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C’est dans cet esprit que nous apportons aujourd’hui notre soutien à la République de Maurice et à Jean-Claude de l’Estrac, son candidat.
United Nations language staff come from all over the globe and make up a uniquely diverse and multilingual community. What unites them is the pursuit of excellence in their respective areas, the excitement of being at the forefront of international affairs and the desire to contribute to the realization of the purposes of the United Nations, as outlined in the Charter, by facilitating communication and decision-making. United Nations language staff in numbers The United Nations is one of the world's largest employers of language professionals. Several hundred such staff work for the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management in New York, Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi, or at the United Nations regional commissions in Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Beirut, Geneva and Santiago. Learn more at Meet our language staff. What do we mean by “language professionals”? At the United Nations, the term “language professional” covers a wide range of specialists, such as interpreters, translators, editors, verbatim reporters, terminologists, reference assistants and copy preparers/proofreaders/production editors. Learn more at Careers. What do we mean by “main language”? At the United Nations, “main language” generally refers to the language of an individual's higher education. For linguists outside the Organization, on the other hand, “main language” is usually taken to mean the “target language” into which an individual works. How are language professionals recruited? The main recruitment path for United Nations language professionals is through competitive examinations for language positions, whereby successful examinees are placed on rosters for recruitment and are hired as and when job vacancies arise. Language professionals from all regions, who meet the eligibility requirements, are encouraged to apply. Candidates are judged solely on their academic and other qualifications and on their performance in the examination. Nationality/citizenship is not a consideration. Learn more at Recruitment. What kind of background do United Nations language professionals need? Our recruits do not all have a background in languages. Some have a background in other fields, including journalism, law, economics and even engineering or medicine. These are of great benefit to the United Nations, which deals with a large variety of subjects. Why does the Department have an outreach programme? Finding the right profile of candidate for United Nations language positions is challenging, especially for certain language combinations. The United Nations is not the only international organization looking for skilled language professionals, and it deals with a wide variety of subjects, often politically sensitive. Its language staff must meet high quality and productivity standards. This is why the Department has had an outreach programme focusing on collaboration with universities since 2007. The Department hopes to build on existing partnerships, forge new partnerships, and attract the qualified staff it needs to continue providing high-quality conference services at the United Nations. Learn more at Outreach. #metaglossia_mundus
Date: Mar 26, 2024 Location: Banjul, Gambia Organization: African Union AU Values • Respect for Diversity and Team Work • Think Africa Above all • Transparency and Accountability • Integrity and Impartiality • Efficiency and Professionalism • Information and Knowledge Sharing Organization Information Reports to: Deputy Secretary to the Commission AU Organ: African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Unit: Interpretation and Translation Number of Direct Reports: 0 Number of Indirect Reports: 0 Job Grade: P4 Contract Type: Regular Location: Banjul, The Gambia Purpose of Job Responsible for interpretation at the sessions and meetings of the ACHPR as well as translation of documents from French into English and vice versa. Main Functions - Take technical and intellectual lead in the management of various elements related to the area of expertise
- Identify best practices and monitor effectiveness of the Unit’s support to ACHPR.
- Provide support in the development of the strategies and business continuity plan and participate in/ensure their implementation
- Foster and ensure implementation of initiatives related to area of specialization;
- Provide support in the organization of thematic networks, consultations and meetings in relation to area of expertise.
- Develop materials and provide necessary internal training and support as required.
- Provide technical guidance on matters relating to system review and implementation project in area of specialization, as required.
Specific Responsibilities Under the overall supervision and guidance of the Deputy Secretary to the Commission, the Interpreter/Translator shall carry out activities related to the functioning of the Interpretation and Translation Unit, specifically: - Ensure quality translation of working documents in a timely manner;
- Provide consecutive, simultaneous, liaison and other forms of interpretation during conferences, meetings, audiences, discussions, etc;
- Keep abreast with developments in the language field, both in the source and target languages, by compiling and regularly up-dating specific terminologies, phrases, acronyms and special expressions in order to widen the stock of vocabulary with the aim of enhancing skills;
- Check appropriate references to ensure exact understanding and use of AU technical terminologies;
- Regularly consult colleagues, specialized dictionaries/glossaries, data banks, etc to ensure accuracy in translation;
- Maintain databases, records and registers of Translation and Interpretation Unit for accountability and control;
- Liaise with the various units of the ACHPR for coordination and alignment purposes;
- Prepare budgets for the activities of the Translation and Interpretation Unit in accordance with the relevant frameworks;
- Check working documents before and after meetings to ensure contextual understanding, linguistic accuracy and conformity with established AU terminologies;
- Participate in the development of AU terminology database by compiling terms into glossaries for validation by the Reviser for inclusion in the ACHPR in-house terminology bank;
- Have a good command of the Computer Assisted Translation Tool (CATT) and Remote Simultaneous Interpretation (RSI) tools and systems;
- Protect the confidentiality of information and
- Perform any other duty relevant to their work as may be assigned.
Academic Requirements and Relevant Experience Candidates must have: - A Master’s Degree in Interpretation, Translation, Modern Languages from an accredited University with ten (10) years’ experience as an interpreter/ Translator out of which six (6) years should be at expert level;
or - A Bachelor Degree in Interpretation, Translation, and Modern Languages from an accredited University with twelve (12) experience as Interpreter /Translator out of which six (6) at expert level.
- A degree in Legal studies will be an advantage.
- Certification from a Translators/ Interpreters’ professional body is required.
- Membership of a recognized professional body will be an advantage;
- Candidates with ability to work on French, English and Arabic languages will be preferred and will have an advantage.
Required Skills Functional Skills and competencies - Good translation and editing skills, with the ability to produce accurate and clear translations;
- Excellent writing skills;
- Good communication and interpersonal skills;
- Computer literacy (Microsoft Office);
Personal Abilities - Ability to work in a multicultural and/or international work environment;
- Ability to work on own’s initiative and work with minimal supervision
- Ability to work in a proactive manner;
- Ability to work in teams and collaborate with peers;
- Ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines;
Knowledge and Understanding - Experience in linguistic research and development of data-base;
- Knowledge of Computer Assisted Translation Tool (CATT);
- An understanding of the confidential nature of this area of work
Language Requirements: - Candidates must be fluent in French and have a good command of English.
- Knowledge of other AU working languages will be an advantage.
Leadership Competencies Strategic Insight Change Management Managing Risk Core Competencies Building Relationship Accountable and Complies with Rules Learning Orientation Communicating with Influence Functional Competencies Conceptual Thinking Job Knowledge and information sharing Drive for Results Continuous Improvement Orientation TENURE OF APPOINTMENT: The appointment will be made on a regular term contract for a period of three (3) years, of which the first twelve months shall be considered as a probationary period. Thereafter, the contract will be for a period of two years renewable, subject to satisfactory performance and deliverables. GENDER MAINSTREAMING: The AU Commission is an equal opportunity employer and qualified women are strongly encouraged to apply. LANGUAGES: Proficiency in one of the AU working languages (Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish) and fluency in another AU language is an added advantage REMUNERATION: Indicative basic salary of US$ 42,879.00 (P4 Step1) per annum plus other related entitlements e.g. Post adjustment (46% of basic salary), Housing allowance US$ 17,514.00 (per annum), and education allowance (100% of tuition and other education-related expenses for every eligible dependent up to a maximum of US$ 10,000.00 per child per annum), for internationally recruited staff and a maximum of $3,300 per child per annum for locally recruited staff. Applications must be submitted no later than April 26, 2024 11h59 p.m. EAT. -Only candidates who meet all job requirements and are selected for interviews will be contacted. -Consideration will be given only to those candidates who have submitted a fully completed online application with a curriculum vitae (CV), an African passport, and the required academic qualifications, such as Diplomas, Bachelor's degrees, Master's degrees and any relevant certificate in line with the area of expertise. -The African Union is an equal opportunity employer, and female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. -Candidates from less represented countries within the African Union are strongly encouraged to apply for positions that fit their profiles. These countries include Algeria, Angola, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Comoros, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Sahrawi D.R., Sao Tome and Principe., Seychelles, Somalia and Tunisia. Requisition ID: 2171
"Les services d’un important projet d’interprètes pour victimes de violence conjugale ne pourront plus être remboursés à partir du 31 mars. Alors que les besoins sont croissants, le gouvernement tarde à se prononcer sur l’avenir de ce réseau de banques d’interprètes qui desservent 36 maisons d’aide et d’hébergement dans huit régions du Québec. La demande de subvention est déjà sur le bureau du ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration (MIFI) depuis plusieurs mois, mais « aucune solution n’est sur la table », affirme Julie St-Pierre-Gaudreault. Elle est coordonnatrice du projet « Accessibilité aux services d’interprétariat pour les femmes immigrantes, réfugiées et à statut précaire » (ASIFI), démarré en 2021. Cette initiative prendra fin le 31 mars après avoir épuisé ses fonds et sera donc « en bris de service majeur », dit-elle. Aucune facture ne pourra être remboursée et aucun interprète ne sera formé. Même si leur dossier de renouvellement peut encore être analysé dans les deux prochaines semaines, la coordonnatrice ne voit « tout simplement pas comment l’approbation pourrait arriver à temps ». Dans son dernier budget, Québec a annoncé l’ajout de 10 millions de dollars pour l’accompagnement des immigrants, alors qu’un gel avait été décrété l’an dernier. La Table de concertation des organismes au service des personnes réfugiées et immigrantes (TCRI), qui emploie Mme St-Pierre-Gaudreault, a poussé un certain soupir de soulagement, dit-elle. Mais pour l’ASIFI, c’est tout de même « silence radio », déplore-t-elle. « Le MIFI a considéré que c’était un projet-pilote », ajoute-t-elle, mais « notre compréhension a toujours été que ça pouvait être renouvelé si ça fonctionnait bien ». Les besoins ont justement été « vraiment démontrés », poursuit-elle. Les femmes immigrantes sont surreprésentées dans les maisons d’hébergement pour victimes de violence conjugale, et celles à statut précaire sont en forte augmentation, comme Le Devoir l’a documenté dans les derniers mois. À Montréal, elles forment la majorité, mais le phénomène s’observe partout, y compris dans une ville de plus petite taille comme Rimouski, où une maison a reçu deux femmes sans statut dans les dernières années. Les femmes qui font appel à ces services sont dans des situations très difficiles, souvent dans le pire moment de leur vie : « C’est super important d’utiliser un interprète dans des situations de violence conjugale. […] Il faut pouvoir refléter la vraie situation, les émotions, les éléments traumatiques. » Les femmes immigrantes, avec un statut précaire ou non, se retrouvent dans un grand isolement à cause de la violence conjugale et du contrôle coercitif, d’autant plus si elles ne parlent ni français ni anglais. Au total, 13 banques d’interprètes collaborent à ce projet avec des personnes clés et elles ont offert plus de 2400 heures d’interprétariat depuis 2021. En plus de rembourser les frais « qui peuvent grimper assez rapidement », dit cette représentante de la TCRI, le projet a aussi permis de former 200 interprètes aux défis spécifiques de la violence conjugale. Cet élément est crucial, pour éviter des « faux pas » et offrir un « service sécuritaire », expose-t-elle. Les trois grandes associations de maisons d’hébergement du Québec se sont alliées au projet. Il résulte aussi du Plan d’action gouvernementale en matière de violence conjugale 2018-2023 pour « veiller à ce que les femmes et les filles immigrantes et issues de minorités ethnoculturelles disposent d’outils adaptés à leurs réalités ». Le rapport Rebâtir, un document phare en matière d’accompagnement des victimes, avait aussi noté en 2020 que l’accessibilité à ces services « posait problème », tant du point de vue des délais que des coûts. La recommandation était également de « procéder à l’évaluation des services de traducteurs et d’interprètes afin de s’assurer de leur neutralité et de la qualité de leur formation »." #metaglossia_mundus
