Have you ever wondered who’s hiding behind a Crowdin username? It’s time to find out! Contributor interviews are a great way of getting to know the people who participate in the PrestaShop project.

For the second interview of 2023, we interview Norbert, aka SNor42.

Meet SNor42

Ranked 29th on the top translator page, Norbert is a translator and proofreader on the Hungarian project.

Hello SNor! :-) 👋 Can you tell me more about yourself? How many languages do you speak?

I’m Norbert, 43, I have 2 children and a wife. I’m a regular guy.

I speak Hungarian, and I can speak a bit of English, but it’s not my native language.

I’m not a merchant but I’m a freelance developer. I create stores for merchants and I sometimes work for agencies.

I can also understand German but I haven’t practiced in a long time, so I don’t know if I’d be able to speak it 😆 I guess I’m not like the other members of the translation project, I don’t speak 6 or 7 languages, just these.

When and how did you get involved in translating the PrestaShop project?

Good question! I started to get involved in translating the project during the pandemic. I had to set up two PrestaShop stores and I noticed that the Hungarian language was alright, but some parts of the translation were missing. So, I decided to translate those parts in my first store, and then tried to export my translation to the second store. I realized it was not easy to export and import these translations.

I looked it up online, and that’s how I started contributing to the PrestaShop Crowdin project.

What motivates you?

I became a proofreader because I noticed no one could approve my translations into Hungarian, the previous proofreader didn’t have time to take care of the Hungarian translation anymore. Obviously, it’s not the best because I approve my own translations but back then it was the best option to get new translations into my stores.

So, during the pandemic, when everybody was sleeping, late in the evening, I was translating PrestaShop. My main goal was to reach a 100% translated and approved translation.

That doesn’t mean I rushed translations: I took my time, used Google Translate, and made sure to double-check my translations before approving them.

I think it’s a nice thing because it gave me something to do with my time during the pandemic. 🙂

And congratulations, you did it! Hungarian is 100% proofread and approved. Let me ask, do you have any previous experience in translation?

No, I haven’t translated anything before, this was my first time. 😄

Welcome to the wonderful world of translation! 🎉 Do you have any advice for new translators or proofreaders?

In the beginning, I started translating PrestaShop 1.6 and 1.7 versions before I realized I was translating old strings for older versions of the software. I’d say that my advice to new translators is to make sure you always translate the latest version of PrestaShop!

Finally, as we enter a new year, how do you hope to see the PrestaShop project evolve in 2023?

I really like the project. It’s a good project and I like the way the interface looks.

I think modules and themes are a very good point too. However, sometimes when I’m looking for a specific module, I don’t understand what it says because the description and information aren’t written in English – I understand devs develop their module for merchants in local markets. The PrestaShop back-office translation system has its own limitations. So, if they don’t have time to translate their modules and themes, it’s alright, though I would tell them to refrain from using automatic translation.

Is there anything else you want to add?

Yes, I want to greet and give a huge high-five to all the previous Hungarian translators. They did a great and giant job!

Thank you so much for your help! Keep up the great work 🙌

Are you interested in becoming a translator? Everything you need to know is available in our new translation guide. You can join us on the PrestaShop project, available on Crowdin.