Metaglossia: The Translation World

"Parmi ses atouts, on retrouve la transcription et la traduction en temps réel à partir du microphone de l’ordinateur, ce qui va faciliter quand même vachement le travail de ceux qui ont besoin de transcrire une réunion, une interview ou même des conversations informelles (un coup de fil par exemple).

L’application permet également d’importer des fichiers audio et vidéo et d’exporter les transcriptions au format CSV, SRT, TXT et VTT, permettant ainsi une compatibilité avec de nombreux logiciels et services comme Youtube."

#metaglossia mundus

The winner of the Ottawa Award on the importance of children’s literature, and his project with the University of Chicago to translate South Asian literature

ByKunal Ray

May 27, 2023 08:58 PM IST

 

The winner of the Ottawa Award on the importance of children’s literature, and his project with the University of Chicago to translate South Asian literature

Congratulations on the Ottaway Award. Do awards really impact how we read, think, and write as a culture?In theory more than in practice, I think. I’m not sure in reality there are very many awards that have a broad impact. For me, they’re more important, sort of in the abstract, as a statement of what we value – what is this prize supposed to be rewarding, exactly? – more than any direct impact on sales, for example....

#metaglossia mundus

"....Este diccionario básico contiene 15 conceptos que cuentan con dos palabras diferentes, una de uso común en Tenerife y la otra en Gran Canaria. Aquí van las 30 palabras.

Bubango - calabacín

 

Si pides bubangos en el mercado en Gran Canaria, el tendero te corregirá diciéndote: "querrá decir calabacines". Sin embargo, la Academia Canaria de la Lengua asegura que el bubango es otra cosa. Calabacita cilíndrica de corteza verde y carne blanca, parecida a la del calabacín, pero más apreciada que la de este. El bubango se distingue del calabacín por la forma y el tamaño.

Cotufas - roscas

Las cotufas son de Tenerife y las roscas de Gran Canaria. Hasta Canarias Radio utiliza esta doble designación sobre las palomitas de maíz como nombre de uno de sus programas. 'Roscas y cotufas'.

Chorizo de perro - chorizo de Teror

Hay quien sostiene que no es la misma cosa, pero es difícil encontrar las siete diferencias.

Bizcochón - Queque

Si hablamos de bollería, ya sea casera o industrial, en Tenerife pediremos bizcochón y queque en Gran Canaria. En la Península dirían bizcocho, pero como en Gran Canaria el bizcocho es otra cosa se prefirió tirar del anglicismo Cake.

Pan bizcochado - bizcocho

El pan bizcochado es más de Tenerife y el bizcocho de Gran Canaria. Eso que en la Península llamarían pan tostado.

Pan de lata - pan de molde

En las dos islas está claro que se trata de pan y de un pan con forma, ya sea de lata cuadrada o de molde cuadrado.

Higo pico - tuno

El fruto de las chumberas o tuneras es para los tinerfeños el higo pico y para los grancanarios el tuno.

Guachinche - bochinche

Todo el mundo sabe que en Tenerife se come fantásticamente y por poco dinero en los guachinches, acompañando la comida con vino de la bodega propia o agua. En Gran Canaria, los bochinches ofrecen también comida por poco dinero. De la calidad no hablamos. Lo que no se encuentra es el vino propio, aunque te ofrezcan vino de la casa.

Fisco - pisco

Un poquito se dice un fisco en Tenerife y es un pisco en Gran Canaria. Y con esta palabra cerramos el capítulo de la comida, aunque el fisco o el pisco no necesariamente van ligados a lo que nos entra por la boca.

Mas de 25 frases isleñas que necesitan un diccionario canario-peninsular

Selena Quesada

Globo - sopladera

En este caso no entra por la boca, sino que resulta del aire que sale por ella. Según el diccionario básico de canarismos, la sopladera de Gran Canaria es una bolsa redonda, oval o fusiforme hecha de una materia flexible e impermeable, que se llena de aire y que sirve de juguete. Vamos, lo que viene a ser un globo en Tenerife y en el resto de España.

Suéter - pulóver

La influencia y préstamo de otra lengua viene en este caso del mismo lado, pero en Tenerife se quedaron con el suéter y en Gran Canaria prefirieron el pulóver para referirse a lo que en la Península llamarían jersey.

Tenis - playeras

Las zapatillas de deporte son tenis en Tenerife y playeras en Gran Canaria.

Gaveta - cajón

Si queremos guardar bien nuestro suéter o nuestros tenis, lo haremos en una gaveta en Tenerife y en un cajón en Gran Canaria.

Armario - ropero

Eso sí, la gaveta solo puede ser de nuestro armario en Tenerife, mientras que en Gran Canaria el cajón es del ropero.

Maletero - portabultos

Y llegamos al final de este viaje. Si guardas tu equipaje en el maletero del coche en Tenerife y te montas en el Armas o el Fred. Olsen para ir a Gran Canaria, lo sacarás del portabultos al llegar al destino.

Si conoces más palabras diferentes que significan lo mismo en las dos islas y quieres aportarlas, comenta en esta noticia."

#metaglossia mundus

May 26, 2023 "The Middlebury Bread Loaf Translators’ Conference and Bread Loaf Environmental Writers’ Conference will each offer free lectures and readings to the public when they are in session June 2-7. Both conferences are modeled on the Middlebury Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the oldest writers’ conference in the country.

The Translators’ Conference, now in its ninth year, is the first such forum to highlight the important role that literary translators of poetry and prose play in the United States and beyond. The 10th annual Environmental Writers’ Conference is designed for those who want to bring more depth of knowledge and understanding to their writing about the environment and the natural world. The two gatherings will take place concurrently at Middlebury’s Bread Loaf campus in Ripton. 
 
The intensive weeklong sessions incorporate the Middlebury Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference model of small, focused workshops coupled with readings, discussions, lectures, and specialized classes focusing on the craft of writing at the Environmental Conference, or, in the case of the Translators’ Conference, on the art of literary translation. Each morning there are lectures in the Barn and Little Theater on the Bread Loaf campus given by faculty from the Translators’ and Environmental Conferences respectively. Each evening there are readings offered by both conferences in the Little Theater. 

The Translators’ Conference will feature such faculty as Hosam Aboul-Ela and Mónica de la Torre. A professor of English and the AAEF/Burhan and Misako Ajuz Professor of Arab Studies at the University of Houston, Hosam Aboul-Ela is the translator of four Arabic novels and author of numerous articles in the areas of comparative literature, literature of the Americas, and Arab cultural studies. In addition to Other South: Faulkner, Coloniality, and the Mariátegui Tradition, he is author of the Domestications: American Empire, Literary Culture, and the Postcolonial Lens. For Seagull Books, he curates the Arab list and coedits with Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak the Elsewhere Texts series. His translation of Sonallah Ibrahim’s Warda was published by Yale in 2021. He will give a lecture titled “Translation and Agency: A Biographical Turn?” on June 4 at 9 a.m. in the Barn and a reading with Jennifer Chang, Carolyn Finney, and Madhu H. Kaza on June 5 at 4:30 p.m. in the Little Theater...."

#metaglossia mundus

26/05/2023  By Kathy Karageorgiou   "Konstantinos Gilos works as a Greek to English (and vice versa) interpreter and translator in Athens, Greece.  The 53 year old arrived from Australia to Greece in 1993, when he was 20.  Before that he visited Greece many times with his parents, “many times, from when I was two, but of course I really got to know and feel Greece aged 10 upwards from those trips, which included going to Konstantinoupoli,” he tells me – describing what is now Istanbul, Turkey. 

For Konstantinos and his parents though, it will always be Konstantinoupoli (or Constantinople), as his father was born there, while his mother was born on the island of Imbros, on the westernmost point of what is now Turkey, close to the Greek island of Limnos.  Historically Imbros was Greek and hence populated by Greeks, until the 1960’s when Turks replaced the large majority Greek population.  It was also in the 1960’s that Konstantino’s father was forced to leave his home in Konstantinople, resulting in he and his wife – Konstantino’s mother, migrating to Australia. 

Konstantino’s parents Asia Minor refugee experience, played, and still plays a major role in Konstantino’s life, even though his parents passed away years ago.  “I still visit Konstantinoupoli and Imbros.  I also go to the beautiful Prinkiponisia mainly because my father’s grave is there,” he confesses. These ‘Princes’ Islands’ islands – (Adalar in Turkish), are a chain of nine islands off the coast of Istanbul, Turkey, in the Sea of Marmara, that were originally Greek, since Ancient times in fact.

Of his parents migration story and the ensuing impact it had on his life, particularly as an only child, he says:  “I was very close to my parents.  Their Asia Minor lives were always present in my life growing up in Australia too.  They even spoke Turkish as well as Greek.”  I asked him how they fitted into Greek-Australian society, and he responds, “very well with the socialising at name-days and other religious celebrations”, but then alludes to an occurrence where his mother, was viewed as somewhat ‘different’ from other Greek migrants in Australia of the 1960’s era.

