entities that have carried out the monitoring of the work, the Deputy Ministry of Linguistic Policy and the Information Society of the Basque Government, EJIE. The participation of EJIE is particularly noteworthy, since it assumed the installation of working tools, the organization of tooling and the payment of work. To a certain extent, the speed with which EJIE responded to our requests has allowed us to reach the deadlines promised by Mircrosoft.

N-D: It seems like a challenge too big for a language that had everything to do...

L. A. But don't say it was so! From the point of view of computer language there have been many works in Basque: The computer dictionary was published a couple of years ago, several texts have been published in Basque, classes have been taught in Basque at the Faculty of Informatics for some time, there are other programs in Basque and we had just translated Word 6.0. From the linguistic point of view, we do not go far behind other great sentences, the others have enough to work on the adaptation and consolidation of new terms that are created continuously in computer science. It has been a challenge, but above all we have tightened the fact that a work of this volume has to be done in such a short time.

The truth is that we realized this second big challenge when we are translating into Word. This was in April latz and since then we have had to work with a frenetic pace of work to finish in 95. As is known, Windows 95 has been named because in 1995 the original English version and its locations have been published to a large number of languages. Therefore, the work that had to be done and finished that year and we had to adapt to those deadlines. This made it tighten more than desired and we can say that we have worked against the clock.

N-D: Once the translation is finished, how would you rate the work done?

L. A. In short it is difficult. The work has been very hard and in a few days it has been necessary to carry out a work of months of effort. In that sense, we would ask for more peace of mind. On the other hand, from the linguistic point of view it has been very interesting and enriching both in the adaptation of the machine language and in the elaboration of a new terminology. Although the point strangulations have not been forgotten, we highly value the work done. Now it is necessary to know the opinion of the user.

N-D: Should the user be satisfied with what they have so far or do you intend to do more such work in the future?

L. A. The intention is, of course, to prepare materials in Basque, since our main function is paper or computer. As for the computer supports, it is a decision that is not already in our hands or that continues along that route. At this time it is the responsibility of the user to use these means or to cancel the work done. However, I do not think the latter happens because there is a real interest in the market to access these products.

Also before the computer, the user must realize that you can work in Basque and that there are ways to achieve it. All the means that currently exist in the market, the implementation of hardware and software areas in our language will be very difficult, but if at least we managed to translate the basic material into Basque, we would be very beneficial for the normalization of Basque.

N-D: The Microsoft company has not used the word translation and in return uses the word localization. What is the difference?

L. A. We wanted to organize a product like Windows 95 so that it can be used in many languages. From the beginning, Microsoft expressed its desire to move away from mere translation, to locate the product, to explain it as if it had been done in each country. We were totally in agreement with this objective, of course, because it is we who have the most interest in adapting the product correctly to language and the environment. However, it must be said that in practice this location is very superficial and remains in mere intentionality. For example, we have had enormous difficulties to put the date correctly in Basque, in the case of procentage, they have not allowed us to put the % sign in front of the number, they have wanted to change the abbreviations of the names of months and days, etc. They say it but they do not accept it. It is understood, on the one hand, that the main function of programmers is to ensure the proper functioning of the program, and that it is being worked on, since it is not passed from head to head problems that may arise in other languages.

I will quote here many nuances that have remained uncombed, but I do not want to help create false visions: I think we have made the product more complete possible and even if the user finds some gaps, there is no disease that does not complete the time, so we will have the opportunity to do it in the next steps. We must learn from the mistakes made and we believe that in the future we will overcome these problems. Given that the first jump is qualitative, I think we have given what we had to do for our part.