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Proposal
Original Proposal
For the Google Summer of Code 2005, I would like to produce a complete localization of the Mozilla Firefox application for the Vietnamese language, as suggested by MozDev and Gervase Markham. The process for localizing Firefox is outlined at the Mozilla Foundation’s website.
I am not a native speaker of this language, but I have grown up with Vietnamese spoken in my home alongside English, and I have been studying it for a few years. I also have translating experience, having helped to translate the MediaWiki software into Vietnamese. In translating the interface, I will consult a number of sources, in order to ensure that users of the software will be able to understand it easily. These sources will include:
- Ho Ngoc Duc. Free English-Vietnamese-French-German On-Line Dictionary. University of Leipzig.
- Le Ba Khanh and Le Ba Kong. Vietnamese-English/English-Vietnamese Dictionary. 7th printing. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1991. ISBN 0-87052-924-2.
- Microsoft Community Glossary for Vietnamese. Microsoft Corp.
- Nguyen, Quan. “Re: Locale vi data to ICU.” 14 February 2004. JavaVietnam.
- Nguyen Van Khon. Usual English-Vietnamese Vietnamese-English Dictionary. Rev. ed. Glendale, CA: DAINAM Publishing, 1987.
- Tu Dien Tieng Viet Truc Tuyen. Version 2.0. Vietnam Lexicography Centre.
- Wikipedia Tiếng Việt. Wikimedia Foundation.
I will use these sources only for reference. My use of copyrighted dictionaries will not cause a problem with licensing, since the translated words themselves are facts, and thus cannot be copyrighted. Nevertheless, I will contact the authors of some of these resources, asking them for permission to use their material.
In addition, I will regularly consult my parents, Ky Nguyen and Kim Thoa Nguyen, who are native speakers of Vietnamese. On occasion, I may also consult members of the Vietnamese Wikipedia for assistance with a particular translation, since I have worked with them on translating the MediaWiki interface in the past.
I will begin work on this project immediately, and I plan to finish it by
SeptemberAugust 16, 2005 at 6:00 PM EDT (UTC−4). Thank you for taking the time to consider my application.
Revised Plan
- 9 August 2005
- All DTD files completely translated; begin soliciting feedback from Wikipedia community etc. to avoid embarrassing mistakes
16 August 200523 August 2005- Self-imposed project deadline
- Feedback period complete; no more changes to localization files
- More time needed to correct inconsistencies and localize some keybindings
23 August 200530 August 2005- Localization packaged and uploaded to mozdev servers
- 1 September 2005
- Google-imposed project deadline
- Package listed at official Download Thunderbird page
If Minh finds that he has extra time left over before the SoC deadline, Minh may decide to work on integrating a Vietnamese IME into Thunderbird, which will make it much easier for users to write in Vietnamese. Or he may decide to start translating some popular extensions.
Once the SoC program is over and Minh opens this project up to more contributors, he will also expand the project’s focus: this website may house a Firefox localization project as well, and the website will likely serve as a starting point for Vietnamese speakers looking for information about Mozilla products in general.