“My mum worked in a factory, around the suburbs of Melbourne, where most Greeks then lived.  You know, Richmond, Fitzroy and that.  One of the Greek women that worked there, kept calling my mum, the ‘Tourkala’ (the Turk), but mum soon set her straight by reminding her that Greeks had been in that part of the world known as Asia Minor, for more than 3,000 years and had a tradition of being civilized and cosmpolitan!

And speaking of cosmopolitan, Konstantino’s father (who hailed from Konstantinople), spoke 4 languages: “He fluently spoke Greek and Turkish of course, but also English –  and Bulgarian; a then Ottoman Empire major language that remained in use there.  That was why my Dad worked as an Interpreter as well in his life.” 

I also discover through out interview, that Konstantino’s father attended the prestigious and centuries old, Phanar Greek Orthodox or Phanar Orthodox ‘Roman’ Lyceum/Secondary School which was established in 1454.

Konstantino’s father bears testament to the well educated majority of Greek Konstantinopalites, like the Greeks of Smyrni.  This is due to being exposed to various cultures and views, in large part due to their locations as major trading routes since Antiquity.

“Ironically, my father’s first job was at Melbourne University – but it was actually stacking racks with books.  Who knows, he may have moved on there in administration or teaching if he stayed, but he left and opened up a Travel Agency business with a partner”. Wincing, Konstantinos continues:  “But, that didn’t work out, so Dad simply went to where many Greek men of that era worked –GMH (General Motors Holden).”

Konstantinos explains that his parents did well in Australia, but accomplished their goal to move back to Greece when they reached retirement age.  The timing for their return in the early 1990’s, was prompted “when they noticed an Australian recession beginning in the late ’80’s,” Konstantinos states. 

In Greece they ended up living close to relatives in the Athenian suburb of Kypseli where Konstantinos still lives, “because it’s in close walking distance actually, to my job as an Interpreter at the Courts.”  He is referring to the main courts in Athens, Greece – although he has also interpreted at the High Court; stating as an example the high profile, 2005 Cypriot plane crash case whereby he interpreted for the defendant who was an executive. 

Konstantinos tells me that he also does other private Interpreting and Translating work – “for public notaries, property sales, powers of attorney, recognition of children, etc as well as the odd literary related translations”, adding that the variety involved in his main job as an Interpreter for the Courts is something he very much enjoys.  “This court work includes dealing with white collar crime, petty theft and more serious felonies, as well as the unfortunately increasing numbers of child abuse and Domestic Violence.”

He belongs to a Court Interpreters Union that includes “many Greeks, Romanians and Arabs of this profession.”  The clients Konstantinos interprets for tend to be expatriates, tourists and many Africans, he tells me.

His choice of work in such a diverse environment, Konstantinos confirms, is due to growing up in multicultural Australia. “My first job was in a travel agency there, again dealing with people of various cultures” he notes.

“I’m a Konstantinopolitan Greek from Australia, who by the way loves both sport’s teams of the yellow and black: Richmond and AEK forever!” he proudly asserts, after what has been an interview of essentially interpreting his interesting life."

#metaglossia mundus

"À l'occasion de la session de l'Assemblée de Corse qui débute ce jeudi 30 mars, une traduction simultanée des débats est expérimentée. Un dispositif mis en place à la suite de la décision du tribunal administratif de Bastia concernant l'usage non conforme de la langue corse dans l'hémicycle.

À la suite de la décision du tribunal administratif de Bastia concernant la non-conformité des débats tenus en langue corse dans l'hémicycle du Cours Grandval, une traduction en direct des échanges est proposée lors de la session qui s'ouvre ce jeudi 30 mars.

"Ce dispositif est expérimental, avec des moyens limités car déployés à titre exceptionnel, indique la Collectivité de Corse dans un communiqué. Il vise à proposer un premier test, afin de disposer d’un retour d’expérience dans la perspective de la mise en place d’un dispositif de traduction simultanée des débats plus pérenne."

Avant l'ouverture de la session, la présidente de l'Assemblée de Corse, Marie-Antoinette Maupertuis, a rendu visite aux traducteurs. • © M. Fiamma/FTV

Ainsi, pendant deux jours, six interprètes vont traduire, en corse et en français, les échanges entre les conseillers territoriaux.

"Les traducteurs sont installés dans les cabines qui surplombent l’hémicycle et proposent en direct une traduction des prises de parole des élus, explique la CdC. Cette solution innovante offre la possibilité à chacun de suivre les débats dans la langue de son choix."

La traduction est également disponible sur le Live de l'Assemblée de Corse ainsi que sur les comptes Facebook de l'Assemblée et de la Collectivité de Corse.

LE RAPPORTEUR DES NATIONS UNIES INVITÉ

Cette démarche fait suite à la décision du 9 mars dernier rendue par le tribunal administratif de Bastia. 

Saisie par l'ancien préfet Pascal Lelarge, la juridiction a retoqué les articles du règlement intérieur de l'Assemblée de Corse qui disposait que "les langues des débats sont le corse et le français". 

Le TA considère que cette disposition enfreint l’article 2 de la Constitution, selon lequel "la langue de la République est le français".

"Cette décision porte une atteinte grave au droit fondamental des Corses de parler leur langue. En particulier dans le contexte actuel, écrit la Collectivité de Corse dans son communiqué. À ce titre, le rapporteur spécial des Nations Unies sur les questions relatives aux minorités, M. Fernand de Varennes, a qualifié cette décision de probablement contraire au droit international puisque discriminatoire." 

Invité par Gilles Simeoni et Marie-Antoinette Maupertuis, le rapporteur des Nations Unies devrait assister, en tant qu'observateur, à la séance de ce vendredi 31 mars."

#metaglossia mundus

 

 

Ryan Urie  May 27, 2023 Updated 10 hrs ago "In my previous column, I analyzed how the political right uses governmental power to quash ideas they find objectionable. Now I want to look at how the political left goes about censoring ideas and opinions they don’t like, namely through social pressure, language policing, and shame-based attacks colloquially referred to as “wokeness” or “cancel culture.” (Though the recent Bud Light and Disney World fiascos show that similar impulses are alive and well on the right as well.)

Efforts to eliminate dehumanizing language from everyday discourse are reasonable in a society that values equality and human dignity. However, advocates have gone from raising awareness of genuinely offensive language to actively seeking out reasons to take offense, resulting in an ever-changing body of linguistic taboos known as equity language. In “The Moral Case Against Equity Language,” George Packer provides numerous examples of thoroughly prosaic terms that have been labeled off-limits, often arbitrarily, by the self-appointed arbiters of public discourse. As with the right’s attempts to bury ideas that challenge their worldview, the end game is to create an intellectual culture and mode of discourse so thoroughly shaped by liberal values that they become axiomatic and can no longer be challenged.

 

This strategy is counterproductive. For starters, while the ostensible goal of equity language is to encourage diversity, tolerance and inclusion, it instead creates an exclusionary hierarchy of moral authority and intellectual superiority, with the liberal academics who create the rules at the top. The dirty secret of politically correct language is that it is not, and perhaps never has been, primarily about helping the victims of persecution. Its purpose is to comfort people in positions of privilege who want to be seen as caring and virtuous without actually engaging oppressed peoples and their struggles. In Packer’s words, “Equity language doesn’t fool anyone who lives with real afflictions. It’s meant to spare only the feelings of those who use it.”

Attempts to remove privilege, bias or exclusion from our language, moreover, don’t eliminate these social ills but merely mask — and ultimately reinforce — these realities by making them impossible to discuss. As Packer notes, “Prison does not become a less brutal place by calling someone locked up in one a ‘person experiencing the criminal-justice system.’” Similarly, calling a disabled person “differently abled” may seem a kindness, but not if it results in their very real needs being ignored.

 

In addition, sanitizing political language impedes real social reform by emotionally distancing us from victims of injustice and their suffering. Packer again: “The whole tendency of equity language is to blur the contours of hard, often unpleasant facts. … Once you acquire the vocabulary, it’s actually easier to say ‘people with limited financial resources’ than ‘the poor.’ The first rolls off your tongue without interruption, leaves no aftertaste, arouses no emotion. The second is rudely blunt and bitter.” Disguising painful truths with anodyne language only makes them that much easier to ignore. We’ll never overcome, say, racism by talking about it so politely that it starts to feel like it’s not a problem at all.

 

If suppressing offensive language actually changed hearts and minds, or extinguished hateful ideas and beliefs, it would be well worth it. But that which is forbidden only becomes more appealing, and suppressing ugly ideas and words only makes them more powerful. Driven from public view, they quietly fester until the people who hold them eventually emerge, spewing their pent-up rage, at times from the barrel of a gun — which comes as a shock to those who thought they had banished hatred once and for all with nothing more than verbal etiquette.

There’s no question that words and ideas can offend, subjugate and promote violence. To champion free speech is not to champion all speech in all contexts. We should approach fraught conversations with tact and respect. But, we shouldn’t get so hung up on semantics that we end up ignoring the substance of cultural conflicts or preclude the conversations we need to be having. To create a more just and equal society, we must embrace uncomfortable realities and cease taking shelter behind pretty, pretty words.

