Metaglossia: The Translation World

"Description: Western Translation Theory from Herodotus to Nietzsche offers the most comprehensive collection of translation theory readings available to date, from the Histories of Herodotus in the mid-fifth century to the end of the nineteenth century. This work provides a rich panoply of thinking about translation across the centuries, covering such topics as the best type of translator, problems of translating sacred texts, translation and language teaching, translation as rhetoric, translation and empire, and translation and gender. This pioneering anthology contains over 140 texts with 30 new ones included in this edition. 21 texts by 18 authors appear here for the first time in English translation. Every entry includes a bibliographical headnote and footnotes. Intended for classroom use in History of Translation Theory, History of Rhetoric or History of Western Thought courses, this anthology is also key reading for scholars of translation and those interested in the intellectual history of the West."

ISBN 9781032867113

448 Pages 1 B/W Illustrations

January 20, 2026 by Routledge

 

Format

Paperback

Available for pre-order on December 30, 2025. Item will ship after January 20, 2026

Original Price£35.99

Sale PriceGBP £28.79

https://www.routledge.com/Western-Translation-Theory-from-Herodotus-to-Nietzsche/Robinson/p/book/9781032867113

#metaglossia_mundus 

"The annual Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry is awarded to a full-length book of poems by a living poet who is not a U.S citizen, published in the previous calendar year. The book must be in English or in English translation, and may have been published anywhere in the world. The prize includes a $2,000 cash award. In the case of translations, the prize money may be shared by the poet and the translator.

 

The award is powered by Arrowsmith Press, in partnership with The Derek Walcott Festival in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. Previous winners include Antonella Anedda, Mosab Abu Toha, Saddiq Dzukogi and Canisia Lubrin.

 

Hussain Ahmed has been included in the list of Walcott Finalists for his book Blue Exodus (Orison Books), Theresa Lola makes the cut for her second poetry collection Ceremony for the Nameless (Penguin Press), and Ajibola Tolase has been shortlisted for the critically-acclaimed 2000 Blacks (University of Pittsburgh Press).

 

 

This year’s Walcott Prize judge is Ishion Hutchinson. He is the author of three poetry collections – School of Instructions: a Poem, House of Lords and Commons, and Far District – and the book of essays, Fugitive Tilts. Born in Port Antonio, Jamaica, he is the W.E.B. Du Bois Professor in the Humanities at Cornell University.

 

The 2025 Derek Walcott Prize winner will be announced in October."

https://thebritishblacklist.co.uk/out-of-africa-three-nigerian-writers-shortlisted-for-2025-derek-walcott-prize/

#metaglossia_mundus 

"U.S. lawmakers urged the release of Afghan interpreter Ziaulhaq Shinwari, detained by immigration officers despite legally relocating after risking his life aiding American forces.

Two members of Congress, Senator Richard Blumenthal and Representative John Larson of Connecticut, are demanding the release of Ziaulhaq Shinwari, an Afghan interpreter who once risked his life helping U.S. forces.

Shinwari, who worked as a translator and cultural adviser for American contractors at Camp Mike Spann in Mazar‑e‑Sharif, legally relocated to the United States after aiding the U.S. mission in Afghanistan.

On July 16, he was unexpectedly detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers when he went to an immigration center for biometric processing tied to his green card application.

In a joint statement released July 27, Blumenthal’s office said Shinwari “bravely risked his life” for U.S. troops and “does not deserve such treatment.”

The lawmakers also condemned his detention as a “clear violation of due process,” stressing that allies who entered the country legally should not be subjected to such actions.

Blumenthal and Larson warned that the case raises troubling questions about how Afghan partners who supported U.S. forces are being treated after relocation.

Advocates argue that Shinwari’s detention could undermine trust among Afghans still waiting for safe passage, urging swift action to secure his release and restore confidence in U.S. commitments."
U.S. Lawmakers Demand Release of Afghan Interpreter Detained by Immigration Officials
By
Fidel Rahmati
July 28, 2025
https://www.khaama.com/u-s-lawmakers-demand-release-of-afghan-interpreter-detained-by-immigration-officials/
#metaglossia_mundus

"... Acclaimed literary translator Anton Hur, known for bringing celebrated Korean works to a global audience, has made his debut as a novelist with the science-fiction titled "Toward Eternity."

 

At a press conference in Seoul on Monday marking the novel's Korean release, Hur said his career in translation was part of his strategic path to fulfilling his childhood dream of becoming an English-language fiction writer, a goal he has achieved with this book.

 

Originally written in English and published by HarperVia last July, "Toward Eternity" is a sci-fi novel set in the near future that explores immortality and what it means to be human.

 

At the event, Hur shared his creative philosophy, explaining he sees himself not as the one crafting the language, but as a vessel through which "the language materializes itself."

 

"I was once very touched when poet Lee Seong-bok told me the words came to him, not that he was writing them," Hur recalled. "While writing this book, I realized that I am a means for the language to materialize themselves and that I am a secretary to these words, who only prepares a pen and paper."

 

Much of his debut novel was written on the Seoul subway, an environment he called a "great creative destination" fueled by its unique rhythm and noise.

 

"As a full-time translator at the time, I had very little time for my own writing," he added.

 

A major name in translation, Hur rose to prominence with his work on Chung Bora's "Cursed Bunny," which was shortlisted for both the International Booker Prize and the National Book Award. His other notable translations include Hwang Sok-yong's "The Prisoner," Shin Kyung-sook's "I Went to See My Father," Park Sang-young's "Love in the Big City" and "Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS."

 

In a unique role reversal, the English novel of his was translated into Korean by novelist Chung.

 

"When someone offers to translate your work of literature, it is an immense honor," he said. "It is as if they are saying they will sacrifice some part of their life for your work. I was more than happy to enjoy the honor."

 

Born in Stockholm, Sweden, and now based in Korea, he released his first Korean essay "No One Told Me Not To" in 2023.

 

In a message to potential readers, Hur emphasized that fiction should be, above all, entertaining.

 

"I tried to ensure the joy I felt during the writing process was captured in the book, and since it is an easy read, I hope it reaches many people.""

From translator to translated: Anton Hur on debut novel 'Toward Eternity'

15:37 July 28, 2025

Woo Jae-yeon

SEOUL, July 28

#metaglossia_mundus

"Zhadan: War has changed Ukrainian language, filling it with pain

 

“in times of war, language breaks down”: "The usual structures that support its functionality and effectiveness collapse. War deprives us of our balance. Accordingly, it deprives us of our usual intonations. Looking into the darkness, you are forced, one way or another, to carefully evaluate the weight of what is said and heard."

 

27.07.2025 07:03

 

Ukrainian writer, poet, and soldier Serhii Zhadan is convinced that the Russian war has changed the Ukrainian language—its lightness has disappeared, replaced by pain.

 

According to a Ukrinform correspondent, Zhadan spoke about this at the Austrian State Prize for European Literature award ceremony during a solemn event at the Salzburg Festival.

 

 

 

 

"Talking about literature in times of war is a great luxury. It is now much more common to talk about war in Ukrainian. To see the war, you don't need to open a book — just look out the window," the writer said.

