Intercultural & Cross Cultural News

Czech Republic: Demand for translation services grows

Most translation service companies in the Czech Republic have reported a year-on-year growth in demand of dozens of percent this year, a CTK poll among the companies has revealed.

Demand has grown particularly for interpretation services and translation of extensive and demanding texts, the poll has shown. "We have seen a year-on-year growth in demand of 18 percent this year, the same rise seen over the past four years," said Josef Venc of Channel Crossings. The interpretation segment reported the biggest growth, he added.

GALA to have major presence at Localization World Berlin

The Globalization and Localization Association (GALA), an international nonprofit association that encourages local communication as an indispensable component to a global strategy, will host several sessions for localization business owners, founders and entrepreneurs attending the upcoming Localization World conference in Berlin, Germany. The GALA-hosted sessions will offer valuable information for running a localization business. They include two sessions on the preconference day on June 19, 2007 -- “Mergers and Acquisitions Uncovered: From Seller to Buyer in 12 Months — an Insider’s Guide to M&A,� and “Practical Standards: Shaping Uniform Language Requirements for Business.� Another GALA hosted session entitled “The Joys and Pains of Growing� will take place on June 22, 2007, and will be moderated by GALA board member Matthias Caesar.

Flickr goes multilingual

Photo-sharing outfit Flickr yesterday announced it was finally addressing the issue of non-English-speaking users by launching new versions in seven major languages, Reuters reports.

Uploaders will now be able to choose from traditional Chinese, French, German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, or Spanish - acknowledgment of the 55 per cent of users who live outside the US of A, according to company figures. Flickr co-founder Stewart Butterfield said: "These are the markets where Flickr is taking off already."

Interpreting in China

The truth needs no interpretation, so said Nicole Kidman in 2005 Hollywood blockbuster The Interpreter. For Chinese interpreters, one of the most appealing truths about their profession is a salary of up to 30,000 yuan (3,900 U.S. dollars) a month. But not everybody can earn such a serious income.

"Only those with a real mastery of languages and who can also work well when they are not prepared in advance can make very big money," said Jiang Xiaolin, general manager of Yuanpei Translation, language service supplier to the Beijing Olympics. He said one of the reasons for the high salaries was because of a major shortage of interpreters.

Row over Irish translation bill

A row was last night brewing at Stormont over Irish translation spending by Northern Ireland's Department of Health.

It has been revealed that the costs of translating press releases, speeches and documents within the department have added up to more than £150,000 over a five-year period.

Translation device aims to help UK troops

A translation device worn like a wristwatch has been designed by a student from Baghdad to help British soldiers overcome language barriers in potentially life-threatening situations in Iraq.

Voice recognition-based technology would aid troops and civilians in high-risk and "hot zone" situations by translating buzz phrases such as "Don't shoot", "Stay back" and "Help will be here soon".

Polysemy: Why Translation Can be Difficult

Do you sometimes wonder why certain materials are badly translated? One of these reasons why translation is difficult is a phenomenon known as polysemy: the many meanings that a single word can take.

For example, In English, the word plain can take on the following meanings: ordinary / undecorated: a plain white shirt
easy / simple to understand: plain English
a level area of land: great plains

Due to polysemy, translating English into other languages is more complex than it seems. One will have to know which sense of the word is truly needed.

Finnish firm develops machine translation technology

Sunda Systems, of Finland, has developed a new-generation machine-translation tech- nology that can be used to develop efficient machine translators for any pair of languages you care to name. The Sunda MT Workbench provides a set of tools for building high-quality machine translators for even small languages that have been bypassed so far by major vendors.

Translation market worth $13 billion

Worldwide, the market for translation and interpretation services is about $13 billion, according to the American Translators Association. This specialized profession is growing about 15% a year, driven by national security requirements; hospitals and courts, and international commerce, spokesman Kevin Hendzel said.

"It's a very smart move by businesses to translate their materials," he said. "If you spend, say, $1,000 or $2,000 to have your menu and signage translated professionally, then all of a sudden you're going to be attracting a population that you weren't attracting before, and that can translate into many, many thousands of dollars in increased revenue."

New Mobile Global Translation Application Released

British company Echo Translatorâ„¢ has developed the first application of its kind to deliver an instant native voice output from a convenient on screen menu, which includes 25 languages.

The Echo Translatorâ„¢ is an indispensable travel tool that will enhance both the business and leisure travel experience. Using Echo Phraselogicâ„¢ technology phone customers can speak, learn and instantly interact with people of different cultures and tongues, without any prior knowledge of the foreign language.