Urie is a lifelong Idahoan and graduate of the University of Idaho. He lives in Moscow with his wife and two children."

#metaglossia mundus

"Amazon Alexa has had a flair for languages almost since it was first released. Live translation, for example, lets you learn words in many different languages. But perhaps the most useful of all the language features is Multilingual Mode.

What is Alexa's Multilingual Mode?

Unlike simply changing the default language setting for your Echo device, Alexa's multilingual feature allows you to enable two languages at the same time. Alexa can understand and respond to whichever of the supported languages is used at that particular time.

That's great for households where more than one language is spoken, as it allows Alexa to be used in the one that people are most comfortable with. It also means you can bypass the misunderstandings that can occur when heavily accented English is used.

Not all the languages Alexa can be set to use are available in the multilingual mode. And some that are available aren't supported by every Alexa feature. English and Spanish have the best support, but you can also add French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Hindi, Arabic, and Japanese. There are also dialect options for some languages, such as American Spanish or European Spanish.

 

How to Enable Multilingual Mode for Alexa

There are a couple of ways to enable multilingual mode for your Alexa speaker. The quickest way is to simply ask Alexa to speak in the languages you want to use.

You can say: "Alexa, speak English and Spanish." Alexa will respond to confirm the choices and then tell you that the multilingual mode is active.

If you want to change the second language you only have to ask. For example, you can say: "Alexa, speak English and Italian." Alexa might ask which device you want the change to apply, so just say: "This device" or "This one." As you might guess from this, if you have more than one Echo device in your home, you can have different language pairs on each of them.

If you're struggling to enable multilingual mode through the speaker, you can make the change in the Alexa app for iOS or Android.

1. Open the app and select the Echo device that you want to make multilingual.
2. Open Settings and scroll down to Language. The current language will have a checkmark next to it.
3. Look for the language pair you want to use, taking note of the dialect variations.
4. Select the one you want to use and confirm the change when asked

 

This only changes the language mode of the Echo device, not the display language in the Alexa app. The app continues to use whichever language has been set in your mobile device settings.

Using Alexa's Multilingual Mode

When multilingual mode has been activated and your languages are chosen, you can interact with Alexa as you would normally. Unlike the Live Translation feature, you don't have to prompt Alexa to use the second language. Speak to Alexa in Spanish, and it will respond in Spanish. Switch to English, and the response will automatically switch to English.

For the best-supported languages like English and Spanish, Alexa can often even understand when they are mixed in a single command. Yep, that's right, Alexa can even understand Spanglish. The language it uses to respond will probably be defined by which of the two languages was used first in the command.

 

Return Alexa to the Default Language

There is little reason to disable Alexa's Multilingual Mode once activated. If you only speak to Alexa in English, it will only respond in English. But if you want to disable the feature, you can.

You can change the language for an Echo device in the Alexa app. Go to Devices > Your Device > Settings > Language, and select the language you want your speaker to use.

You can also use the voice command: "Alexa, disable multilingual mode." Alexa will ask which device you want the change to apply to, and then disable the feature.

 

Using Alexa in Multiple Languages

Alexa's multilingual mode is a brilliant feature for anyone living in a household where more than one language is spoken.

It could even be used as a tool for learning to speak a new language. Multilingual mode is easy to enable, and it's easy to switch between different supported languages...."

#metaglossia mundus

 

By Liz Meador Language Matters "Tone has always been important in communication, especially in spoken language. We can usually distinguish among an angry or a meek or a neutral tone, but as Grammarly points out, this difference becomes more challenging in email and texts, the media we most often use today to communicate."

May 26, 2023 "...Despite a low literacy rate, Guinea holds on to a rich literary heritage and boasts more than a dozen publishing houses, some releasing works in French and the six ​​Indigenous National Languages of the country: Fula (or Pular) Maninka, Susu, Kissi, Kpelle and Toma.

Fula – also known as Fulani, Fulah or Pular, is a Senegambian language spoken by approximately 25 million people as a set of varying dialects across West Africa. In Guinea, around 30% of the population speak Fula as a native language. 

Most Guinean publishers however, struggle to raise funds for large production runs and therefore focus on foreign works. 

However at the recent event, scenes were far from sparse and became a haven for industry professionals and readers to meet. Established authors took to the stage to expand their fan bases and readers eagerly awaited the chance to meet their favorite writers. 

Kamano, an 11-year-old student in a children’s writing class, explained, “…what makes me come here is learning things with games… creating stories with things you yourself create out of your own imagination.

Ousmane El Hadj is a local author who has attended the festival to expand his readership for the last three years. He credits high attendance with efforts made by authors to display their works in many different languages throughout the event.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for authors to be seen,” he says. For those three days, the sole focus will be on books and reading.”"

#metaglossia mundus

"...A 14-year grudge unleashed 

Within the tech industry, Nadella stands out for his reserved leadership style. 

And that made his next statement all the more revealing. 

During an interview with the Verge, he made a rare admission: on Windows, Google made more money than all of Microsoft. 

Now, that’s a statement you don’t hear every day from a leader. 

In simple terms, it didn’t matter that Microsoft Windows holds a dominant market share on desktop computers. 

For all its bluster, Google, which is owned by Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG), handily outpaced the Redmond company when it comes to making money off the Windows platform. 

The reason? 

Google’s search engine, which accounts for the majority of Alphabet’s revenue, was the crown jewel minting money for the Mountain View company. 

This truth’s gotta hurt.

While Microsoft has done well for itself since the launch of Bing, the pain of losing out to its peer even as it holds the keys to Windows OS was like a pebble in its shoe.

That’s why Nadella was not shy in inviting Google to the dance.   

As far as invitations go, it’s a grudge he has been holding on for almost 14 years. 

Something had to give. 

The iPhone moment

The launch of ChatGPT was a wake-up call for Google.

Until then, the Mountain View company was widely regarded as one of the frontrunners in the field. 

Deepmind, which is owned by Alphabet, received worldwide acclaim for creating AlphaGo, a deep-learning based software that defeated the best players in the ancient game of Go. 

It was a monumental moment. 

The game of Go, which is popular in China and Korea, is enormously complex and the number of possible moves is said to exceed the number of atoms in the universe. 

In other words, computers will not be able use “brute force” to outmanoeuvre its human opponent. 

Instead, the AI would have to be trained to be more human-like in its approach. 

Yet, for all the plaudits, Alphabet was missing the key ingredient, the one product or solution which would make AI accessible for the masses. 

That’s when ChatGPT came along and upset the apple cart. 

Some, including Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang, have called ChatGPT’s introduction the “iPhone moment”. 

It was the pivotal point when the centre of gravity shifted from desktop to mobile. 

Along with it, Microsoft’s Windows was overshadowed by the rise of Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iOS and Alphabet’s Android. 

Nadella knows full well that Microsoft’s desktop OS is no longer the most important platform. 

It’s another reason why he is hell bent in winning the battle for the next, most relevant computing platform. 

But for all his bravado, don’t expect Alphabet to give up easily. 

The empire strikes back 

Nadella may have made the most noise around Bing’s challenge on Google search but in truth, the war for AI supremacy is being fought at multiple fronts. 

Last week, the Google I/O event marked the next stage of the race. 

Alphabet is matching Microsoft blow for blow, in several instances, raising the bar for what’s possible.

First, there was the introduction of the PaLM 2 language model, its answer to OpenAI’s GPT-4. 

PaLM 2 is trained in over 100 languages, with the promise of better understanding of linguistic nuances, an improved ability in reasoning, and higher familiarity with popular programming languages such as Python and JavaScript.   

Crucially, PaLM 2 is already powering 25 new products and features within Google.

These range from Workspace, a feature to help you write in Gmail and Google Docs, to Med-PaLM 2 and Sec-PaLM 2, two industry-specific language models designed for healthcare and security use cases, respectively. 

The above is a hint that the battle won’t be just about Redmond versus Mountain View. 

Google also introduced Bard Extensions, its answer to ChatGPT plugins. 

Partners such as Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) are already integrating Bard extensions with Adobe Firefly, the former’s family of creative generative AI models for producing high-quality images.

Other early adopters are varied, including Booking Holdings’ (NASDAQ: BKNG) Kayak and OpenTable, Walmart (NYSE: WMT), the Khan Academy, Wolfram, Zillow (NASDAQ: ZG), Uber (NYSE: UBER) Eats, TripAdvisor (NASDAQ: TRIP), Redfin (NASDAQ: RDFN), Spotify (NYSE: SPOT) and more. 

The trend is clear, in our eyes.   

This list will only grow longer for both Microsoft and Alphabet. 

More importantly, the battlelines drawn will not just be between two tech giants but a whole host of other companies vying for a sliver of an emerging, important market.  

Get Smart: The endless waltz

“The future is already here — it’s just not evenly distributed.” 