 

 

 

 

He spoke about one of the recent Russian attacks on Kharkiv and emphasized: "The Russians are destroying our cities and our fellow citizens. Russia is waging this aggressive and unjust war to destroy us."

 

 

 

 

According to Zhadan, Ukrainian books currently being published will almost certainly feature the war, or “even if it is not in the plot, it will fill the pauses and voids.”

 

 

 

 

Literature, he noted, does not always seem appropriate when it comes to contemplating death. But it is necessary to bear witness to the war “in order to continue fighting” — “to bear witness in order to love.”

 

 

 

 

The writer believes that war has deformed the current Ukrainian language.

 

 

 

 

"What happened to our language? How did war change it? Its lightness disappeared. Instead, pain appeared. A lot of pain. And it turned out that its excessive presence deforms the language, deprives it of balance. We now speak the language of people who particularly want to be heard, who are trying to explain themselves. There is no need to look for excessive egocentrism behind this. We are not shouting to draw attention to ourselves — we are shouting to draw attention to those who are worse off than us, who are particularly bad off, who are suffering, who are in pain. We are shouting for those who cannot speak now, who have been deprived of their voice, who have been deprived of their heartbeat," said Zhadan.

 

 

 

 

According to him, “in times of war, language breaks down”: "The usual structures that support its functionality and effectiveness collapse. War deprives us of our balance. Accordingly, it deprives us of our usual intonations. Looking into the darkness, you are forced, one way or another, to carefully evaluate the weight of what is said and heard."

 

 

 

 

According to Zhadan, Ukrainians today are trying not just to preserve the remnants of reality that broke down with the start of the war. "We are trying to reassemble this reality, to restart it, to reimagine it, to rename it. We are learning to control our language from scratch, we are testing words for functionality and effectiveness, we are like a person who is learning to walk again after a terrible catastrophe," he emphasized.

 

 

 

 

At the same time, the writer emphasized that it is language that gives Ukrainians the opportunity to “speak again after a long period of numbness, after deadly silence, after muteness, which comes, confirming your lack of strength and desire to explain anything.”

 

 

 

 

"It is language that gives us the opportunity to explain the world to ourselves and ourselves to the world. Today, language is our most accurate and effective tool in our attempts to understand the world, in our efforts to be convincing and understandable. We use a language that is only now growing and recovering, like a branch after a break. We use this language to talk about things that we have never talked about before, that were not in our vocabulary, that we never pronounced because they were simply not part of our experience," he said.

 

 

 

 

Today, Ukrainians have a completely different experience, Zhadan noted, “and, accordingly, a completely different language.” "This language will obviously be used to write completely different literature. Perhaps this literature will lack nuances and doubts, playfulness and frivolity. However, I want to believe that it will not lack the courage to talk about pain and joy, about light and darkness, about powerlessness and hope. It will not be afraid to bear witness to those who need love and understanding. In fact, I suppose that this will be literature of love and understanding. After all, this literature will be written by people who are currently being deprived of precisely that — love and understanding," said the artist.

 

 

 

 

He added that the language in which books are currently written in Ukraine “is the language of people who are trying to protect their lives and their dignity, their voice and their right to speak.”

 

 

 

 

As reported by Ukrinform, Serhii Zhadan became this year's winner of the Austrian State Prize for European Literature, awarded by the country's Ministry of Culture. The prize is worth €25,000.

 

 

 

 

The official award ceremony took place on July 25 with the participation of Federal Minister of Art and Culture, Vice-Chancellor Andreas Babl, as part of a festive event during the Salzburg Festival.

 

https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-society/4019229-zhadan-war-has-changed-ukrainian-language-filling-it-with-pain.htm

 

 

 

"by Macquarie University
edited by Lisa Lock, reviewed by Andrew Zinin

Education and training of Australian health practitioners should place greater emphasis on the importance of using professional interpreting services in clinical settings, according to a new book by Macquarie University researcher Dr. Jinhyun Cho.

In her new book based on analysis of interviews with 67 health care interpreters in Australia, Macquarie University linguistics researcher Dr. Jinhyun Cho suggests that many clinicians don't sufficiently understand or appreciate the skills and value of qualified interpreters.

"My research suggests a lack of awareness and understanding leads to interpreters being underutilized or used in ways that undermine their potential effectiveness," says Dr. Cho.

"As a result, health care access for a huge number of people without functional English is limited, and that can have a real cost in terms of health outcomes."

Australia was regarded as a world pioneer in the provision of interpreting services in the 1970s when multiculturalism was first enthusiastically embraced.

Dr. Cho says her research shows an English "monolingual mindset" still prevails in many areas of public life including health care institutions.

Assuming someone with basic conversational English can understand medical English in a stressful and unfamiliar setting may be unsafe, she says.

"There's also a very common misconception that anyone who knows two languages can be an interpreter," Dr. Cho says.

"Many health care interpreters told me stories of non-clinical staff like receptionists and cleaners being used as ad hoc interpreters simply because they are bilingual and are there on the spot."

Previous Australian research has shown that bilingual family members are frequently expected to act as interpreters, and sometimes this is neither culturally appropriate nor effective.

Tragic case study
In her book, Dr. Cho relates a case study of a 35-year-old Afghan refugee who presented to a general practice with a painful left leg with her young daughter as "interpreter."

Suspecting deep vein thrombosis (DVT), the doctor told the patient she might have a serious blood clot in her leg and gave her a referral for an ultrasound examination at the local hospital.

However, the need for urgency was lost in translation and mother and daughter decided to wait until another family member more proficient in English could read and explain the letter and written information provided.

Tragically, two days later part of the clot dislodged and found its way to her lungs, and she died from pulmonary embolism.

While not all interpreting scenarios have life-or-death consequences, skilled interpreters need to have the ability to instantly comprehend and express culturally contextualized meaning from one language into another, Dr. Cho says.

Mental health conditions like depression, for example, may be stigmatized, referred to only euphemistically, or even dismissed as non-existent in some cultures.

Cancer may be so feared in a culture as to be "unmentionable" to the patient.

And cultural differences in understandings of diseases and syndromes can make some concepts and terminology essentially "untranslatable."

The clinic environment and time constraints can also place stress on clinicians, patients and interpreters.

In telephone interpreting in particular, background noise, poor audio quality and the absence of non-verbal language cues can all reduce communication effectiveness.

Yet when communication problems occur, the cause tends to be attributed to the interpreter rather than the broader situation, says Dr. Cho.

It turns out none of this is new. Dr. Cho says she was "shocked" when she looked back nearly 50 years to research conducted at the University of New South Wales in the early days of organized health care interpretation in Australia.

"Many of the issues and challenges raised by the health care interpreters I spoke to are exactly the same as those faced by interpreters in the late 1970s," Dr. Cho says.

"While Australia has achieved a lot in terms of establishing the interpreting network and system, we haven't progressed very far in recognizing the importance of interpreting and optimizing its value."

Now, as it was in the 1970s, the answer is to improve education for health professionals.

"Health care interpreters in Australia are trained to work with health professionals and need to regularly update their medical knowledge as part of their professional recertification requirements," Dr. Cho says.