"After two years of grueling training and 1.5 more years of working full-time while writing a thesis, I finally graduated from the famously protracted conference interpreting program at NTNU. The world was all before me. An exiting career free of thesis woes was set to begin. Life was hopeful and everything felt right in place, except for one thing: it was March 2020, right when the world was about to plunge into an unprecedented chaos that came to be known as Covid-19. In no more than a few weeks, international travel came to a halt. Interpreting gigs were postponed and eventually cancelled. I had no work to do. This unwilling respite from my intensive work schedule — translating, interpreting, and teaching 7 days a week and 10 hours a day, on top of writing a thesis — forced upon me a somber introspection into how I had lived my life, and how my life could have been lived. To be fair, it was no life at all. I worked brutal, unsociable hours, even in the weekends. As work piled up, I stopped hanging out with friends. I stopped doing things I enjoyed. I stopped having fun in general. I lived in my father’s apartment in the suburban town of Linkou, and the plan to move back to Taipei, first postponed by a toxic family expectation, was eventually crushed by Covid. Now that work was gone, I was left with nothing. Life was empty and didn’t remotely resemble what I had imagined. At first, I wanted things to get back to normal as soon as possible so I could have my “life” back, but as time passed by, I realized life won’t get back to normal anytime soon, and even if it did, it was hardly worth living anyway. Perhaps for the first time in my sentient life, I had nothing to do. What am I without school or work? What should life be like? Was I happy doing all that? These questions were not so much philosophical contemplations as they were poignant interrogations forced upon me by the pandemic. They arise in my mind even to this day. As a byproduct of rather than a solution to my situation, I began to learn coding. Before Covid, I had coded a program to automate a task at work. After translating a large book from English to Chinese, I was asked by the customer to provide an index of all specialized terminologies that I had translated but chose to append the original term after the translation. Instead of doing this manually for the whole book, I wrote a program to do it in a few seconds. With an endless supply of free time, I started to learn Python and C++ through online courses. Ultimately, I decided to pursue a master’s degree in computer science. Three years later, I graduated from the MCIT program at the University of Pennsylvania after blasting through painstaking coursework in distributed systems, internet systems, database architecture, and computer graphics. This sounds like an inspiring tale of how two years of rigorous learning transformed a translator with no coding experience into a software engineer capable of building from scratch a search engine and a distributed cloud storage system, except for one thing: the year was 2023, when the tech job market suffered the worst recession in decades due to massive lay-offs and hiring freeze, heralding the end of a sweet era when computer science graduates only had to worry about what kind of buffet their future companies would offer. Despite my proclivity for untimely graduations, I was among the lucky ones. Before the tech industry plunged into lay-offs and hiring freeze in 2023, I had secured a return offer to a Silicon Valley start-up that was growing and understaffed. In June 2023, I moved from Philadelphia to Mountain View, California to start my career as a software engineer. Instead of returning to the original team I had interned at, however, I was assigned to a new team due to changing business needs. While the original team develops and maintains a distributed filesystem that offers replication and compression, the new team is responsible for a user-facing framework that spans React, GraphQL, REST API, gRPC services, and SQL databases. I was disappointed by the placement at first, since I had focused my coursework and projects on distributed and network systems, but I was grateful to even have a job that continues my life in the U.S., especially considering my unorthodox background and the abysmal state of the tech job market in 2023. The U.S. tech industry is indeed a special place to be. Never in my life have I been paid so much to do so little in a setting so abundant. Don’t get me wrong: the work is still an intellectually challenging one that sometimes keeps me on edge and coding into midnight, but the lack of bureaucracy, the ownership of work, and the flexibility of schedule are a marvel to anyone who has worked in another industry. Before I came to the U.S., I have experienced life in many other contexts. I have waited on table at a three Michelin Star restaurant, served swimming pool guests at a five star hotel, worked in a prison as a corrections officer, taught English to rich private school students, and translated for private businesses and government authorities. I have experienced the soul-crushing feeling of being yelled at and hushed around in a minimum wage position in a low wage economy— that desperation of counting down the minutes at a shift while knowing you can never afford the services you provide. These memories kept me grateful for my current lot in life. Above all else, I finally get to enjoy something precious for the first time in so many years: weekends." #metaglossia_mundus
"Salon des littératures en langues congolaises : la deuxième édition annoncée Mercredi 27 Mars 2024 - 17:44 La bibliothèque Wallonie-Bruxelles va accueillir la rencontre organisée sur le thème « Littérature congolaise moderne en lingala dans tous ses états », ces 28 et 29 mars de 9h00 à 16h00. La mise en place de la librairie éphémère et des stands d’expositions signera, ce 28 mars, les prémices du deuxième Salon des littératures en langues congolaises dès 9h00. L’heure qui suivra la cérémonie officielle d’ouverture de la rencontre est consacrée à la présentation de « La politique linguistique de la RDC et son impact sur les langues nationales dans le système éducatif : problèmes et pistes de solutions », ouvrage du Pr Raoul Ekwampok Ka’ndum. Le second rendez-vous du jour, programmé pour 11h30, est un panel de discussion qui aura pour principaux intervenants les Prs Yoka L. Mudaba et Jean-Marie Ngaki. Le premier, un féru de musique, centrera son propos sur « Lokota ya lingala na masolo ya ndule », le lingala dans l’histoire de la musique. Pour sa part, le second entretiendra l’assistance sur « Lingala, substrat socioculturel dans la rumba, le sketch et les séries télévisées… ». Les deux rencontres d’accès libre constituent le menu de la première matinée. La seconde partie de cette journée d’ouverture du Salon débutera à 14h00 avec le baptême du « Dictionnaire english – lingala » d’Éric Libily paru en 2022. Il y est prévu aussi la vente et dédicace du lexique par son auteur comme c’est de coutume à chaque événement du genre au Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles. La clôture de ce premier jour se fera aux alentours de 15h30 autour d’un drink qui permettra de poursuivre les discussions de manière plus conviviale. Le 28 mars, les élèves de l’école Mbongietu s’invitent au Salon à travers une interprétation du célèbre roman Un croco à Luozi de feu Zamenga Batukezanga. Le spectacle inédit d’une demi-heure est intitulé Ngando, crocodile en français, et sera joué en manianga, la langue maternelle du défunt auteur, et en français. Une première à ne pas manquer ! Slam en lingala Place ensuite au fervent défenseur des langues congolaises Edimo Lumbidi. Militant pour la promotion des langues locales, particulièrement le lingala, et n’ayant de cesse prôner leur introduction dans le cursus scolaire, il donnera un aperçu de son travail dès 10h 00 avec la présentation de son livre dédié à la jeunesse Ntwali. Mwana ya Ekila. Le recueil de poèmes Lumumba : Matanga esila te / Toleli Lumuba sera le second livre que le public découvrira cette seconde matinée du Salon. Une toute autre activité est annoncée avec JM Bosenya et Munkulu Di Deni qui procèderont à la « Lecture critique » du roman en lingala Bokobandela et du recueil de nouvelles, également en lingala, Okozonga maboko pamba. Le slam en lingala qui a acquis son audience depuis quelque temps à Kinshasa est aussi inscrit au menu du Salon. Ce sera dans l’heure qui précèdera la remise du prix Sene Mongaba des littératures et sciences en langues congolaises. Créé en mémoire du brillant enseignant, linguiste, écrivain et éditeur décédé il y a deux ans, le 31 janvier 2022. En même temps que le dévoilement du prix d’honneur, il sera procédé au lancement du concours réservé aux textes écrits dans les langues nationales. La fin du Salon est prévue autour d’un drink à 15h30, au sein même de la bibliothèque Wallonie-Bruxelles. Nioni Masela" #metaglossia_mundus: https://www.adiac-congo.com/content/salon-des-litteratures-en-langues-congolaises-la-deuxieme-edition-annoncee-156077
ByLatha Srinivasan Mar 27, 2024 10:40 AM IST "Jimmy Jean-Louis exclusive interview: The The Goat Life actor talks about why he chose a Malayalam film as his first Indian project, and much more. This is Haitian actor Jimmy Jean-Louis’ first Indian movie and interestingly, he has chosen a Malayalam film to debut here. Jimmy, who lives in France, will be seen in Prithviraj Sukumaran’s The Goat Life (Aadujeevitham) as Ibrahim Khadiri, the local who helps Najeeb, the Malayali immigrant worker, during his journey in Saudi Arabia. In this quick tete-a-tete with Hindustan Times, Jimmy talks about why he chose to do director Blessy’s The Goat Life, working with Prithviraj Sukumaran and the challenges he faced. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Why did you choose to do this particular Indian film which is very different? Were you aware that Indian cinema was more than Bollywood? You know from where I stood, every single Indian movie was a Bollywood movie! When this project came to me, I didn't know what it was about and I had a few questions. I was sent the script and then I researched a little bit about who was behind the movie. I realized that it was like a top star in his region and even nationally. And then, of course, the story of Najeeb itself was quite amazing and to also know that he was still alive. I wanted to do it straight away! There was also another factor that was extremely appealing - to go and shoot in Wadi Rum (Jordan) and in Timimoun in the Sahara Desert – it was an unbelievable experience. Of course, the journey for me on this film was not long like how it was for director Blessy or Prithviraj – it was just a few months.What did you find most challenging in terms of the role and the film itself? There’s one aspect which maybe one should really speak too much about but it’s the fact that it’s such a different culture (Indian cinema) and I couldn’t really understand what was going on. Most of the time things were not as clear - like it wasn’t scripted on paper as to what’s going to happen today, tomorrow, next week. It was very fluid and that was actually quite challenging. But at the same time, I knew how to distance myself and to accept that different way of filmmaking or conducting business. It was quite demanding because we faced sandstorms and that’s not easy to shoot in. Physically too, I have to carry Prithviraj in the film and it’s doable but a little tough in that environment. I had to learn to speak Arabic too. You’d have worked with other international actors from. What do you think about Prithviraj as an actor? Because I’ve worked in several markets (France, US) with all kinds of actors, you know, at this point, you know, I treat an actor as an actor. It's like, what do you do when they say action? That's really where you truly see an actor and not all the noise around them. I was definitely impressed by his commitment and how professional he was. He lost 31 kgs for this role and it’s not like he needed to do this because Prithviraj was already on top of his game. So, for an actor to do that, that says a lot about him. And for him to shoot for years in the desert, in the worst conditions, straight away, you know, that you’re dealing with someone that is not just your normal typical actor who’s doing the job to be seen or to be famous. The film industry is a very competitive business and India is a competitive place because of the number of actors around. If anyone finds their way to the top, it's because there are qualities that help you go in there. I saw him as a top actor, the same way that I would look at Harrison Ford or Bradley Cooper - just similar actors from a different region. Do you want to see The Goat Life dubbed in French and released? I think it should be dubbed or subtitled in all languages because I think it is a movie that speaks to everybody. If you are human, then you will love this movie. Visually speaking, sometimes you don't even need the language to understand what is going on. It is very easy to understand and get that emotional connect. With the strength of distribution this movie has, I think it should really be seen by as many markets as possible in as many languages as possible. Entertainment! Entertainment! Entertainment! 🎞️🍿💃 Click to follow our Whatsapp Channel 📲 Your daily dose of gossip, films, shows, celebrities updates all in one place" #metaglossia_mundus
