Metaglossia: The Translation World

Election officials in Sacramento and dozens more counties got a glimpse this month at how California's diverse population will affect how they plan for the next gubernatorial election in June 2014.

Major League Baseball is expected to adopt a rule that will allow a team to send an interpreter to the mound with the manager or the pitching coach to speak to a foreign-born pitcher.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana - The South American country of Guyana has translated its labor laws into Chinese amid an influx of Asian companies and workers

Guyana translates labor laws into Chinese amid surge of Asian investment

A judge sitting in Maidstone has slammed a private firm's failure to supply a court interpreter just days after official figures revealed the number of criminal cases which have collapsed since their appointment.

As it stands, Quebec law allows local courts to use either French or English in their proceedings, according to an article in the Vancouver Sun.

Most Quebecois judges select French.

El Periódico ACTUALIDAD será una tribuna para los temas de ciudad.

Producteur et réalisateur d'émissions radiophoniques à Radio Pays, Hamid Lamara produira un effort considérable y compris financier pour pouvoir mettre en place une émission kabyle quotidienne.

THE former boss of a controversial, Delph-based court translation company has blamed interpreters for failures in the...

TRAINING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT

The Suburban Washington Resettlement Center is looking for 18 to 24 qualified, willing and interested candidates to participate in a 40-hour (5-day, 8 hours/day) community interpreter training course certified by Cross Cultural Communications, Inc., (www.cultureandlanguage.net), a company providing government agencies and non-profit organizations with training in language and culture, services to immigrants, interpreting, and education for translators and interpreters.

Community interpreting is a growing profession that targets the sectors of health care, education, and human and social services. In the past, families and friends used to interpret in these settings. Today, federal civil rights legislation, national ethics and standards for interpreters, hospital accreditation agencies, and many state and municipal laws endorse or promote the use of qualified interpreters. A qualified interpreter should, at minimum, attend professional training and be tested for language proficiency.

When:
Day 1: Monday, December 3rd, 9 A.M. to 5:30 P.M.
Day 2: Tuesday, December 4th, 9 A.M. to 5:30 P.M.
Day 3: Friday, December 7th, 9 A.M. to 5:30 P.M.
Day 4: Monday, December 10th, 9 A.M. to 5:30 P.M.
Day 5: Tuesday, December 11th, 9 A.M. to 5:30 P.M.

Where:
Suburban Washington Resettlement Center
8719 Colesville Road, 3rd Floor, Silver Spring, MD 20910

Fee: $150 (scholarship available if you are a current SWRC client.)

Qualifications:

You are 21 years old or older.
You possess good English proficiency (short listed candidates will be assessed for their English proficiency level)
You have been in the United States of America for over 180 days (preferred).
Experience with refugees or asylees strongly preferred. Former or current refugees and asylees are encouraged to apply.
Requirements:

Selected candidates must attend all sessions (5 days).
Selected candidates must commit to completing 10 to 20 hour unpaid practicum (observation period) to work as a community interpreter at the Suburban Washington Resettlement Center upon the completion of the training.

Application Due: November 6th, 2012
If you are interested, please submit your resume either electronically or by mail to Hanako Kubori, Community Interpreter Program Coordinator, at Hanako.Kubori@rescue.org, or Attn: Hanako Kubori, 8719 Colesville Road, 3rd Floor, Silver Spring, MD 20910. You may also hand deliver your resume to the SWRC reception desk. No calls please.

Allegation comes as MPs are told £300m contract awarded to Applied Language Solutions is 'unsalvageable'...

Suspects are being needlessly remanded in custody and denied a fair trial because of a severe shortage of qualified court interpreters, a Commons select committee has been told. An investigation into the privatised monopoly awarded to Applied Language Solutions (ALS) covering all courts in England and Wales heard the main professional bodies describe the agreement as "unsalvageable".

The contract, awarded by the Ministry of Justice, came into force at the beginning of February but has been boycotted by most experienced court interpreters because of low rates of pay and poor travel expenses.

Both the public accounts committee (PAC) and the justice select committee are taking evidence this month into the way in which the contract was awarded and how it is being operated following widespread complaints about cancelled court cases and the quality of service. The contract, worth as much as £300m over five years, according to some estimates, was originally granted to ALS. The services conglomerate Capita subsequently bought out the small Huddersfield firm and this summer brought in a new management team to run the business.

Giving evidence to the justice select committee on Tuesday, Richard Atkinson, the chairman of the Law Society's criminal law committee, said: "People are being remanded into custody for no other reason than the lack of interpreters. I would say they are being denied a fair trial process.

