Localizer spotlight: Oliver

About You

My name is Oliver Chan, though I am mostly known by my username Olvcpr423. I’m from China, and I speak Mandarin and Cantonese. I have been contributing to Mozilla localization in Simplified Chinese since 2020.

Getting Started

Q: How did you first get involved in localization, and what led you to Mozilla?

A: My localization journey actually began with Minecraft back in 2018, when I was 13. I was an avid player of this globally popular game. Similar to Mozilla, its developer uses a crowdsourcing platform to let players localize the game themselves. I joined the effort and quickly realized that I had a strong interest in translation. More importantly, I found myself eager to use my skills to help bridge language gaps, so that more people could enjoy content from different languages easily.

Firefox was the first Mozilla product I ever used. I started using it relatively late, in 2020, and my connection with Firefox began thanks to my uncle. Although I was aware that Firefox had a long history, I didn’t yet understand what made it special. I gradually learned about its unique features and position as I explored further, and from then on, Firefox became my primary browser.

Later that same year, I noticed a typo while using Firefox and suggested a fix on Pontoon (I honestly can’t recall how I found Pontoon at the time). That small contribution marked the beginning of my journey as a Mozilla localizer. I believe many people’s localization journeys also start by correcting a single typo.

Working on Mozilla Products

Q: Which Mozilla projects do you enjoy working on the most, and why?

A: Firefox, absolutely. For one thing, it’s my favorite piece of software, which makes working on it personally meaningful. More importantly, Firefox has a massive Chinese user base, which gives me a strong sense of responsibility to provide the best possible language support for my fellow speakers. On top of that, Firefox’s mission as the last independent browser gives me extra motivation when working on its localization.

Aside from Firefox, Common Voice has been the most impactful project I’ve localized for Mozilla. It collects voices from a diverse range of speakers to build a publicly available voice dataset, which I think is especially valuable in this era. And honestly, working on the text for a voice-collection platform is a wonderful experience, isn’t it? 😀

Thunderbird is another project I find especially rewarding. It is popular on Linux, and localizing it means supporting many users who rely on it for everyday communication, which I consider vital work.

Q: How does regularly using these products influence how you approach localization?

A: Regular usage is essential for localization teams (like us) that lack dedicated LQA processes and personnel. Without routinely using the product, it’s easy to overlook issues that only become apparent in context, such as translations that don’t fit the context or layout problems.

Since we also lack a centralized channel to gather feedback from the broader community, we have to do our best to identify as many issues as we can ourselves. We also actively monitor social media and forums for user complaints related to localization. In addition, whenever I come across a screenshot of an unfamiliar interface, I take it as an opportunity to check for potential issues.

Community & Collaboration

Q: How does the Chinese localization community collaborate in practice?

A: In practice, besides myself, there is only one other active member on Pontoon for our locale. While the workload is still manageable, we do need to seriously think about recruiting new contributors and planning for succession to ensure sustainability.

That said, our community is larger than what you see on Pontoon alone. We have a localization group chat where many members stay connected. Although they may not actively contribute to Pontoon — some work on SUMO or MDN, some are regular users, while others are less active nowadays — I can always rely on them for insightful advice whenever I encounter tricky issues or need to make judgment calls. Oftentimes, we make collective decisions on key terminology and expressions to reflect community consensus.

Q: How do you coordinate translation, review, and testing when new strings appear?

A: Recently, our locale hit 60,000 strings — a milestone well worth celebrating. Completing the translation of such a massive volume has been a long-term effort, built on nearly two decades of steady, cumulative work by successive contributors. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of them.

As for coordination, we don’t divide work by product — partly because all products already have a high completion level, and the number of products and new strings is still manageable. In practice, we treat untranslated strings a bit like Whac-A-Mole: whenever new strings appear, anyone available just steps in to translate them. Testing is also a duty we all share.

For review, we follow a cross-review principle. We avoid approving our own suggestions and instead leave them for peers to review. This helps reduce errors and encourages discussion, ensuring we arrive at the best possible translations.

Q: Did anyone mentor you when you joined the community, and how do you support new contributors today?

A: When I first joined Mozilla localization, I wasn’t familiar with the project’s practices or consensus. The locale manager 你我皆凡人 helped me greatly by introducing them. For several years, they were almost the only active proofreader for our locale, and I’d like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to their long-term dedication.

Today, when reviewing suggestions from newcomers, if a translation doesn’t yet meet the approval standard, I try my best to explain the issues through comments and encourage them to keep contributing, rather than simply rejecting their work — which could easily discourage them and dampen their enthusiasm.

Q: What do you think is most important for keeping the community sustainable over time?

A: It’s all about the people. Without people, there is no community. We need fresh blood to ensure we don’t face a succession crisis. At the moment, recruiting from within the Mozilla ecosystem (MDN or SUMO) is the most immediate approach, but I won’t give up on trying to draw in more people from the broader community.

Continuity of knowledge is also important. We mentor newcomers so they understand how the project works, along with its best practices and historical context. Documentation becomes necessary as time passes or the community grows; it ensures knowledge is preserved over time and prevents “institutional amnesia” as people come and go.

Background, Skills & Personal Lens

Q: What’s your background outside localization, and how does it shape your approach to translation?

A: I’m currently a student majoring in accounting. While accounting and software localization may seem worlds apart, I believe they share similar characteristics. The IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) identifies six qualitative characteristics of accounting information, and with a slight reinterpretation, I find that they also apply surprisingly well to localization and translation. For example:

• Relevance: translations should help users use the product smoothly and as expected
• Faithful representation: translations should reflect the original meaning and nuance, without being constrained by literal form
• Verifiability: translations should be reasonable to any knowledgeable person
• Timeliness: translations should be delivered promptly
• Understandability: translations should be easy to comprehend
• Comparability: translations should stay consistent with existing strings and industry standards

On a personal level, I developed qualities like prudence and precision through localization long before I started my degree, which gave me a head start in accounting. In turn, what I’ve learned through my studies has helped me perform even better in localization. It’s a somewhat interesting interplay.

Q: Besides translation, what else have you gained through localization?

A: I knew very little about Web technologies before I started localizing for Mozilla. Through working on Firefox localization, I gradually developed a solid understanding of Web technologies and gained deeper insight into how the Web works.

Fun Facts

Q: Any fun or unexpected facts you’d like to share about yourself?

A: My connection with Firefox began thanks to my uncle. One day, he borrowed my computer and complained that Firefox wasn’t installed — it had always been his go-to browser. So I decided to give it a try and installed it on my machine. That was how my journey with Firefox began.

I love watching anime, especially Bocchi the Rock! and the band Kessoku Band featured in the series. I also enjoy listening to Anisongs and Vocaloid music, particularly songs voiced by Hatsune Miku and Luo Tianyi. And while I enjoy watching football matches, I’m not very good at playing football myself!