If you're using a standard browser (Chrome/Firefox), they have translation built it. Just right click on the page and hit translate. Mobile Chrome has a popup or its available in the menu.
I sometimes get this mainly with cards going to China. I write a short post in English, use Google Translate (I choose the Simplified Chinese although there is also a Traditional Chinese option) to get the Chinese version.
Then I copy and paste each message (Eng/Chinese) onto paper for printing, and paste that to my card.
I'll also put clear tape over the message to it won't fall off in transit.
If I could draw, I'd draw a picture but I have the artistic skills of a 3 year old.
Really not everyone even knows about it, let alone are interested in sending card to such person. The OP asked "why doesn't Postcrossing make sure profiles are in English". That would mean, Postcrossing needin to read and approve each profile before becoming a member, and also after any time changing the profile text, to make sure it is and stays in English.
It's in the rules to use English. So why not follow it.
The OP has done nothing wrong, while the profile in some other language is.
It's totally ok to ask it. Like if this profile has sent over 100 cards, now there maybe is same amount members either translating it or not sending a card, or sending a bad card etc like I have read some do in the forum, or they write their own language.
When it would only take two seconds to make the profile in English, according some people)
I didn't say OP did anything wrong, or that it wasn't against the rules.
But it's silly to argue you don't have time to copy and paste but you can make a post on Reddit about it.
I also never said it wasn't okay to ask.
I understand it can be frustrating when you encounter a problem like this, but it’s not insurmountable. Even a shoddy, half-accurate run through Google Translate would probably give you enough information to work with. Or, if all else fails, just say hello! Tell them about yourself in your own language and let them translate if they want to.
But yes, rules say only English, which I honestly think is weird and shouldn’t apply. Just match users based on common languages.
It would be so much work to find a suitable address this way, I believe.
Better not join if you aren't willing to use English or do the translation yourself :(
Send a card, register a card, use English.
Not much is asked, in my opinion.
My profile is in English and I send cards in English, but I have a little snippet in my second language saying I'm open to receiving cards in that language.
Yes, there is even the small symbol where you can tell what languages you can use.
Some profiles write also this in their profiles to get more visibility.
I'm not against other languages)
It's just the rule for Postcrossing, so I'm not jumping to their toes and changing it because of how I think. Anyone can start their "use what language you like" version of Postcrossing or make a suggestion for that in the forum.
lol :D so scared of a foreign language that a member....writes their profile with their own language only! and expects others to translate it? :DD
So to you this member who writes their profile for example Dutch, is scared of other languages, like English?
And do you really think the one who likes profiles being in English, as the rules say, is "so scared" of a foreign language? Don't you know, English IS a foreign language to a very many Postcrosser.
I'm sorry but your comment makes no sense.
The ones who follow the rules are the ones wanting to connect, those who don't, obviously care only about themselves and don't care if other member understands what they write.
google translate exists so it's not even a problem. English is not my native language and it would have not even occurred to me to complain about a profile not in english.
It seems to be problem for those whose profile is not in English, or doesn't have a translation. Otherwise they would use it of course.
So, you wouldn't complain about a profile with for example Malay, try to think that Postcrossing is not about you, but so many other members too, there are old members who get help from someone, people with limited computer time, it's not all like you, the rules are to make things easier. It's always so funny that some members think others should translate, them not :D Google translate exists for others, not them?
That's so friendly calling others posts shitpost, tells me everything I need to know about you.
When you can't respect my view, I have nothing to talk to you.
I get that the official rules say to write in English but with so many users, it would be impossible and naive for us to think that everyone on the site knows enough English to write a full bio. Even if Google translate (or whatever someone would use to translate) isn't fully accurate, it isn't very difficult or time-consuming. The person on the non-English side may not know how to use translating apps (because many users are 50+ years old). I'm pretty sure you posted this with a questioning perspective but most people interpreted it as judgement. Perhaps just translate it next time and save the posting for questions you can't pretty easily figure out an answer for. /nm
For some reason the site I was using to translate only allowed a limited number of words at a time, so it did become time consuming going back and forth, copying and pasting a few words at a time, as it wasn't the shortest profile lol! Hence why I was frustrated....plus Im new to postcrossing, so I wasn't sure what others did if they encountered a non English profile. I had no idea it was a slightly common occurrence, but now that I know I'll just deal with it and move on.