We’re blessed in Singapore, where internet connection allows us to go beyond our borders and find new opportunities before they arrive on our shores.

It’s our chance to “live in the future”..."

#metaglossia mundus

Dr Peter Moore  27 May 2023 "The Italian government is objecting to English polluting their beautiful language. Apparently, English 'demeans and mortifies' Italian.

There is a proposal that using English in official documents could lead to fines between 5,000 euros and 100,000 euros. English, including acronyms and names, would be banned in all official documents.

The Culture Ministry is setting up a committee which would establish the 'current use of the Italian language and its pronunciation' in schools, media, commerce and advertising.

The British government is more laid back but supposing we reciprocated.

We would immediately have a problem in South Devon as the word Riviera was originally Italian and so Torbay would have to be the English seaside. Abba could no longer sing Mamma Mia in Britain and we could not have our veg al dente although many British prefer their veg boiled to a pulp.

Obviously all pasta, another Italian word, including spaghetti, macaroni, lasagne and pizza are no longer an option along with panini and ciabatta. Forget minestrone soup. There would not even be terracotta bowls.

And we could not describe politics as a fiasco or even put out propaganda. There would be no graffiti on the walls putting Banksy out of work.

Shows would change with no soloists, especially divas or sopranos and there would be no duos or ballerinas. We could not even have an opera, could not describe a scenario and no show could be an extravaganza or have a finale. At least the stars would not be chased by the paparazzi, which would please Prince Harry.

But the Italian influence on English is much older that pizzas. Latin was the lingua franca in the past with all the major publications such as William Harvey’s first description of the circulation of the blood and Isaac Newton’s work all published in Latin.

Our first Prime Minster, Robert Walpole, only spoke to King George I in Latin as George did not speak English and Walpole did not speak German. As Walpole probably had a strong Norfolk accent, George probably could not understand a word.

Can we ban Latin per se or as a quid pro quo or should we accept the Status Quo? I could not go on ad infinitum.

In medicine, we would have a problem without Latin. Instead of the femur it would be the bone that goes from the hip to the knee. Perhaps we should adopt the old spiritual 'the hip bone’s connected to the knee bone'.

France has tried to keep their language pure with their Academie Francaise, established in the seventeenth century but language does not work like that. Languages are 'bottom up'. People on the streets invent new words and expressions which find their way into common speech.

A living language is always changing. Shakespeare did not use exactly the same language as Chaucer and the Victorians did not speak in exactly the same way was 21st century Brits. Generation Z, born between 1996 and 2010, use different expressions to us elderly baby boomers and watching an old film from the 1950s makes me realise that language has changed in my lifetime.

One of the strengths of the English language is that it is a magpie, stealing words from other languages. As a result, we have a far larger vocabulary that most languages giving a more nuanced language.

Can we learn from the Italians? Can we try to establish the 'current use of the English language and its pronunciation' in schools, media, commerce and advertising copying their culture ministry? On social media, all the angry trolls write in capitals to show that they are shouting and then use terrible English. They confuse 'there, they’re and their' as well as 'your and you’re'. Maybe if the social media companies followed the idea of 'current use of the English language and its pronunciation' and only accepted posts when the English was perfect, they could stop all the horrible trolls. Mamma mia, Bravo."

#metaglossia mundus

"Updated: 25th May 2023 9:20 pm IST

Hyderabad: India is the right place for translation and comparative studies owing to its linguistic and cultural diversity, Prof. Anisur Rahman asserted at an international conference on Thursday at Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU).

 

Prof. Syed Ainul Hasan, Vice-Chancellor, presided over the inaugural session of the two-day conference.

Addressing the theme, Translating Cultures: Exploring the Intersections of Language and Literature, Prof Rahman from Jamia Millia Islamia said that translation not only becomes a new creation itself but also gives an afterlife to the original text. He noted that translation and comparative studies go hand in hand.

 

Prof Ainul Hasan stressed the experience of the source culture and regarded it as a prerequisite for translation. Translation and language experts Prof. Panchanan Mohanty from GLA, University, Prof. Harish Narang from JNU, Dr. Tariq Khan from National Translation Mission (NTM), and Prof. Imtiaz Hasnain from MANUU highlighted various aspects of translation.

Prof. Aziz Bano, Dean, of the School of Languages, Linguistics, and Indology, and Prof. Ishtiaque Ahmed, Registrar also addressed the gathering.
Prof. Shugufta Shaheen, OSD-I & Head, Department of English, MANUU, outlined the key objectives of the conference. She said that translation provides a platform to develop empathy, facilitates ventilation, and ties the entire humanity in a single thread.

Prof Ainul Hasan also released the book Mai Dekh Raha Hoon (the Hindi translation of the Telugu work, Nenu Chustunna by Ankam Yesu Ratnam), translated by Dr. Dodda Seshu Babu, Associate Professor, Department of Hindi.

 

The conference is jointly organized by the National Translation Mission (NTM) and the Department of English, MANUU. As a conference coordinator, Dr Muhammed Aslam Kunnathil extended a warm welcome to guests and delegates. Prof. Nagendra Kottacheruvu, Department of English, proposed a vote of thanks.  Nousheen Ali, Research Scholar convened the inaugural session."

 

#metaglossia mundus

Empathy has the potential to transform how we interact with one another, fostering a compassionate workplace culture that not only enhances..

Effective communication is the backbone of any successful organization. While we have previously explored strategies for better collaboration and results in the workplace, it is crucial to delve deeper into a critical element that underpins effective communication—empathy. 

Empathy has the potential to transform how we interact with one another, fostering a compassionate workplace culture that not only enhances productivity but also promotes overall well-being. The profound impact of empathy on communication is an essential knowledge, so let’s delve into practical tips to cultivate empathy within your workplace.

1. Understanding the Essence of Empathy

Empathy goes beyond sympathy or mere understanding; it involves the ability to step into someone else’s shoes, recognize their emotions, and respond with genuine compassion. By embracing empathy in the workplace, we create an environment where individuals feel seen, heard, and valued. This sense of emotional connection lays the foundation for effective collaboration and builds stronger relationships among team members.

2. Enhancing Communication through Empathy

Empathy serves as a powerful catalyst for open and honest communication. When we empathize with others, we actively listen to their perspectives, acknowledge their feelings, and validate their experiences. This empathetic approach fosters trust and psychological safety, allowing team members to freely express their ideas, concerns, and challenges. By actively practicing empathy, we can minimize misunderstandings, resolve conflicts amicably, and create an inclusive space that encourages diverse voices to be heard.

3. Cultivating Empathy in the Workplace

Cultivating empathy requires intentional effort and a commitment to continuous growth. Here are some practical strategies to foster empathy within your workplace:

See also  Why Sales are Critical to a Company's Success

a) Active Listening: Engage in active listening by focusing on the speaker, maintaining eye contact, and providing verbal and non-verbal cues to show understanding and attentiveness.

b) Perspective-Taking: Encourage employees to step into each other’s shoes by considering different viewpoints and experiences. This helps develop a broader understanding of diverse perspectives and promotes empathy.

c) Emotional Intelligence Training: Offer workshops or training sessions on emotional intelligence to enhance self-awareness, empathy, and interpersonal skills among team members.

d) Recognition and Appreciation: Create a culture of appreciation by acknowledging the efforts and contributions of individuals. Recognize their strengths and provide constructive feedback to foster a supportive and empathetic work environment.

Conclusion

Embracing empathy in the workplace has the power to revolutionize how we communicate and collaborate, ultimately driving better results and nurturing a positive work culture. By actively practicing empathy, organizations can create a safe and inclusive space where employees feel valued, understood, and motivated to give their best. 

As leaders, it is our responsibility to foster a compassionate environment that allows empathy to flourish. By investing in empathy, we pave the way for meaningful connections, stronger relationships, and improved outcomes in the workplace. Let empathy be the cornerstone of your organization, and witness the transformative power it brings to your team and beyond.

Joan Aimuengheuwa

 

 

 

#metaglossia mundus

"El clásico de Saint-Exupéry estrena una edición de la variante lingüística popular en algunas comarcas de Valencia, Castellón y Teruel

C. VELASCO

Martes, 23 de mayo 2023, 12:06 | Actualizado 13:04h.

Nació en francés como 'Le petit prince'. En inglés es 'The little prince'; en búlgaro, 'Malkiat Princ'; en alemán, 'Der Kleine Prinz'; en armenio, 'Pokrig ishkhanë'; en holandés, 'De Kleine Prins': en ucraniano, 'Malen kij princ' y en castellano, 'El Principito'. La obra de Antonie de Saint Exupéry se ha traducido a más de 500 idiomas. Se publicó por primera vez en 1943 y en 2023 ve la luz en churro, variante lingüística popular de algunas comarcas de Valencia, Castellón y Teruel.

Cuando en castellano, se lee: «Y después continuó diciéndose: »Me creía poseedor de una flor única, y sólo tengo una rosa ordinaria. Eso y mis tres volcanes que me llegan a la rodilla...«. Al churro se traduce: »Y dispués continó diciéndose: «Me cría rica con una flor unica y namás tengo qu'una rosa ramplona. Iso y los tres volcanes miyos que tan apenas m'allegan al chenollo...».

