Intercultural Communication and Translation News

In conducting the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), working with coalition partners and projecting influence worldwide, the Armed Forces of the United States (U.S.) will continue to be sent to the far corners of the earth to perform wide-ranging missions such as stability operations, nation building, peace-keeping duties, and humanitarian assistance. These types of operations all require competencies far beyond traditional war-fighting skills. All leaders in the military, whether at the tactical, operational, or strategic level, need training, education, and new skill sets as they function as “warrior-diplomats.” If cultural knowledge is critical for U.S. armed forces to both defeat adversaries and work successfully with allies, what is and can be done by the United States Army to address this shortcoming?

This paper will first show how a lack of cultural knowledge has hindered U.S. military and diplomatic efforts, then identify
gaps in the current Army structure in providing cultural knowledge, and next review historical examples of the value of cultural knowledge in military operations. Following a survey of training programs currently implemented in the Army, the paper will conclude with recommendations to develop and employ a more culturally adept force.

Read more >  Lieutenant Colonel Carolyn F. Kleinerkk

A group of Gwent Police officers are learning sign language to improve how they communicate with deaf people.

Nine officers and staff are following the 20-week British Sign Language course following an introductory course last year.

Those taking part include a custody officer and a station inquiry officer.

Heather Blythe, from Gwent Police’s training department, said officers had already put their skills to good use in incidents involving deaf people.

“We’ve got a Pc who works in the Newport area and she was called to an incident involving a deaf person because she was learning sign language,” said Ms Blythe, who is also doing the course.Read more > Police 

If it is not taught in English, then it is not an MBA. At least that is the belief of George Yip, the dean of Rotterdam School of Management.

Yip raises his eyebrows at the suggestion that a number of European deans are poised to offer electives in their native language. “I would have thought teaching in English is a complete requirement,” he says.

Yip is right – up to a point. If he is to attract the best international students, teaching in Dutch would be a nonstarter. But there is another argument. Fluency in two or more languages offers globetrotting executives a competitive advantage.

Thierry Grange, the dean of Grenoble Ecole de Management, says: “What about the 25 per cent of Americans who speak Spanish? If you want to improve your fluency as a Spanish-speaking American then Spain is a good place to do your MBA.”

Read more > MBAs 

The dollar is falling, but globalization presses on – with an increased demand for translation. These key facts explain why a new report from business globalization research and consulting firm Common Sense Advisory (www.commonsenseadvisory.com) reveals that, in spite of the changing rankings of players in the global economy, pricing within the US$12 billion-plus translation services industry has remained relatively stable in recent years. For most languages, prices fluctuated by only 10 percent up or down over a four-year period. Common Sense Advisory based these findings on a detailed online survey, which was completed by nearly 300 language service providers (translation firms) about their pricing structures, processes, and customer bases. The firm’s 112-page report, entitled, “The Price of Translation,” includes pricing data in average prices for the 10 languages with the greatest global economic impact (for example, French and Chinese), as well as 23 “next-wave languages” used in rapidly developing markets or in countries that are important to the global supply chain (for example, Arabic and languages of India.

Other key findings include:

• The dollar has fallen out of favor. The research found that more than half of survey respondents currently invoice for translation jobs in Euros, and 49.1 percent indicated that foreign clients pay more than local clients. With an increased reliance on euros for pricing, companies that pay in dollars can expect their translation bills to go up.

• Spanish dropped in price more than any other language. In total, the company reviewed 74 language combinations. One pairing, English to Spanish for Latin America and Spanish to English, dropped in average price far more than any of the other pairs for translation in both directions.

• Automation benefits buyers. Businesses can obtain substantial cost savings by working with translation providers that partially automate the translation process. The research found that most providers discount the normal price by 65 percent when converting previously translated text.

• Seven languages are poised for major growth. The firm anticipates a significant growth of content in the six hyper-languages of the web (English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese), as well as Chinese.

Common Sense Advisory’s research and consulting clients include global companies from the information technology, medical device, telecommunications, consumer goods, and travel industries. “We regularly help companies with revenue growth and cost reduction in a global business environment; advising them on local best practices, including translation and localization services,” said Tahar Bouhafs, the company’s Chief Executive Officer. “With some 5,000 vendors across the globe offering translation services, ranging from mom-and-pop operations to enterprises with more than 4,000 employees, buyers of language services want to know how and where to get the best deal or the highest value. Suppliers want to find out whether their prices are competitive against a nearly unlimited number of mostly unknown rivals. That’s what this industry research report explains.”

The full report is available to subscribers of Common Sense Advisory’s research. Visit http://www.commonsenseadvisory.com. Analysts are available for interviews and briefings by contacting Melissa Gillespie at melissa@commonsenseadvisory.com.

The good news is that organisations can provide services that facilitate successful adjustments. The cost of sending an employee and family on international assignment is substantial. For a minimal additional investment, corporations can provide pre- and post-assignment cross-cultural development programmes that reduce the stress of the move and meet the family’s needs. Specifically, such programmes help the family to understand the leaving process, the new culture(s), how to conduct themselves (socially, in business, and in daily life) more effectively in the new location, and how to manage culture shock and adjustment.