"Fall guy or liar and degenerate gambler? That's the question the sports world is asking about Ippei Mizuhara. Ippei claimed to be a graduate of the Univerisity of California, but the school told NBC Los Angeles this month that it has no record of a student by that name. Fall guy or liar and degenerate gambler? That’s the question the sports world is asking about Ippei Mizuhara, the now-former translator for baseball star Shohei Ohtani. Mizuhara is accused of racking up massive gambling debts with illegal bookmakers in California, where sports betting is not sanctioned. He is accused of stealing at least $4.5 million to send via wire transfers to cover his debts. How a translator making less than $100,000 per year in salary was able to bet more than $4 million on credit is one of of the mysteries in a story that has consumed baseball on the eve of the 2024 season. Another is how and why the story has seemed to change in recent days. On Monday, Ohtani laid the entire sordid ordeal at the feet of his former translator and friend. “Ippei told to the media and to the representatives that I, on behalf of a friend, paid off debt,” Ohtani said through a new interpreter on Monday, in his first public statements about the scandal. “Upon further questioning, it was revealed that it was actually in fact Ippei who … was in debt and told my representatives that I was paying off those debts. “All of this has been a complete lie,” Ohtani said. Mizuhara, known as Ippei, was hired by the Los Angeles Angels in 2017 as personal translator for Ohtani, the two-way star who had been signed from the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. It was the Fighters who first hired Ippei in 2013 to translate for the Japanese team for its American players. Ohtani was a rookie on the Fighters in 2013 and that’s where he first met Ippei. It had been previously reported that Ippei had translated for Hideki Okajima and the Boston Red Sox for five years from 2007-2011. Earlier this month the Red Sox stated that “Mizuhara was never employed by the Boston Red Sox in any capacity.” That’s not the only inconsistency with Ippei’s backstory. The 39-year-old was born in Japan but moved to Los Angeles in 1991 with his family, where he attended Diamond Bar High School. Ippei claimed to be a graduate of the Univerisity of California, but the school told NBC Los Angeles this month that it has no record of a student by that name. Ippei grew close to Ohtani on and off the field, acting as his catcher in the 2021 Home Run Derby, when Ohtani became the first Japanese player to compete in the event. The pair also became friends off the field, with Ippei helping Ohtani with his transition to American culture and lifestyle. A 2021 Japanese story on Nippon.com translated to English documents long video game sessions between the pair, as well as frequent meals together around Anaheim at a Japanese-style barbecue restaurant, and even a trip to Universal Studios theme park. Mizuhara got married 2018, but told Nippon.com that he still spends more time with Ohtani than with his family. “We’re kind of like friends,” the article quotes Mizuhara as saying. “But more like partners.” That was then, this is now. “I am very sad and shocked that someone who I trusted has done this,” Ohtani said. “I never bet on baseball or any sports or never have asked somebody to do it on my behalf. … I have never went through a bookmaker to bet on sports.” Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700-million deal with the L.A. Dodgers during the offseason." #metaglossia_mundus
In 1969, Takasshi Matsumoto and Haruomi Hosono opted to defy rock trends by singing in Japanese, not English – paving the way for ‘city pop’ and J-pop #metaglossia_mundus
BYJAY BONGGOLTO Google is apparently throwing AI answers into search results, whether you signed up for it or not SUMMARY - Google is apparently integrating AI into its search results even for people who have not signed up for Search Generative Experience (SGE).
- Some people are now seeing AI summaries at the top of search results in the US, though the experience appears to be showing up for a small subset of users.
- Google is testing the feature on a small group of US searches to gather feedback before a wider rollout.
Google is making AI a big deal right at the heart of its search results. Known as Search Generative Experience (SGE), it started off as part of Google Search Labs last May. By November, it had spread to over 120 countries worldwide because of the increasing competition in AI. What it does is give you AI answers straight up and even let you chat back and forth like you're talking to a bot. At first, you had to choose to get in on it. But now, Google seems to be pushing it out to everyone, whether you signed up for it or not.Search Engine Land reports that a few users in the US are getting a taste of the SGE experience without even signing up for it. So, if you're asking about certain topics, you might notice a new shaded section right at the top of your Google Search results. It gives you a quick summary of what you're looking for, plus links to dive deeper into the topic.Previously, that section only popped up if you signed up for SGE. However, Google is now shaking things up. According to Search Engine Land, the company is testing this out on a small group of searchers in the US, even for those who haven't activated it themselves. And it seems like you don't even need to be logged into a Google account to get in on the action, as per Search Engine Roundtable. The limited test seems to be Google's response to rumors that OpenAI is working on its own search tool. Google is spicing up its game by showing AI summaries for trickier searches where you need information from a bunch of different places. Google wants to hear from more users According to Search Engine Land, Google is only rolling out these AI overviews if it's pretty sure they'll provide better information than what you'd typically find in regular search results. The Mountain View-based tech giant is doing these tests to gather feedback from a wider range of users, especially those who didn't opt in for the feature. Google is tinkering with various versions of this new search feature. But just because you see something during these trials doesn't mean everyone else will. Google is still keeping ads popping up alongside these new AI tricks. As for when we'll see this generative AI search fully in action, it remains to be seen. If SGE gets a widespread rollout, it could seriously shake up the ad-supported media world. Right now, publishers make money when people click on Google links to read their articles with ads. But if SGE starts serving up summaries right at the top of search results, folks might not bother clicking through to the actual articles. That means less cash for the publishers, and they won't be too happy about that." #metaglossia_mundus
"Written by Yi-Yu Lai. In the name of promoting multiculturalism in Taiwan, the new second generation is anticipated to utilise their intercultural ability to serve as a bridge between Taiwan and Southeast Asia. This article highlights that the assumption has caused increased anxiety among the new second generation if they are unable to prove their competence.… Written by Yi-Yu Lai. Image credit: 20201115-移人的聲音:移民工劇場藝術節-014 by Lennon Ying-Dah Wong/flickr, license: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED. In the summer of 2019, I delivered a series of lectures on the topic of “Philippine cultures and society” at the Brilliant Time Bookstore, a prominent hub in New Taipei City for its focus on Southeast Asian issues. To attract a Taiwanese audience to the lectures, my initial strategy focused on emphasising the similarities between Taiwan and the Philippines. These similarities encompass various aspects such as cuisine cultures, minority groups, family politics, experiences with martial law, civil society engagement, and migrant workers. It is worthwhile to mention that the lectures also drew the attention of individuals from the “new second generation,” which refers to young Taiwanese people whose parents are immigrants from China or Southeast Asian countries. In Taiwan, especially since the mid-2010s and the implementation of the New Southbound Policy (2016) by the Tsai administration, the new second generation has been increasingly seen as valuable assets for Taiwan to interact with neighbouring Southeast Asian countries due to their language skills and multicultural backgrounds. This is despite the fact that they have faced historical and ongoing discrimination due to their “otherness” in relation to mainstream Taiwanese society. Growing Anxiety Following the Perception Shift in Taiwan Kevin is of Filipino-Taiwanese descent and was an undergraduate student who resided in southern Taiwan during that period. Each weekend, he would commute by bus for nearly four hours to Taipei to attend my lectures. Although the opportunities seemed to be increasing and the environment appeared more welcoming for the new second generation in Taiwan, his anxiety intensified when faced with the pressure to speak his mother tongue and grasp Philippine-related information. Additionally, as his graduation neared, he wrestled with whether to pursue careers related to immigrant or Southeast Asian affairs. Kevin’s experiences shed light on the complex dilemmas the new second generation encounters as they navigate the evolving policies and perceptions of Southeast Asian immigrants in Taiwan. While individuals of Southeast Asian descent were historically pressured to hide their identity due to widespread discrimination, contemporary emphasis on multiculturalism and initiatives like the New Southbound Policy now push them to embrace and represent their heritage. To some extent, this dilemma may be partially attributed to previous social conditions and educational initiatives in Taiwan. A large number of Southeast Asian descent have suffered from discrimination or felt the need to conceal their identity due to the stereotype that they or their parents have limited abilities to assimilate into mainstream society. For a long period, the conditions provide them with an unfriendly environment to explore and acquire knowledge connected to their Southeast Asian heritage. While several programs and governmental initiatives regarding new immigrants–––such as the Taiwan New Resident Torch Program (2012) and the following Five-year Educational Plan for New Residents’ Children (2016)–––have been implemented to encourage intercultural talks, their primary objectives have typically been to maintain social integrity through the provision of care, parental education, and the establishment of support networks. Following the implementation of the New Southbound Policy, the discomfort of the second new generation may even transition from feeling “not Taiwanese enough” to feeling “not Southeast Asian enough.” Given the social expectation for them to bring prosperity from Southeast Asia to Taiwan, people anticipate they can easily utilise their intercultural competence in their respective Southeast Asian countries. However, this expectation may forcefully direct and restrict their options while disregarding their personal interests and objectives in life. Regardless of the inclusion of seven Southeast Asian languages as elective courses in the present 12-Year Basic Education curriculum framework, such recognition does not effectively address the aforementioned problems faced by the new second generation. Due to limited social and intellectual resources in Taiwan, there is a lack of structured background knowledge available to help individuals comprehend the circumstances of Southeast Asia. In this regard, the responsibility for gaining this