 

El sorprendente encuentro entre un piloto caído en medio del Sáhara y un pequeño príncipe que vive en un asteroide y decide viajar por el universo ha seducido a varias generaciones.. Este poético y filosófico cuento infantil cuenta con seguidores grandes y pequeños, de los que coleccionas las ediciones más raras. La versión en churro puede ser una de ellas.

'El Prencipico' es una edición autorizada por la Fundación Saint-Exupéry y por la editorial francesa Gallimard, cumpliendo así con los criterios establecidos para las ediciones oficiales. La traducción ha corrido a cargo del valenciano Antoni Porta y está editada en Libros desde Tuma. «Se publica en el dialecto castellano churro, adaptando el lenguaje oral según la ortografía y las normas gráficas del castellano, pero también del aragonés y del valenciano, por la importante influencia léxica y fonética de estos. Son hablas propias de las denominadas comarcas churras, situadas en el interior de Valencia y Castellón y en el sureste de Teruel», según una nota de la editorial.

'Esta edición forma parte del proyecto de Libros desde Tuma de dar a conocer, visibilizar y registrar el patrimonio lingüístico español a través de la divulgación de traducciones a variantes en riesgo de desaparición. El churro es uno de los dialectos históricos del castellano, más concretamente del castellano septentrional, del que es su variante más meridional. Se trata de una modalidad desarrollada desde la Edad Media con la repoblación de ciertas comarcas del interior de las provincias de Valencia y Castellón con aragoneses, que trajeron consigo su idioma.

«Con el empuje del castellano, el aragonés y el valenciano circundante cedieron, y la variante de las comarcas churras de desarrolló como un castellano con una fortísima influencia del aragonés, como sustrato, y del valenciano, sobre todo en el léxico. Actualmente, el dialecto churro está en franca regresión, y solo se encuentran hablantes del mismo en las edades más avanzadas y en las poblaciones rurales y aisladas de la zona de influencia», según las mismas fuentes.

'El Prencipico' puede adquirirse en Papelería Marquis (Villar del Arzobispo), Librería Athenas (Segorbe), Librerías París-Valencia (Valencia), Librería Reno (Madrid), Librería Olé tus libros (Zaragoza) y en http://principitoenidiomas.com."

#metaglossia mundus

"Como parte de la 43 Semana Cultural de la Facultad de Letras y Comunicación y de la 25 Feria del Libro Universitario Altexto 2023, el escritor michoacano Carlos Higuera Ramos impartió la conferencia: “Experiencias y traducción de la poesía”, en el Auditorio “Gregorio Macedo López” de dicho plantel.

Carlos Higuera inició su conferencia explicando que su experiencia gira alrededor de algunos poetas y poemas que ha traducido del italiano al español.

Agregó que también ha impartido cursos de lengua italiana: “Deberíamos aprender distintas lenguas con el juego de la traducción, como un ejercicio de vocabulario y reconocimiento del idioma, como habilidad que se perfecciona y no solo obliga a reconocer una nueva lengua, sino que invita a buscar palabras y examinar estructuras poco usuales en el lenguaje común”, expuso.

Comentó que el italiano es una lengua tan semejante al español y a la vez diferente, “tiene sus propias sonoridades y ritmos cadenciosos; la tradición poética de la Toscana, por ejemplo, tiene una voz propia que surge desde Dante Alighieri, Petrarca y Bocaccio, va tomando forma y se extiende para crear la lengua italiana como hoy se conoce. La invención de la balada y la canción en el medioevo aportan al panorama mundial de la poesía formas que perduran hasta nuestros días”.

“La poesía se define como forma compleja de pensar el Mundo; recordemos a Poggio Bracciolini, del siglo XV, quien descubre una copia del libro de Lucrecio sobre La naturaleza de las cosas y lo traduce; en realidad, lo que hace es un giro, imprimiendo una visión moderna del Mundo, tal como afirma Stephen Greenblatt”, dijo.

Carlos Higuera dijo que, con la traducción de la poesía, surge el fenómeno de la musicalidad: “Conocemos poetas que tienen ritmos que se deshacen a la hora de pasar a otro idioma, otros que buscan más una imagen que el propio ritmo y sonoridad, sin poner la exactitud del acento marcado por el ritmo del lenguaje”.

Posteriormente, expuso que la experiencia de traducir impone reglas: “El ámbito filosófico tiene más fluidez por la argumentación y desarrollo de conceptos, así como la metodología para aclarar el pensamiento, pero incluso la propia filosofía invoca continuamente palabras del griego, alemán, francés, etcétera, para denotar su derrota ante la insuficiencia de una lengua que busca algún uso específico de la palabra”.

Por otro lado, dijo que no es lo mismo el habla de la Ciudad de México que la de Oaxaca, Michoacán, Colima, Campeche o el norte del país, con diferente cadencia y uso de los adjetivos; así, “las traducciones que leemos en México usualmente son españolas e invocan a veces al habla de alguien que vive en Madrid e intenta borrar regionalismos o hablas de la provincia”.

Por último, ejemplificó que Milán Kundera se quejaba de que algunos traductores franceses desconocían el checo y traducían a partir de otra lengua, así como de las licencias del traductor para adjetivar su obra y darle más ritmo; “sin embargo, el planteamiento de Kundera es la sobriedad en el uso del lenguaje, que se refleja en atmósferas y la expresión de personajes”.

#metaglossia mundus

 

"

How many rabbis first translated the Hebrew Bible, and how many different translations did they produce?

The main page of the Complutensian Polyglot Bible, 16th century, which contains a rendering of the Septuagint. Wikipedia.

OBSERVATION

PHILOLOGOS

MAY 25 2023

About Philologos

Philologos, the renowned Jewish-language columnist, appears twice a month in Mosaic. Questions for him may be sent to his email address by clicking here.

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Got a question for Philologos? Ask him yourself at philologos@mosaicmagazine.com.

The voice [of God at Mount Sinai] went forth and divided into 70 voices and 70 languages, so that every nation would hear it in the language that it spoke.—Exodus Rabbah 5:9

Consider how the voice [of God at Mount Sinai] reached every Israelite, each according to his powers: the elderly according to their powers, and the youths according to their powers, and the children according to their powers, and the infants according to their powers, and the women according to their powers, and even Moses himself.—Exodus Rabbah, 5:9

It happened that King Ptolemy convened 72 elders, enclosed them in 72 chambers without telling them why, and then went from one to the other and said, “Transcribe for me [in Greek] the Torah of your master Moses.” God bestowed His counsel on each of them and all arrived at a single identical translation.—Talmud, Megillah 9a

Ptolemy II, the Hellenistic monarch of Egypt from 283 to 246 BCE, was the ruler who commissioned the Septuagint, the earliest Bible translation whose first part, the Five Books of Moses, was carried out under his reign. Its name derives from its Latin title of Vetus Testamentum ex Versione Septuaginta Interpretum, “The Old Testament in the Version of the 70 Translators.” In rabbinic tradition, too, it is known as targum ha-shiv’im, “the translation of the 70,” even though the oldest accounts of it have it that the actual number of scholars summoned by Ptolemy was 72, six from each of the twelve tribes of Israel.

This is an obvious anachronism, the twelve tribes of Israel having long disappeared by Ptolemy’s time. Whether real or apocryphal, however, it is not a coincidence, I think, that the number of 72 was rounded off by rabbinic—and in its wake, Christian—tradition to 70, which was also held by the rabbis to be the number of the world’s languages.

The two brief passages cited above from Exodus Rabbah, a compilation of midrashim relating to the book of Exodus that dates to the medieval period but reflects older sources, are well-known. Both comment on the fact that the description of revelation in Exodus 19 speaks once of God’s “voice” (kol) and once of His “voices” (kolot), and while the first passage has been taken to bear witness to Judaism’s universalism, the second has been frequently cited by Jewish sources as a justification for biblical exegesis that seems far removed from the original intention of the text. If the Israelites, after all, heard different things at Sinai in accord with each listener’s personal development, don’t we, their descendants, also have the right to our different understandings of what was said there?

It would appear to follow from this that there is no single “correct” reading of the Torah. Or, as stated by another medieval Hebrew text with older antecedents, “The Alphabet of Rabbi Akiva”: “The Books of Moses were given in the 70 facets of 70 languages, and the Prophets in the 70 facets of 70 languages, and the Law in the 70 facets of 70 languages.” Biblical interpretation is thus open-ended, or at least extends to a possible 4,900 (70 x 70) ways of reading each biblical verse.