"[One] man was remanded on three separate occasions because of lack of interpreters. He spent three nights in custody." Magistrates eventually gave the suspect, with no previous record, bail and sent him to a court 50 miles away where they hoped an interpreter would be available.

"There was a crown court case at the end of September in Leicester," Atkinson added. It had been listed seven months earlier. "On the first day of the trial neither of the Albanian interpreters were available so it had to be put off for a further day.. … Crown court trials cost, at least, thousands of pounds a day."

John Fassenfelt, chairman of the Magistrates' Association, said: "I had an example recently when there was a Russian interpreter. The defendant said something. The interpreter didn't translate it. This person's job was to interpret, not to decide 'that's not important'. It was a substantial [comment] and it did affect the sentence."

Fassenfelt said a survey of magistrates had found that 90% felt the new contract with ALS "did not work well".

LAS VEGAS — Joshua Pajarillo stood outside Seafood City, greeting fellow Filipinos in Tagalog — one of his native country’s main languages — and trying to get them to stop and fill out Clark County’s new voter registration form.

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Responding to a recent surge in Asian voter populations, Nevada and 10 other states are being compelled by federal law to print ballots and other voting materials in languages other than English. Other large jurisdictions making the move include San Diego County, which is translating materials into Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese, and Cook County in Illinois, which is translating into Hindi.

But on that day last month, Mr. Pajarillo, a pastor here, had a problem with the new form. One man he tried to register did not understand some of the Tagalog words — so the two had to compare it to the original English. “It wasn’t written in words that people use every day,” Mr. Pajarillo said.

Fortunately, the two men are bilingual, so using the new form was a matter of choice rather than necessity.

Su Nguyen, a Vietnamese language coordinator for the registrar of voters in San Diego County, also ran into a translation problem recently. The word for “registration” was initially translated using a term associated with communist prison camps. “People, when they see that word, it brings back bad memories,” he said. The translation was corrected.

These are among the many challenges facing the 22 cities and counties in 11 states where Asian-American populations are now covered by the federal Voting Rights Act. Section 203 of the act requires ballots, forms, pamphlets and signs to be translated wherever 5 percent of the local population — or more than 10,000 voting-age citizens — speak the same native language and have limited proficiency in English.

Other hurdles include translation gaffes that misinform voters, or recalcitrant election departments not fully complying with the law. In the 2008 elections, some poll workers “disparaged translated materials,” according to a report by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, a national civil rights group. And different populations have different proficiency levels: Only half of Chinese-Americans say they speak English very well, compared with 92 percent of Filipinos.

LEVANTE DE CASTELLÓ CASTELLÓ El alcalde de Castelló, Alfonso Bataller, anunció ayer en un comunicado de prensa que el Plan de Negocio de la Ciudad de las Lenguas incluirá también a los sectores de la traducción y la interpretación "ya que es un sector en alza". Así lo destacó tras las dos reuniones de trabajo que ha mantenido esta misma semana en Bruselas con Gonzalo Bescós, director del servicio de traducción del Comité de las Regiones y el Comité Económico y Social; con Joaquín Calvo, jefe de la Unidad de Español de Traducción de ambas instituciones; y con Pedro Ortún, director de Industrias de Servicio de la Dirección General de Empresa de la Comisión Europea.
De esta forma, Bataller destacó que los tres representantes "han acogido con entusiasmo este proyecto que seguimos perfilando y que se ubicará junto a la playa de Castelló". "Quiero que la Ciudad de las Lenguas se convierta en un complejo de referencia en el estudio de la lengua española pero también que sea un espacio que se destaque por el multilingüismo y donde se puedan estudiar otras lenguas de la UE o el chino o el árabe", añadió Bataller, quien concretó que la importancia de incluir a empresas del sector de la traducción en este gran proyecto para Castelló "permitirá también la realización de prácticas a recién licenciados, un sector que en los últimos años está creciendo de forma notable". Tanto Bescós como Calvo han ensalzado este proyecto que supondrá una ventaja competitiva de Castelló frente a otras ciudades ya que "la ciudad cuenta con un buen clima y la playa cercana, factores que, sin duda, contribuirán al éxito del proyecto. Además, supondrá un concepto turístico innovador con un gran potencial".
Por su parte, Ortún también ha ofrecido su apoyo al proyecto y "seguiremos estando en contacto para materializar en el mismo estos contactos que hemos llevado a cabo en el transcurso de la reunión con el fin de conseguir lo mejor para Castelló", apostilló Bataller.
Según el alcalde, "estamos trabajando en el Plan de Negocio de la Ciudad de las Lenguas y avanzando en la consecución de apoyos para que pueda ser una realidad en el menor tiempo posible, ya que supondrá un revulsivo para la ciudad y contribuiría a una mejora en nuestra economía". Finalmente, el primer edil mostró su "satisfacción" por el resultado de los encuentros mantenidos con los responsables de los departamentos de traducción de la UE.

