Will the riots affect the UK economy?

When the situation in England is going back to normal, there still is concern about the consequences that the riots will have in the fragile British economy. It is believed that one in 10 retail and leisure firms had been affected by the disturbances. This week we have seen businesses and restaurants closing earlier than usual, events such as football matches have been cancelled and if the situation remains insecure, many tourists could be deterred from coming to Britain which would affect an industry that accounts for £96 billion of GDP (8.6% of the economy).

Get the Most out of the Olympics

The Olympic Games countdown has started. There are less than 360 days left for the inauguration of the London 2012 and everybody is getting ready to receive the 216 delegations that will take part in this event. The Olympics will bring athletes and spectators from all over the world to London.

Interpreting Agencies v/s Free-Lance Interpreters

When it comes to searching for interpreting services, there are plenty of options in the market. Some clients will prefer to work with prestigious and well known translation agencies while others will go for free-lance interpreters.

Language interpretation is a serious business and the interpreter should be able to render the message into a different target language fluently and with total accuracy. There is no room for errors and any misinterpretation may result in detrimental effects. That is why it is so important to choose the right professional.

The Relevance of Court Interpreting

Court interpreting has increasingly become a professional career for many people around the world. Schools have designed academic programs for students in preparation for this lucrative profession. Despite this face, there is a shortage of highly skilled interpreters who have the required experienced to do a great job.

A court interpreter is essential and significant to the legal process. Many companies, legal system, government entities and associations look to court interpreters to bridge the language barrier and provide services that are of top class. You will need court interpreting that is ideal to your particular situation and use interpreters who are familiar with the legal terms and the court proceedings.

Preparing for the Court Hearing

Interpreters will be grateful for the opportunity to access required materials that need to be used during the court proceedings because this will enable them to be prepared enough to do a great job on the assignment. This will allow things to run more smoothly and limit errors as well as to open up the lines of communication.

Court interpreting is a process when the interpreter listens to the spoken word as it is communicated in another language and repeats the same thing in yet another language soon after. This is called simultaneous translating and that is why some people may confuse court interpreting with court translation.

Staying focused during the Court Hearing

A court interpreter has to be extremely alert, focused and attentive. The court reporter must have good listening abilities and be familiar with the legal terminology. Additionally, the court reporter also needs to have familiarity in the actual court case.

The court reporter also needs to have a good memory because most of the participants in the court room speak very fast and in long sentences. It also requires a lot experience and a good knowlegde of comparative law. An interpreter’s job is significant in court procedure especially since most of the witnesses are from various backgrounds and speak different dialects and languages.

The Advantages of E-learning

The importance of staff training is unarguable because professional development of the individuals improves the company’s performance and productivity. However, while employee development is a key investment, it does require funding and resources. One of the reasons for the current high levels of unemployment amongst 16 – 24 year olds is that companies, in their attempt to trim their budgets, prefer to employ experienced workers instead of training promising beginners.

Game Developers Conference

Today, the 25th edition of the annual Game Developers Conference starts in San Francisco. With more than 450 sessions, over 100 specialized summits and tutorials, numerous networking and social events, GDC remains the most important and largest industry gathering for videogame professionals. More than 18,000 insiders are expected to attend this event where for five days will participate in lectures, panels, tutorials and roundtable discussions on a comprehensive selection of game development topics taught by leading industry experts.

The Language of Love

Love has been, for centuries, a recurrent topic for poets. Poetry has expressed the beauty and anguish of love affairs in a way than no other art has been able to do. That is why, on Valentine’s day, we want to pay tribute to some of the most notable poets that have use their language capabilities to create verse as sublime and intense that, even after centuries, are still able to commove us. We want to salute:

Multiculturalism in the 21 Century

First, it was Angela Merkel who pointed out that multiculturalism has failed in Germany and now David Cameron declared that “the UK needed national identity to prevent people turning to all kinds of extremism”.

What are the risks of multiculturalism?

Multicultural societies are seen as more tolerant and democratic but there are also some problems attached to multiculturalism that, in some cases, it is seen as a threat to national identity.

Is Davos Relevant?

Davos is the annual World Economic Forum where world leaders analyze the current economic situation and formulates strategies to improve the state of the world.

This year we have seen Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JP Morgan, lashing out at critics of the financial system and the French Predident Nicolas Sarkozy speaking against the excesses of financial capitalism. We have also seen David Cameron defending his tough recovery plan.

Apart from being a platform where world leaders express their opinion about the current economic climate, is anything new coming up from these high profile conferences? Do the Davos’ agreements and resolutions have any impact in the markets or in our domestic economy? How do these policies affect the average person if at all?

Word without Borders - Afghan Writers

Language translation allows us to have access, among others, to literature from different corners of the world.

As a way to promote literature in translation, “Words without Borders” will be publishing an issue of contemporary writing from Afghanistan in May 2011. This will include stories from two top Dari writers of the twenty-first century: Mohammad Hosain Mohammadi and Mohammad Asif Soltanzadah.

