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 since been implemented on many other wikis. To participate, you can add the {{babel}} template to your user page by following the instructions below.
Instructions[]
| Babel | |
|---|---|
| en-N | This user is a native speaker of English. |
| no-4 | This user speaks Norwegian at a native level. |
| he-3 | This user can contribute with an advanced level of Hebrew. |
| sv-2 | This user can contribute with an intermediate level of Swedish. |
| es-1 | This user can contribute with a basic level of Spanish. |
| eo-0 | This user hopes to learn how to speak Esperanto with greater proficiency. |
 Users by language | |
- Open your user page with the wikitext editor
- Start off with
{{babel|. - Next, add language codes for the languages you speak or understand, separating them by
|. Depending on your level of proficiency with a given language, you may need to include a number along with the language code:- xx-0 if you don't understand the language at all. Don't use it for every language you don't know; only use it when there is some reason why you might be expected to know it, or if you don't know it but have an interest in learning it.
- xx-1 for basic ability – enough to understand written material or simple questions in this language.
- xx-2 for intermediate ability – enough for editing or discussions.
- xx-3 for advanced level – though you can write in this language with no problem, some small errors might occur.
- xx-4 for "near-native" level – although it's not your first language from birth, your ability is something like that of a native speaker.
- xx (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:
}}.
So, for example, {{babel|sv|no-4|he-3|lt-2|es-1|an-0}} (see demo on the side) would indicate a native speaker of English with an almost-native knowledge of Norwegian, advanced knowledge of Hebrew, an intermediate knowledge of Swedish, a basic knowledge of Spanish, and no knowledge of Esperanto.
Categories[]
The {{babel}} template also adds your user page to the categories associated with the languages you specify. To find someone who speaks a particular language, see the subcategories of Category:Memory Alpha archivists by language.
Alternatives[]
As an alternative, you can add stand-alone language templates to your user page ({{user xx-1}}{{user yy-1}}{{user zz-1}}).
Another alternative is to simply add the language categories to your user page directly ([[Category:User en]] [[Category:User es]]). This will add your user page to the appropriate language categories. The category tags can go anywhere on the user page, but are typically added to the end of the page.
Supported languages[]
The {{babel}} template outputs text in the language set in the current user's preferences, if a translation is available in that language (if it is not, it will show the English text). Translations are stored at Module:Babel/i18n.json.
The following languages have associated categories to collect Memory Alpha archivists who understand the language in question:
ar (Arabic)- bg (Bulgarian)
- ca (Catalan)
- cs (Czech)
- de (German)
- el (Greek)
- en (English)
- eo (Esperanto)
- es (Spanish)
- et (Estonian)
- fr (French)
- ga (Irish)
- gd (Scottish Gaelic)
- gl (Galician)
- he (Hebrew)
- hr (Croatian)
- hu (Hungarian)
- it (Italian)
- ja (Japanese)
- ko (Korean)
- la (Latin)
- nl (Dutch)
- no (Norwegian)
- pl (Polish)
- pt (Portuguese)
- ro (Romanian)
- ru (Russian)
- sco (Scots)
- sk (Slovak)
- sr (Serbian)
- sv (Swedish)
- tlh (Klingon)
- tr (Turkish)
- uk (Ukrainian)
- zh (Chinese)