Shortage of Sign Language Interpreters in Coastal Bend

Posted: Oct 03, 2012 12:11 AM
Updated: Oct 03, 2012 12:11 AM

CORPUS CHRISTI (Kiii News) -
Countless people rely on sign-language interpreters. Many places are required by law to provide them, but there aren't nearly enough to fill the need.

The shortage is most serious inside hospitals, when a deaf or hard of hearing patient needs urgent care.

We have 30 qualified sign language interpreters here in our area. They are responsible for more than 20 counties, so between drive-time and high demand, sometimes it takes hours before an interpreter is available.

When one is needed, the local Deaf and Hard of Hearing Center calls on their volunteers. Most of them have full-time jobs, so they're not available around the clock.

Driscoll Children's Hospital calls in an interpreter 6-10 times a month, and the need can vary; but regardless, the patient being able to communicate with their doctor is vital, especially in life or death situations.

"It's very important that they understand them trying to convey discharge instructions, medical outcome, plan of care, etc.," said Evelyn Ferrer of Driscoll Children's Hospital.

Del Mar College offers a two-year program for people who are interested in becoming an interpreter. Not only does the job pay well, but there are thousands available; but only about 3-5 people complete the program per year, and most of them move away.

"It's not an easy skill to learn a new language, and a skill you never used in your everyday life," said Lucy James, assistant professor at Del Mar College. "Many others don't like the sign language and figure they want to go into something else."

Court interpreter training planned for Madison
POSTED: Monday, October 1st, 2012 at 1:39 pm
BY: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF
Tags:

The Director of State Courts Office is accepting applications for a weekend interpreter training course to be held Oct. 20-21 at the Pyle Center on the UW-Madison campus.

While Spanish is the primary language requested by the courts, increased efforts are being made to recruit qualified interpreters for many other languages, including those spoken by incoming refugee populations. The state Department of Children and Families Refugee Assistance Services Program is offering a limited number of scholarships to qualified individuals fluent in languages such as Arabic, Burmese, Farsi, French, Khmer, Russian, Somali and Tibetan.

Interpreters also are sought for more rare languages from Myanmar such as Chin, Karen, Karenni, and Mon. Applicants fluent in English and almost 50 other languages, including American Sign Language, are being sought.

Training sessions are for people interested in learning the fundamentals of court interpreting and are designed to give participants an overview of the needs and expectations of the court with emphasis on ethical conduct, legal terminology, court procedure, and basic legal interpreting skills. Small group practice exercises will help to develop interpreting skills. This orientation is intended as an introduction to the complexities of court interpreting, rather than as an in-depth training. Faculty includes judges, attorneys, and certified court interpreters.

A $160 fee covers the sessions, lunches and materials. Each session will run 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on two consecutive days. The application deadline is Friday.

Talk to your doctor in 170 languages: GTA launches 24/7 medical interpreter service
Published on Monday October 01, 2012
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Truc Thanh Nguyen is happily in remission now after learning she had breast cancer two years ago - a diagnosis made all the more difficult by her inability to communicate directly with her doctor. In such situations, translation services are a lifesaver for many immigrants.
Nicholas Keung
Immigration Reporter
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It was scary enough to be told she had breast cancer. Even worse for Truc Thanh Nguyen, a Vietnamese immigrant, she didn’t understand a word the doctor was saying.

“I was sad, worried and scared because I could not understand what was going on in my body,” Nguyen, 46, said later through an interpreter. “It makes a big difference if you can understand your doctor and express yourself and ask questions.”

Fortunately, Princess Margaret Hospital, through its in-house interpretation services, was able to come to Nguyen’s aid two years ago when she got the diagnosis. She’s now in remission.

“I hope all patients who can’t speak English can get the help, so they don’t feel lost, lonely and depressed,” said the mother of two, who has worked in factory jobs ever since joining her husband in Toronto in 1992.

As of Tuesday, Nguyen’s wish is one step closer as the Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) launches the first 24/7, GTA-wide medical interpretation service.

Hospitals and clinics used to provide interpretation services in a piecemeal way. Some bought telephone interpretation services, paying rates ranging from $1.70 to $8 per minute.

