Help us check the translations

Every page on this site that isn't in English was translated by AI, and none of it has been validated by a native speaker yet.

We say that on every translated page, in that language, at the top. We'd rather lose readers than have someone trust a page we can't vouch for.

Until a page is validated, it carries a warning and it should not be printed or handed out.

What we're asking for

Not a professional translation. Not certification. Not a service.

We need one person who speaks the language every day to read the pages and tell us what's wrong. That's it.

Specifically:

What sounds translated. Sentences that are technically correct and obviously not written by a person. These are the ones that quietly cost you a reader's trust.

What sounds condescending. This matters more than anything else on the list. This material is read by adults in their seventies and eighties, and the fastest way to lose them is a tone that talks down. English is careful about this. A machine translation usually isn't, because register doesn't survive translation.

What words your community wouldn't use. Regional vocabulary, the wrong formality, a term that's fine in one country and odd in another.

What's missing. The scams that reach your community may be different, a remittance scam, an immigration-status threat, a scheme that only works on people with family overseas. Tell us and we'll write the page.

Anything factually wrong that survived translation.

What it takes

About one to two hours for most languages. The core page in each language is roughly 2,000 words.

Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Russian, and Korean have more material: five additional scam-type articles each, not just the core page, so validating everything currently drafted in one of these runs closer to three to four hours. You don't have to do it all at once, and checking just the core page first is still a real, useful contribution on its own.

No special tools. Read it, mark what's wrong, send us notes. Bullet points in an email are perfect. Voice memo is fine too. Handwritten on a printout and photographed is fine.

You don't have to be an expert on scams. You're checking the language, not the security advice. If the advice sounds wrong to you, say so and we'll check it against the federal sources, but that's a bonus, not the job.

Who checks the advice itself. The safety advice on this site comes from federal sources, and anything a volunteer flags gets checked back against them. But no elder-fraud professional has read these pages yet. Finding one is on the list, and it's near the top. We're telling you this because you're being asked to help, and you should know which parts have been checked by somebody qualified and which haven't. So far, neither the English nor any translation has.

You don't have to fix it. Pointing at a sentence and saying "nobody talks like this" is complete and useful feedback. We'll rewrite it and send it back.

What you get

Your name on the page, if you want it. Or not, plenty of people would rather not be listed, and that's fine, no explanation needed.

No money. Nobody involved in this is paid, including the person who started it. There's no budget, and there won't be one.

The material, to use however you like. Translate it further, put your organization's name on it, rebrand it entirely, hand it out at your church, mosque, temple, clinic, community center, or senior living facility. You don't need our permission, it's CC BY-NC 4.0, so just keep a small credit line to the Trust But Verify Project somewhere reasonable.

Languages we need

All 44 of these are drafted and waiting on a native reader: every one already has a full webpage and a printable fridge sheet ready to go. See exactly what's been checked so far, language by language — we publish that number whether or not it's flattering.

Not yet drafted, and wanted: Turkish, Traditional Chinese (a separate job from Simplified, not a conversion, see below).

If you speak one of these two and are willing to be the reader, we'll write the draft for you to check. Tell us which and we'll get it to you.

A few notes for validators of specific languages:

• Portuguese leans Brazilian. Tell us if your community speaks European Portuguese and we'll adjust.
• Chinese is Simplified. Traditional is a separate job, not a conversion.
• Arabic is Modern Standard. Tell us which dialect your community speaks and whether this reads naturally aloud.
• Spanish uses usted throughout. Tell us if that's wrong for your community.

We'd rather have a handful of validated languages than dozens of unvalidated ones.

Who's a good fit

• Anyone bilingual who talks to older relatives in that language regularly. This is the best qualification there is, better than a translation degree
• Community health workers, church and mosque volunteers, senior center staff
• Adult children who already explain this stuff to their parents in two languages
• Students who need volunteer hours and speak the language at home
• Retired teachers, nurses, and social workers

If you were the person in your family who translated at the doctor's office growing up, you are exactly who we're looking for.

How to reach us

translations [at] trustbutverifyproject [dot] org

Tell us the language, and roughly how you use it, spoken at home, professionally, grew up with it. That's all the screening there is.

If you'd rather look before you commit, all the files are freely downloadable and you can read the whole thing before deciding.

What happens after you send notes

1. We rewrite the pages using your notes.
2. We send them back for one more look.
3. When you say it's good, the warning banner comes off and the page is marked validated, with your name if you wanted it.
4. Then, and only then, it goes on refrigerators.

If a page is ever revised, the banner goes back on until someone reads it again.

Why this matters more than it sounds

Somebody's grandmother is going to be standing in a kitchen with a phone against her ear, frightened, and the only thing on the refrigerator that she can actually read is going to be in her language or it isn't going to help her at all.

You can be the reason it's in her language. It takes an hour.