35

Before you close as a duplicate, yes I have read How do I deal with non-English content and posts, which have not answered my question.


Context

I stumbled upon a Spanish question today, in which I commented:

The main site is English only. Assuming this is on topic, please try Stack Overflow en Español

I then proceeded to close vote as "Unclear what you are asking". Not long after, another user commented something along the lines of:

Google Translate seems to suggest this question is too broad and off topic


Question

This left me wondering - what's the best course of action? Should I redirect the original asker to an appropriate sub-site for the language and then close as unclear assuming that it will be on topic, or should I close based on the content translated?

The posts above seem to contradict each other, but it seems like there is a general consensus that we should close and delete questions that are non-English as unclear. But what if the question translated is most likely not going to be well-received once re-asked on another site because it is too broad or off topic as mentioned above? The rationale is to close and delete bad questions before they are re-asked so we don't just pass on the problem for others to deal with.

One final option is to close as unclear, without redirecting the user. This may be the least disruptive now, but it won't tell the asker anything which may lead to similar posts.

What course of action should I take?

  • Lots of things seems vague and broad when run though google translate. Perhaps, a spanish speak could understand it better. – GC_ May 22 '18 at 19:44
72

My thoughts: Take the course of least resistance. If it's unclear what someone is asking because they wrote it in a language the site doesn't support, then.... it's unclear what they're asking. If you happen to speak the language and there's something else wrong with it, by all means close it with an applicable reason, and, perhaps, leave a comment (in English).

These won't be migrated without moderator intervention anyway. As a moderator, I'm loath to migrate content that I can't understand. The only real signal I have is the reputation of the suggesting user on the target site... and translation tools, which are iffy at best. I'd rather have the user re-ask on the right site.

Either way, just get it closed. Use whatever reason fits your understanding of the issue - as in every other case.

For the comment, I'd recommend linking directly to /help/on-topic on the target site. Remember that these folks have already demonstrated their ability to not read the rules. Let's at least try to point them directly to the rules.

  • 30
    This. To elaborate a bit: there's no need to overthink these things. If you don't read the language in question, there's no need to even go to Google translate unless it's obvious spam or rude/offensive (yes, these can be obvious even in languages one doesn't read). Just close questions as "unclear what you're asking" or, if it's an answer, flag as VLQ and move on. – elixenide Oct 22 '16 at 4:40
-4

If you don't speak the language, don't bother trying to understand it, just redirect the problem as you did to a place they can deal with the content.

But why not do both? If someone speaking both languages stumble upon one of this posts, they may be able to understand and redirect only if I see the content is on topic and give a little explanation on what the poster should do on the other site.

In conclusion, if you can deal with it in a broader manner and not pass the problem onto others, do it. But I think there is no need for you to make the extra effort and lose your time on a user who didn't even bother in reading the rules or posting in the site language.

PS: I think the idea in the accepted comment of redirecting to the help page is great.

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