"But health professionals are rarely trained in when and how to work with interpreters.

"Access to qualified interpreting services really is a basic human right and an essential tool for enabling health care equity and social inclusion.""
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-07-lost-health-underused.html
#metaglossia_mundus

The Eastern Cape’s magistrate’s courts are facing a shortage of court interpreters, which sometimes results in cases being delayed for hours or entirely postponed. The Dispatch team has had a front-row seat in some of East London’s courts where cases have been postponed due to the unavailability of interpreters.

"Advertising and recruitment process for 28 vacant posts is under way, says ministry spokesperson
By ZIYANDA ZWENI - 28 July 2025
https://www.dailydispatch.co.za/news/2025-07-28-eastern-cape-courts-held-up-by-shortage-of-interpreters/
#metaglossia_mundus

"Abstract: Research on voice recognition for African languages is limited due to the scarcity of digital resources for training and adaptation, despite its broad usefulness. The Hausa language, spoken by almost fifty million inhabitants in West and Central Africa, is an example of a linguistic domain that has not been thoroughly studied. The Hausa language employs diacritics, which are symbols located above alphabetical characters to convey further information. By removing diacritics, the number of homographs increases, making it difficult to distinguish between similar words. This paper presents a study on speech recognition in the Hausa Language, specifically focusing on diacritized words. The study utilises the state-of-the-art wave2vec2.0 and Whisper deep learning architecture models, for transcribing audio signals into corresponding Hausa text. According to the results obtained in the study, the Whisper-large deep model emerged as the best, achieving a word error rate of 4.23% representing a considerable improvement of 43.9% when compared to the existing state-of-the-art model for Hausa language speech recognition. Additionally, the Whsiper-large model demonstrated a diacritic coverage of 92%, precision of 98.87%, with a diacritic error rate of 2.1%."

Abdulqahar Mukhtar Abubakar, Deepa Gupta & Susmitha Vekkot 

2024

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10772-024-10111-x

#metaglossia_mundus 

"How podcasts are powering indigenous language revival

by Mafumane Tlhapi

Mainstream radio combined with social media can do more to preserve South African indigenous languages than either can on their own.

 

A recent study by North-West University (NWU) master’s graduate Gofaone Motsamai explores how Motsweding FM radio is using Facebook to promote Setswana through podcasts and live streams.

 

“Motsweding FM is not just broadcasting, it’s preserving,” says Gofaone. “Through Facebook, the station connects Setswana speakers across borders, offering accessible and engaging content that supports linguistic and cultural continuity.”

 

The research, completed as part of a Communication master’s degree in the Faculty of Humanities, examined how the radio station uses Facebook to share Setswana language content, how audiences engage with it, and what digital challenges and opportunities arise. The study focused on how traditional broadcasters are adapting to social media to maintain cultural relevance.

 

Culturally relevant and connected

 

One listener who participated in a focus group said the flexibility of podcasting is what keeps them engaged: “I don’t always listen live, but I catch up through the podcast later. It helps me stay connected to my language.”

 

The study found that Facebook’s interactive tools allow for real-time feedback and dialogue, giving Setswana speakers a sense of community online. But there are obstacles. “Facebook’s algorithm tends to favour English-language content,” says Gofaone. “Some users also struggle with limited internet access or lack the digital skills to engage fully.”

 

The research recommends more investment by government entities and private sector companies in digital literacy to increase participation and urges broadcasters and policymakers to work together to make indigenous language content more discoverable on platforms like Facebook.

 

“There’s potential to expand into other digital technologies and form partnerships that can take this further,” says Gofaone. “What Motsweding FM is doing on Facebook is a start, but the long-term success of indigenous language preservation in the digital space will depend on continued innovation and support.”

 

The study highlights how digital media, when used intentionally, can play a growing role in keeping languages such as Setswana alive in a rapidly changing media landscape."

https://news.nwu.ac.za/how-podcasts-are-powering-indigenous-language-revival

#metaglossia_mundus 

GitHub's new Spark platform builds full-stack apps from simple text prompts, escalating the 'vibe coding' race against rivals like Google and Amazon.

 

"GitHub Releases Spark Tool Which Can Build Full Apps From a Single Prompt

 

GitHub's new Spark platform builds full-stack apps from simple text prompts, escalating the 'vibe coding' race against rivals like Google and Amazon.

 

 

 

 

GitHub has launched Spark, a new AI tool that builds full-stack apps from simple text prompts. Spark is GitHub’s ambitious entry into the “vibe coding” trend, allowing users to go from an idea to a deployed application without writing code or configuring a server.

 

 

 

 

Available in a public preview for GitHub Copilot Pro+ subscribers, the platform aims to eliminate the friction between concept and implementation. It directly challenges a crowded field of competitors from Google, Amazon, and others, escalating the race to define the future of AI-native software development.

 

 

 

 

From Prompt to Production: How GitHub Spark Works

 

Spark operates as a complete application factory, translating a user’s vision into a functional, full-stack product with remarkable speed. The process begins with a simple prompt in natural language, where a user might ask it to “create a task-management app” or “build a weather dashboard.” From there, Spark takes over, orchestrating a complex series of automated tasks that would typically require a team of developers and system administrators.

 

 

 

 

The engine driving this transformation is Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 4 model, which interprets the user’s intent and generates a coherent software architecture. This includes creating both the frontend user interface and the backend logic.

 

 

 

 

Simultaneously, Spark provisions all necessary infrastructure out-of-the-box, including a PostgreSQL database for data storage and a complete hosting environment on Microsoft Azure infrastructure. This seamless integration eliminates the traditional headaches of server setup, SSL certificate installation, and domain configuration, fulfilling the platform’s promise of a “no setup required” experience.

 

 

 

 

A standout feature is Spark’s ability to embed intelligence within the apps it creates. The platform allows users to integrate powerful Large Language Models from providers like OpenAI, Meta, DeepSeek, and xAI directly into their applications. Crucially, this is achieved without any need for the user to manage API keys, a significant technical hurdle for non-developers. This empowers creators to build sophisticated, AI-driven tools without needing deep expertise in backend authentication or API management.

 

 

 

 

Unlike many other app builders that trap projects in a proprietary sandbox, every application generated by Spark is backed by its own GitHub repository. This is a critical distinction, as it provides a professional-grade foundation from the outset. The repository comes pre-configured with GitHub Actions for continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD), automating the process of shipping updates.

 

 

 

 

It also includes Dependabot to monitor for security vulnerabilities and keep software dependencies up to date, ensuring the application remains secure and maintainable over time.

 

 

 

 

This robust foundation supports a highly flexible and multi-layered development workflow designed to accommodate users of all skill levels. A creator can begin with a simple prompt, then use a visual, drag-and-drop editor to refine the user interface. For more granular control, they can dive directly into the generated code.

 

 

 

 

For the most complex tasks, the entire project can be launched in a GitHub Codespace, allowing them to iterate with powerful Copilot agents to debug issues, add new features, or refactor the codebase. This tiered approach ensures that Spark is both accessible to beginners and powerful enough for seasoned developers.

