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Requests for new languages/Wikiversity Simple English

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This is an archived version of this page, as edited by SleepyMode (talk | contribs) at 15:05, 27 January 2016 (→Proposal). It may differ significantly from the current version.
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submitted verification final decision
Discuss the creation of this language project on this page. Votes will be ignored when judging the proposal. Please provide arguments or reasons and be prepared to defend them (see the Language proposal policy).

The language committee needs to verify the language is eligible to be approved.

  • Check that the project does not already exist (see list).
  • Obtain an ISO 639 code
  • Ensure the requested language is sufficiently unique that it could not exist on a more general wiki.
  • Ensure that there are a sufficient number of native editors of that language to merit an edition in that language.
  • The community needs to develop an active test project; it must remain active until approval (automated statistics). It is generally considered active if the analysis lists at least three active, not-grayed-out editors listed in the sections for the previous few months.
  • The community needs to complete required MediaWiki interface translations in that language (about localization, translatewiki, check completion).
  • The community needs to discuss and complete the settings table below:
What Value Example / Explanation
Proposal
Language code simple (SIL, Glottolog) A valid ISO 639-1 or 639-3 language code, like "fr", "de", "nso", ...
Language name Simple English Language name in English
Language name Simple English Language name in your language. This will appear in the language list on Special:Preferences, in the interwiki sidebar on other wikis, ...
Language Wikidata item please add  | language_Wikidata=    (search) Item about the language at Wikidata. It would normally include the Wikimedia language code, name of the language, etc. Please complete at Wikidata if needed.
Directionality no indication Is the language written from left to right (LTR) or from right to left (RTL)?
Links Links to previous requests, or references to external websites or documents.
Site URL simple.wikiversity.org langcode.wikiproject.org

Settings
Project name Wikiversity "Wikiversity" in your language
Project namespace Wikiversity usually the same as the project name
Project talk namespace Wikiversity_Talk "Wikiversity talk" (the discussion namespace of the project namespace)
Enable uploads yes Default is "no". Preferably, files should be uploaded to Commons.
If you want, you can enable local file uploading, either by any user ("yes") or by administrators only ("admin").
Notes: (1) This setting can be changed afterwards. The setting can only be "yes" or "admin" at approval if the test creates an Exemption Doctrine Policy (EDP) first. (2) Files on Commons can be used on all Wikis. (3) Uploading fair-use images is not allowed on Commons (more info). (4) Localisation to your language may be insufficient on Commons.
Optional settings
Project logo commons:File:Wikiversity-simple.png This needs to be an SVG image (instructions for logo creation).
Default project timezone UTC[Basicly Worldwide] "Continent/City", e.g. "Europe/Brussels" or "America/Mexico City" (see list of valid timezones)
Additional namespaces Help, Help_Talk, Noticeboard, Course For example, a Wikisource would need "Page", "Page talk", "Index", "Index talk", "Author", "Author talk".
Additional settings Anything else that should be set
Once settings are finalized, a committee member will submit a Phabricator task requesting creation of the wiki. (This will include everything automatically, except the additional namespaces/settings.) After the task is created, it should be linked to in a comment under "final decision" above.

Proposal

There are many people world-wide that knows English, but even more that doesn't know English, or starting to learn, Simple English is the best option for them, a collection of 1000 words that are used, many of them are taken by Basic English, for example you can easily look at the "simple.wikipedia.org", basicly, it is made for people that are new for the english language. --SleepyMode (talk) 11:29, 26 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Note: the language code listed SIL but the link went to a description of a language from Ghana. --mikeu talk 01:21, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Arguments in favor

  1. SleepyMode (talk) 11:29, 26 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]
  2. Wow, this guy is organized. He's even got an example logo! Riley Huntley (talk) 11:30, 26 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]
  3. Why not? A Simple Wikiversity would be really useful. Reception123/Receptie123 (talk) 17:08, 26 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]
  4. It's worth trying in beta to see if it gains participants. If not, any content developed could be imported to en.wikiversity instead so that no effort is wasted. Dave Braunschweig (talk) 19:20, 26 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Arguments against