Cross-cultural programmes offer knowledge and support to the third-culture child. Many relocation companies contribute to the family’s international success by offering packages and programmes to the new assignee and family.

It is up to employers to promote the value of this to employees and their families, and to encourage them to make time for the training in the hectic schedule of an overseas move.

The employer’s organisation needs to support all the family members through the adjustment phase, which can take up to 18 months. The follow-through and tracking after the move is very important. Counselling services, coaching, mentoring, and, ultimately, a repatriation programme are other valuable options for third-culture children and their families.

Read more > TCK 

Students who undertake masters of business administration (MBA) degrees should have cultural aspects incorporated into their study, according to one expert.

Speaking to the Times, Stephan Chambers, MBA Programme Director at Oxford’s Said Business School, said business students should have a more rounded education.

He stated: “Business schools should be about how people think, argue and interact, as well as how effectively they apply models.”

Meanwhile, Dr Patricia Rees, the MBA Programme Director at Manchester Metropolitan University Business School, added that individuals who undertake MBAs at the institution experience cultural tours to places such as Beijing and Prague.

She said: “Deeper cultural insights serve to provide students with an edge.”

Read more > MBA 

Google adds 10 different languages to its online translation arsenal this week

Snuck out via a Google blog post, Jeff Chin a product manager over at the search engine company announced to all and sundry a whole bank of new tongues to Google Translate.

“Language is one of the biggest challenges we have in making information universally accessible,” he burbled

From the machine translation team within Google Research, they’re happy to report they’ve been hard at work to overcome this challenge. Google now has brought the grand total of translation abilities to the princely sum of 23 languages. The bog post goes on to list Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hindi, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian and Swedish as the latest additions.

Read more > Google

Tibetan is a language spoken by six million people throughout the Tibetan plateau of Central Asia, bordering on South Asia, an area equivalent to the size of Western Europe. This includes areas currently governed by China, the traditional regions of Kham, Amdo and U-Tsang as well as Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan; Ladakh and the Baltistan area of Northern Pakistan and India; Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan. There are 150,000 exile speakers around the world. Tibetan belongs to the Tibeto-Burman language group, a sub-family of the Sino-Tibetan family.

Spoken Tibetan comprises a very large number of dialects. The principle ones in Tibet are Kham, Amdo, and U-Tsang or Lhasa dialects. The dialect of Tibet’s capital city, Lhasa, now also known as Central or Standard Tibetan, serves as a lingua franca, and also forms the basis for the exile dialect. A standardised version of the language is gradually evolving. The boundaries between dialects classed as Tibetan and those not included are not always clear. For example Dzongkha (a dialect of Bhutan), Sikkimese, Sherpa and Ladhakhi, are considered to be separate. Not all dialects included in the class of Tibetan are mutually intelligible. However the written form is the same everywhere.

Read more > Tibetan 

From 1-11 July  2008, the 3rd IATI Summer School “SummerTrans III: Translation meets  Management” will take place at the University of Vienna, jointly organized by the Center for Translations Studies and TermNet, the International Network for Terminology.

For programmes and registration, please visit:

SummerTrans III: http://www.termnet.info/english/events/sumtrans2008.php

Students will receive 6 ECTS for participation and their written scientific summaries.

TOPICS OF THE SUMMERTRANS III:

* Language – Culture – Translation 

* Screen Translation

* Translation und Cognition

* Open source tools for translators and terminologists

* Multidimensional Translation

FOCUS DAYS TRANSLATION AND QUALITY MANAGEMENT:

* Translation and Quality Management

* Quality in Interpreting

* EN 15038 – new European Standard

FOCUS DAYS DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT FOR TRANSLATORS:

* Diversity Management and Translation

* Community Interpreting

* Linguistic & cultural diversity within the concepts of DiM

* PhD-School

* and much more…

Sessions will be held in German and English. For more detailed information about the program and speakers please visit:

 http://www.termnet.info/english/events/sumtrans2008_program.php

PLEASE NOTE: Parallel training from 7 to 11 July: International Terminology Summer School at University of Vienna).

Although being independent seminars, you have the possibility of register partly for both events: http://www.termnet.org/english/events/tss2008.php

Of course you are always welcome to contact us if you have questions: Blanca Nájera bnajera@termnet.org

Please spread the word among your colleagues and friends! Everybody is welcome.

A side note: from 7-29 June 2008 there will be the EURO 2008 (European soccer championship) in Austria and Switzerland and the finals will be in Vienna. Please arrange transport and accommodation as early as possible as room shortages are expected.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland has introduced an initiative aimed at making it easier for non-English speakers to make a 999 emergency call.

Now if a caller is placed on hold because they cannot be understood, a multi-language ‘please hold’ message will be heard.

While the caller listens to the message, the operator, as before, arranges for an interpreter.

The initiative is the first of its kind in the UK.

Read more > The BBC