And yet, according to the talmudic tractate of Megillah, when the 72 (later reduced to 70) translators of the Bible were assembled, each produced, despite being isolated from the others, the exact same translation, down to the last word! This story, moreover, contradicts the earliest and (though it, too, has its embellishments) most reliable description of what happened in Alexandria, the so-called Epistle of Aristeas to Polycrates. An account in the form of a lengthy letter relating how the Septuagint came into being, purportedly sent to his brother by an official in Ptolemy’s court and probably written within a few decades of the latter’s death, the epistle tells how the Bible’s first translators were taken to a magnificent villa on an island near Ptolemy’s palace. After the commensurate banqueting, speech-making, and gift-giving, so it continues:

They set to work by comparing [their different translations] until they reached agreement, and once an agreement was reached, it was recorded by Demetrius, [a royal official]. This went until the ninth hour of each day, after which they indulged in bodily recreation and had all their needs generously provided for. . . . Thus they gathered every day and performed the task given them.

This is in fact quite the opposite of what we are told by the midrash: not the miraculous coinciding of separately produced translations but a group effort leading, via debate and discussion, to a consensual text. Nor were the rabbis the first to reverse the Epistle of Aristeas in this respect. Preceding them was the early 1st-century CE Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria, who wrote of the Septuagint’s origins: “Therefore, being settled in a secret place, . . . they [the translators], like men inspired, prophesied, not one saying one thing and another another, but every one of them employing the self-same nouns and verbs, as if some unseen prompter had suggested all their language to them. And yet who is there who does not know that every language, and the Greek language above all others, is rich in a variety of words, and that it is possible to vary a sentence and to paraphrase the same idea, so as to set it forth in a great variety of manners, adapting many different forms of expression to it at different times?”

Although Philo, who was demonstrably familiar with the Epistle of Aristeas, does not explicitly say that the translators of the Septuagint worked in isolation from one another, he clearly implies as much, since there would have been nothing remarkable about their arriving at the same language if they had done so through a process of mutual dialogue. And while the rabbis do not seem to have known Philo’s writings, it is possible that his version of the Septuagint’s origins reached them indirectly—or conversely, that he himself was influenced by an early rabbinic or Pharisaic source. One way or another, if Greek, like every language, has 70 “facets” according to “The Alphabet of Rabbi Akiva,” the 70 translators of the Septuagint, according to both Philo and the rabbis, ignored 69 of them in favor of just one.

Seventy versus seventy: this is a controversy between strict constructionism and latitudinarianism that lies at the heart of the Jewish attitude toward the Bible—indeed of all biblical commentary, and in a wider context, of all literary criticism. Does a text like the Bible mean whatever we take it to mean, so that it is potentially infinite in its meanings, or does it mean only one thing, which is what its composer intended it to mean?

And yet the argument is in a sense an illusory one, for if the Torah’s composer was an Infinite Being, this Being’s compositional intentions could have been infinite, too. Indeed rabbinic Judaism has traditionally resolved the 70-70 debate by being strict-constructionist and latitudinarian at once—the former in relation to God’s word, which is regarded as sacredly fixed and unchangeable, the latter in relation to its interpretation, which is thought of as endless. In the battle of the seventies, which bears on the seventh-week holiday of Shavuot, this week’s celebration of the giving of the law at Sinai, both sides are thus the winners.

Got a question for Philologos? Ask him yourself

 

#metaglossia mundus at philologos@mosaicmagazine.com.

May 23, 2023
By Louise Trotter

Health & Safety

Photo: Adobe Stock

As an avid traveller, venturing to places near and afar, I often find myself wishing I was bilingual or multilingual. My ability to speak French is at its best “comme ci, comme ça” but outside of Quebec or France, I always take the time to learn a little of the language in the country I’m visiting.

The general words and phrases I make sure I know are: hello, goodbye, good day/evening/morning, thank you, you’re welcome, and what’s your name? This minimal vocabulary isn’t enough to have substantial, meaningful communication with anyone, but it’s an opportunity to start engagement.

Then, if I’m lucky and we have English as a common language, the conversation can begin. Or, the interaction ends, albeit short, it’s positive in part because I tried to speak their language.

The language of safety

But what I’ve realized is I do speak another language quite fluently. I speak “safety.”

There are a lot of acronyms in the safety profession: RACE, PPE, IRS, and TWA to name a few, and that’s usually coupled with jargon such as near misses, severity, risk, dose, exposure, and lost time. Often this results in a sentence for many workers sounding like a completely different language.

 

Our safety language is informed by the law in our jurisdictions, those acts, codes, and standards enforced by a provincial or territorial labour branch. We need to be able to interpret the relevance or application of a specific part, section, subsection, or clause of a regulation.

Simultaneously, we must understand and differentiate between what we “shall, will, or must” do contrary to what we “may or should” do. All this while discerning the intentional use of punctuation which conveys a deliberate meaning which could be the difference between compliance or contravention.

 

Historically the law affords a minimum level of protection that must be maintained whereby Employers were encouraged to exceed those standards. Employers were, and continue to be identified as ultimately having the greatest responsibility for health and safety in the workplace.

The role of safety professionals

Safety professionals are tasked with interpreting these regulatory documents continuously to ensure our health and safety programs meet the legal requirement. We develop our program inclusive of policies, procedures, guidelines, best practices and training to correspond to those legislative clauses. It’s a big task, and with each regulatory update, it becomes more exhaustive.

But if this is all we do, we may satisfy an inspection from a governing enforcement authority and prevent an order for infractions.

Still, we will not improve health and safety performance. To improve workplace and organizational health and safety performance, we need to be translators as safety professionals.

The traditional definition of a translator, it’s a person who translates from one language into another. If we agree that the language in the legislation is essentially a different language, we need to assess how we communicate safety in our workplaces critically. I’d suggest that this includes how we communicate and what language we communicate.

The requirement for employers to post specific documentation and signage, predicated on the presumption this is communicating safety, contributing to the workers’ “right to know,” is a good example. If we do our jobs as interpreters, we know exactly what needs to be posted. When an enforcement officer enters the site wanting to inspect the “Safety Bulletin Board,” we demonstrate due diligence and compliance.

But that’s not communicating. As “translators,” we must consider the nature of the work, our workers, and the workplace.

We are in a technological revolution, a post-pandemic world and collectively, we have shorter attention spans.

We work from home, internationally, on the road, at a site or, more commonly, a combination of these places. We need to translate to communicate to our workplace audience how we successfully communicate with our workers and apply this to safety.

Translating the language of safety

Secondly, and more difficult as safety professionals, we need to translate the language we are using. Essentially, we need to stop the “safety speak.” Let’s go back to the overriding philosophy of our legislation in Canada — the Internal Responsibility System (IRS). The principles of that construct have been well defined in most legislation and form the backbone of the regulations and organizational safety programs.

I don’t want to bemoan the IRS, fundamentally, I applaud this foundation of our legislation, but I don’t speak those three letters.

Notwithstanding the fact that if you google IRS, the immediate search is associated with the administration and enforcement arm for internal revenue laws in the United States. The ability of a worker to define this term has minimal impact on the intention of this platitude.

As safety professionals, we must incorporate the philosophy of the IRS into our program, but we should translate that term to be relatable for workers. Train workers with language depicting what safety should look like in their workplace, what they are responsible for in their role, and what they can expect to see from their colleagues and managers.

Being a translator may be a new skill set. It takes time to flow between the language of “safety” and the language of the “workplace.” Like anything, it’s best to go slow to go fast. Start by translating some regularly used phrases. Instead of talking about the risk of injuries, substitute by talking about how someone could be hurt, don’t talk about near misses; replace that with something more meaningful to your workforce.

Our health and safety programs may emulate the language of lawyers and policymakers, but this language is not understood at our workplaces. Similar to language limitations while travelling abroad, if we aren’t translating how we talk about safety, we are ultimately restricting interactions and essential conversations.

Louise Trotter, B.Sc., MPPAL, CRSP, is the director of health, wellness and safety at Shannex Incorporated in Halifax. 

"In an increasingly globalised world, freelance translation jobs have slowly — but surely — become a legitimate career, or at least a really well-paying side hustle.

The reason? Only some have learned or mastered more than a few languages. 

Forty percent of the world’s population is only fluent in one language, according to various sources.

A study by Stockholm University linguist Mikael Parkvall showed that the average number of languages spoken either natively or non-natively per person is 1.58. 

This means that not only are there many jobs available, but you’ll likely not have to face much competition too — both of which are great but these are by no means the only reasons why freelance translator jobs are great.

As all you need is a stable Internet connection, you can take on freelance translation jobs anytime and anywhere — making it great for students seeking jobs they can complete in between or after classes.

Ready to secure high-paying freelance translation jobs? Here’s all you need to know:

10 best websites for high-paying freelance translation jobs

Before we begin, many factors can affect your earning as a freelance translator. It depends on the following:

• Whether you are sourcing for your clients through your website
• Whether you work for a language service provider
• Whether you are looking for freelance work through a website
• The clients that you work with

One survey showed that the average full-time freelancer makes over US$60,000.

US-based respondents, however, reported a disparity in their income according to whether they were ATA certified (ATA stands for the American Translators Association).

The average income for certified translators is US$72,000 and US$53,000 for non-certified translators.

You can click here to read more about freelancing as an international student.

