Babel

From OmegaWiki

Shortcut: Bb

OmegaWiki uses exclusively IS0-639-3 language codes.
The ISO 639-1 language code list may help you to find the associated ISO 639-3 codes for languages having ISO 639-1 codes.

User language templates aid multilingual communication by making it easier to contact someone who speaks a certain language. The idea originated on the Wikimedia Commons and has also been implemented on Meta-Wiki and some of the other Wikipedias, to varying extents. To participate, you can add the Babel template to your user page by following these instructions:

Start off with {{Babel-X|if=| where X is the number of languages you intend to list.
Next add one of the following codes for each language you speak or understand, separated by |, where xxx is the ISO 639-3 code for the language. The general usage of each code level is as follows (note that not all languages have all levels, but you may create the template you are missing):
- xxx-1 for basic ability - enough to understand written material or simple questions in this language.
- xxx-2 for intermediate ability - enough for editing or discussions.
- xxx-3 for advanced level - though you can write in this language with no problem, some small errors might occur.
- xxx-4 for 'near-native' level - although it's not your first language from birth, your ability is something like that of a native speaker.
- xxx-5 for using a language professionally (for work) - it is appreciated when you indicate your profession.
- xxx (no hyphen or number) for native speakers who use a language every day and have a perfect grasp of it, including colloquialisms.
Expanded definitions of these levels are also available.
Then finish by adding closing braces: }}

Babel

swe

Den här användaren talar svenska som modersmål.

 nor-4

Denne brukeren kan bidra med norsk nesten på morsmålsnivå.

 heb-3

משתמש זה מסוגל לתרום ברמה מתקדמת של עברית.

 lit-2

Šis naudotojas gali prisidėti prie projekto vidutinio lygio Lietuvių kalba.

 pes-2

دانش فارسی این کاربر درسطح متوسط است

 spa-1

Este usuario puede contribuir con un nivel básico de español.

Search user languages

So, for example, {{Babel-2|if=|eng|deu-1}} would indicate a native speaker of English with basic knowledge of German. {{Babel-5|if=|swe|nor-4|heb-3|lit-2|spa-1}} would indicate a native speaker of Swedish with an almost-native knowledge of Norwegian, advanced knowledge of Hebrew, an intermediate knowledge of Lithuanian and a basic knowledge of Spanish.

These templates add you to the category associated with your level of understanding, and to the overall category for that language.

To find someone who speaks a particular language, see user languages, and follow the links. For the most part, the two and three letter codes are taken from ISO 639, but see this list for a comprehensive guide.

You can help expand this system by creating templates for your language. Categories have already been created for most languages which have editions of Wikipedia containing over a hundred articles; they just need labelling up! It's recommended to copy the English or French versions when expanding the scheme, as most of the languages listed here are incomplete.

Note that all sign languages currently use the same template with language code "sgn", with the exception of American Sign Language users who should use the ASL template. Other sign languages can be specified within the {{User sgn}} template itself. The use of this parameter requires the user to perform an extra step when using the {{Babel-#}} templates, described here.

1 Alternatives
2 Natural languages

Alternatives

There are other options for achieving results the same as or similar to the standard Babel-X template above.

You can add stand-alone language templates. Format: {{User xx-1}}{{User yy-1}}{{User zz-1}}.
You can use the Babel-N template. Format: {{Babel-N |1={{User xx-1}}{{User yy-1}}{{User zz-1}}}}.
You can use top and bottom templates to make the box. Format: {{Userboxtop}}{{User xx-1}}{{User yy-1}}{{User zz-1}}{{Userboxbottom}}.