Palo Alto, CA – Facebook users will now be able to poke their friends in Hebrew, after months of anticipation. The popular social network today launched its beta Hebrew version. The launch comes a year after Facebook launched its Spanish-language site, and it is planning sites in French, German, Italian, Chinese, and other languages.
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To operate the Hebrew-language site, users go to “Settings” and then select “Hebrew” on the languages option. Facebook is translating its site into various languages in the spirit of Web 2.0, in other words, the users themselves translate text through a translation platform offered by the website. A year ago, Facebook explained its translation program by stating, “Our objective is for Facebook to be supported in all the mother tongues of our users. We’ve received requests from thousands of people interested in translating Facebook into other languages.”
The Hebrew version of Facebook will be very helpful, in addition to functioning in native Hebrew speakers’ mother tongue. It helps in seeking friends, since the English spelling of Hebrew names varies. It will also facilitate correspondence, since the writing will be from right to left.
The current Hebrew version of Facebook still has a number of bugs that need to be worked out, however.
511,000 Israelis are currently on Facebook, but the real number is probably much higher, as many Israelis do not define themselves as such on Facebook.
too bad no one in the frumme velt knows hebrew after 15 years of intense yeshiva education.
When will facebook be released in Yiddish for all of its chassidish users?
Well, it’s in Arabic as well.
The Arabic and Hebrew are both in Beta vers.
waste of time