Wikivoyage quality of content varies by language

[Feuillesmortes]

Is there a way of seeing which wikivoyage pages have the most text per language without manually checking for each language?

For example, Lake Garda has better content in German than English. Even if I change en. to de., the German text is only visible if I know to look for Gardasee.

Garda – Travel guide at Wikivoyage

en.wikivoyage.org

Gardasee – Reiseführer auf Wikivoyage

de.wikivoyage.org

 

[30907]

First of all, this is the page for Lake Garda as opposed to Garda town
https://en.m.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Lake_Garda

I am not sure that quantity necessarily =quality, but in this case the German page is slightly better at a glance.

Anyway, to your interesting question: I have no idea whether there is a solution of the sort you are looking for, but my default would be to check
(1) the local language
(2) the language of the largest cohort of tourists - which for Italy and the Adriatic countries (and most of the Balkans) is typically German (I blame Goethe!)

Thus assumes you read the language concerned or have an auto-translate

 

[Feuillesmortes]

Anyway, to your interesting question: I have no idea whether there is a solution of the sort you are looking for, but my default would be to check
(1) the local language
(2) the language of the largest cohort of tourists - which for Italy and the Adriatic countries (and most of the Balkans) is typically German (I blame Goethe!)

Thank you.

From the perspective of using trains, it concerns me that a passenger could make plans using outdated fare/network information from the 2017 .en version for example, when the .de version might contain correct information from 2022, but you wouldn't know that unless you proactively search for each language.

 

[Gloster]

A general opinion on websites from someone who did a lot of research using continental, mostly north Europe, languages. The native language is almost always the best with, as mentioned above, the language used by the largest groups of visitors also good. English can vary from well-written pieces written by a native English speaker or a professional translator to pieces that seem to have been written by somebody‘s school age son or daughter using a pocket dictionary. Additionally, they quite often use American English terms which can occasionally cause confusion (subway: foot tunnel or underground?). It is still worth looking at both: the native language probably has more information, more accurate information and more up-to-date information, but the English version may include oddments only of use or interest to the visitor.

 

[Feuillesmortes]

A general opinion on websites from someone who did a lot of research using continental, mostly north Europe, languages. The native language is almost always the best with, as mentioned above, the language used by the largest groups of visitors also good. English can vary from well-written pieces written by a native English speaker or a professional translator to pieces that seem to have been written by somebody‘s school age son or daughter using a pocket dictionary. Additionally, they quite often use American English terms which can occasionally cause confusion (subway: foot tunnel or underground?). It is still worth looking at both: the native language probably has more information, more accurate information and more up-to-date information, but the English version may include oddments only of use or interest to the visitor.

Thank you for this.

As a matter of interest, I compared getting to Lake Garda by train for the three languages. In the particular case, German wins and I guess German speakers are the majority of tourists there.

Desenzano del Garda and Peschiera del Garda are the closest railway stations on the South of the lake. The closest station on the North is Rovereto.

Im Norden des Gardasees ist der nächstgelegene Bahnhof in Rovereto. Am Südufer verläuft die Eisenbahnstrecke von Verona nach Mailand, mit Bahnhöfen in Peschiera del Garda und Desenzano. Dort halten auch Hochgeschwindigkeitszüge Frecciarossa (Fahrtzeit ab Mailand 50 Minuten, ab Venedig-Mestre 1:20 Std.)

Rovereto kann man im Zweistundentakt mit dem Eurocity aus München (Fahrtzeit 4:45 Std.) und Innsbruck (knapp 3 Std.) erreichen. Dort kann man auf Busse nach Torbole, Linfano und Riva am Nordufer des Gardasees umsteigen. Liegt das Ziel im Süden des Sees, fährt man besser bis Verona Porta Nuova (3½ Std. von Innsbruck, knapp 5½ Std. von München), um dort auf Regionalzüge nach Peschiera del Garda und Desenzano oder Busse zum Gardaland, nach Lazise, Bardolino und Garda am Ostufer umzusteigen.

Peschiera del Garda und Desenzano kann man auch über Nacht mit dem ÖBB Nightjet ab Wien/Villach oder München/Salzburg erreichen.

Aus der Schweiz kommend, muss man in der Regel in Mailand umsteigen. Beispielsweise fährt man von Zürich über Mailand nach Desenzano rund 5½ Stunden.

Sulla linea ferroviaria Milano-Venezia ci sono le stazioni di Desenzano del Garda e di Peschiera del Garda

 

[30907]

Thank you for this.

As a matter of interest, I compared getting to Lake Garda by train for the three languages. In the particular case, German wins and I guess German speakers are the majority of tourists there.

Definitely! I remember at Gardaland theme park 20 years ago my wife asking in her best Italian for ices and getting answered in excellent German - which fortunately I speak!

Back on topic, I wouldn't use Wikipedia or similar for timetable information anyway, but it's still useful.

 

[Gloster]

I used to use Wikipedia as a starting point, but not as a reliable source for anything important: it is generally good enough for a quick skim through to get the gist of something, but that is it. However, the references and external links can be a good starting point if you want to find a source of reliable information, particularly if it is a bit difficult to find the best way to phrase your search on Google (other search engines are available).