understanding seems to fall on Southeast Asian immigrants and their descendants. Since my lectures in 2019, I’ve continued to engage with Kevin through social media over the past few years. While I’m not his only source of information, I value that he has persistently sought out insights on various aspects of the Philippines to deepen his understanding of his Filipino heritage and connect with his Filipino mother. In this light, the New Southbound Policy presents a double-edged sword for the new second generation in Taiwan. On one side, it provides an opportunity for the new second generation or even other Taiwanese folks to talk more about Southeast Asia. Individuals may also have the chance to reflect upon the past prejudice toward immigrants and their offspring in Taiwanese society. Conversely, if the new second generation lacks sufficient knowledge about their own cultural background, it may indiscernibly generate greater pressure for them. Even though it was due to the historical condition that their parents and themselves were unable to openly or easily discuss it, other people may not perceive the underlying cause of their anxiety at present. Sameness and Difference After Forming the Alliance Earlier this year, I met another Filipino-Taiwanese descent, Chia-Ching Tsou, when I had a short visit back to Taiwan. While she and her friends established a group named Taiwan Immigration Youth Alliance to advocate the rights of the new immigrants and the new second generation, she observed the complexities inside the group despite the fact that they all share the same new second-generation background. Typically, Taiwanese people tend to view new immigrants and the new second generation as a single group, while those with a better understanding highlight differences based on their country of origin. As Tsou acquired more detailed knowledge about the Philippines and her genealogy, she increasingly recognised that the life experiences of the new second generation and their connections with their parents could vary due to the distinct countries involved. In addition, individuals with the same national heritage can nevertheless differ due to underlying factors such as gender, ethnicity, social class, and the respective processes of migration. This observation not only challenges her previous ideas about the identities of the new second generation but also exposes the insufficiency of Taiwan’s understanding of these immigrant groups. While Taiwan continues to classify new immigrants and the new second generation solely based on their country of origin, some other regions have already recognised and institutionalised the internal distinctions to better meet the needs of their immigrant population from Southeast Asia. In Hawai’i, for instance, the Ilokano people have been highlighted as the largest Filipino group on the islands. In the 1970s, the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa started providing Ilokano language courses in addition to its existing Tagalog language courses. The aim was to specifically assist Ilokano descendants in learning their native language and supporting their elders who had to adjust their lives after being forced to leave their plantation jobs due to the decline of the plantation industry in Hawai’i. Subsequently, the University further institutionalised the language courses by establishing Pilipino and Ilokano Language and Culture programs. With this basis, the state government has been able to develop the respective curriculum for Filipino and Ilokano groups in primary and high schools in Hawai’i. As Taiwan may lack adequate understanding and investigation into the demographic composition of the new immigrants and the new second generation, it is also crucial to acknowledge that these individuals in the diaspora are constantly forming a community with intricate connections to both their host and home countries. Caroline Hau’s study on Chinese Filipinos, for example, indicates that the meaning of Chinese continues to evolve due to the economic, political, and cultural concerns that are connected to national, regional, and geopolitical interests, including Taiwan, China, the Philippines and beyond. The dynamic processes of inclusion and exclusion significantly influence the life experiences of Chinese Filipinos and their interactions with other Filipino folks. However, Taiwanese society rarely addresses such historical effects on the current Filipino population in Taiwan. In addition, it is also important to emphasise the complex relationship between migrant workers and immigrants from the Philippines in recent decades since scholars have already noted how both permanent and temporary Filipino migrations have blurred social class boundaries and led to new tensions and alliances among Filipinos in transnational contexts. Not to mention that the implementation of the New Southbound Policy has led to a rise in the number of Filipino students and visitors to Taiwan, which has further complicated the interactions among Filipino groups. These lessons all matter to Taiwan, since Taiwan asserts itself as an inclusive and diverse society. The Veneer of Multiculturalism and the Entrapment of Biculturalism In his 2020 article, Brian Hioe contends that by utilising a veneer of multiculturalism, the Tsai administration may not have adequately addressed pressing issues like racism in Taiwan. On the basis of this concern, this article aims to further highlight the issues with the lives of the new immigrants and the new second generation in Taiwan. In the name of promoting multiculturalism in Taiwan, the new second generation is anticipated to utilise their intercultural ability to serve as a bridge between Taiwan and Southeast Asia. However, my encounters with the two Filipino Taiwanese demonstrate that this assumption has caused increased anxiety among the new second generation if they are unable to prove their competence. Moreover, this assumption has erased the internal disparities and the actual daily experiences of the individuals, making the historical injustice and their own agendas invisible. In this regard, embracing biculturalism in the veneer of multiculturalism to define the new second generation restricts us within the nationalist framework, which may merely become a serving tool to mediate the new second generation for social mobilisation toward strengthening ties with Southeast Asia. Born and raised in Taiwan, Yi-Yu Lai has been studying Indigenous activisms and the cross-border relationships between Indigenous Taiwanese and the Indigenous peoples in the Cordillera of the Philippines since 2014. His works centre on Indigenous politics, political violence, and conflict resolutions. Lai is particularly interested in how political violence and activism affect Indigenous peoples’ ways of life and their interactions with the larger society. He finished his BA in Anthropology at the National Taiwan University, where he also completed his MA in Anthropology. At present, Lai is a PhD candidate in Anthropology at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa and a research affiliate at the Cordillera Studies Center, University of the Philippines in Baguio. You can reach him at yiyulai@hawaii.edu. This article was published as part of a special issue on ‘Unsettling Multiculturalism in Taiwan‘." #metaglossia_mundus
"The stay will be for a maximum of three weeks and there is time to submit applications until 20 April. Ljubljana UNESCO City of Literature, together with the Slovene Writers’ Association (SWA), is launching a call for residencies for translators who have translated and published at least two translated works, or publishers who have published and promoted at least one translated work. Only translations of Slovenian literature and humanities into a foreign language will be considered. Preference will be given to translators, editors and literary agents who contribute to the promotion and recognition of Slovene fiction and humanities abroad through their work and activity, with a particular focus on Italian and children’s literature. There will be a maximum of four residents. The application form must be submitted in English or Slovak and must be sent to the address matej@drustvo-dsp.si with the subject “INVITATION – SWA 2024 Residency Program” by 20 April at the latest. The residency will last between two and three weeks and will take place between May and December 2024, and will be held at the Dane Zajc Writing Studio, the apartment where one of Slovenia’s most prominent poets, Dane Zajc, lived. Residents will work together with Slovenian authors and other literary agents. The organisers also ask them to take part in literary events and to write a short report on their stay. For more information, click this link." #metaglossia_mundus: https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/ciutatdelaliteratura/en/noticia/ljubljana-convoca-residencies-literaries-per-a-traductors-i-editors_1384507
This course can be applied to the UBC Certificate in Intercultural Studies and UBC Micro-certificate in Diversity and Inclusion. Take your intercultural understanding to the next level and build essential skills and practices to create welcoming spaces for all. In this course, you will: - Learn how diverse cultures and worldviews, including your own, affect communication and how you can develop skills to navigate cultural differences with more ease and confidence.
- Gain critical communication skills in dialogue with co-learners and facilitators to challenge cultural barriers and build inclusive practices in both local and international settings.
- Strengthen your intercultural leadership, cultural intelligence, and adaptation skills in diverse cultural contexts working with individuals, in collaboration, and within systems.
- Find out how power imbalances can impact interactions and discover practical tools to reduce misunderstandings and strengthen inclusivity within the workplace and community.
#metaglossia_mundus
"Intercultural Professionals is the intercultural training and consultancy branch of the KIT Royal Tropical Institute. Our approach to cultural awareness focuses on how you can connect and build strong relationships in an intercultural context. At the individual level we believe that self-awareness is essential for creating intercultural successes. Participants in our programmes become aware of their individual preferences and habits, explore what reactions these may elicit from others, and how this relates to cultural experiences. At the same time our trainers and experts help participants understand these situations in specific intercultural contexts—offering ample opportunity to discover new skills and define effective individual communication strategies. The results are practical tools for individuals to work successfully with culturally-diverse teams, projects, and international partners." #metaglossia_mundus
"Around 98% of all research is published in English, posing a serious problem for the global scientific community. It is often remarked that Spanish should be more widely spoken or understood in the scientific community given its number of speakers around the world, a figure the Instituto Cervantes places at almost 600 million. However, millions of speakers do not necessarily grant a language strength in academia. This has to be cultivated on a scientific, political and cultural level, with sustained efforts from many institutions and specialists. The scientific community should communicate in as many languages as possible By some estimates, as much as 98% of the world’s scientific research is published in English, while only around 18% of the world’s population speaks it. This makes it essential to publish in other languages if we are to bring scientific research to society at large. The value of multilingualism in science has been highlighted by numerous high profile organisations, with public declarations and statements on the matter from the European Charter for Researchers, the Helsinki Initiative on Multiligualism, the Unesco Recommendation on Open Science, the OPERAS Multiligualism White Paper, the Latin American Forum on Research Assessment, the COARA Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment, and the Declaration of the 5th Meeting of Minsters and Scientific Authorities of Ibero-American Countries. These organisations all agree on one thing: all languages have value in scientific communication.Get news that’s free, independent and based on evidence. As the last of these declarations points out, locally, regionally and nationally relevant research is constantly being published in languages other than English. This research has an economic, social and cultural impact on its surrounding environment, as when scientific knowledge is disseminated it filters through to non-academic professionals, thus creating a broader culture of knowledge sharing. Greater diversity also enables fluid dialogue among academics who share the same language, or who speak and understand multiple languages. In Ibero-America, for example, Spanish and Portuguese can often be mutually understood by non-native speakers, allowing them to share the scientific stage. The same happens in Spain with the majority of its co-official languages. Read more: Non-native English speaking scientists work much harder just to keep up, global research reveals