This list will cover the websites you should know to source for work as a freelance translator. 

While Upwork is a popular place to source for freelance translation jobs, the steep competition may discourage even the most enthusiastic freelancer. Source: Manan Vatsyayana/AFP

1. Upwork

Upwork is not only an open marketplace for translation, but also covers services such as copywriting, coding, data analytics, and many more.

You can negotiate with people who want to hire you on the platform. They can pay hourly or at a project rate.

If they opt for hourly billing, Upwork has a software that will periodically take screenshots of your desktop to ensure the accuracy of the billing.

Given the website’s popularity and the number of translators already on the website, unsuccessful bidding for projects is the norm and might discourage even the most enthusiastic freelancer.

What’s more, Upwork takes 20% of each freelance work completed.

2. Fiverr

Fiverr got its name for being a place where anyone could get anything for just five dollars.

It quickly turned into an all-purpose marketplace for a wide range of prices and a paragon of the gig economy.

Here, most customers are individuals who may be unaware of translation trade specifics. Freelancers who want to promote their work on this platform would have to be ready to undercharge.

The good news is that you don’t need to bid for projects here — it works the other way around. If you bag a few projects, your profile will likely climb up the search results and open up opportunities for more lucrative orders.

Like Upwork, Fiverr takes 20% of each freelance work completed.

ProZ.com is a longstanding online community for freelance translator jobs. Source: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP

3. ProZ.com

ProZ.com is a longstanding online community for freelance translators and one of the most popular freelance translation websites. 

Established in 1999, the site has a community that houses many translation professionals.

In total, ProZ.com has over 960,000 registered users in more than 200 countries around the globe, including both translation agencies and freelance translators of all types. 

A freelance translator would create an account listing details of their location, language, rates, experience and services. 

There is a free membership as well as a paid one.

4. Gengo

Gengo offers various translation services to its users.

To begin, create a new account and start looking for translation jobs. These can be found on your work dashboard, containing a collection of jobs and providing you with the relevant information.

With over 21,000 translators and an efficient system that can help businesses get content translated within hours, Gengo is a top pick for SEO translation services.

That said, the site is not without its disadvantages. The application process is tedious and the site’s interface can be confusing for some users.

PeoplePerHour is another popular freelance translation website that allows users to bid for translation projects. Source: Drew Angerer/Getty Images North America/Getty Images/AFP

5. PeoplePerHour

PeoplePerHour is another popular freelance translation website that allows users to bid for translation projects. 

There are three ways freelancers are found on this platform:

• Search offers: Review and purchase available service packages
• Search freelancers: Filter sellers by level, skill, or hourly rate 
• Post projects: Clients can pitch their jobs and get proposals from freelancers

The website’s interface makes it interactive for employers and freelancers. Online PeoplePerHour reviews also support the interface, making it easy to find freelancers’ ratings, portfolios, and descriptions.

Like Upwork, freelancers may face stiff competition for projects due to the large freelance community. This may compel most people to lower their freelancer prices. 

PeoplePerHour’s fee structure may frustrate new freelancers or those who have yet to find high-paying projects. 

6. TranslatorCafe

TranslatorCafe has mostly the same things as ProZ, but at a smaller scale.

A smaller community means fewer jobs, but the upside is that this can lead to more quality gigs. 

The interface can look a little dated, but it’s been around since 2002 and has built up a community of over 439,000 registered users.

There’s no cost to register for an account and contact translators. You are free to post jobs, but the site does charge freelancers a membership fee. 

Similar to Upwork, Freelancer is another general-purpose freelance marketplace where clients source for freelance translators and all other types of freelancers. Source: Juan Mabromata/AFP

7. Freelancer

Similar to Upwork, Freelancer is another general-purpose marketplace where clients source for freelance translators and all other types of workers.

Depending on your objective, that can be an advantage or disadvantage.

As is the norm for more websites dedicated to freelance translation jobs, you can negotiate your rates with a prospective client. They can pay a fixed project rate or hourly rate.

Freelancer takes 3% on top of what the client pays you — a little lower than Upwork.

Posting a project to receive bids is free. There are, however, some optional upgrades that you can purchase to help your job get better visibility.

For example, creating a featured listing will cost you US$10.

8. TranslationDirectory

TranslationDirectory has a listing of over 7,500 translation agencies and freelance translation jobs making it a convenient platform to connect with clients in the linguistic community. 

You can sign up for a free membership if you are a native language speaker. Here, you’ll be able to search for translation jobs and bid on them. 

If you’re good at a particular language, you can choose to specialise in that. Plus, you can select the type of document you are comfortable translating. 

With a paid membership, users get a professional listing.

RWS offer various bundled services for clients across different industries, such as legal, medical, technical, and financial. Source: Andrew Burton/Getty Images North America/Getty Images/AFP

9. RWS

RWS is a leading provider of language translation services that offer various bundled services for clients across different industries, such as legal, medical, technical, and financial.

The site routinely ranks among the best platforms for freelance translation jobs, thanks to its deep-learning protocols and powerful tools.

It’s why freelance translators should have a proven track record of experience and expertise in the translation industry before registering and using RWS services.

Translators are also required to have a high level of proficiency in at least one pair of languages and a strong understanding of the cultural nuances of the target language.

10. TheOpenMic

The Open Mic is a modern blogging platform for translators packed with social features, which makes it look and function more like a social network than a blogging platform.

Here, you can share stories, videos, images, and links. You can also republish content from your blog or create new posts from scratch — think of it as a Facebook for translators.

Since it was established, the website has tried to re-focus on bringing actual customers to the platform.

If you have a personal website that promotes your translation service, TheOpenMic republishes content from your website."

#metaglossia mundus

Egypt IndependentMay 24, 2023  "The Israeli ambassador to Egypt, Amira Oron, sent a message to the Egyptian Ministry of Religious Endowments over translating an entire interpretation of the Holy Quran into Hebrew.

 

Oron said, according to Israeli media: “This is a valuable and blessed initiative. For the first time, we can read the interpretation of the holy Quran in Hebrew, which was supervised and presented by the Egyptian Ministry of Religious Endowments and a group of the best scholars and translators in Egypt.”

The Ambassador of Tel Aviv added that this translation will contribute to increasing knowledge, understanding between people.

 

The Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs affiliated to the Egyptian Ministry of Religious Endowments announced days ago the release of the translation into Hebrew for the first time in Egypt.

The Translation and Civilizational Dialogue Committee, one of the committees of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, has translated “The Select” interpretation of the meanings of the Holy Quran into many languages, including English, French, Urdu, Swahili, and Hausa, and now Hebrew.

It was written by a group of professors of interpretation at the Faculty of Islamic and Arabic Studies under the supervision of the Minister of Religious Endowments Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa.

Professor of Judaism and former Dean of the Faculty of Languages and Translation at Al-Azhar University Saeed Attia, and the former head of the Hebrew Service in Egyptian TV Ali Abu-Hashem Annan, translated The Select interpretation of the meanings of the Holy Quran, which contains 1100 pages.

Attia told Egyptian media that the work took six months, and is the first to translate the meanings of the Holy Quran into Hebrew.

He added that it aims to provide a simple and moderate interpretation of the Holy Quran for researchers and Jews and to provide a correct picture of Islam, especially with regard to the portrayal of Jews in the holy book."

#metaglossia mundus

Interpreting and Translation Ad hoc translation/interpreting Adult/Child language brokering (oral and/or written), Family interpreting Anthropology Applied linguistics Bilingual dictionaries and translation Brokering between deaf adult signers and hearing groups Cognitive science Crime in Translation Crime, translation and the law Cultural studies Education, and other social sciences Ethnicity, translation and tradition Foreign Languages, Translation and Interpreting Studies Gender and Sexuality Studies Globalisation, translation and cross-cultural dialogue Historical survey of a journal and its use of translation Intellectuals and the impact of translation Intercultural Studies Interdisciplinary approaches to the study of Non-professional Interpreting and Translation Interpreting studies Journal as a vehicle of translation Language politics and cultural translation Literacy brokering Literary translation and journal publication Media and Visual Studies Modernity, translation and transformation Non-professional interpreting and/or translation Non-professional media interpreting and translation Non-professional, church/religious interpreting and translation Political Discourse Scholarship, translation and journals Science and Technology Scientific and Technical Discourse Semantics and Pragmatics Social change, translation and interpreting Sociology and Politics Subtitling and dubbing thrillers Terminology Text/Corpus Linguistics The challenges of translating crime fiction The role of translation and interpreting in criminal justice Theory and Practice of Translation Transfer studies Translation studies

 

#metaglossia mundus

On 25 May at the Intesa Sanpaolo Congress Center in Palazzo Belgioioso in Milan, there will be reflections on the value of interculturalism as a pedagogical proposal capable of accelerating the internationalization of the Italian school and facilitating the opening of the young generations towards other cultures by focusing on knowledge of other and respect for diversity.
During the event, Elisa Zambito Marsala – Head of Social Enhancement and Relations with Universities, Intesa Sanpaolo and Roberto Ruffino – General Secretary of the Intercultura Foundation will talk about the scholarship program to bring secondary school students to study a period abroad. Adopting intercultural behavior affects the identity of each individual, making them plural and capable of valuing every difference. Interculturality strengthens listening and virtuous exchange for the search for points of contact and divergence which wisely put into dialogue allow mutual enrichment of values. All this generates citizenship education by promoting encounter, knowledge and open and flexible cultural development that transforms coexistence into sharing.
This is why, as part of its ongoing commitment to social inclusion, Intesa Sanpaolo promotes the creation of intercultural initiatives convinced that these activities can have a considerable impact on promoting attention to the other and to the different. These are indispensable elements in building the future of the young generations and, consequently, of a multicultural and cohesive society. Speeches by Marcello Bettoni – ANP Member of the National Association of Public Managers and High Professionalism of Schools and Carmela Palumbo – Head of the Department for the Educational and Training System, Ministry of Education, University and Research are also planned, who will talk about the role of schools and of the institutions along this path. Davide Dattoli – CEO of Talent Garden will bring the experience of one of the most important European operators of digital education and community in Europe of innovators of the tech ecosystem.