Kalima: The World in Arabic Words

Could be due to political or religious reasons, but Arabic readers do not have access to major works of global literature, philosophy, science and history in their mother language. It is estimated that more books (about 10,000) are translated into Spanish every year than were translated into Arabic over the past millennium. Greece, with a population of 11 million, translates five times more books each year than the Arab world which has a population of over 300 million. These figures are quite astonishing taking into consideration that Arabic is spoken by more than 280 million people as a first language. The fact is that, in most Arabic countries, masterpieces of literature and other disciplines are only available in their original language, restricting access to these books to a select group of society.

What makes a Bible translation accurate?

Translations can change the history of a country as well as its creed. Sacred books such as the Bible are considered to be the word of God. Nevertheless the original Scriptures have been translated several times and the meaning of some concepts and idioms vary in different versions. An example of this can be seen in the verses about a strange woman (Proverbs 23:27). According to the original Hebrew Scripture, the strange woman is a non-Jewish woman but the meaning has changed in different Biblical versions varying from wayward wife to promiscuous woman.  And this is not an isolated case.

Juvenes Translatores Contest 2010

23rd of October is noted by a translation contest organized by the European Commission.

Juvenes Translatores is a contest among secondary schools with Europe. There are 27 participating countries with over 700 schools competing, including schools in Portugal, United Kingdom, Finland, Cyprus, Hungary, Poland and other countries.

Today in the morning, all participants have received an email with a one-page text that has to be fluently translated from one of EU official languages into another language of their choice. In majority of cases scholars choose their native language which is the strongest. The contest takes place everywhere at the same time – 10-12 noon Brussels time. After the contest, professional translators from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Translation will evaluate all the submitted translations and select the winner within each participating country. 27 pupils with the best translations will be invited to an awards ceremony held Brussels in spring 2011, and will meet the Commissioner for Multilingualism. Organizers of the contest will pay travel and accommodation expenses for the winner and their accompanying supporter.

Gaming Industry in the UK, A Call of Duty

Black Ops,the last version of the game Call of Duty blasted the record established by its predecessor, Modern Warfare, and become the most successful entertainment launch of all time topping $ 360 million during the first day of sales. The launches of Black Ops and Kinect (a motion control accessory) have revitalised the game industry that it is still experiencing consolidation and showed signs of strains during 2009.

European Day of Languages Focuses On Multiculturalism

The European Day of Languages this year focused on multilingualism and multiculturalism. The ten European language institutions of Culture discussed a strategy to improve the overall level of languages. The highlights of the event were the benefits that small business can obtain from improving language skills as the European Commissioner for Education, Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou pointed out:

How the spending review will affect the translation industry?

Are these cuts getting us out of the recession or will they undermine the economic recovery? How will small business be affected?

There is no consensus between the experts about the effectiveness of the spending review to put the country back on track. While some experts believe that the planned £81bn in cuts are paramount to tackle the huge deficit others consider that the proposal is a “huge gamble” and could plunge the economy back into the recession.

Google Translates Poetry

...Poetry isn't words
Poetry isn't what you see or hear
It is what you feel
Poetry is what you believe
What you are

Akara K.

Google has been testing a system to translate poetry using statistical machine translation techniques. To deliver poetic translations, the system is fed with a large number of poetic pattern (including line-length and rhyme) and is given a wide variety of poetic genres.

New Language Discovered in India

A new language has been discovered in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, in the North East of India. The new language is called Koro, and it derives from the Burmese and Tibetan group of languages.

Koro language has been discovered during an expedition as part of National Geographic's "Enduring Voices" project and, apparently, it counts for about 1,000 speakers. The group travelled to that remote region of India to investigate two little known tongues called Aka and Miji. At first, the linguists though that Koro was an Aka’s dialect. After further investigations, they concluded that it a different language with a distinct grammar.

Happy International Translation Day!

The international translation day is celebrated every 30 of September on Saint Jerome’s day. Saint Jerome was the first Latin translator of the Bible and is considered the patron saint of translators. Nevertheless, the celebration day is, at present, a secular and non-denominational event.

The official celebration started in 1991 promoted by the International Federation of Translation (FIT) as a way to praise the important work performed by translators.

Is Emma Thompson right?

In a recent interview for Radio Times, the English actress criticised the use of slang. "We have to re-invest in the idea of articulacy as a form of personal freedom and power”-she said. Emma Thompson also said that young people using slang sound stupid. "There is the necessity to have two languages - one that you use with your mates and the other that you need in any official capacity."

Is the use of slang a bad thing? Does it make young people sound stupid?

Will Google’s instant phone translator kill the translation industry?

In the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the yellow Babel Fish was a universal translator capable of translating any language when placed in the ear. Google is currently developing software for the first phone capable of translating foreign languages almost instantly like the Babel Fish. The software should be able to understand a caller’s voice and translate it into a synthetic equivalent in a foreign language just like a professional human interpreter. To do so Google is combining a voice recognition system with Google Translate. Will this new tool mean the end of the translation industry?

