ANTHOLOGY – Hacker Stories From OSCON, All Things Open, and Node Interactive

LibreOffice

Giovanni Caligaris embarked on a mission to translate LibreOffice into Guarani, the indigenous language spoken by 90% of Paraguay's population. Despite not speaking Guarani himself, Giovanni was driven by a desire to contribute to his homeland and address the language barrier that hindered many Paraguayans from accessing essential digital tools 1. He collaborated with a local friend to translate key terms, highlighting the importance of making technology accessible in native languages 2.

If it's not your language, it's pointless. You can't use it.

--- Giovanni Caligaris

This effort not only aimed to empower individuals with digital literacy but also to preserve and modernize the Guarani language.

   

Challenges

The translation of LibreOffice into Guarani presented numerous challenges, particularly in adapting technical terms that had no direct equivalents. Giovanni worked tirelessly with a local elder, dedicating 12-hour days, seven days a week, to complete the project 3. They often had to innovate by creating new words or using existing Spanish or English terms for concepts like "password" and "internet" 4.

There's not a one-to-one mapping. So we had to create slowly some of the words.

--- Giovanni Caligaris

This meticulous process underscored the complexity of language translation in technology, especially for underrepresented languages.