In what ways do the Wikimedia projects currently alienate "local language" readers and potential contributors, by providing an experience that seems foreign or non-local?

One vital aspect of this foreign experience is the lack of localisation for many of the languages that we support. It is really fortunate that languages like Macedonian, Sinhala and Indonesian are REALLY making a big effort .. Some top 50 languages like Hausa have made a start but are not really moving forward.

Obviously, localisation is only one, be it a vital aspect, of the experience that makes it a local project. What we find is that people who indicate not knowing a language are botting articles in wikipedias like Swahili. Consequently the subject matter hardly coincides with what local people are interested in. There is also a group of people who find it necessary to impose their morals and values on other communities.. a good example is the notion of quality. While quality is important, a wikipedia needs to evolve and the first need is to get to the inflection point where a project is no longer dependent on individual editors.. Thanks,

GerardM08:49, 20 November 2009