From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Note: This page describes what Wikipedia and the Simple English Wikipedia is about for new users, and is not a Wikipedia article. There are article pages aboutWikipedia and theSimple English Wikipedia.
For the introduction for users coming from the English Wikipedia, seeWP:EnWP.
TheSimple English Wikipedia is afreeencyclopedia for people who are learning English. The Simple English Wikipedia's articles can be used to help withschoolhomework or just for the fun of learning about newideas. Non-English Wikipedias can alsotranslate from the articles here.
Wikipedia started onJanuary 15,2001 and it has over 35,000,000 articles in many languages, including275,246 in Simple English. Most of these articles are in languages other than English. Every day, hundreds of people from around the world make hundreds of changes and create lots of new articles.
Note: Wikipedia has pages that some people might think are bad, vulgar, or mean. Readthe Wikipedia content disclaimer for more information.
Articles in the Simple English Wikipedia use fewer words and grammar that is easier to understand than thenormal English Wikipedia. The Simple English Wikipedia is also for people with different needs, such aschildren,students, andadults withlearning difficulties, and people who are trying to learn English. Other people may use the Simple English Wikipedia because simple language helps them to understand unfamiliar topics orcomplex ideas.
When the Simple English Wikipedia began, thenormal English Wikipedia already had 150,000 articles, and seven other Wikipedias in otherlanguages had over 15,000 articles. Since the other Wikipedias already have so many articles, most Simple English articles take articles from other Wikipedias and make them simple; they are usually not new articles.
This makes Simple English articles a good way to understand difficult articles from the normal English Wikipedia. If someone cannot understand an idea in complex English, they can read the Simple English article. For this reason, people writing Simple English articles should put in "interwiki links" to and from the other Wikipedias. Also, it is good to always look atall versions in all languages, to get new ideas.
"Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not" has a good list of things which we arenot doing. These things are a littledifferent from the things the normal English Wikipedia does not do. For example, in the Simple English version it is more important to explainslang,idioms, andjargon. The Simple English Wikipedia also has some articles that are also onWiktionary.
