The Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) and KITAB – the new joint venture between ADACH and Frankfurt Book Fair – will organise an international conference to emphasise the importance of translations and translation funding initiatives.
Publishers from the UK, Germany, France, Lebanon, Egypt and UAE will present their views on publishing translations – from the intellectual as well as the trade angle. They will highlight examples of their work, draw conclusions from their experiences and discuss the challenges with their Arab counterparts.
The subject of translations will also be tackled from the perspective of literary agents as well as from important translators themselves.
The conference, scheduled on the 10th March, is set to mark the start of a series of activities around the theme of translations.
Language is one of the last big barriers to fall for true worldwide communication — and when about 70 percent of the Web’s content is in English, this puts those who can’t speak the language at a significant disadvantage. A few tools were shown off at TechFest 2008 that try and offset this imbalance.
One of the few things on the floor that has already made it to product, Translator is an add-in for Windows Live Toolbar that connects directly into Windows Live Translator.
Rather than having to visit the Windows Live Translator site directly, if a user hits an English Web site they can now simply select a language from a drop down menu built into the browser. The view will then split in two — the original English site on the left, the translated one on the right. All navigation on the right hand side is then provided in the person’s native language. Pretty nifty, even if the added convenience of not having to visit the site means you’re locked into Internet Explorer.
You can also add Live Translator services to your site directly by simply copying and pasting a handy script into your source.
ENLASO Corporation, a provider of documentation, Web site, and software translation and localization solutions, today announced that it has authored a new best practices white paper titled “Preparing Projects for Localized Desktop Publishing.”
This complimentary white paper summarizes useful guidelines for the development of documentation that is ready for localization and translation for foreign markets as well as solutions to various multilingual publishing challenges. The document also includes a thorough checklist, with practical examples, that covers the decisions that should be made and the information that should be provided to the localization vendor before starting a publishing-oriented translation and localization project.
European versions of Facebook launched first in Spanish on Feb. 11, then in German in early March; now, the French version of the hugely popular networking web site is finally at hand.
This brand-new edition, whose creation is due in part to French users, allows the California-based company to complete the first major phase in its plans to go global, as announced last December.
“We have over 4000 contributors working on the French version, and the translation here has been even faster than in Germany,” says Javier Olivan, Director of International Development for Facebook, quoted in the French daily newspaper Les Echos.
This is a critical step for Facebook, which already counts 60% of its users outside the US, including one third in Europe.
“We have 8.3 million active users in the United Kingdom and over 1.5 million French users,” said Olivan.
Multilingualism is an important step for Facebook’s international expansion. Established in 2004, the community site now boasts some 67 million active users. Thanks to free software, millions of European users can now use Facebook in their native tongues.
London, UK, 4th March 2008: Foreigners should be made to learn a country’s language before being allowed to work there. This is the sentiment recorded by over 400 respondents to an online survey. The results portray a growing feeling that immigrants are not assimilating well into adopted countries and that immigration laws should be tightened to ensure those offered work are able to effectively integrate within their host country.
As a result of globalization, people are emigrating to foreign countries in seek of opportunities. Until recently, the increased workforce has been welcomed, allowing economies to grow by filling jobs and boosting spending. However, the last few years have started to show the first signs of cracks. Debates rage across Europe and North America on the issues of immigration, multiculturalism and the need to protect indigenous cultures against a perceived influx of ‘foreign invaders’.
One area of particular concern has been the issue of immigrants entering countries for work without knowledge of the language. A discourse at lay-level, now raised in political circles, espouses the idea that immigrants with no knowledge of the language are not able to assimilate into the culture or society. The resultant problems include the creation of ghettos by immigrants, a perceived lack of contribution to communities and an increased strain on public funds and resources across services; such as health care, legal, translation and interpreting. At a political level this has manifest in a number of ways. In December 2007, the British government announced that husbands and wives of work visa applicants will have to prove their English language skills before being allowed entry. In Japan the government is tightening its long-term visa conditions by requiring applicants to pass a language test. Nowhere has the impact of immigration on language been seen more clearly than in the USA. The debate over whether or not English should be deemed the official language stems from America’s concern that immigrants must learn English.
Results of an online survey released today suggest the mood is not changing. Held by Kwintessential Ltd, a cross-cultural communications consultancy, the online survey attracted over 400 votes. 62% of respondents agreed that “Foreigners must learn the language before being allowed to work in my country.” The votes were taken from visitors to the company’s website site, the ten most registered nationalities (in order of votes) being United States, Great Britain, Australia, Canada, Netherlands, Singapore, Hong Kong, Germany, Norway and Sweden.
“It is interesting to see the politicization of language and culture at the moment in the immigration debate. The sentiment is no longer about jobs and a strain on resources, such as benefits. It has moved to a whole new level where people seem genuinely concerned about the impact immigrants are having on native cultures and specifically their inability to engage with and adapt to it,” states Kwintessential’s Managing Director Neil Payne. “Now the political classes have latched on to this it will be fascinating to see what policies they adopt in order to counter it.”
Founded in 2003, Kwintessential is one of the world’s premier providers of cultural awareness training and cross-cultural services such as translation, interpreting and multilingual website design. The company is dedicated to helping individuals, organisations and businesses understand the implications of working in an interconnected world economy. The survey is one of many run on the website to tap into current feelings about cultural issues resulting from globalization.
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