No hierarchies, no categories Too often, scientific research in any language other than English is automatically seen as second tier, with little consideration for the quality of the work itself. This harmful prejudice ignores the work of those involved, especially in the humanities and social sciences. It also profoundly undermines the global academic community’s ability to share knowledge with society. By defending and preserving multilingualism, the scientific community brings research closer to those who need it. Failing to pursue this aim means that academia cannot develop or expand its audience. We have to work carefully, systematically and consistently in every language available to us. Read more: Prestigious journals make it hard for scientists who don't speak English to get published. And we all lose out The logistics of strengthening linguistic diversity in science Making a language stronger in academia is a complex process. It does not happen spontaneously, and requires careful coordination and planning. Efforts have to come from public and private institutions, the media, and other cultural outlets, as well as from politicians, science diplomacy, and researchers themselves. Many of these elements have to work in harmony, as demonstrated by the Spanish National Research Council’s work in ES CIENCIA, a project which seeks to unite scientific and and political efforts. Academic publishing and AI models: a new challenge The global academic environment is changing as a result the digital transition and new models of open access. Research into publishers of scientific content in other languages will be essential to understanding this shift. One thing is clear though: making scientific content produced in a particular language visible and searchable online is crucial to ensuring its strength. In the case of academic books, the transition to open access has barely begun, especially in the commercial publishing sector, which releases around 80% of scientific books in Spain. As with online publishing, a clear understanding will make it possible to design policies and models that account for the different ways of disseminating scientific research, including those that communicate locally and in other languages. Greater linguistic diversity in book publishing can also allow us to properly recognise the work done by publishers in sharing research among non-English speakers. Making publications, datasets, and other non-linguistic research results easy to find is another vital element, which requires both scientific and technical support. The same applies to expanding the corpus of scientific literature in Spanish and other languages, especially since this feeds into generative artificial intelligence models. If linguistically diverse scientific content is not incorporated into AI systems, they will spread information that is incomplete, biased or misleading: a recent Spanish government report on the state of Spanish and co-official languages points out that 90% of the text currently fed into AI is written in English. Deep study of terminology is essential Research into terminology is of the utmost importance in preventing the use of improvised, imprecise language or unintelligible jargon. It can also bring huge benefits for the quality of both human and machine translations, specialised language teaching, and the indexing and organisation of large volumes of documents. Terminology work in Spanish is being carried out today thanks to the processing of large language corpuses by AI and researchers in the TeresIA project, a joint effort coordinated by the Spanish National Research Council. However, 15 years of ups and downs were needed to to get such a project off the ground in Spanish. The Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia, on the other hand, have worked intensively and systematically on their respective languages. They have not only tackled terminology as a public language policy issue, but have also been committed to established terminology projects for a long time. Multiligualism is a global issue This need for broader diversity also applies to Ibero-America as a whole, where efforts are being coordinated to promote Spanish and Portuguese in academia, notably by the Ibero-American General Secretariat and the Mexican National Council of Humanities, Sciences and Technologies. While this is sorely needed, we cannot promote the region’s two most widely spoken languages and also ignore its diversity of indigenous and co-official languages. These are also involved in the production of knowledge, and are a vehicle for the transfer of scientific information, as demonstrated by efforts in Spain. Each country has its own unique role to play in promoting greater linguistic diversity in scientific communication. If this can be achieved, the strength of Iberian languages – and all languages, for that matter – in academia will not be at the mercy of well intentioned but sporadic efforts. It will, instead, be the result of the scientific community’s commitment to a culture of knowledge sharing. This article was originally published in Spanish" #metaglossia_mundus
March 27, 2024 Spectrum Editor Spectrum, Spectrum, Spectrum 0 Daijah Hinmon, Contributing Writer "The Children’s Museum of Richmond holds “Bilingual Storytime” on every first and third Thursday of the month. It’s an event where people can sing, dance, read and learn different languages, according to the CMoR website. The CMoR held “Bilingual Storytime (French)” on Thursday, March 21 at the CMoR’s downtown location, according to the CMoR website. “First and foremost we want to make sure that we have regular programming that is great for our community,” said Danielle Ripperton, the executive director at the CMoR. “And we feel like that this is one of the elements families really enjoy in ‘Bilingual Storytime.’” “Bilingual Storytime” was created by CMoR’s former family engagement manager, Ali Sullivan, according to Krista Dawson, the CMoR’s director of education. Sullivan wanted to connect with the community and learn more about the museum community, so she began hosting “Bilingual Storytime,” which gained a lot of popularity. “We look for a book that has simple language and that converts well to sharing it in two languages,” Dawson said. “Children in a half-hour story time are not going to come away fluent in another language. They might walk away with a couple of new words and a broader understanding of where the similarities are.” When selecting what stories to read, it is important to select books that are recognizable in everyday life, have engaging language and have the ability to show words through movement, Dawson said. “Bilingual Storytime” helps support caregivers and provides them with strategies and ideas to use on their own, Dawson said. The togetherness aspect heightens the experience people get from these events. The CMoR is trying to be intentional about supporting interactions children have when participating in the activities, Dawson said. It’s all about the social and emotional impact of an activity as well as sustaining deeper learning. “It’s gotta be fun,” Dawson said. “We’re all about learning through play.” This event provides comfort for many families who may find it difficult to navigate life in another language that’s not native, Dawson said. It provides families with opportunities to expose their children to a new language. “Bilingual Storytime” has had a variety of different languages introduced throughout the events, Dawson said. The first being in Spanish, another in Irish and the most recent in French. Allowing children to engage in other languages and cultures is a skill that can aid in how they can function well in the world, Dawson said. If a parent has a smaller worldview, it can open opportunities to introduce ways of learning that can rub off on their children. When it comes to guests and museum members, “Bilingual Storytime” is able to enhance their experience by offering something different, Dawson said. The CMoR wants to provide its audience and visitors with opportunities to learn. “Bilingual Storytime” is open to anyone who is passionate about education and wants to use a skill they want to share, Dawson said. It is undecided which language will be covered in the future. “We are a fighting staff that are interested in and have a passion or skill set that are stretching into new ways and giving us a deeper, more impactful program by using their skills to enhance museum offerings,” Dawson said. “So we’re really excited to have a bilingual story time continue.” The event has provided new “Bilingual Storytime” French reader Juliette Aaslestad an exciting opportunity for her to use her French skills since she grew up in a bilingual household, Aaslestad said. These events are less about attempting to teach children another language and more about introducing them to something they might not experience until high school, Aaslestad said. “Our mission is to reach all the children in the community,” Aaslestad said. The next “Bilingual Storytime (French)” will be held on Thursday, April 4 from 10:30 to 11 a.m. at the museum’s downtown location, according to the CMoR website." #metaglossia_mundus
The Intermídia : Estudos sobre a Intermidialidade research group invites researchers and artists to submit their works to the 4th International Colloquium Word, Sound, Image, which will take place between 10 and 13 September 2024, at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais (PUC Minas), in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. In this edition, the colloquium addresses the theme Materialities in Question. Based on it, contributions are expected to reflect on the role of the technical conditions of production and reception of artistic and literary works in the process of building meaning. This is a topic that has become fundamental in contemporary times, as the vertiginous expansion of technologies of production, processing, circulation and reception of writing, sound and image has been causing profound transformations in social and cultural practices and in artistic and literary forms of production. To intermedial studies, particularly, the awareness of the materiality of media (artistic or not), their supports and technologies, and the possible modes of relations between them, whether as co-presence, interaction, transference, circulation, among others, becomes their own condition of existence. Within this perspective, we invite researchers and artists to submit their proposals to one of the following thematic axes: 1. The book as an expressive form Editorial practices; the history of printed objects; artist’s books; illustrated books; and book-object. 2. Materialities of the surfaces Creative processes of juxtaposition, overlapping, combination and collage of words and images in printed pages, screens, walls, among others. 3. Digital poetics New experiences of literary production, circulation and reception in the digital world, such as instapoetry, audiobooks, digital poetry, Wattpad, and others. 4. Transpositions and transmediations Analysis of the transformations between media products, especially concerning the modes through which different supports, intersemiotic relations and historical and cultural conditions operate in the processes of constructing meaning. 5. Multimodality and reading The reading experience in different supports; the role of multimodal resources in reading practices; perceptive-cognitive processes involved in the production of meaning in different semiotic systems. 6. Sound reverberations Relations between word, image and sound; songs; sound poetry; voice and performance; slam poetry; sound culture; the record as an artistic object; from the score to the digital recording as sound supports; the musical utilization of less traditional sound sources. 7. Spatialities and the sensorial Creation forms that somehow involve sensorial interaction processes such as installations, videogames, and haptic experiences enabled by audiovisual or mixed techniques employed in the fine arts. 8. Materiality and cultural differences Creative processes that highlight both the techniques and technologies of non-hegemonic cultures and the modes through which they, in a resistance act, appropriate and subvert common uses that hegemonic cultures give to the body, the technical devices and the artistic practices. 9. Intermediality and media archaeology History of the devices and techniques of artistic and literary production; processes of remediation and media representation; creative practices with the use of anachronic technologies. 10. Materialisms, ontologies, and objects Implications of the new conceptions of materialism in contemporary philosophy to the study of artistic, literary and media phenomena; speculative realism and object-oriented ontology; representation of objects in the arts, literature, and media. ____ The call for papers is open until 30 April 2024. You can submit your abstract via the forms available on our website. The colloquium has two modalities of submissions: a) Abstract and further information on research works (in-person presentation) on one of the thematic axes. b) Abstract and further information on creative productions (in digital support) for exhibition during the colloquium, with the possibility of participation in in-person roundtables.