 

 

 

 

The ‘Vibe Coding’ Gold Rush Heats Up

 

GitHub’s launch of Spark intensifies an already fierce competition to capitalize on the “vibe coding” phenomenon—a workflow where developers use natural language to generate code at high speed. While this approach accelerates development, it often bypasses critical quality checks. 

 

 

 

 

The dangers of this high-speed, low-scrutiny approach are not merely theoretical. Recent, high-profile failures have served as stark warnings to the industry. In one unsettling incident, a product manager watched as Google’s Gemini CLI deleted his files after hallucinating commands, with the agent itself confessing its own “gross incompetence” and admitting, “I have lost your data. This is an unacceptable, irreversible failure.”

 

 

 

 

This came just a week after SaaStr founder Jason Lemkin reported that a Replit AI agent wiped his company’s production database, a catastrophic event that Replit’s CEO called “unacceptable and should never be possible.”

 

 

 

 

These back-to-back fiascos highlight a growing philosophical divide in the market for AI development tools. On one side, platforms like Spark and Google’s recently unveiled Opal are leaning into the speed and accessibility of vibe coding. Opal, for instance, uses a visual workflow editor to target a wider, less technical audience, allowing users to build apps without writing any code. This strategy prioritizes rapid prototyping and democratizing creation, accepting that the initial output may require further refinement.

 

 

 

 

On the other side of the spectrum, competitors are building tools specifically designed to impose order on the chaos. Amazon’s Kiro is the leading example of this cautious, structure-first approach. Instead of immediately generating code, Kiro employs a “specification-driven” model that first creates project plans, design documents, and task lists.

 

 

 

 

This ensures that the resulting software is well-documented and maintainable from the start. Emphasizing this focus on enterprise-grade reliability, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy claimed, “Kiro has a chance to transform how developers build software.”

 

 

 

 

A third strategy is also emerging: using AI to police other AIs. Anysphere, the company behind the popular Cursor editor, recently launched Bugbot, an automated tool that integrates with GitHub to review pull requests and find flaws before they reach production.

 

 

 

 

This represents a critical safety net, with one engineering manager at Discord noting, “we’ve had PRs approved by humans, and then Bugbot comes in and finds real bugs afterward. That builds a lot of trust.” This approach acknowledges that while AI will accelerate code creation, it also necessitates a new class of AI-powered quality control to manage the risks.

 

 

 

 

An All-in-One Platform for the AI Era

 

Spark is available exclusively to subscribers of GitHub Copilot Pro+, a premium tier costing $39 per month. This pricing strategy positions Spark as a powerful incentive to draw users deeper into GitHub’s AI ecosystem, rather than as a standalone product.

 

 

 

 

By making Spark an exclusive perk for its most expensive Copilot plan, GitHub is sending a clear signal. This isn’t just a tool; it’s the capstone of its AI subscription, designed to create a sticky ecosystem that is hard for developers to leave.

 

 

 

 

The platform represents a strategic bet on an integrated future for software development. By bundling hosting, databases, and deployment into a single, prompt-driven interface, GitHub is creating a powerful, self-contained world for creators.

 

 

 

 

This vision of democratization is a recurring theme. Speaking about a similar enterprise push with Replit, Microsoft Americas President Deb Cupp stated, “our collaboration with Replit democratizes application development, enabling business teams across enterprises to innovate and solve problems without traditional technical barriers.”

 

 

 

 

Yet, the need for human oversight remains critical. As Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei noted about agentic systems, “we’re heading to a world where a human developer can manage a fleet of agents, but I think continued human involvement is going to be important for the quality control…” Spark’s design, which keeps the developer in the loop, seems to embrace this philosophy.

 

 

 

 

The potential is significant, with some leaders like Anysphere CEO Michael Truell predicting, “I expect AI coding agents to handle at least 20% of a software engineer’s work by 2026.” With Spark, GitHub is not just launching another tool; it is making a bold play to own the entire development lifecycle, from the initial spark of an idea to the final, globally deployed product."

 

Markus Kasanmascheff

 

July 27, 2025

 

https://winbuzzer.com/2025/07/27/github-releases-spark-tool-which-can-build-full-apps-from-a-single-prompt-xcxwbn/

 

#metaglossia_mundus 

"Why do “mama” and “papa” sound alike in so many languages? Experts say baby talk may be the reason.

 

Speakers of certain languages, such as Spanish, Italian or Catalan, may be able to understand one another when conversing in their native tongue due to their shared linguistic roots. However, even in completely different languages from opposite corners of the world, some words bear more than passing resemblance.

 

The words for “mother” and “father” are perhaps the two best examples, especially when we also take into consideration their numerous shortened forms, or informal alternatives.

 

Combination of sounds key

According to Lane Greene, language correspondent for The Economist, there’s a fascinating, but fairly logical, reason people across the globe use similar words to refer to their parents. And it’s all about how easily different sounds combine together.

 

“A few consonants, such as /b/, /m/, /t/ and /k/ show up frequently in nearly every spoken language in the world,” Greene explains. “Almost certainly, that’s because they’re easy to make.”

 

The influence of babies on words for “mother and ”father"

And because they are easy to make, they tend to be part of the first words uttered by babies, whose parents assume, rightly or wrongly, their offspring learn to say their names before any other words.

 

“A baby vocalizing will at first make a vowel-like sound, usually something like ‘aaaah,’ which requires very little in the way of control over the mouth,” Greene continues. “If the baby briefly closes their mouth and continues vocalizing, air will come out the nose, making the /m/ sound that’s used around the world in words for ‘mother.’”

 

It’s thought to be a similar story for words for “father.”

 

“To say ‘papa,’ babies can easily stop their breath when they close their lips rather than going on breathing through the nose, producing a /b/ or /p/ sound,” Greene elaborates. “And that explains ‘papa’ in English, ‘baba’ in Arabic, and ‘bà ba’ in Mandarin.

 

Babbling’s important role in language

So, then, it appears many of the words for “mother” and “father” in different languages may simply have come from babies babbling.

 

But, just like today, whether babies who helped ‘invent’ languages 100,000 years ago were actually referring to their parents when muttering “mama,” “papa” or other variations, is something we’ll never know"

Roddy Constwitter

Update: Jul 27th, 2025 18:29 EDT

https://en.as.com/latest_news/this-is-the-reason-why-words-like-mother-and-father-are-similar-in-many-completely-different-languages-n/

#metaglossia_mundus 

"In the late 1980s, two American researchers conducted what would become one of the most cited experiments in education. A group of Grade 7 and 8 students was told to read a passage about baseball and answer a set of comprehension questions. As expected, strong readers who knew a lot about the sport obtained the highest scores. Surprisingly, however, students with lower reading ability but with extensive knowledge of baseball outperformed those with stronger reading skills but limited knowledge of the sport.

 

The now-famous baseball study challenged the long-held belief that reading is a skill that must be taught in isolation. It revealed how our prior knowledge of a topic acts like a scaffold that helps us make sense of new concepts by connecting them to what we already understand. A 2019 study published in Psychological Science reinforced this idea. Researchers found that when students are unfamiliar with 59 percent or more of the terms in what they’re reading, their ability to comprehend the text significantly suffers. To develop a child’s comprehension skills, it’s not enough to teach them how to read. We must assess what they know, build on that knowledge, and guide them to find the connections between ideas.