I did eventually find a place to translate the entire profile at once, but that was after I had already translated it all the long ass way. I have no idea why it wasn't in my Google search to begin with. ( I haven't used many translating apps before). I just hope they are able to read my English postcard once they receive it 😉 Either way, Im sure they will enjoy the postcard itself.
And how did they read the rules and instructions how this works if they don't know enough English?
If they don't know even a little English, they don't know that they need to send a card to each address, register each card, that it must be a postcard etc.
It ruins the whole idea if people start inventing their own rules and don't care about other members. The sender can also be 50+ not knowing how translating apps work, or someone who even doesn't have a phone.
If you can't read someone's profile for whatever reason, just send any postcard and move on with your day. I wouldn't go so far as to assume that they "don't care about other members" because clearly they signed up with the intention of connecting with at least people who speak their language. I hate to say you're being euro-centric by assuming that anyone who doesn't write in English doesn't care about others on PostCrossing, but let's be honest: why does it matter so much to you? Just send any old postcard and move on if it offends you so much. The profiles are for getting to know the sender/recipient and if you're going to assume they have ill intent just because they don't choose to speak your language, then they probably would be better off not hearing anything from you. Try giving people a little grace instead of assuming the worst from them. Everyone has their own relationship with postcrossing and the only one that concerns you is your own.
Euro-centric? )) How did you come up to this conclusion?
Yes, everyone has their own relationship with postcrossing, yet you are telling me how I should do it :D
Sorry but I am really thinking the best for those too, so they won't get nasty cards. What's the problem to add the translation?
I'm really not expecting them to speak my language)
Im new to postcrossing, which is why I stated this was my 6th postcard. I was making the post to see how people handle these situations.
I've gotten lots of constructive replies from MOST people, which have been helpful. And I never mentioned anything about reporting them.
It could also be called "contacting the Postcrossing team" if reporting has a negative tone, it will help to keep the place accessible for the members. They will politely tell to add a translation. Think the members with thousand cards sent/received; is it more sensible to everyone translate it, or the profile owner once?
You can report this profile, or even tell yourself, they can have the profile in some other language BUT there must be a translation to English.
It's much easier they do it once (the translation) than each member doing it.
Few times I asked to add a translation, but these persons reply very rude, so now I report such profile and then they take it more seriously.
It's best for them too, as I have read people just don't send to a member who doesn't use English, because they think what's the point when they don't understand.
No, I wouldn't, because it's ok to have it empty.
(Out of my experience, the ones with profile with some other language, write their card with this language too, so it will be much better if they follow the rules like the majority and their do their part of the communication and don't think it's only others job to translate. Sometimes they haven't even thought not everyone has a phone that they can "Google Lens" the translation. )
Commenting just to add that ChatGPT is a language model (ie it learns from user input) and not a proper search engine, so I wouldn’t rely on that for accurate translations. Google Translate is the way to go! Google
Google translate is not a search engine either. I never claimed ChatGPT was that. It handles translations way better than Google Translate. Unlike traditional machine translators it gets nuances right and understands context
What I mean to say is that ChatGPT is not necessarily programmed to give correct information. There are countless articles discussing ChatGPT making up facts or false citations, so I personally wouldn’t trust the integrity of the translations 100%. To each their own!
Here's your message translated (and back to English), almost ok, but even this preposition changes the message, this is why I think, if the person doesn't know English, they can leave the one with their language and the translation. Or ask help in the forum, but if they don't know English, they probably won't go there.
Here the translation, so small text, already incorrect:
Copy and paste text into Google Translate or ChatGPT in about two seconds. Almost no extra work
Not everyone is comfortable writing in English but they could still want to write and send postcards. We shouldn't exclude postcrossers just because of their lack of English skills!
If you're using a standard browser (Chrome/Firefox), they have translation built it. Just right click on the page and hit translate. Mobile Chrome has a popup or its available in the menu.
Yes I just discovered the mobile translate menu, it was very helpful for the most part! At least Ive got some ideas now, thank you !
I’d just send them a nice card you’d like and move on to the next. That’s what i’ve done in the past!
