Cucumis is a website where translators share their linguistic knowledge and exchange services online. One unusual feature of Cucumis is that all translations are
peer reviewed and may be edited by other Cucumis translators. This provides for high-quality translations, and often achieves a
target text that is both faithful in meaning to the
source text and fully idiomatic in the target language.
History
Founded in 2005, by July 2007 Cucumis had over 50,000 members and was receiving 100 requests per day for translations between dozens of languages. The first user interface was in English, but in an ongoing process of
localization others were added. By the end of 2007, there were user interfaces in 31 languages, in 8
writing systems. Most of the work involved was
volunteered by members.
Members
Cucumis members are located in dozens of countries, with the two largest contingents in Turkey and Brazil; together, these two countries account for 1/3 of all members. Why these two countries are over-represented is unknown. Although English is the single most popular
target language,
Cucumis.org: Translation statistics
/ref> only a small minority of members (about 2%) are in primarily English-speaking countries.
How it works
To submit a text for translation, users become members by choosing a username and giving a valid e-mail address. All new members are given enough points to "pay" for translation of a short paragraph. Returning members who lack points are given more points. Members earn points by translating texts submitted by others. All members may translate texts and edit translations by others. For quality control
Quality control (QC) is a process by which entities review the quality of all factors involved in production. ISO 9000 defines quality control as "a part of quality management focused on fulfilling quality requirements".
This approach places ...
, all translations are rated by administrator
Administrator or admin may refer to:
Job roles Computing and internet
* Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database
* Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum
* N ...
s and expert
An expert is somebody who has a broad and deep understanding and competence in terms of knowledge, skill and experience through practice and education in a particular field. Informally, an expert is someone widely recognized as a reliable s ...
s. All members are eligible for promotion to "Expert" for a given language after completing many translations into that language rated with an average quality of over 7/10.
See also
* BigTranslation
* Flitto
References
External links
Official WebsiteUSCIS TranslationTechCrunch (blog) November 2006 review of Cucumis.org
Translation websites
Translation associations
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