  • I can find myself opposing this idea. How are we suppose to do WIkiversity Simple English when we already have content about basic English at en.wikiversity? This just seems to be useless. Are we going to simplify content that is already on Wikiversity? Why can't we hold a Simple Portal at the English Wikiversity? (you know... like a History Portal, Science Portal). Just all, in all (wrapping a sandwich with bacon), what is the whole use of this? --Atcovi (Talk - Contribs) 20:42, 26 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]
    • And per what Mu301 stated, en.wikiversity's cope is broad, so there is no need to make a simple WV, as simple WQ and WB both ended up in failure. This project might end up in the same way due to the same reasons stated against keeping WQ and WB. --Atcovi (Talk - Contribs) 01:15, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]
  • I somewhat remember having been told not so long ago that no more simple project would be allowed, since they don't have a valid ISO code, nor they are sufficiently unique, etc. In short, while it is possible to open a request, that does not mean that the request can be approved. Maybe @MF-Warburg can clarify on this and correct me if I'm wrong. —MarcoAurelio 12:07, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion

  • Can't we just do "Simple English Wikiversity" at wikiversity itself? There is already projects about Alphabet teaching, Basic English Grammar. As well, knowing how Wikiversitys activity level is (not so active), this wiki could just be the same, or worse. This just seems useless --Atcovi (Talk - Contribs) 18:24, 26 January 2016 (UTC) Moved to arguments against, answer me there --Atcovi (Talk - Contribs) 20:43, 26 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]
  • I am very supportive of the idea of producing resources in w:Basic English and/or w:Simplified Technical English. This could broaden the range of learning materials for Category:English as a Second Language or for use by students in Portal:Pre-school_Education and v:Portal:Primary Education. (Yes, I am politely pointing out that we are already creating resources that somewhat fall within the scope of this proposal.) I'm not clear about why a new project is needed for this. A new site would have a limited number of participants and would have less support from the strong communities that already exist and have experience adapting learning materials to a wiki environment. I'd like to see some attempt to create these resources on an existing site to demonstrate that it is insufficient to the needs of Simple resources. Personally I feel that English Wikiversity is best suited for this (while wholeheartedly admitting that I have a strong bias) as Betawikiversity: is in final stages of a discussion for closure (see Proposals for closing projects/Move Beta Wikiversity to Incubator) and Incubator: is arguably less familiar with the specific needs of a *.wikiversity as they have not yet had experience incubating such a project. I'm going to hold off voting expressing my support or opposition to the idea until I learn more about the specifics of what is proposed here. Could someone elaborate on how this differs from existing efforts within en-wv and what specific needs a new project site would satisfy that can't be met there? Is this any different from en-wv hosting w:Canadian English and w:British English resources, or fr-wv hosting w:Canadian French? I'm really keen on the idea of reaching out to these learners; I just want to do it in the most supportive way possible. --mikeu talk 20:52, 26 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]
    • Developing the content at en.wv would also work, and a portal and appropriate categories and front-page signage could be created. And I would welcome that effort! But the biggest issue I see is that there aren't many current content developers at en.wv who are familiar with Basic English. The writing style there (our writing style) is mostly college-level. The typical community discussions there are also not at a Basic English level. So, whether the content is at beta or at en.wv, a community will need to be developed to support this concept and approach. I indicated support above, because I think it may be easier to build that community under the 'simple' namespace. en.wv does not currently attract those users, and for the most part never has. K-12 education uses other resources. If they're using simple.wikipedia as a resource, they may be willing to use simple.wikiversity to share their lessons. But if this initiative is not approved, I strongly encourage the participants to work with us at en.wv to develop something that will meet this need. -- Dave Braunschweig (talk) 21:38, 26 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Since when can't they share lessons here at Wikiversity? I see absolutely no point in opening up this project. Wikiversity is an opening environment, including users who aren't so proficient in English. --Atcovi (Talk - Contribs) 00:37, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Launching a new simple project is not trivial. Both http://simple.wikibooks.org and http://simple.wikiquote.org failed and were closed. I wouldn't even propose creating a simple on betawikiversity: until we see the outcome of that project closing... If someone started simple resources at en-wv it could be moved to a dedicated site after success is demonstrated. Our site might currently have a focus on higher ed, but our scope has always been much broader. We have recently welcomed a contributor to help with converting a resource to English. --mikeu talk 01:07, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the support. :) --SleepyMode (talk) 11:16, 27 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Vito on IRC(Vituzzu) — The preceding unsigned comment was added by SleepyMode (talk)

Localization Status

Already done by other projects using this language.

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