(Note: this is an altered version of my post over at the /r/pokemonuranium subreddit, hope you don't mind)
Hello there! My name is Mew, and I'm pleased to announce to you that we are now officially recruiting translators to translate Pokémon Uranium to Dutch / Flemish. Let me firstly tell you about where my experience in the English language came from.
I was born in Flanders, Belgium, where the majority of people speak Flemish, a variation of Dutch, which is spoken throughout the Netherlands. Growing up, I came into contact with the English language a lot; it all started when I received "Mario vs. Donkey Kong" for my Gameboy Advance SP. I remember asking my parents to translate the tutorials for me, since I couldn't understand a single word displayed on the tiny LCD screen. I gradually began grasping the English language, playing more and more English games online and with friends, until I eventually got my first text-heavy RPG: Pokémon SoulSilver. Through this Pokémon game, I learned a lot of English vocabulary and grammar (Belgium and the Netherlands never got their own translated versions of the Pokémon games, so everyone had to play the UK versions), and in the end, I even managed to collect all 493 Pokémon available in Gen IV: this is where my love for Pokémon - and gaming in general - originates. From then on, I played Pokémon White and Pokémon X, and am currently playing Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Red. I love playing around with languages as well (up until now, I've studied Dutch, French, English, Latin, Ancient Greek, and a bit of Italian and German) and am functionally fluent in English, which I partially have the Pokémon franchise to thank for - just like many others, without a doubt.
I first heard of Pokémon Uranium via Philip DeFranco's YouTube channel. I downloaded it, and have been playing for a decent amount of time now. When I noticed that the game had a vivid community and that it just received a Spanish overhaul, an idea came to mind: wouldn't it be amazing if this game had a Dutch translation as well? I know a lot of people who are rather weak at understanding English, and would greatly appreciate if this game was translated to their native language, Dutch / Flemish (to those who aren't familiar: both languages only differ in speech, and are practically one and the same when written), so that they could enjoy the outmost potential of the game. I was (and still am) determined that this needed to happen, and thus began my journey. Through Reddit, I contacted one of the mods (ttgjailbreak) about this, and he referred me to Samrux, the game's head of translation. We've been messaging back and forth for a while now, and I recently received permission to lead a team of translators to fully translate the game to Dutch. The only problem is that I still need those translators, which is why I'm here today.
About a week ago, I posted an announcement similar to this one to the /r/pokemonuranium subreddit, but have so far only received a single application (which, to be honest, just wasn't adequate enough to be accepted to the team). I need at least 2 to 3 strong translators - that excludes myself - to commence the project, but I can't seem to find them through the subreddit. Therefore, I'm trying to see if I'll have more luck over here. So, if you are motivated to help me (and possible future recruits) to translate 70.000+ lines* of in-game text from English to Dutch, and have a good understanding of both languages, give me a heads up at Mewcancraft@gmail.com. I will then send you an application test to verify your capabilities. Thank you for your time, and hopefully, I will have reached the right people with this forum post, at long last.
*One can always abandon ship if the workload is too heavy, so if translating a smaller portion of text is preferred, that is completely fine.
Hello there! My name is Mew, and I'm pleased to announce to you that we are now officially recruiting translators to translate Pokémon Uranium to Dutch / Flemish. Let me firstly tell you about where my experience in the English language came from.
I was born in Flanders, Belgium, where the majority of people speak Flemish, a variation of Dutch, which is spoken throughout the Netherlands. Growing up, I came into contact with the English language a lot; it all started when I received "Mario vs. Donkey Kong" for my Gameboy Advance SP. I remember asking my parents to translate the tutorials for me, since I couldn't understand a single word displayed on the tiny LCD screen. I gradually began grasping the English language, playing more and more English games online and with friends, until I eventually got my first text-heavy RPG: Pokémon SoulSilver. Through this Pokémon game, I learned a lot of English vocabulary and grammar (Belgium and the Netherlands never got their own translated versions of the Pokémon games, so everyone had to play the UK versions), and in the end, I even managed to collect all 493 Pokémon available in Gen IV: this is where my love for Pokémon - and gaming in general - originates. From then on, I played Pokémon White and Pokémon X, and am currently playing Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Red. I love playing around with languages as well (up until now, I've studied Dutch, French, English, Latin, Ancient Greek, and a bit of Italian and German) and am functionally fluent in English, which I partially have the Pokémon franchise to thank for - just like many others, without a doubt.
I first heard of Pokémon Uranium via Philip DeFranco's YouTube channel. I downloaded it, and have been playing for a decent amount of time now. When I noticed that the game had a vivid community and that it just received a Spanish overhaul, an idea came to mind: wouldn't it be amazing if this game had a Dutch translation as well? I know a lot of people who are rather weak at understanding English, and would greatly appreciate if this game was translated to their native language, Dutch / Flemish (to those who aren't familiar: both languages only differ in speech, and are practically one and the same when written), so that they could enjoy the outmost potential of the game. I was (and still am) determined that this needed to happen, and thus began my journey. Through Reddit, I contacted one of the mods (ttgjailbreak) about this, and he referred me to Samrux, the game's head of translation. We've been messaging back and forth for a while now, and I recently received permission to lead a team of translators to fully translate the game to Dutch. The only problem is that I still need those translators, which is why I'm here today.
About a week ago, I posted an announcement similar to this one to the /r/pokemonuranium subreddit, but have so far only received a single application (which, to be honest, just wasn't adequate enough to be accepted to the team). I need at least 2 to 3 strong translators - that excludes myself - to commence the project, but I can't seem to find them through the subreddit. Therefore, I'm trying to see if I'll have more luck over here. So, if you are motivated to help me (and possible future recruits) to translate 70.000+ lines* of in-game text from English to Dutch, and have a good understanding of both languages, give me a heads up at Mewcancraft@gmail.com. I will then send you an application test to verify your capabilities. Thank you for your time, and hopefully, I will have reached the right people with this forum post, at long last.
*One can always abandon ship if the workload is too heavy, so if translating a smaller portion of text is preferred, that is completely fine.
"Why did the miller look through the window? Because he couldn't look through the wall!" ~Umberto Eco