 

Understanding the science behind teaching comprehension skills matters now more than ever. In 2022, the Philippines ranked among the bottom 10 countries in reading comprehension in the 2022 Program for International Student Assessment. According to the World Bank, the Philippines has a 90 percent learning poverty rate, which means nine out of 10 Filipino 10-year-olds are unable to read or understand a simple paragraph. Since assuming office, Department of Education (DepED) Secretary Sonny Angara has prioritized addressing the learning crisis by launching various targeted interventions. Last week, DepEd announced a major improvement: the number of Grade 3 students who were unable to recognize letters dropped from 65,000 last year to just 2,000. This progress is certainly no small feat, and serves as a promising sign that urgent, focused efforts can move the needle.

 

But the real challenge lies ahead. How do we make sure students can critically understand what they read? When schools think about catch-up measures, especially for older students, a common but flawed response is to keep sacrificing instructional time for other subjects to focus solely on reading. However, as the baseball study shows, comprehension is deeply tied to background knowledge and vocabulary, and reading initiatives need to be integrated with, rather than separated from, the broader learning experience. The most effective interventions find the right balance between pulling out struggling readers for small-group remediation, when necessary, while also providing them with access to targeted, differentiated instruction that is embedded within their regular classes.

 

At the same time, literacy experts assert that remediation of older nonreaders should not be limited to giving them simplified reading-level appropriate texts. While this may seem supportive on paper, it deprives them of opportunities to be exposed to the vocabulary and ideas they need to catch up. Instead, teachers must use scaffolding techniques (e.g., pre-teaching difficult words they’ll encounter or using graphic organizers) to guide struggling students to comprehend age-appropriate material. When done well, this approach fosters the student’s cognitive growth and strengthens their confidence and self-belief.

 

Beyond classroom-level remediation, an integral part of the solution lies in designing a curriculum that does not just emphasize “core subjects” but one that embraces the value of an interdisciplinary education. It is easy to dismiss some fields as “minor subjects” or “nice-to-haves.” But when a student learns about science and math alongside history, literature, and the arts in a coherent and cumulative manner, they encounter key concepts and vocabulary repeatedly across subjects as opposed to learning them in fragmented units. This strengthens comprehension by training them to build meaningful connections across domains, and to flexibly apply what they know to different contexts.

 

In training sessions, I have often heard teachers say that although they agree that reading skills must be integrated in every subject and that “every teacher has to be a reading teacher,” they are not always explicitly taught how to do this. While there is no doubt that our public school teachers are some of the most resourceful people I have ever met, they need access to specialists, updated resources, and constant instructional coaching to help them track student progress and adapt their teaching accordingly.

 

DepEd has already taken encouraging steps in reducing the number of nonreaders in the country. Now comes the harder task: Ensuring every child doesn’t just learn how to read, but is also equipped with the thinking skills, sound judgment, and confidence to make sense of, and effectively navigate the world."

More than just reading

Eleanor Pinugu

@inquirerdotnet

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:20 AM July 28, 2025

 

https://opinion.inquirer.net/184979/more-than-just-reading

#metaglossia_mundus 

"Multimodal world construals in English translations of Hongloumeng: a cognitive stylistic and systemic functional linguistic analysis

 

Abstract: Text world, a key concept in Text World Theory, refers to the mental representation discourse creates in the reader’s mind. The way readers conceive or interpret the text world is known as world construal. Hongloumeng, the classic Chinese novel, is well-known for its realistic representation of a text world. However, the novel in English (target text or TT) may offer a different construal of the world compared with that in Chinese (source text or ST). This study examines two English translations of the novel, exploring to what extent they offered different world construals, how the translators employed verbal elements to shape readers’ conceptualizations of the text world, and how the editors and publishers employed visual elements to facilitate these conceptualizations. The research proposes a multimodal framework for analyzing the texts and cover designs of the translations by David Hawkes, Xianyi Yang, and Gladys Yang. The analysis suggests that these translations offer different construals of the text world, potentially bringing different emotional experiences to target readers. This article offers insight into how verbal and visual elements in a translation work together to facilitate mental representation of the text world. Furthermore, the integration of Text World Theory with models of cognitive stylistics and Systemic Functional Linguistics provides an effective framework for analyzing multimodal world construals in translation."

Minru Zhao & Dechao Li 

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume 12, Article number: 1147 (2025) 

Published: 21 July 2025

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-025-05504-5

#metaglossia_mundus 

"“Love” in different linguistic cultures
A lecture on ‘Comparative Analysis of the Concept of “Love” in Different Linguistic Cultures’ will be delivered by Ven Dr Waskaduwe Siri Sarana Thero, on July 28 at the Council Room of the Royal Asiatic Society, 96, Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha, Colombo 7 (1st floor of the Mahaweli Centre Building) at 5. 30 pm).

Venerable Dr Waskaduwe Siri Sarana Thero is a former Researcher at the South Ural State University, Russia. His lecture explores love through psycholinguistics and cultural-linguistics, comparing how Sinhalese, Russian, German, and Kazakh speakers understand it.

It provides an introduction to psycholinguistic and cultural-linguistic research methodologies, and key findings in these fields, focusing on how different cultures perceive the concept of “love”"
https://www.sundaytimes.lk/250727/sunday-times-2/love-in-different-linguistic-cultures-606733.html
#metaglossia_mundus

"Abstract: Translation technology has changed the translation industry in a big way. Translators are facing a transformation that impacts their work, income, and control over their translations. Despite the negative impacts, there have also been positives. To better understand the importance of machine-assisted tools in achieving translation quality, we will conduct a thorough exploration. Specifically, we will evaluate the quality of literary texts that have undergone machine-assisted translation to uncover the underlying themes. Utilizing machine-assisted tools for literary text translation often leads to noticeable differences in translation quality. Therefore, a systematic approach based on theoretical frameworks is needed instead of relying on random conventions or practices. Although advancements in translation technology have not significantly impacted translating literature, the state of publishing presents difficulties for translators and copy editors alike—smaller fees and tighter deadlines can lead to a lack of quality control."
Translation Quality of Literary Texts by Machine(-Assisted) Translation
July 2025
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-73899-9_5

Aladdin Tarawneh
Mohammad Al-Badawi
Wafa Abu hatab
Al-Hareth Alhalalmeh
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/393972844_Translation_Quality_of_Literary_Texts_by_Machine-Assisted_Translation
#metaglossia_mundus

"...A British woman claims she heard three Marks & Spencer employees at London Heathrow airport talking to each other in Hindi and reported them to their employer.
A British woman claims she heard three Marks & Spencer employees at London Heathrow airport talking to each other in Hindi and reported them to their employer. Her viral social media post has sparked mixed reactions, with many wondering what crime the staffers had committed and others criticising the woman as ‘racist’.