Des artistes et interprètes de différentes communautés étaient sur scène pour danser contre un fléau qui mine souvent la société. Il s’agit du racisme. À travers la musique et la danse jouées samedi au Musée canadien pour les droits de la personne, ils ont partagé leur expérience tout en invitant le public a apprécié la beauté de la diversité culturelle. Le Festival Spirit of Solidarity souhaite ainsi promouvoir l'unité et la tolérance. #metaglossia_mundus
"Première du genre, une loi voit le jour au Tennessee pour protéger les artistes contre l'IA générative L'Etat du Tennessee aux Etats-Unis s'attaque à l'intelligence artificielle générative et à son impact sur l'industrie musicale. Pour protéger les productions, le gouverneur de l'Etat a signé une loi visant à protéger les artistes contre toute utilisation non autorisée de leurs créations par cette technologie. Cependant, cela ressemble plus à une aiguille dans une botte de foin au vu du nombre d'outils d'IA pour la musique et la vidéo qui se multiplient chaque semaine et gagnent rapidement en popularité. Célia Séramour 22 mars 2024 \ 17h04 Le gouverneur du Tennessee, Bill Lee, a promulgué le 21 mars un projet de loi visant à protéger les artistes, notamment les musiciens, contre toute utilisation non autorisée de leurs œuvres par l'intelligence artificielle. Intitulée "Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security (ELVIS) Act", cette loi met à jour la loi sur la protection des droits personnels existant au Tennessee afin d'inclure "des protections pour les auteurs-compositeurs, les interprètes et les professionnels de l'industrie musicale contre l'utilisation abusive de l'intelligence artificielle", comme précisé par le bureau du gouverneur Bill Lee dans un communiqué. L'industrie musicale créatrice d'emplois dans l'Etat Pour mémoire, l'industrie musicale soutient plus de 61 617 emplois dans cet État (le Tennessee compte 6,975 millions d'habitants), contribue à hauteur de 5,8 milliards de dollars au PIB et remplit plus de 4 500 salles de concert, estime le bureau du gouverneur. Originellement, la loi préexistante protégeait le nom, l'image et la ressemblance, mais elle n'abordait pas spécifiquement les derniers modèles d'IA générative et les services de clonage personnalisé qui permettent l'usurpation d'identité humaine et peuvent faire l'objet de mauvaises utilisations, notamment en créant de fausses œuvres non autorisées à l'image et à la voix d'autrui. Un combat qui ne fait que commencer Bien évidemment, la production musicale n'a pas attendu l'arrivée de ChatGPT et la démocratisation de l'IA auprès du grand public pour intégrer cette technologie. Toutefois, les récentes avancées induisent des risques d'un nouveau genre qu'il est désormais possible d'ignorer. L'IA générative est, en effet, capable de créer elle-même du contenu, y compris des sons originaux, des paroles ou des chansons entières. Plus récemment, les start-up ont multiplié les annonces d'outils pour générer des vidéos à partir de l'IA. Il y a bien sûr l'exemple de Sora, développé par OpenAI, mais aussi Stable Diffusion V3 développé par Stability AI ou encore Runway et son outil de création. Cette start-up a d'ailleurs fait parler d'elle avec une floppée d'annonces. Convertir les paroles en vidéo, le nec le plus ultra pour l'industrie Après avoir fait part d'un partenariat entre elle et et l'agence de publicité Media.Monks, dans lequel les membres de l'équipe et les clients de cette dernière auraient accès au logiciel d'IA de conversion de texte et d'image en vidéo, Runway s'est tournée vers la musique. La start-up basée à New York annonce également un partenariat avec la start-up italienne Musixmatch, qui alimente les paroles synchronisées en direct sur l'appareil avec des chansons sur Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Facebook, Instagram, Tidal, Vevo, etc. "A partir de l'analyse des paroles par l'IA, nous convertissons les mots en vidéos, générant ainsi de précieux atouts pour engager vos fans", indiquent les deux entreprises. Le partenariat pourrait donc potentiellement toucher jusqu'à plus d'un million de musiciens et d'artistes utilisant Musixmatch, leur offrir un accès à Gen-2, le dernier modèle de génération de vidéo IA de Runway et les transformer en véritables créateurs, effaçant par ailleurs le travail des créateurs de contenu vidéo, photographes, vidéastes, monteurs, etc." #metaglossia_mundus
"Pour le premier volet de notre série consacré aux coulisses du Parlement européen, nous allons à la rencontre des interprètes. 24 langues sont parlées au sein de l'UE, lors des sessions plénières, et une traduction doit normalement être fournie pour toutes - d'où l'importance du service d'interprétation à Bruxelles et à Strasbourg." #metaglossia_mundus: https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/119602-000-A/l-interprete/
"ISO-DTS-6253. - Requirements and recommendations for training programmes in community interpreting - Exigences et recommandations pour les programmes de formation en interprétation de service public ...This document is intended to be used in conjunction with other interpreting standards, principally ISO 13611, ISO 18841, ISO 20228 and ISO 21998, with the objective to form the basis for community interpreting training programmes. Interpreters render spoken or signed content from a source language to a target language in oral or signed form. Community interpreting training varies significantly worldwide, while there is a growing demand for interpreters in public services, healthcare, law enforcement and other communicative settings. This document aims to improve community interpreter education by promoting comparability in training programmes. It addresses the necessity of standardized requirements and specific recommendations in community interpreting training, including comprehensive guidelines on learning outcomes and curricula. This document provides both a foundation for the design and development of new programmes and serves as a reference for existing programmes. It is intended to support educators, educational and training institutions, community interpreters and users of community interpreting services, including public-sector organizations and language service providers (LSPs) that administer training programmes for interpreters as a service or product, to assess the usefulness and relevance of training programmes intended to prepare community interpreters to provide their services. This document also supports organizations, and educational and training institutions in the recruitment, hiring and retention of community interpreter educators. This document does not address existing programmes within post-secondary institutions. Additionally, it does not aim to define the qualifications of academic staff and administrators in post-secondary institutions..." #metaglossia_mundus: https://cdn.standards.iteh.ai/samples/82153/697098eb13c4489aa87394a4fc2164ea/ISO-DTS-6253.pdf
"A selection of 50 creative words you can use to generate different effects within Midjourney. Taking your creativity in new directions 12:45 pm March 25, 2024 By Julian Horsey The guide presents a list of 50 uncommon words that were used as prompts in Midjourney to generate unique images. These words, which are not typically used in everyday language, were selected by exceptional AI artist Thaeyne to explore their visual interpretation when used as the first word in various prompts. The prompts were themed around concepts such as “princess drawing,” “futurism,” “mechanical angel,” and “orb.” The words were chosen for their rarity and the fact that they had not been used previously by the author in this context. The list is organized by the author’s preference based on the appeal of the resulting images. Words to improve your Midjourney creativity For instance a word like “dodecahedron.” Picture its twelve faces, each one catching the light in a unique way. This geometric shape could inspire you to explore the interplay of light and shadow, creating a piece that dances with mathematical precision and beauty. As you delve deeper, you’ll come across “phosphenes,” the sparks of light you see when you close your eyes tightly. Imagine capturing that sensation in your art—a burst of color against a dark canvas, a visual representation of the mind’s ability to conjure light from darkness. Then there’s “seraglio,” a word that speaks of hidden quarters and seclusion. Your challenge is to convey this sense of privacy and mystery in your work, perhaps through a play of subtle shades and shadows that invite the viewer to look closer. Consider “syncretism,” the merging of different beliefs into one. You might visualize this as a cosmic alignment, where each element comes together to form a harmonious whole. A central orb, glowing and vibrant, could be surrounded by elements that whisper of a celestial seraglio. For those fascinated by patterns, “guilloche” offers a complex, interwoven design that can serve as the foundation for a piece, much like the grid of a city map. And if you’re someone who sees patterns in randomness—an “apophenic”—you might be drawn to the spirals of a DNA helix or the winding paths of a labyrinth. Words can also evoke fleeting, ephemeral moments. The “auroral” beauty of the Northern Lights or the elusive nature of a dream can inspire works that capture these transient wonders. “Argyrosphere,” with its silver connotations, suggests a shimmering expanse waiting to be depicted, while “anamorphosis” challenges you to create images that transform based on the viewer’s perspective. The human experience isn’t forgotten. “Melancholia” could be expressed through a solitary figure set against a stark, contrasting background, while “limerence,” the intense longing of unrequited love, might be personified by a mechanical angel reaching out for something just out of reach. From the eternal, captured in the word “sempiternal,” to the otherworldly “eldritch,” each term presents a new opportunity for visual exploration. Whether it’s the soft glow of an iridescent orb or the soothing colors of chromotherapy, these words are your springboard into uncharted artistic territory. The “ouroboros,” a symbol of cycles and rebirth, reminds us that language and imagery are always evolving, with each creative endeavor revealing new layers of meaning and beauty. - Dodecahedron: A polyhedron with 12 pentagonal faces.
- Scintillating: Emitting bright flashes or sparks of light.
- Stratified: Arranged in layers or strata.
- Phosphenes: Visual phenomena of seeing light without light entering the eye.
- Quintessence: The purest essence or most typical embodiment of something.
- Seraglio: Sequestered living quarters in the Ottoman Empire.
- Tessellate: Arranging shapes in a pattern without gaps.
- Camaïeu: Monochrome artwork using shades of a single color.
- Syncretism: Merging different beliefs into a new system.
- Syzygy: Alignment of celestial bodies.
- Scintillant: Sparkling or twinkling brightly.
- Parietal: Relating to the walls of a body cavity.
- Susurrous: Soft, whispering sounds.
- Guilloche: Decorative pattern with interwoven spirals.
- Apophenic: Seeing patterns where none exist.
- Apogee: Farthest point in an orbit.
- Palatinate: Territory ruled by a palatine.
- Evanescent: Vanishing quickly, leaving no trace.
- Argyrosphere: Upper atmosphere layer with silver ions.
- Anamorphosis: Distorted projection that appears normal from a specific angle.
- Helical: Spiral or coiled shape.
- Solipsistic: Belief in the existence of one’s own mind only.
- Murrini: Patterns in glass from colored rods.
- Aquiline: Curved like an eagle’s beak.
- Elysian: Idyllic paradise.
- Efflorescence: Crystallized salt deposits on surfaces.
- Sempiternal: Everlasting, without end.
- Grillage: Grid-like foundation for buildings.
- Melancholia: Deep, long-lasting sadness.
- Phantasmagoric: Illusionary, shifting appearance.
- Ombré: Gradual blending of color shades.
- Imbroglio: Complicated, confusing situation.
- Architectonic: Relating to building design.
- Tenebrism: Painting style with dramatic contrasts.
- Arabesque: Flowing, intertwined pattern.
- Sgraffito: Technique of scratching through a surface to reveal a lower layer.
- Phyllotaxis: Arrangement of plant parts.
- Labyrinthine: Maze-like complexity.
- Limerent: Obsessive romantic desire.
- Auroral: Related to atmospheric lights.
- Cloisonné: Enameling technique with compartments.
- Penumbra: Partially shaded region of a shadow.
- Fulgurite: Glassy structure from lightning strikes.
- Hoarfrost: Feathery ice crystal deposits.
- Alizarin: Vibrant red dye.
- Opalescent: Iridescent like an opal.
- Cymatics: Patterns formed by sound vibrations.
- Chromotherapy: Color light therapy.
- Eldritch: Sinister, unnatural forces.
- Ouroboros: Symbol of cyclicality and renewal.