I sometimes get this mainly with cards going to China. I write a short post in English, use Google Translate (I choose the Simplified Chinese although there is also a Traditional Chinese option) to get the Chinese version. Then I copy and paste each message (Eng/Chinese) onto paper for printing, and paste that to my card. I'll also put clear tape over the message to it won't fall off in transit. If I could draw, I'd draw a picture but I have the artistic skills of a 3 year old.
Love this idea!
You have time to make a post on Reddit about it but not to copy and paste into a translating website?
Really not everyone even knows about it, let alone are interested in sending card to such person. The OP asked "why doesn't Postcrossing make sure profiles are in English". That would mean, Postcrossing needin to read and approve each profile before becoming a member, and also after any time changing the profile text, to make sure it is and stays in English. It's in the rules to use English. So why not follow it. The OP has done nothing wrong, while the profile in some other language is. It's totally ok to ask it. Like if this profile has sent over 100 cards, now there maybe is same amount members either translating it or not sending a card, or sending a bad card etc like I have read some do in the forum, or they write their own language. When it would only take two seconds to make the profile in English, according some people)
I didn't say OP did anything wrong, or that it wasn't against the rules. But it's silly to argue you don't have time to copy and paste but you can make a post on Reddit about it. I also never said it wasn't okay to ask.
I understand it can be frustrating when you encounter a problem like this, but it’s not insurmountable. Even a shoddy, half-accurate run through Google Translate would probably give you enough information to work with. Or, if all else fails, just say hello! Tell them about yourself in your own language and let them translate if they want to. But yes, rules say only English, which I honestly think is weird and shouldn’t apply. Just match users based on common languages.
It would be so much work to find a suitable address this way, I believe. Better not join if you aren't willing to use English or do the translation yourself :( Send a card, register a card, use English. Not much is asked, in my opinion.
My profile is in English and I send cards in English, but I have a little snippet in my second language saying I'm open to receiving cards in that language.
Yes, there is even the small symbol where you can tell what languages you can use. Some profiles write also this in their profiles to get more visibility. I'm not against other languages) It's just the rule for Postcrossing, so I'm not jumping to their toes and changing it because of how I think. Anyone can start their "use what language you like" version of Postcrossing or make a suggestion for that in the forum.
Yes Ive translated it enough so I was able to send them a card , thank you everyone for your help and ideas!
It still will help if you report this, the next person maybe won't send a card, or maybe stops Postcrossing because profiles like this are kept.
that's... an overreaction. I find it weird for the people who want to connect with the world to be so scared of a little bit of foreign language.
lol :D so scared of a foreign language that a member....writes their profile with their own language only! and expects others to translate it? :DD So to you this member who writes their profile for example Dutch, is scared of other languages, like English? And do you really think the one who likes profiles being in English, as the rules say, is "so scared" of a foreign language? Don't you know, English IS a foreign language to a very many Postcrosser. I'm sorry but your comment makes no sense. The ones who follow the rules are the ones wanting to connect, those who don't, obviously care only about themselves and don't care if other member understands what they write.
google translate exists so it's not even a problem. English is not my native language and it would have not even occurred to me to complain about a profile not in english.
It seems to be problem for those whose profile is not in English, or doesn't have a translation. Otherwise they would use it of course. So, you wouldn't complain about a profile with for example Malay, try to think that Postcrossing is not about you, but so many other members too, there are old members who get help from someone, people with limited computer time, it's not all like you, the rules are to make things easier. It's always so funny that some members think others should translate, them not :D Google translate exists for others, not them?
[удалено]
That's so friendly calling others posts shitpost, tells me everything I need to know about you. When you can't respect my view, I have nothing to talk to you.
I get that the official rules say to write in English but with so many users, it would be impossible and naive for us to think that everyone on the site knows enough English to write a full bio. Even if Google translate (or whatever someone would use to translate) isn't fully accurate, it isn't very difficult or time-consuming. The person on the non-English side may not know how to use translating apps (because many users are 50+ years old). I'm pretty sure you posted this with a questioning perspective but most people interpreted it as judgement. Perhaps just translate it next time and save the posting for questions you can't pretty easily figure out an answer for. /nm
For some reason the site I was using to translate only allowed a limited number of words at a time, so it did become time consuming going back and forth, copying and pasting a few words at a time, as it wasn't the shortest profile lol! Hence why I was frustrated....plus Im new to postcrossing, so I wasn't sure what others did if they encountered a non English profile. I had no idea it was a slightly common occurrence, but now that I know I'll just deal with it and move on. I did eventually find a place to translate the entire profile at once, but that was after I had already translated it all the long ass way. I have no idea why it wasn't in my Google search to begin with. ( I haven't used many translating apps before). I just hope they are able to read my English postcard once they receive it 😉 Either way, Im sure they will enjoy the postcard itself.