A woman claims she heard three staffers at London airport conversing in Hindi (Representational image)
Hindi at Heathrow
Lucy White took to the social media platform X on July 25 to complain about the Marks & Spencer staffers. “Just landed in Heathrow Airport T3. Went into M&S. Three staff were speaking in another language,” she claimed.

White asked the employees what language they were speaking in, and was told they were conversing in Hindi – the most widely spoken language in India.

White further claimed she recorded their speech and had plans to report them to Marks & Spencer. “We must confront them every time,” she wrote.

Her post has gone viral with over 4.6 million views. It proved to be deeply controversial on social media, with some agreeing with White and her take on what language must be spoken in London.

"It's alienating to hear shop assistants speaking in a foreign language in a British store. I wouldn’t shop in stores that permit this,” wrote one X user. “Well, what are you waiting for? Report them,” another said, to which the British woman replied indicating she was in the process of reporting the incident to Marks & Spencer.

The majority of users, however, called out White for being racist and xenophobic, while expecting staffers at one of the world’s busiest international airports to speak only English.

“People speaking Hindi at work aren’t the problem—you policing languages in a multicultural country is. This isn’t the confrontation you think it is. It’s just xenophobia,” wrote X user Clare.

“Surely typing ‘morning all, I’m a little bit racist’ would have been much easier?” another asked sarcastically. “Why shouldn’t people speak a different language when they’re talking amongst themselves? And at an international airport too.”

“Urgent, Marks & Spencer. You have multilingual staff working at the world's busiest airport. Please advise,” a third person joked."
Woman outraged by London airport shop employees talking in Hindi, says she reported them
Sanya Jain
Updated on: Jul 27, 2025 09:10 am IST
https://www.hindustantimes.com/trending/woman-hears-hindi-at-london-airport-reports-staff-internet-asks-what-s-the-crime-101753582703218.html
#metaglossia_mundus

Speaking more than one language shapes how we think and connect. It's time the U.S. valued the bilingual perspective and multilingual voices.

 

"By Zella Sarkissian

It starts with a glance. Sometimes a second too long. Sometimes a whisper that I’m not supposed to hear. Speaking Armenian in public has never felt safe; it’s a moment that turns heads. I’ll be laughing with my friend in a cafe or catching up with my mom over the phone, and suddenly, I can tell something has changed—a shift, quiet but clear. I lower my voice and pause between words—not because I’m embarrassed by the language, but because I know what’s coming. I’ve learned to expect it.

 

And every time I wonder: Why does something so central to who I am feel so wrong in certain places?

 

Growing up bilingual, I spent most of my early life translating. This translation was not just literal words, but also versions of myself. I spoke Armenian at home and school, where our community cherished it. It was the language of poetry and prayers, of celebration and survival. In my Armenian community, our language isn’t just a means of communication; it is the keeper of our culture. We sang in Armenian, read history in Armenian, and connected to it. Throughout my life, it has been a source of pride, especially for a people whose language has endured near-erasure. At school, my classmates and I didn’t think twice about moving between English and Armenian; we simply embraced a bilingual perspective without even realizing it.

 

But outside that bubble, things changed. Suddenly, speaking Armenian felt like I was breaking some unspoken American rule. In stores, airports, and classrooms, I saw people become noticeably uncomfortable when I spoke. I overheard muttered comments of “We speak English here.” Slowly, I started code-switching. I’d cut myself off mid-sentence and switch to English in public spaces. I translated things I didn’t need to, just to avoid people staring. I tried to fit into a space that excluded people like me, who carry a bilingual perspective everywhere they go.

 

 

At the time, I didn’t fully understand what was happening. I thought bilingualism was a skill that would be useful for jobs or traveling. It wasn’t until much later, however, that I realized bilingualism wasn’t just shaping how I spoke. It was reshaping how I saw, how I listened, and how I felt.

 

 

In Armenia, the alphabet is celebrated in stone. Abroad, speaking it aloud can invite silence, stares, or shame. (Shutterstock/Alexey Kharitonov)

Language Shapes Thoughts

In English, I learned clarity. Assertiveness. The value of saying what you mean. English teaches you to get to the point and to emphasize logic, structure, and directness. It’s a language designed to streamline.

 

In Armenian, I learned emotion. I realized that how we say something can matter just as much as what we say. Armenian isn’t rushed: it lingers, folds in on itself, and repeats to evoke a feeling. In one language, I learned to argue. In the other, I learned to understand.

 

Switching between the two didn’t just add words to my vocabulary; it also broadened my understanding of the subject. I began to see that language isn’t simply about grammar and syntax but also about perspective. When I hear a story in English, I sometimes pause to imagine how it would sound in Armenian.

 

 

Over time, I began to notice the difference between what someone says and what they truly feel, an awareness rooted in a bilingual perspective. Research refers to this as cognitive flexibility, which is the ability to shift between frameworks and understand that the same experience can have different meanings depending on the context. Further research also suggests that bilinguals score higher in problem-solving, attention-shifting, and adaptability. But those studies often stop at surface-level outcomes.

 

They miss the emotional depth of bilingualism. Bilingualism offered something essential: a constant reminder that every story has more than one version: that no word, no idea, no memory is ever as simple as it seems.

 

 

A Cultural Double Standard

And yet, in America, bilingualism still carries tension.

 

We praise it when it serves us, such as when we need interpreters at international events or want to market products globally. “Bilingual preferred” often appears in job postings, typically as a plus. But too frequently, that praise is conditional.

 

 

When immigrant parents speak to their children in their native tongue, people often accuse them of holding their kids back. If a cashier answers the phone in Spanish, someone complains. Teachers and classmates often treat a student’s accent as a flaw to fix rather than a trait to embrace.

 

Society romanticizes multilingualism when it comes from privileged backgrounds, such as European travelers, business executives, and Ivy League students. But when refugees, working-class families, and immigrants speak multiple languages, many treat it as a burden and a barrier to assimilation.

 

Even in school, educators often push English learned to assimilate quickly, sidelining their home languages in the process. “English only” rules still dominate in classrooms across the country, and few students ever hear that speaking more than one language is a strength, that their bilingual perspective is an asset rather than an inconvenience.

 

The same ability that earns praise on a resume can provoke discomfort in a classroom or public space.

 

 

This contradiction points to a deeper issue: society teaches us to view bilingualism as something exotic or marketable, rather than as a natural human ability. We accept it when it aligns with a narrative of upward mobility, but we treat it as a threat when it reflects working-class or immigrant realities. In doing so, we undervalue the bilingual perspective.

 

 

Rethinking the Narrative of Speaking Two Languages

The United States often claims to be a nation of immigrants, but it rarely honors the languages those immigrants bring. We encourage people to come here, work here, raise families here, but only on the condition that they become more like “us.” Public policy, education systems, and cultural norms reinforce this mindset by promoting English as the key to success. At the same time, many people still view other languages as distractions, deficiencies, or even threats.

 

But what if we changed that narrative?

 

What if bilingualism weren’t seen as something to manage or correct but something to cultivate and protect? What if schools viewed home languages not as barriers to overcome but as gifts to nurture, threads that connect students to their families, communities, and cultural identities? Or what if professional environments embraced language diversity as a strength, instead of expecting everyone to conform to a single way of speaking or expressing themselves? What if public media featured multilingual voices regularly, not just during heritage month segments but as a part of the everyday American soundscape?