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Furthermore, some young people who have already lived the experience of Intercultura in different countries of the world will be able to tell about their experience of study abroad.

14.40 Round table: “A school open to the world: the value of international experience” moderated by da Valeria Ciardiello – Journalist and TV presenter

o Marcello Bettoni – Member of the ANP National Association of Public Managers and High School Professionals

o Davide Dattoli – CEO of Talent Garden

o Carmela Palumbo – Head of the Department for the Education and Training System, Ministry of Education, University and Research

o Roberto Ruffino – Secretary General of the Intercultura Foundation

o Elisa ZAMBIO Marsala – Head of Social Development and University Relations, Intesa Sanpaolo

15.10 Testimonies on the benefits of the experience: Maria Pia Marotta, Intercultura volunteer talks to former scholarship holders

Intesa Sanpaolo collaborates in various capacities with more than 2,500 primary and secondary schools for soft skills development activities and in transversal skills and orientation courses (formerly school-to-work alternation), through the Social Development and University Relations structure headed by Elisa Zambito Marsala in the field of educational inclusion and orientation; the right to study; of the prevention of childhood discomforts and in the development of Life Skills. The commitment to guarantee young people the right to education has a very significant value for Intesa Sanpaolo, because it is aimed at inclusion and guidance. This guarantees informed choices of training courses and therefore, the fight against early school leaving and the reduction of social inequalities. This commitment takes the form of partnerships that involve all the Group’s structures and the main Italian excellences in the university field and aim to guarantee the right to study and the centrality of Education. We consider these collaborations to be important levers for connecting the attractiveness of universities, the competitiveness of businesses, the employability of students and for contributing to the economic and social growth of the territories in which they exist. Starting from primary school with Webecome, which operates preventively to counteract the emergence of hardships already from primary school, to projects such as School4life for lower secondary school, which provides a path linked to financial education, but also to the development of soft skills and guidance, to ZLab, our PCTO which dedicates the program of a entire year to the development of transversal skills in secondary school students, up to experiences dedicated to university students, with multiple orientation initiatives, support for entrepreneurship and the creation of Start-ups.

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#metaglossia mundus

"In the 1940s, a student from Kenya named James Gekonyo applied to the Chemistry Department of Makerere University in Uganda. When his admissions interviewers asked him to explain the difference between a solid, liquid, and gas, Gekonyo said: “I can hold a solid in my hand and it will stay there; a liquid will run to the floor, and I cannot hold a gas at all.” Gekonyo was denied admission—his answer was deemed “silly” by the interviewers.

Gekonyo’s interview is just one example of how both interlinguistic and intralinguistic translation can falter and succeed, writes Morgan J. Robinson. In the article “When a Wonder Is Not a Wonder: Swahili, Translation, and the Communication of Knowledge,” published in Isis: A Journal of the History of Science Society, Robinson explores these questions within the context of the translation of Swahili language and knowledge during the colonial and postcolonial periods in Tanganyika/Tanzania.

Swahili has been a recorded written language for centuries and traces its roots back over 1,200 years, but colonial-era European academics became interested in the language because they inaccurately believed it represented an early stage of linguistic development. Despite this perception, when British missionaries began working on Zanzibar, they soon set to learning Swahili. They devised a way to write it in Latin script and produced dictionaries and a language handbook, learning the language from—among others—an eminent Islamic jurist, his associates, and the mission’s students. Translation occurred through this web of interlocuters who suggested, affirmed, and revised word lists until all understood.

Yet even as missionaries attempted to codify Swahili, their students shaped it to fit their needs. Robinson cites, for example, the word “kuchenja”—a hybrid the students created of the English word “to change” and the Swahili verb prefix “ku-.” This “linguistic flexibility and creativity,” Robinson writes, demonstrates “that translation was rarely as simple as moving between a source and a target language—both of which were perpetually in flux.”

As Britain consolidated its colonial rule in the 1920s, the administration formed a committee to standardize written Swahili into a “developed” language. It sought to insert the language of science into Swahili (deemed impossible by some) while creating dictionaries and coining new words. The committee was occasionally “confronted by the fact that not only is language a moving target, but so, too, is knowledge.”

With the dawn of the independence era, translation problems and solutions began to be framed differently, Robinson writes. Tanzania’s first president Julius Nyerere used Swahili as an anti-colonial rallying cry and symbol, stressing the connection between the language and the nascent nation. Swahili proved to be a potent national symbol and provided some solutions to translation problems experienced during the missionary and colonial eras. The author of a science column published in the newspaper Mambo Leo shortly before independence wrote effusively about new technology, clearly demonstrating that the colonial concern that Swahili couldn’t convey such complexity was a moot point. Yet a later column confronted the issue of knowledge translation, describing how nature can still astonish the experts, sometimes anticipating the wonders and amazement of technological change.

In the paper’s conclusion Robinson emphasizes the role power plays in translation, setting the parameters for what language and expertise was accepted. Writing of ongoing efforts to translate scientific research into African languages and to bring research conducted in Africa onto an equal playing field with the rest of the world, Robinson writes: “Such initiatives are at once hopeful signs of progress and frank reminders that certain communicators of knowledge continue to confront familiar and damaging barriers and that stark inequalities persist in the current global landscape of knowledge production and communication.”

JOURNAL

Isis

DOI

10.1086/724869 

ARTICLE TITLE

When a Wonder Is Not a Wonder: Swahili, Translation, and the Communication of Knowledge"

#metaglossia mundus

"Téhéran(IQNA)-L'application « Tarteel » est le dernier programme multilingue d'apprentissage du Coran, conçu à l'aide de l'intelligence artificielle, qui fournit des services aux apprenants dans le domaine de la mémorisation et de la récitation du Coran.

L'application Tarteel est un Coran électronique qui permet à l’utilisateur de lire les versets du Coran sous la surveillance de l’application qui identifie chaque mot qu'il lit.                

Il est également possible d'interpréter et d'expliquer le sens de chaque verset, et de présenter sa traduction. Cela ouvre de grandes perspectives pour que l'application se développe dans différentes parties du monde islamique.

Tarteel a été bien accueillie par les utilisateurs et l'une des principales raisons de sa popularité est la traduction de l'application arabe en anglais, français, hindi et ourdou.

L'application est disponible sur les plates-formes Android et iOS, et il existe une version gratuite de base, et une version payante avancée, avec plus de fonctionnalités.

 

Cette application est également accessible et téléchargeable sur le site https://www.tarteel.ai.

Une autre caractéristique de cette application est qu’elle permet de lire les versets du Coran en écriture ottomane, indienne et pakistanaise, et de mesurer le niveau de mémorisation du Coran. De plus, lors de la lecture, l'utilisateur peut rencontrer des mots ou des versets difficiles qu’il peut comprendre en voyant ou en écoutant leur interprétation."

#metaglossia mundus

"Jean Delisle, professeur émérite et auteur du manuel «La traduction raisonnée»

Le 22 mai 2023

26 mai 2023 Le couperet est tombé : l’Université d’Ottawa vient d’annoncer la « suspension » (lire : l’abandon) de ses programmes de traduction. L’université est située à deux pas du plus gros donneur d’ouvrage, l’administration fédérale, où la traduction se fait vers le français dans une proportion de 90 %.

L’Université, qui se dit « fermement engagée à l’épanouissement de la francophonie », forme des traducteurs depuis 1936. Son École de traduction et d’interprétation proposait des formations aux trois cycles d’études et un programme destiné aux futurs interprètes de conférence. Elle avait tous les atouts en main pour faire des études en traduction et en interprétation un domaine d’excellence.

La traduction est une profession qui fait vivre 17 750 traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes, dont la moitié au Québec, selon les données du dernier recensement de Statistique Canada.

Étrangement, les universités du Québec qui ont fait la promotion de leurs programmes de traduction ont vu bondir les demandes d’admission."

#metaglossia mundus