These 50 rare words are more than just prompts; they’re an invitation to push the boundaries of your imagination. As you translate these terms into visual art, you’ll not only deepen your connection with the expressive potential of language but also expand your artistic toolkit. So, grab your brush, your camera, or your digital tools, and let these words guide you on a creative odyssey that promises to enrich your work and captivate your audience. Midjourney Consistent Characters If you are writing books and require illustrations that have the same character across multiple images or illustrations will be pleased to know that the development team at Midjourney have recently enabled the highly anticipated Consistent Characters feature. To learn more about how to create and use the Midjourney Consistent Character check out our tips and tricks guide." #metaglossia_mundus
"Chad is a pivot country between North and Central Africa. It is rarely covered as a place of literature, thus Global Voices interviewed francophone novelist Nétonon Noël Ndjékéry. My best writing workshop has been writing letters for illiterate people A pivot country located in the Sahel between North Africa and Central Africa, Chad is rarely discussed in the media as a literary territory. To remedy this gap, Global Voices interviewed the author Nétonon Noël Ndjékéry, one of the most visible representatives of French-speaking Chadian literature. Born in Moundou in southern Chad, Ndjékéry lives in Switzerland where he has devoted himself entirely to writing since April 2021?. To this day, he has published nine books, the two last being “Il n’y a pas d’arc-en-ciel au Paradis” (There is No Rainbow in Paradise), and “L’Angle mort du rêve” (The Dream's Blind Spot). Filip Noubel (FN): Can you describe the linguistic landscape of Chad? Nétonon Noël Ndjékéry (NNN): In Chad there are 144 local languages, plus two official languages, French and classical Arabic, allocated to administration and education. French was introduced there in 1900 with Western colonization. As for classical Arabic, it was imposed by law in 1978 at a time when this language had very few indigenous speakers. Certainly, a vehicular language called Tourkou or “Chadian Arabic” has been used for a long time in this region in the heart of Africa. And while this idiom partially shares its structure and vocabulary with classical Arabic, it dissociates itself drastically on a semantic level due to its crossbreeding with local dialects. This suggests that the establishment of classical Arabic as an official language stemmed from a political desire to anchor the country to the Arab Muslim world. However, although the Chadian government does nothing to promote local languages, Kanembu, Mundang and Ngambay, remain alive. It is nevertheless regrettable that to my knowledge they have not yet produced any literature other than translations of the Bible. In the meantime, to be heard by Chadian public authorities, one must continue to use one or the other of the two imported languages: French and classical Arabic. FN: How did you go from mathematics to literature? NNN: My literary vocation started very early. A taste for storytelling was instilled in me from the cradle by my mother, and later then by the “gosstar,” the Chadian griots. Then, as soon as I learned to read and write in French, I became a public writer, because many people were illiterate in Chad at the time. However, for them to communicate with their loved ones, or with a national administration doped with the French language and Jacobin rigidity, they needed the skills of a French-speaking scholar. So I helped them out when summoned on call, for a handful of peanuts or small change. But above all, it allowed me to share the emotions of my clients, and above all, to translate their joys or their sorrows into words. Thus, combined with the narration techniques that I gleaned from the griots, the management of other people's private or official correspondence turned out to be for me the best writing workshop. The more I devoted myself to it, the more my passion for writing asserted itself. One thing led to another, as a teenager I began to write poems, then short stories. This is how I got into literature. However, I later had to study mathematics, otherwise I would not have been able to benefit from a scholarship from the Chadian state. I then specialized in computer science, just to earn my bread during the day, and enjoy the pleasure of writing at night. As the tree roots itself in a fixed place to better pollinate space and set out to conquer the sky, I try to cast my work in the mold of this maxim which, in my opinion, best defines art in general: Starting from a local anchor to aim for the universal. Indeed, whatever continent I place a story on, my raw material remains the human condition. It is the eternal human that I sing and that I hear vibrate. So, beyond any framework, my work aims first of all to bring to all continents my sub-Saharan way of looking, feeling and speaking about the world. FN: How do you experience life in Switzerland in another culture and your long distance relationship with Chad? In 2017, you received the Grand National Literary Prize in Chad: how are you perceived in Chad as a writer? NNN: I have now lived longer in Europe than on my native continent. However, I would not have been able to write as much if I had not been exiled. Because life in Africa can only be conceived in community. And any activity, such as reading or writing, the exercise of which requires the individual to isolate himself, is generally poorly accepted. It exposes those who engage in it to marginalization. Therefore, I am indebted to Switzerland for offering me this haven of peace and freedom from which the vicissitudes of my country of origin reach me magnified by contrast. This situation of being torn apart between two antipodes is one of the factors which allows in me the tension necessary for creation. Of course I stay in Chad as often as possible. But I still have scruples about living far from my homeland, although this distance paradoxically helps me to better understand Chadian realities. Indeed, having your nose glued to a fresco does not allow you to appreciate all the details. You have to take a step back to see the big picture. And it is precisely this precious panorama that exile provides me with. In 2021, at the National Library of Chad in N’Djamena, there wasn't a single book by me, only one of my life-size photos. This anecdote pretty much sums up how my compatriots perceive me. They know my name from the media, but very few read me. Imagine that a novel imported from Europe sells locally at a price equivalent to one sixth of the average local salary. At this price, there is no need for censorship. Reading therefore only has a utilitarian meaning for pupils and students who, once their diploma is in hand, prefer to read their destiny over a good glass of alcohol. That said, the fact that National Literary Grand Prize awarded me delighted me all the more, as I was not expecting it. I take this recognition as a magnificent bet on the future insofar as it offers my work as a source of inspiration for Chadian youth. FN: Where can one read more about Chadian literature? NNN: It seems that there is a Chadian literature in classical Arabic. But, not being an Arabic speaker, I don’t know it. On the other hand, I am much more familiar with French-speaking Chadian literature, one of the youngest in sub-Saharan Africa. A collection of stories symbolically marking its birth in Chad under the stars was published only in 1962. Since then, many other books have appeared, but, the quality is not always there. However, a few writers with internationally recognized talents allow Chad to appear on the world literary map. The most prominent today are the poets Nimrod Bena and Nocky Djedanoum, the playwright Koulsy Lamko and the world-renowned filmmaker-novelist Mahamat-Saleh Haroun. To find out more, I recommend consulting the pages dedicated to them on social networks or on the sites of their respective publishers. The success of established authors maintains a rich breeding ground of talent which ultimately promises great literary harvests… As long as the government in place provides inputs and framework that are conducive to its development! In Chad, two large annual masses strive to punctuate literary life. First there is the International Festival Le Souffle de l’Harmattan [The Blow of the Harmattan Wind] which remains the only book fair whose impact extends beyond national borders. Finally, since 2017, November has been declared “book and reading month.” It is the only major event during which the Chadian state celebrates writing and writers. It was on this occasion that, for example, the National Literary Prize was awarded, of which I was the first recipient." #metaglossia_mundus
"Interpreter Coord, ASLIE Savejob- Click to add the job to your shortlist Send job Interpreter Coord, ASLIE
Eastern Kentucky UniversityTitle: Interpreter Coord, ASLIE Position Type: Fulltime Staff Search Type: External - minimum 7 days Department: 23R000 - College of Ed & Appl Human Sciences Division: 2R0000 - Academic Affairs Position Location: Richmond Campus Driver Classification: Driver FLSA: Exempt Schedule Type: Full Time (37.5 hrs per week or more) Hours Per Week: 37.5 Additional Schedule Details: 10 Month position Posted Salary Grade: Exempt 10 mth - 46 Retirement: KTRS Contact Person: Daniel Roush Job Summary/Basic FunctionsThe ASLIE Interpreter Coordinator is responsible for interpreting support and administering the program of direct interpreting services for deaf and hard of hearing College of Education and Applied Human Science (CEAHS) Faculty and Staff. The Coordinator's responsibilities include management of the interpreting services including scheduling of interpreting, fiscal management, CART services, collecting and analyzing data on services provided, consultation and liaison with faculty and staff, equipment management, support technology, evaluation and assessment of interpreting needs, development of standard operating procedures, and direct supervision of the full-time and/or part-time interpreting staff. May screen and select freelance interpreters based on the needs of interpreter consumers. Minimum QualificationsEducation: Bachelor's degree is required Experience: Five years of related work experience is required, at least three of which is in higher education Licensure & Certifications: - Must be highly bilingual in American Sign Language and English
- RID Certification CSC, CI and/or CT, and/or NIC is required
- Eligible for the KY state interpreter license
- Valid state driver's license is required
Preferred Qualifications:
Job Duties: - 40% - Manage the direct ASL interpreting services for deaf and hard of hearing faculty and staff within the CEAHS.
- Evaluate and assess needs and provide services to meet those needs
- Develop and implement standard operating procedures for best practices for interpreting services and then audit practices to ensure continual effectiveness
- Develop and manage the department budget for interpreter services
- Select, develop, and maintain a highly qualified pool of hourly and freelance interpreters for a rigorous academic environment through screening, training, and mentoring - (Essential)
- 20% - Schedule, prepare for, provide, document and evaluate interpreter services
- Respond to requests for interpreter services in a timely manner
- Communicate with appropriate faculty, staff, and students to obtain preparation materials for assignments and shares prep materials with interpreters in a timely manner
- Provide: interpreter, note-taking, and CART services
- Document services provided
- Collect, analyze and compile data and write reports
- Utilize technologies such as web forms, FM systems, and video conferencing (Zoom, Teams, etc.)