 

What if we treated bilingualism not as a test of loyalty but as a testament to possibility? Not as an obstacle to assimilation but as evidence of resilience? Language is not just a means of communication; it’s a container for memory, emotion, and history. Every accent carries a journey. Every second language learned, taught, or inherited is a testament to adaptability, layered identity, and expanded perspective.

 

Imagine if we saw accents not as errors but as a sign of lives that stretch across countries, across generations, across ways of knowing and living. An accent is not a mark of brokenness. It’s a trace of multiple worlds being held together in one voice.

 

Being bilingual doesn’t simply shape how people speak; it also influences their communication style. It transforms how they think, feel, and connect. It teaches them how to shift between perspectives, communicate with sensitivity, and recognize that there is rarely one “right” way to say something. Bilingualism fosters what our society so urgently lacks: the capacity to see more than one side, to hold multiple truths at once, to listen beyond the surface. It trains the mind not just to react but to reflect, not to assume but to inquire.

 

If we truly want a society that is more thoughtful, just, and human, we need to start by honoring the multilingual lives already among us. We must stop viewing English fluency as the only marker of intelligence and instead elevate the voices that switch between languages, because it’s how they survive, express love, build community, and understand the world.

 

Bilingualism is not a barrier; it is a bridge. It is not a delay in learning but a deepening of it. Speaking multiple languages does not confuse children; it connects them. It does not divide communities; it allows them to understand one another more fully. And if we are brave enough to walk that bridge, to listen carefully to the stories it carries, we might arrive at a culture more rooted in empathy, complexity, and care.

 

Let’s stop asking bilingual people to choose between languages and start asking what we can learn from the fact that they live in more than one. Because what they offer us is not just translation but a bilingual perspective on how to live with depth, humility, and connection."

https://www.trillmag.com/life/opinion/bilingual-perspective-how-being-bilingual-changes-the-way-we-think/

#metaglossia_mundus

For many young readers feeling distant from their native cultures, Indian translations offer a way back home.

 

"‘Bimaar Yaad’ from Gulzar’s Raat Pashmine Ki (2002)

On the cusp of my twenties, when my inner monologue started dictating itself in English, I knew something had gone wrong. Not because English wasn’t mine to wield, but because it felt like a betrayal of my mother tongue, Hindi.

 

“Gunahon Ka Devta by Dharamvir Bharati is a brilliant start for Hindi literature. You can always fall back on its English translation Chander & Sudha,” Saheli Chatterjee placatingly says when I confess to my disloyalty. A marketing strategist from West Bengal, Chatterjee is a polyglot, gliding effortlessly between Hindi, Bengali and English, often revisiting the same book in more than one language. This cross-lingual experience, she says, offers unexpected insights. “Sometimes, I notice how certain words or feelings get lost, or even gained, in translation. It makes me appreciate both versions differently, but it mostly makes me realise how exquisitely Indian languages capture emotions.”

 

Post-independence, English dominated India’s literary imagination as the country tried to shake off its colonial hangover. The tide heightened with Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, which bagged the Booker Prize in 1981 and catapulted Indian English writing onto the global stage. Authors followed suit, Indian English-language books flooded bookstores and regional literature was relegated to the back shelves. Even as the Desivad (nativism) movement of the ’80s heralded a return to indigenous voices, English remained the language of prestige. The international conquest of Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things only cemented its status. In 2007, The Guardian cheekily referred to English as “an auntie if not a mother tongue” of India. For a long time, reading outside of English simply wasn’t cool.

 

But in recent years, the spotlight seems to be swinging back home. Young Indians are now embracing native and translated literature, not only out of literary curiosity but also as a means of reconnecting with their cultural roots. The 2022 International Booker win for Geetanjali Shree’s Tomb of Sand (translated by Daisy Rockwell) marked a watershed moment as the first Indian language novel to win the prize, changing the perception of translations almost overnight. Suddenly, books written in Indian languages weren’t seen as niche or secondary; they were celebrated as essential voices in global literature. Publishers took note. Penguin Random House India even launched its new imprint ‘Penguin Swadesh’, aimed at publishing books in Indian languages in 2023.

 

Where translators’ names once rarely appeared on book covers due to apprehensions of readership drop, today translations are not only celebrated but widely acknowledged as a form of cultural discovery. According to Deepa Bhasthi, the translator of Banu Mushtaq’s Heart Lamp, which won the 2025 International Booker prize, “It’s a good time to be reading literature from our backyards.” In her post-win interview with the Booker Prizes, she spoke about how “so many people below 35 have pretty much lived their entire lives online, which makes it easier for them to be open to literature from different languages and cultures.”

 

For many young readers feeling distant from their native cultures, translated books offer a way back home. “The idea that people can access the cultures of their origin through a literary or cinematic lens is becoming more powerful,” says J. Devika, translator between English and Malayalam.

 

Unlike millennials, who equated English with upward mobility, Gen Z has a strong sense of ‘India pride.’ For them, reading a Malayalam classic or Bengali feminist fiction in English isn’t a niche hobby that earns them bragging rights. It’s the longing to know the mouthfeel of languages alien to them; languages that their grandparents perhaps spoke their entire lives. “For many of us who studied in English-medium institutions, English feels just as close as our native language. So reading the same book in both versions—first in English, then in the original—can help readers ease into the mother tongue, especially when they’re not entirely fluent, which is unfortunately not rare,” explains Bhasthi.

 

Closer to home, the boom in regional literature festivals has created thriving spaces for young Indians to discover and celebrate native-language storytelling. Conceived in 2022, Kerala’s Wayanad Literature Festival positions itself as India’s first rural literary celebration. The latest edition of Meghalaya’s Shillong Literary Festival aimed to highlight regional languages, particularly Khasi and Garo, which are still seeking constitutional recognition. In March 2025, Vidhan Soundha, the legislative chambers of Karnataka, opened its doors to the public for its first-ever book fair and cultural festival focused on Kannada books, which attracted over 150,000 readers.

 

“Reading in Tamil reminds me of the way people speak in my hometown and even small details like how families interact and festivals are celebrated,” says Saranya Dhandapani, a techie from Bangalore, highlighting the emotional proximity she feels towards Chennai when reading Tamil books. Chatterjee observes how, although the language to describe them may be different, the experiences regional authors write about are often universal. “An English translation of a book by Perumal Murugan, who originally writes in Tamil, depicts a mother-in-law upset over the bride’s spending, which is something we see in Bengal too.”

