Odoo is represented in 56 countries across the globe, making it difficult to provide a specific translation for each of these countries. Instead, Odoo is available in English, as the universal language, and, hardly surprising, in French and Flemish, since Odoo’s home base is in Belgium. If a country requires its own language version, it is left to the respective partner(s) to undertake the translation himself/themselves.
Some of the partners keep asking: Why should it be my job to provide a translation? Neither SAP nor Microsoft does require that, after all. Yeah, well, that’s of course true, but don’t forget that SAP and Microsoft claim pretty hefty license fees for these language packages, whereas Odoo does not ask for any license fees at all.
Missing German Translations in Odoo 9
It goes without saying that a professional solution is an absolute must. We do know that with the transifex project there are some promising approaches to this issue. But, as the saying goes, too many cooks spoil the broth. And though the many dedicated helpers are doing a wonderful job, there is no real solution in sight, when it comes to a standard nomenclature. Too many different words for the same terms only lead to confusion. Thus a provider becomes a “Lieferant“, at other times a „Autoteilehersteller“, and still another time a „supplier“. And of course it is not really sufficient to translate the original version word for word into the other language. Different industry sectors have different terminologies for certain situations that may not be easily transferred from one language to the other. Another problem will be that the German word does not necessarily fit the allotted space. Then you have to fiddle around and start improvising, and that may be problematic if too many translators work on different texts at the same time.
This is why openfellas have initiated a translation project with the aim to provide a German translation that also ensures that the translation is monitored continuously. The project will be placed in the hands of one person only to guarantee consistency, as far as this is possible,. The Odoo‘s structure itself suggests a modular approach to the translation process. For the more comprehensive modules, a timeline of 3 to 4 weeks bigger modules seems reasonable. This way, one module after the other will be translated. And there will be still a lot to do once these are finished.
Of course, the project will only make sense, if as many German-speaking partners as possible are participating in the project. After all, they will all benefit from a consistent German translation. This is why we think that it also makes sense to create a common budget in order to finance the project, so that none of the partners has to handle the cost alone.
Such a translation offers many advantages for openfellas and the participating partners and will certainly help to further develop the German-speaking markets, also in Austria and parts of Switzerland.
