Advice and Help with Languages

[StdntWrldAsmbly]

Hello,

I'm a newcomer to vB with basically no programming experience, and I'm working on a forum for an international non-profit, Student World Assembly. We're looking to make our forum as multi-lingual as possible, and I have some questions about language packs, etc.

1) What exactly do language packs translate? The posts themselves, everything besides the posts, or something else?

2) If we don't install, for example, a Russian or Chinese language pack, could users still post on our forum with characters from those alphabets?

3) How complicated is it to install language packs for someone without programming experience? What would be a reasonable rate to pay for one or a few language pack installations?

4) Is there anyone that would be willing to install a few language packs for us for free or at a discount? We'd be able to give you a receipt for a tax deductible donation (if you pay US taxes), but we're looking to launch the forum March 30th and would love to get help before then.

Thanks in advance for responding,
Eli