- Evaluate services provided and give feedback or take corrective action as necessary to ensure customer satisfaction and continuous improvement of interpreter effectiveness - (Essential)
- 20% - Provide direct ASL interpreting services
- Prepare for interpreting services in advance
- Interpret speeches, lectures, meetings, and other items as requested
- Conform to all applicable standards and regulations, including those for confidentiality and privacy of information
- Travel to various locations as needed to provide interpreter services
- Maintain expertise in the field of interpreting, including continuing study of practices and appropriate vocabulary - (Essential)
- 10% - Consult and liaison with CEAHS faculty, staff, students, EKU partnerships and external agencies - (Essential)
- 10% - Complete all other duties as assigned
- Attend meetings, training, conferences, or other functions as assigned
- Maintain current knowledge in the field of interpretation, ASL/Deaf studies & associated technologies
- Complete all other assignments, projects, or duties as requested - (Essential)
Sponsorship: This position is not eligible for Visa sponsorship. Funding Source: Institutional Open Until Filled: Yes Special Instructions:AA/EEO StatementEastern Kentucky University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and educational institution and does not discriminate on the basis of age (40 and over), race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, ethnicity, disability, national origin, veteran status, or genetic information in the admission to, or participation in, any educational program or activity (e.g., athletics, academics and housing) which it conducts or any employment policy or practice. Background Check StatementOffers of employment are contingent upon satisfactory background check. To apply, please visit: https://careers.eku.edu/jobs/interpreter-coord-aslie-richmond-campus-kentucky-united-statesjeid-711cf66bf5c8b24da81896e100398072" #metaglossia_mundus
"Looking at cross-cultural interactions through the lens of fiction, the new collection Shahrazad's Gift by Gretchen McCullough dives into the perspectives of her characters, exploring their inner worlds, tensions with their neighbors and navigation of the absurdities of everyday life. Recently published, Shahrazad's Gift can be found here. Q: Congratulations on the release! Can you tell us a bit about the book? A: The book is a new edition of my collection of short stories called Shahrazad’s Tooth that was published here in Cairo in 2013 with a small grant from AUC. This edition includes two new stories, all inspired by my time living in Garden City, my neighbors and other people I met in Cairo. Q: Can you give us a sneak preview of some of the stories? A: The Empty Flat Upstairs was inspired by a neighbor I had from Japan who was convinced her upstairs neighbors were spying on her. In the story, the flat upstairs is officially empty; however, a bunch of people use it off the record so she’s always hearing noises upstairs. It makes her crazy, but whenever she asks the bawab (doorman) if someone’s living in that flat, he of course replies no. So there's this division between the official reality and her lived reality. Each story explores different people and their interactions, particularly the kind of surreal or absurd quality that cross-cultural differences can take on. Q: If you had to pick like three words to describe the book, what would you choose? A: I would say surreal, goofy and quirky. Q: What does the process of inspiration look like for you? A: It’s a little like a fishing rod; you don't know what you're looking for until you find it. I always tell students that you have to be alert because you never know what's going to be interesting. It’s sort of inexplicable. Some things take root, and others don't. Sometimes you don’t know why something initially interests you, it's not like journalism– Imagination is an essential element of the process. Q: Once you’re inspired, what do you do? A: Every project is different. Even once you have the idea, you often aren't sure what you're where you're going to go with it. For me, it often involves a lot of research, and I write lots and lots of notes. If I’m working on a novel, I’ll make a loose plan for the structure. You have to be flexible enough to go whichever direction the story flows authentically, adapting as you go. Q: What makes the upcoming collection exciting or meaningful to you as the author? A: Well, it was initially published locally and I'm excited that the collection will now reach a bigger audience. The American publisher is a small independent press called Cune that publishes books about the Middle East who are based in Seattle. They’re also making a Kindle version of it, and I'm really glad that the stories will be given another shelf life. Cune Press published my novel, Confessions of a Knight Errant, in 2022, which is partly set in Egypt during the 2011 uprising; partly set in Texas. Q: How has living in Cairo affected your writing? A: When I came in 2000, I started from scratch learning Arabic, and I think learning it has affected my writing. Some of the inspirations for my work were stories that were told to me by Egyptians in Arabic, which influenced my own storytelling. The writing I did about Texas feels like another life, what I write here has a very different flavor. Q: Do you face challenges as an American writer writing in and about Egypt? If so, what are they? A: A constant question is how to portray another culture in a way that's respectful. It’s complicated and challenging, especially when writing from the perspective of an Egyptian character. But there are also lots of funny things that happen in cross-cultural interactions, and that's one of the things that I like to explore in my books– these kinds of cultural snafus where tensions, misunderstandings and differences show up. Things get lost in translation, in far more than just a linguistic sense. Gretchen McCullough was raised in Harlingen Texas. After graduating from Brown University in 1984, she taught in Egypt, Turkey and Japan. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Alabama and was awarded a teaching Fulbright to Syria from 1997-1999. Her stories, essays and reviews have appeared in The Barcelona Review, Archipelago, National Public Radio, Story South, Guernica, The Common, The Millions, and the LA Review of Books. Translations in English and Arabic have been published in: Nizwa, Banipal, Brooklyn Rail in Translation, World Literature Today and Washington Square Review with Mohamed Metwalli. Her bi-lingual book of short stories in English and Arabic, Three Stories from Cairo, translated with Mohamed Metwalli was published in July 2011 by AFAQ Publishing House, Cairo. A collection of short stories about expatriate life in Cairo, Shahrazad’s Tooth, was also published by AFAQ in 2013. Confessions of a Knight Errant, a novel, was published by Cune Press, 2022. Currently, she is a senior instructor in AUC’s Department of Rhetoric and Composition." #metaglossia_mundus
"Efforts are under way to make AI fluent in more than just English ChatGPT, a chatbot developed by OpenAI, an American firm, can give passable answers to questions on everything from nuclear engineering to Stoic philosophy. Or at least, it can in English. The latest version, ChatGPT-4, scored 85% on a common question-and-answer test. In other languages it is less impressive. When taking the test in Telugu, an Indian language spoken by nearly 100m people, for instance, it scored just 62%. OpenAI has not revealed much about how ChatGPT-4 was built. But a look at its predecessor, ChatGPT-3, is suggestive. Large language models (LLMs) are trained on text scraped from the internet, on which English is the lingua franca. Around 93% of ChatGPT-3’s training data was in English. In Common Crawl, just one of the datasets on which the model was trained, English makes up 47% of the corpus, with other (mostly related) European languages accounting for 38% more. Chinese and Japanese combined, by contrast, made up just 9%. Telugu was not even a rounding error.An evaluation by Nathaniel Robinson, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University, and his colleagues finds that is not a problem limited to ChatGPT. All LLMs fare better with “high-resource" languages, for which training data are plentiful, than for “low-resource" ones for which they are scarce. That is a problem for those hoping to export AI to poor countries, in the hope it might improve everything from schools to health care. Researchers around the world are therefore working to make AI more multilingual. India’s government is particularly keen. Many of its public services are already digitised, and it is keen to fortify them with AI. In September, for instance, it launched a chatbot to help farmers get information about state benefits. The bot works by welding two sorts of language model together, says Shankar Maruwada of the EkStep Foundation, a non-profit that helped build it. Users can submit queries in their native tongues. (Eight are supported so far; five more are coming soon.) These are passed to a piece of machine-translation software developed at IIT Madras, an Indian academic institution, which translates them into English. The English version of the question is then fed to the LLM, and its response translated back into the user’s mother tongue. The system seems to work. But translating queries into an LLM’s preferred language is a rather clumsy workaround. After all, language is a vehicle for worldviews and culture as well as just meaning, notes the boss of one Indian AI firm. A paper by Rebecca Johnson, a researcher at the University of Sydney, published in 2022, found that ChatGPT-3 gave replies on topics such as gun control and refugee policy that aligned most with the values displayed by Americans in the World Values Survey, a global questionnaire of public opinion. Many researchers are therefore trying to make LLMs themselves more fluent in less widely spoken languages. One approach is to modify the tokeniser, the part of an LLM that chops words into smaller chunks for the rest of the model to manipulate. Text in Devanagari, a script used with Hindi, needs three to four times more tokens, when tokenised the standard way, than the same text in English. An Indian startup called Sarvam AI has written a tokeniser optimised for Hindi, which cuts that number substantially. Fewer tokens means fewer computations. Sarvam reckons that OpenHathi, its Devanagari-optimised LLM, can cut the cost of answering questions by around three-quarters. Another is to improve the datasets on which LLMs are trained. Often this means digitising reams of pen-and-paper texts. In November a team of researchers at Mohamed bin Zayed University, in Abu Dhabi, released the latest version of an Arabic-speaking model called “Jais". It has one-sixth as many parameters (one measure of a model’s size) as ChatGPT-3, but performs on par with it in Arabic. Timothy Baldwin, the university’s acting provost, notes that, because his team could only digitise so much Arabic text, the model also included some English. Some concepts, after all, are similar across all languages, and can be learned in any tongue. Data in a specific language are more important for teaching the model specific cultural ideas and quirks. The third approach is to tweak models after they have been trained. Both Jais and OpenHathi have had some question-and-answer pairs hand crafted by humans. The same happens with Western chatbots, to stop them spreading what their makers see as disinformation. Ernie Bot, an LLM from Baidu, a big Chinese tech company, has been tweaked to try to stop it saying things to which the government might object. Models can also learn from human feedback, in which users rate an LLM’s answers. But that is hard to do for many poor-world languages, says Dr Baldwin, since it requires recruiting people literate enough to criticise the machine’s writing. How well all this will work remains to be seen. A quarter of India’s adults are illiterate, something that no amount of LLM tweaking will solve. Many Indians prefer using voice messages to communicate rather than text ones. AI can also turn speech into words, as India’s chatbot for farmers does. But that adds another step at which errors can creep in. And it is possible that builders of local LLMs may eventually be put out of business by the efforts of the Silicon Valley big boys. Although it is far from perfect, ChatGPT-4 is much better than ChatGPT-3 at answering questions in non-English languages. However it is done, teaching AI to speak more of the world’s 7,000-odd languages can only be a good thing. Curious about the world? To enjoy our mind-expanding science coverage, sign up to Simply Science, our weekly subscriber-only newsletter. © 2024, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com" #metaglossia_mundus
"When recounting an episode of the children's TV show Pingu, people from Italy made an average of 22 gestures per 100 words, compared with 11 for Swedish people People of different nationalities appear to vary in their use of hand gestures, according to a study that seems to reinforce the idea that Italians, in particular, “talk with their hands”. Maria Graziano and her colleague Marianne Gullberg, both at Lund University in Sweden, asked 12 people from Sweden and 12 from Italy to describe a clip from the children’s TV show Pingu to a friend who hadn’t seen it, while examining their gestures. “Italians do gesture more,” says Graziano on a video call, gesturing emphatically herself, which she puts down to her upbringing in Naples, Italy. In the study, the Italians made an average of 22 gestures per 100 words, compared with the Swedes’ 11. But more interesting was the difference in the function of the gestures, says Graziano. The Swedes mostly used “representational gestures” to illustrate the events and actions of the story, for example mimicking a rolling pin when describing baking. The Italians made these motions as well, but also had more “pragmatic gestures” that comment on the story or introduce new information, such as a hand movement to indicate a new character. This suggests that the two cultures think differently about the way a narrative is produced, says Graziano. Gestures can reflect what cultures deem important about the content and purpose of a story, she says. Barbara Tversky at Stanford University in California says that exactly why these results occurred is unclear, but they suggest that “cultural conventions of understanding and explaining brief episodes are driving the gestures”. Tversky wants to see further research in larger groups of people with a more diverse mix of nationalities. Graziano hopes to now study the gestures used in different types of discourse, and with different relationships between the speakers, to shed more light on how various cultures use gestures to communicate and tell a story. Journal reference:
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Ecrivains, artistes ou penseurs, nous exprimons ici notre volonté de voir la francophonie défendre toujours davantage les valeurs humanistes de la diversité culturelle, de la libre création, de l’échange entre les individus et, à travers eux, entre les cultures.
Nous sommes convaincus que la francophonie, pour être exemplaire vis-à-vis des nations et des peuples qui luttent pour préserver le droit à la diversité culturelle et linguistique et au respect des identités, doit rompre le cercle de la realpolitik et des rapports de force, qu’ils viennent du Nord comme du Sud.
UNE ÎLE MODERNE
Nous ne sommes pas des donneurs de leçons. Nous avons, en revanche, la conviction que c’est à l’Organisation internationale de la francophonie (OIF) que se joue, pour une bonne part, le combat pour le respect de la pluralité des cultures. Cette lutte est au cœur de notre engagement, au cœur de cette « francosphère », espace rêvé d’échanges linguistiques et culturels respectueux de l’histoire et de l’exceptionnelle richesse créatrice du genre humain.
C’est avec cette idée que nous faisons aujourd’hui confiance à la candidature de l’île Maurice pour conduire le futur de l’OIF. En moins d’un demi-siècle, cette île-carrefour a donné naissance à un laboratoire à la fois du vivre-ensemble de multiples groupes sociaux et de préservation de la diversité culturelle dans le cadre d’un Etat démocratique, respectueux des droits de l’homme et des croyances de chacun. C’est le pays qui fait cependant de l’idéal interculturel une quête constante.
Moderne parce que plurielle, l’île Maurice, par sa fidélité au français et sa pratique de l’anglais et des langues asiatiques, bâtit un pont entre l’Afrique, l’Europe, l’Indeet la Chine. Elle apporte au XXIe siècle l’image d’une francophonie originale et décomplexée, résolument ouverte et heureuse d’exister, dépouillée des pesanteurs coloniales.
Nous croyons donc que cette candidature mauricienne, incarnée par une personnalité aux multiples talents, exprime la synthèse positive du monde en mouvement. Elle est la promesse d’un projet mobilisateur pour les femmes et les hommes de nos pays qui attendent beaucoup d’une mondialisation respectueuse de ce qu’ils sont.