Reinstating the Language Representative Program

Common Voice
#1

Hello Everyone:)

We are happy to announce that we will be reinstating the Language Representative Program ! As a first step, we would like to set up a database of points of contact for each language community. This group will consist of volunteers who can serve as the primary reference for any language-specific questions and concerns.

We understand that this role is voluntary, and we don’t want to overwhelm anyone with responsibilities, as we know you may have other commitments. For now, we’re simply looking for individuals interested in being part of this community and offering their expertise when possible.

If you’re interested in joining this effort and representing your language, please register here or email me the following information at gina@mozillafoundation.org:
Email: …
Full Names and Surname: …
Language Name: …
Language Code:
Time Zone: …
Are you interested in attending monthly/bi-monthly community meetings?: (Yes / No / Maybe)
Experience or background in this language:

To start, we are planning a kickoff meeting at the end of September (specific date and time to be confirmed) to discuss various issues related to language communities, data quality, and how we can improve collaboration moving forward. This meeting will also provide an opportunity for representatives to connect, share ideas, and learn more about how we can collectively support language-specific efforts within the Mozilla Common Voice project.

We look forward to working together to improve the quality and representation of all languages in the Common Voice dataset!

Thank you for your continued support!

Thanks.

2 Likes
#2

Hey @gina, you might want to make this post sticky for a while…
(so I also bumped this :slight_smile: )

3 Likes
#3

@gina, as there are places where Google is firewall prohibited, perhaps you would also accept applications through email?

Here are the fields in the form for convenience:

Email: ...
Full Names and Surname: ...
Language Name: ...
Language Code: ...
Time Zone: ...
Are you interested in attending monthly/bi-monthly community meetings?: (Yes / No / Maybe)
Experience or background in this language: ...
Any additional information or notes: ...
#4
#5

Hey @bozden, thank you for flagging this.

1 Like
#6

Last week, I’ve got an invitation for a meeting on Oct. 1st.
Is this meeting related to LRs?

(bump bump :grin: )

#7

No, it was not. But it was full of newcomers, very positive. Your energy was awesome. Unfortunately the session is kept very short, not answering all questions.
(bump)

#8

Hello,

I wanted to bring something to your attention. It might be helpful to review the Pontoon platform, as it would provide valuable information about current language representatives.

The platform has a record of the admins who localized the CV platform for different languages. We could compile a spreadsheet of these representatives and their contact details.

Before making any changes, it might be worth reaching out to these individuals to gauge their continued interest. After all, they were the ones who initially requested adding their languages to Common Voice.

What are your thoughts on this approach?

1 Like
#9

@daniel.abzakh: Nart, me and others tried to share the call in other channels, Telegram and old LR Matrix channels.

The thing with Pontoon is: For major languages, the volunteer translators are working on multiple projects, mainly on Firefox. Many of others translating CV on Pontoon also can be just interested at that work. I found the contacts and contacted some of them for Turkish, but none were interested.

On the other hand, MCV has the emails of all volunteers for all languages, who created a profile in 7 years. As the average volunteer retention is also low, perhaps bulk-mailing them can re-vitalize the connection. I don’t remember getting many emails from MCV in the last years, if any.

There are 200+ languages active or suggested, so I’m talking about 200+ LRs and (say) 400-600 more for Language Boards.

1 Like
#10

Okay, what you are saying does make sense.

400-600 more for Language Boards.

What do you mean by that?

#11

We talked about “dataset caretakers” previously here. Also more recently on matrix.

I think a single person per language is not enough, especially for dataset quality related tasks we need teams (the “why” is in those threads), which I called Language Boards.

2 Likes
#12

Do we have an update for this? I mean timing-wise…
(bump)