Is Exports the Way to Recovery?

The Engineering Employers Federation has forecast that the manufacturing sector will grow by 3.7% this year and 3.2% during 2011. The UK manufacturing output in July was up 4.9% on the same month of 2009.

This report is a breath of fresh air when the UK's economic situation is still gloomy. This boost is due to increasing overseas demand.The manufacturing industry accounts for 15% of UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 55% of total exports. The main sub-areas are transport equipments, electronics and chemicals. The rebound in exports has narrowed the trade deficit and it is seen as the main driver for recovery.

Ex-Tamil Tiger Lost in Translation

Recently, an ex-Tamil militant complained that his statement at the commission set up to examine the final phase of Sri Lanka's civil war was badly interpreted into English. The commission has been established to investigate war crimes claims at the end of the civil war between the Sri Lanka’s government and the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.

Targeting Emerging Countries

The Dutch company Heineken reported a rise in profits in spite of a fall in sales. The net profits in the first half of the year were £510 million which represent an increment of 17% respect of the same period last year. Despite the fall in the beer sales in Europe, Heineken has managed to increase their profits. In their attempt to overcome the challenging economic climate in Europe and North America, Heineken bosses carried out cost-cut operations such as brewery closures in England.

David Beckham Vs Fabio Capello - Cross-Cultural Communication in Sports and Business

Fabio Capello is in hot water again! This time it's the controversy caused by his comments about David Beckham’s future in the national team. Last Wednesday, before the friendly game against Hungary, the England coach said that Beckham was “a little bit old” to take part in the Euro 2012 qualifiers. With this statement, Capello has ended Beckham’s England career provoking uproar among the British press and fans. Even the Prime Minister, David Cameron has praised the football legend.

Language, Translation and Culture

The role of a language in the formation of identity is critical. The linguistics Robert Le Page and Andrée Tabouret-Keller suggested that linguistic behaviour might best be understood as “a series of acts of identity in which people reveal both their personal identity and their search for social roles”.

Languages have been created to describe our environment. If this changes, languages also evolve. For instance, indigenous in Canada's Northwest Territories typically have at least 13 terms for different types and conditions of snow because the different snow conditions are part of their everyday life. Languages and dialects reflect attitudes and values. Therefore to fully understand a foreign language, we have to able to comprehend the socio-cultural environment that was the foundation of that particular language or dialect.

The Universal Language of Football

The biggest football party on earth is reaching its peak. So far there have been 12 days of joy, hope, disillusion, frustration and courage. 32 countries fighting to grab the most prestigious trophy in the football world in a show that is watched every corner of the planet. Different cultures and languages united around the universal language of football (or soccer), a sport that is called in the same way in most of the languages from Chinese to Russian, from German to Chichewa.

In this World Cup there about 70 different languages and dialects spoken by the nations that are taking part in South Africa. Just in the host country there are 11 official languages and several dialects. It is not a nonsense question to ask how players and referees communicate with each other while they are on the pitch. Do they speak in English? Probably players from western European countries use the global lingua franca to communicate with their counterparts and the referees but what about countries such as North Korea? It is very unlikely that people study English over there. So how can they sort out their differences on the football field? Well, there are some standardized signs and certainly, everybody understands the meaning of the red card!! In any case, the teams are there to score and express themselves with the ball. Off the pitch, English is FIFA's official language for minutes and press announcements.

Putting aside the World Cup, language has become a real issue in national football tournaments. This popular sport has also been affected by the globalization trend and we have teams formed by players of seven or ten different countries that speak different languages. Some experts argue that this situation can lead to misunderstanding and, consequently affect the players' performance on the pitch. The French legend footballer Jean- Pierre Papin thinks that it is very important to learn the local language but once on the pitch, the first language spoken is football. He might be right. On the other side, what all football fans want is to simply celebrate the goals and important wins regardless of their language. On that note, I wish everyone a good game.

The internationalization of the World Wide Web

Last week, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) allowed web addresses in many scripts including Arabic, Chinese, Thai and Tamil. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are the first countries to have the so-called "country codes" written in Arabic scripts. Previously, websites could use some non-Latin letters, but the country codes such as .eg for Egypt or .cn for China had to be written in Latin script. From now onwards, web addresses to be completely written in native characters.

Google’s global dominance?

The announcement that Google would pull out of China as a protest against the government censorship brings us to analyse Google’s performance in the Chinese market. This global search engine has been struggling to compete against local search engines such as Baidu, the N°1 search engine in China that controls 73% of the market share. Google has been unable to get more than 25% of the searches. Could this be an indication that Google’s global dominance is not as strong as we thought it was? According to the last report of Netmarketshare, Google’s global share exceeds 85%, but it is also it has battled to dominate non-western markets, particularly countries that don’t use Latin alphabet.