http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/item/8440/
It would be really cool if there were a simple way to have two language packs installed at the same time and simple way to switch between them while using the operating system.

For example, if I set up a Ubuntu computer for a refugee family here in the States that is still learning English, they could use Ubuntu in English, but if they did not understand something they could click an icon or something to "switch on" their native language.

Imagine how helpful being able to compare and contrast a tool tip in two different languages would be to someone learning to speak a new language.

This could make the computer easier to use while also serving as a valuable and practical tool in learning a new language. This could benefit a whole range of students of new languages.


[126 votes] Solution #1: Auto-generated solution of idea #8440


]]> en-us Mon, 12 May 2008 19:29:47 +0000 Mon, 24 Aug 2009 10:19:43 +0000 QAPoll module http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/8440/ Mon, 12 May 2008 19:35:24 +0000 Mon, 12 May 2008 20:50:07 +0000
Software to enable this sort of feature should exist.

Voted Yes.]]> Mon, 12 May 2008 21:18:30 +0000
Frankly I think that this idea has a lot of potential, espacially (but not only) in educational environments... plus I'd love to toy with such tool myself ;)]]> Tue, 13 May 2008 07:17:06 +0000
This also has implications on a deeper level ... should only the labels, menu items in the text be changed (GUI items only), or also the help commands?
Should environment variables be reset to the new language? Should printer settings be changed?
Should entries in /etc files be changed? Probably not by a regular (non-admin) user.

This proposal could be interesting ... maybe it is a feature for edubuntu only.
]]> Tue, 13 May 2008 09:34:41 +0000
A nice implementation would be a "per window" switch, limited to gui items (assuming that if one dabbles with the terminal is at least a bit tech savy and thus cannot be completely unaware of english as well)

Example: I am italian but I use the system in english beacuse I want to learn it, but suddenly I get the XYZ error message which is too tecnical for me... i right click on the window decoration and among "minimize", "maximize" and "always on top" I also have an "italian" option, so I can read the error and understand what's going on.]]> Tue, 13 May 2008 13:44:29 +0000
It would be impossible or at least impractical to change the locale in currently-running applications, at least from the point-of-view of Ubuntu as a whole, but it should be possible to launch certain applications in a different locale (and probably to restart gnome-panel, metacity/compiz, and nautilus in the new locale).

But it should be pretty useful for language learners.]]> Tue, 13 May 2008 16:01:32 +0000 Tue, 13 May 2008 16:07:08 +0000
I think that this is an absolutely brilliant idea. SCIM should also tie into this so your typing language also changes.]]> Tue, 13 May 2008 18:46:53 +0000
user@computer:~$ LANG=de_DE.UTF-8 rhythmbox

The above command would launch rhythmbox in German. It'd be cool if it could be done at runtime, but I don't think it would be popular enough to justify the masses of work that it'd need. Give this a try. I use it for some of my apps that I don't usually have problems with, but keep the rest in English.]]> Fri, 02 Jan 2009 23:32:38 +0000