Wikipedia:Training/For language students/Finding an article

OK, now you know some of the basic tricks you'll need to start editing. So, how can you find a good Wikipedia article to translate? Your instructor might present you with a list, or they might ask you find your own. If you are selecting from a list, you can skip this slide.

First, starting with the language of Wikipedia you're most comfortable with, type the shortcut WP:GA or WP:FA into the search bar.



You'll see a page in that language about Good Articles (or Featured Articles, if you typed WP:FA). This means the articles here meet certain standards for quality. This is a great place to find an article to work with. But how do you find one in the language you want to translate? Easy. On the left of the screen, you'll see a list of languages. Choose the language you are studying, and click it. You'll be taken to a list of Good or Featured Articles in that language.

Scroll through and find a topic that interests you. Good candidates are topics that are relevant to the culture of the language you're translating from, but perhaps not well-known in the language you are translating to.

When you find an article that seems interesting, look back to the left of the screen. You'll see the list of languages again. If the language you are translating to isn't there, that means this article doesn't exist in that language. Great choice! If the language does appear there, you'll want to click it to see what kind of shape that article is in. Click the language you want to translate to.

Is the article shorter? Is it a start-class article? Short articles are better candidates for translation!

You'll want to poke around Wikipedia in this way a few times to find some good articles.

Alternatively, you may find an article you want to translate from the curated list at Category:Featured articles needing translation from foreign-language Wikipedias.