The LHIN is now coordinating bulk purchasing, giving 19 GTA hospitals and 14 community agencies access to 24-hour interpretation services in 170 languages, including aboriginal languages, at $1.44 or less a minute, depending on monthly usage.

A TRANSLATION contract that caused “courtroom chaos” has been condemned in a Government report.

The National Audit Office (NAO) said the privatisation of court interpreters, awarded to Applied Language Solutions (ALS), was “wholly inadequate”. It comes after a string of problems, including the halting of a murder trial at Winchester Crown Court in July.

As revealed by the Daily Echo, the judge , Mr Justice Barnett, temporarily stopped the trial when a man turned up to translate because his wife – the real interpreter – was busy elsewhere. He wrongly translated a number of key words and phrases. Investigations found he was not qualified or registered with ALS.

The NAO report said the Ministry of Justice had underestimated the risks involved with granting the monopoly, as well as objections from within the industry and failing to check whether the company had enough qualified staff on its books.

The World Congress of the Universal Postal Congress at the Qatar National Convention Centre involves delegates from 192 nations working over three-weeks.
The number of languages spoken means a huge challenge for translators and interpreters who are headed by UPU’s chief interpreter Francois Butticker.
Butticker, who communicates flawlessly in four languages apart from English, is now a familiar figure at the venue.
The impeccable translations provided by Butticker’s team at different venues is what keeps more than 2,400 delegates engrossed in the panel discussions taking place in more than three or four languages at a time.
Interpretation services in French, English, Spanish, Arabic, Russian and Chinese are usually provided at all UPU forums. However, following requests from the Japanese and Portugal delegations, translations are also being delivered in Japanese and Portuguese this time.
Butticker, a veteran with three decades of experience in interpretation, including at major UPU meetings and conferences across the world, speaks German, Italian, Spanish and his mother tongue French.
He manages a team of 40 interpreters, each of whom is working at different panel sessions, attended by between 500 and 750 people.
Butticker, 55, is a product of Geneva’s School of Interpretation.
Their job has always been demanding especially when discussions on sensitive issues are taking place.

Vancouver has too many languages and not enough in-school translation services, according to some parents who are weary of taking interpretation tasks upon themselves for a district of students speaking dozens of mother tongues.

Written by
Getahn Ward
The Tennessean

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Baptist Hospital paid a deaf man $19,000 and agreed to provide sign language interpreters to such patients and their companions to settle a lawsuit filed on his behalf by a local disability advocate.

Last year, the Disability Law & Advocacy Center of Tennessee sued the hospital and its parent, claiming that in 2010 Michael Gournaris received interpreter services during only 5½ hours of his almost four-day stay at Baptist after suffering stroke-like symptoms. The hospital instead sought to communicate with Gournaris through written notes, the advocacy group said.

Rebecca Climer, a spokeswoman for Baptist, said the hospital settled to resolve the matter and avoid a protracted discussion. “Regarding this occurrence, Baptist Hospital’s services were provided in compliance with all applicable laws and our own policies,” she said.

The $19,000 is intended to compensate Gournaris for his alleged injuries and his attorney’s fees, costs and expenses.

Baptist also agreed not to charge patients for sign language interpreters or auxiliary aids and services, to create and post in all clinical areas of the hospital a laminated sign with steps for obtaining interpreters and related services, and to train staff on its new policies and communication issues.

PATIENTS are being denied access to interpreters at Northern Health in cutbacks that doctors warn will put patients at risk.
The interpreters' union - the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia - said interpreters were being cancelled for dozens of patients each day in cost-saving measures that began a couple of weeks ago.
The Age has been told Northern Health wants to cut about 7000 interpreting appointments over the next year, which equates to 16 per cent of its total 43,202 interpreter requests in 2011.
About one in five of the health network's patients need an interpreter, including at the Northern Hospital in Epping and the Broadmeadows and Craigieburn health services.
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The Australian Medical Association's Victorian president, Dr Stephen Parnis, said interpreters were vital to obtain informed consent from patients and reduce the risk of adverse outcomes due to miscommunication. ''When interpreters stand beside you and convey your words to a patient and a patient's words to you, that's an indispensable part of clinical care,'' he said.
''It's a big issue and we do have serious concerns if the quality and amount of those services are being cut back.''
APESMA Victoria director Bede Payne said slashing interpreting services would lead to errors and ultimately increase costs to the health service.
According to an Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria policy paper launched by Health Minister David Davis last month, non-English-speaking patients spend more time in hospital and have higher rates of readmission and diagnostic testing.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/doctors-warning-on-interpreter-cutbacks-20120923-26f7o.html#ixzz27smMYH6t