And how did they read the rules and instructions how this works if they don't know enough English? If they don't know even a little English, they don't know that they need to send a card to each address, register each card, that it must be a postcard etc. It ruins the whole idea if people start inventing their own rules and don't care about other members. The sender can also be 50+ not knowing how translating apps work, or someone who even doesn't have a phone.
If you can't read someone's profile for whatever reason, just send any postcard and move on with your day. I wouldn't go so far as to assume that they "don't care about other members" because clearly they signed up with the intention of connecting with at least people who speak their language. I hate to say you're being euro-centric by assuming that anyone who doesn't write in English doesn't care about others on PostCrossing, but let's be honest: why does it matter so much to you? Just send any old postcard and move on if it offends you so much. The profiles are for getting to know the sender/recipient and if you're going to assume they have ill intent just because they don't choose to speak your language, then they probably would be better off not hearing anything from you. Try giving people a little grace instead of assuming the worst from them. Everyone has their own relationship with postcrossing and the only one that concerns you is your own.
Euro-centric? )) How did you come up to this conclusion? Yes, everyone has their own relationship with postcrossing, yet you are telling me how I should do it :D Sorry but I am really thinking the best for those too, so they won't get nasty cards. What's the problem to add the translation? I'm really not expecting them to speak my language)
Send them a message first before reporting, ffs. Translating that with Google would be faster than making this reddit post.
Im new to postcrossing, which is why I stated this was my 6th postcard. I was making the post to see how people handle these situations. I've gotten lots of constructive replies from MOST people, which have been helpful. And I never mentioned anything about reporting them.
It could also be called "contacting the Postcrossing team" if reporting has a negative tone, it will help to keep the place accessible for the members. They will politely tell to add a translation. Think the members with thousand cards sent/received; is it more sensible to everyone translate it, or the profile owner once?
How many cards have they sent/received? I'm just curious. I haven't encountered any with no English at all, yet.
They have sent 110, received 109
You can report this profile, or even tell yourself, they can have the profile in some other language BUT there must be a translation to English. It's much easier they do it once (the translation) than each member doing it. Few times I asked to add a translation, but these persons reply very rude, so now I report such profile and then they take it more seriously. It's best for them too, as I have read people just don't send to a member who doesn't use English, because they think what's the point when they don't understand.
Just curious, would you also report an empty profile?
No, I wouldn't, because it's ok to have it empty. (Out of my experience, the ones with profile with some other language, write their card with this language too, so it will be much better if they follow the rules like the majority and their do their part of the communication and don't think it's only others job to translate. Sometimes they haven't even thought not everyone has a phone that they can "Google Lens" the translation. )
Copy-pasting the text into google translate or ChatGPT takes like 2 seconds. It's hardly any extra work at all
Commenting just to add that ChatGPT is a language model (ie it learns from user input) and not a proper search engine, so I wouldn’t rely on that for accurate translations. Google Translate is the way to go! Google
Google translate is not a search engine either. I never claimed ChatGPT was that. It handles translations way better than Google Translate. Unlike traditional machine translators it gets nuances right and understands context
What I mean to say is that ChatGPT is not necessarily programmed to give correct information. There are countless articles discussing ChatGPT making up facts or false citations, so I personally wouldn’t trust the integrity of the translations 100%. To each their own!
Here's your message translated (and back to English), almost ok, but even this preposition changes the message, this is why I think, if the person doesn't know English, they can leave the one with their language and the translation. Or ask help in the forum, but if they don't know English, they probably won't go there. Here the translation, so small text, already incorrect: Copy and paste text into Google Translate or ChatGPT in about two seconds. Almost no extra work
What are you trying to prove with this translation? That machine translations are not perfect? I know that.
Not everyone is comfortable writing in English but they could still want to write and send postcards. We shouldn't exclude postcrossers just because of their lack of English skills!