JW.ORG emerges world’s most translated website

LAGOS, Nigeria – Earlier this month, JW.ORG, the official website of Jehovah’s Witnesses, reached an unprecedented translation milestone—it now includes articles, videos, and audio content available in 1,000 languages, including 100 sign languages amongst which is the Nigerian sign language. 

The jw.org website features content in 30 indigenous Nigerian languages, even some with relatively few speakers. 

How was this impressive translation feat accomplished on a global scale? According to Jama Onwubuariri and Ezekiel Bolaji, Regional Spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses, Lagos, the feat was achieved through the efforts of thousands of volunteers.

“Wherever possible, translators work on location, where there is a high concentration of native speakers. Being close to their audience enables translators to field-test publications, resulting in material that is accurate, natural, and clearly understood by those who use the language every day. For example, a team of 35 well-trained translators based in Umuahia, Abia State, translate Bible-based materials into the Igbo language. Eleven of such remote translations offices, most with fewer translators, are scattered across the country. 

“Additionally, many who are hard-of-hearing in Nigeria can now “hear” the Bible’s message in a language they can understand on the jw.org website. This is as a result of the Nigerian sign language translation team’s efforts in producing videos for the hard-of-hearing. What is more, thousands of Jehovah’s Witness volunteers freely teach deaf ones the Nigerian sign language in the course of their Bible study educational program”, they statement.

The translation work of Jehovah’s Witnesses, they added has a long history, dating back to the late 1800s. Geoffrey Jackson, a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses at the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Warwick, New York, states: “It took us a little over 100 years to reach 508 languages in January 2013. But it’s remarkable that in just under seven years we have nearly doubled our translation production—from 508 languages to 1,000.”

Commenting on the translation work or Jehovah’s Witnesses, John Yunker, author of The Web Globalization Report Card, states: “When considering whether or not to translate into a new language, commercial websites usually limit their efforts to languages that will be significantly profitable. For Jehovah’s Witnesses, though, profit is not the motive. Their goal is to translate the Bible’s message so that it is accurate, clear, and easy for readers to benefit from.” 

On the quality of the translation, scholar Gerhard Budin stated: “[When] analysing the translation work [of Jehovah’s Witnesses], it becomes clear that the basic principles of translation studies, as well as best practices in practical translation work, are fully respected. This manifests itself in easy-to-read texts in multiple language versions of the journal The Watchtower, for example, while addressing a broad audience of people in each language community.” 

Translating can be challenging. “Translating into and publishing in so many languages can pose special challenges,” explains Izak Marais, who directs the Translation Services group at the world headquarters in Warwick, New York, U.S.A. “At times we wanted to publish in a less common language, but not all the characters were available for that language.

“So, over the years, we have provided artwork for countless characters and font sets, allowing us to produce printed publications in hundreds of languages. Similarly, we have overcome many challenges to make our publications available in the many languages on jw.org. In fact, many of those 1,000 languages have no other publications available on the web.”