Researchers: Accurate Medical Translations Are Desperately Needed

Translating English into another language correctly could make money for a business. It costs governments millions of dollars to do it. However, getting the words right in a medical setting could save lives. Building on its experience in medical, legal and business writing solutions, WhiteSmoke--a leader in developing English writing software tools for global communication--now offers a new suite of translation dictionaries for seventeen languages in its continued effort to bridge global communication.

Common Sense Advisory Releases Ranking of Top 20 Translation and Localization Providers

Common Sense Advisory has released its annual ranking of the top 20 translation and localization companies doing business in North America and Europe. The list, which is based on the 2006 fiscal year, includes SDL International (SDL), Moravia, L-3, and Hewlett-Packard ACG. Three new providers join the list this year, including Language Line which vaults onto the 2006 rankings in fourth position; while McNeil Multilingual drops off the list.

Police budget lost in translation

An influx of up to 12,000 Eastern Europeans in three years has seen one area’s police budget for translators double to £300,000.

Around 140 languages are now spoken in Slough, Windsor and neighbouring Berkshire towns. Superintendent Pete Davies, Thames Valley Police local area commander, said: “My funding stays static and I, like the borough, see [that] more people coming in to Slough will gave an impact on the infrastructure.�

Language123.com Announces New Features for Translation Services Clients

Language123.com, the translation marketplace where companies and individuals can complete their translation projects, is presenting a number of new features for clients and translator-seekers.

Language123.com has created a new interface particularly designed for translator and interpreter seekers. This search option was created to help clients in the selection process for the perfect professional for translation projects. This feature will allow clients to browse through all of the answers received for each of the postings submitted, making it easier to compare responses, narrow the search and have a better approach to a final decision especially when time is an issue.

Pharmacies Fail To Translate Prescription Labels For Patients

Despite widespread capacity to provide prescription medication labels in languages other than English, few New York City pharmacies do so and as a result, limited-English patients face serious risk of medication error, according to a study by The New York Academy of Medicine presented at the annual meeting of the Society for General Internal Medicine (SGIM) in Toronto, Ontario.

Bureau Translations Launches its Global Campaign

Bureau Translations is embarking on a new daring global campaign based on an unprecedented business of philosophy. In search for worldwide presence and clients. Gabriel Fairman (Swarthmore College) '02 Bureau Translations CEO and leader believes that corporate success depends on more than just a product. He develops his translation company believing that capitalism can be used as an extremely powerful tool towards social transformation as he delivers translations of the utmost quality in over twenty languages. Relying on an extremely well established bedrock of values and beliefs, he uses social constructionism in conjunction with Buddhism and ancient Chinese teachings in order to develop a successful and harmonious environment that challenges the idea that people only work in exchange for money. The campaign seeks to expand Bureau Translation's client base by providing superb translations and services.

LingvoSoft Announces Free Online Translation Service

LingvoSoft the award-winning software division of world-leaders in micro-translation ECTACO Inc., have announced the launch of the newest web-based translation service that promises to be the one-stop solution for anyone who needs to work with foreign languages. The first online service to offer normally commercial features for free, LingvoSoft Online aims to provide visitors to the new site with an array of indispensable translation utilities.

Korean officials vow to improve court translations

South Korean legal officials acknowledged that the English translation system for U.S. troops in local courts has flaws, but they’re working to fix many of the issues.

“We are currently trying hard to select simultaneous interpreters who are … proven capable of carrying out the court trial proceedings translation,� said an official with the Criminal Judicial Policy Division of the Supreme Court of Korea who declined to provide his name. The translation problem isn’t limited to Americans, he said. People from many different countries wind up in court in South Korea and officials are struggling to find them qualified translators.

Even a Sofa label can get Lost in Translation!

A racial slur that appeared on the label of a leather couch may be a case of 'lost in translation.'

That's the possible explanation being put forth by the sofa's supplier. The offensive label was discovered last week by Doris Moore's young daughter Olivia after the furniture was delivered to their home. "I didn't even know what it was. I had never heard of the word," the youngster admitted, upon seeing the colour label, which read "Nigger Brown."

The furniture store where Moore bought the couch claimed no knowledge of the label and suggested the supplier should be contacted. The supplier didn't want to speak on camera, nor did he disclose the name of the sofa's Chinese manufacturer. However, he emailed CityNews with a picture of the Chinese translation that the company may have used to get the colour name.

Beijing's 'pubic toilets' a no-go

Watch out "deformed men" and "liquor heads" - your days in Beijing are numbered.

A campaign to correct the notoriously goofy English translations on city signs in time for next year's Olympics could mean the end for the misnomers that have confused and amused visitors for years. Officials are taking aim at menu items such as "Fried Crap" and "Acid Food", and slippery-when-wet signs that read, "To take notice of safe: The slippery are very crafty".