 

 

Are Indian translations always faithful to the original? “I noticed that the long, immersive monologues in original Punjabi books are broken into shorter, fragmented phrases in the English translation,” says Noida-based engineer Ekambir Singh, reflecting on Amrita Pritam’s Pinjar in Punjabi and its English translation by Khushwant Singh. Chatterjee had similar takeaways when she read Manav Kaul’s Tumhare Baare Mein, followed by its English version, A Bird on My Windowsill by Nandini Kumar Nickerson, where “a section that appears as flowing prose in Hindi was reimagined as free verse poetry in English to retain its lyrical intensity.” Devika posits, “Translation is the translator’s reading. It’s not a mechanical transfer of meaning but an original act of creation.” She recalls translating The Sthory of Two Wimmin Named Kalyani and Dakshayani by R. Rajasree, where she recreated the distinct Malayalam colloquialisms of north and south Kerala, which function almost like characters. “Some readers found this irritating, but the dialects were central to the novel’s tension and its vision of social justice.”

 

 

Although Indian translations are enjoying their much-deserved moment in the sun, it’s crucial not to glamourise them to the point of othering them. In her translator’s note for Heart Lamp, Bhasthi explains her choice to forgo italics for transliterated Kannada, Urdu and Arabic words: italicising only exoticises them, marking them as alien. It’s the same reason you won’t find any footnotes either. Instead, Bhasthi leaves us with a question: “People often ask what gets lost in translation—but I’d rather ask: what gets found?”

 

 

Also read:

Indian fiction isn’t flying off bookshelves like it should. It’s time we asked why

 

Bookshelf wealth is all well and good, but are you checking on your bookshelf’s health?

 

When languages in India disappear, they take more than words with them"

SUVRAT ARORA

26 July 2025

https://www.vogue.in/content/indian-translations-most-loyal-readers-gen-z

#metaglossia_mundus

"The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) advises applicants with upcoming field office appointments that they are responsible for providing their own interpreters if translation services are needed. If an interpreter cannot be secured in time, USCIS recommends contacting them to reschedule the appointment.

 

USCIS stated, “If you have an upcoming appointment at a USCIS field office and require interpretation services, you must provide your own interpreter. If you cannot find an interpreter in time for your appointment, you must contact USCIS to reschedule.”

 

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However, attorney Keshab Seadie has cautioned applicants about bringing interpreters to USCIS appointments or interviews. Seadie notes that for employment-based green card applications or other applications requiring English proficiency, bringing a Nepali interpreter could potentially lead to rejection of the application.

 

In contrast, Seadie confirmed that for family-based green card applications and other application types, applicants may bring their own interpreters. He emphasized that interpreters must be fluent in both English and the applicant’s language and must meet established standards.

 

According to USCIS, interpreters must be fluent in English and the applicant’s language. They are expected to translate everything the applicant says during the interview honestly, accurately, and completely.

 

Interpreters are not permitted to answer on behalf of the applicant; their role is solely to facilitate communication between the officer and the applicant. Additionally, interpreters must agree to maintain the confidentiality of the applicant’s information.

 

Interpreters must be at least 18 years old and cannot serve as a witness in the applicant’s case. Attorneys or accredited representatives are not allowed to act as both a representative and an interpreter simultaneously, per USCIS guidelines.

 

USCIS officers will evaluate whether an interpreter meets the required qualifications. If an officer determines that the interpreter is not qualified, they may disallow the translation.

 

If an interpreter is used, both the applicant and the interpreter must sign and submit Form G-1256. This form cannot be signed before the interview and must be signed in the presence of the interviewing officer.

 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, USCIS provided interpreters for Nepali asylum interviews. However, this policy changed on September 13, 2023, requiring asylum applicants to bring their own Nepali interpreters if needed.

 

The provision of interpreters by USCIS was implemented in September 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. USCIS ended this practice after the federal declaration of a public health emergency related to COVID-19 expired in May 2023.

 

USCIS previously warned that if an applicant’s English proficiency is poor and an interpreter is needed but not provided, or if the interpreter is not fluent in both English and the applicant’s language, the agency might consider the applicant as having failed to appear for the interview. This could result in the cancellation of the asylum interview and referral of the asylum application to an immigration judge.

 

However, if an applicant provides a valid reason for being unable to bring an interpreter, USCIS may grant another interview date. Decisions are made on a case-by-case basis."

https://nepyork.com/2025/07/23/uscis-reminds-applicants-to-bring-their-own-interpreters-lawyer-warns-of-risks/

#metaglossia_mundus 

" ABSTRACT: People hold different beliefs about the nature of emotions: some view emotions as valuable and controllable, while others see them as harmful and unchangeable. Evidence suggests that these emotion beliefs are associated with mental health symptoms via their influence on emotion regulation. To explore these beliefs, it is essential to employ valid and reliable measures. This systematic review provides a comprehensive overview of existing measures of emotion beliefs and an evaluation of their quality (validity, reliability). A search of seven online databases yielded a total of 5276 citations (after duplicate removal), of which 69 met inclusion criteria and were assessed using the Quality Assessment with Diverse Studies (QuADS) and modified criteria outlined by Halle and Darling-Churchill. The findings of this review serve as a resource for researchers and clinicians seeking emotion belief measures. However, it also identified several areas for advancement in the field, including a need to develop more consistent theoretical frameworks, measures using alternative assessment approaches beyond self-report questionnaires (e.g., vignettes), and measures specifically designed for children and adolescents. There is also an opportunity for more qualitative studies to explore emotion beliefs."
Measuring emotion beliefs: a systematic review
Susanne Peter, Bonamy R. Oliver, Harriet R. Kabo, Anna V. Raynaud, Marthe Wiggers &Matthew P. Somerville
Received 21 Feb 2025, Accepted 20 Jun 2025, Published online: 11 Jul 2025
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02699931.2025.2526676#abstract
#metaglossia_mundus

"I hadn’t given the matter much thought until today, but I notice that most of my last several columns have been about works in translation. World literature is at its peak now; yet, I’m constantly aware how many languages fail to attract the attention of enterprising translators. But, with Geetanjali Shree and Banu Mushtaq — two authors who work in Indian languages — having been awarded the prestigious Booker International Prize, this trend might be shifting.

 

Translators are given their due along with authors, encouraging the latter to choose novels and stories that may otherwise be confined to monolingual readers. I’m delighted to learn that Daisy Rockwell’s translation of Khadija Mastur’s classic Urdu novel, Aangan, will be released as a Penguin Classic, introducing this fine Pakistani writer to foreign readers well over half a century after the novel’s first publication. I hope that Rockwell’s translation of Zameen — my favourite among Mastur’s fictions — follows suit.

 

Urdu and Hindi have, arguably, a larger group of translators than Kannada, the language in which Mushtaq writes. Other South Asian languages are generally bypassed by publishers. This year, I heard that Mehdi Khawaja’s translation of To Each His Own Hell, a 1975 novel by the pioneer of Kashmiri fiction writer Akhtar Mohiuddin (1928-2001), had won a prize; but rumour has it that we will have to wait a year or two to see it in print.

 

I’ve always been interested in translations from languages that are considered ‘minor’ in the publishing world, regardless of the numbers that speak them. I’ve read stories by Mohiuddin over the years in literary journals and am aware that, at some point, a collection of his stories was published in English. But the one novel of his I was able to find was, to my judgement, so poorly rendered and full of typographical errors as to make it unreadable. Then, there’s the case of the very popular Punjabi writer Amrita Pritam, who was well served by the Urdu and Hindi translations in which I read her. Though her poetry has been passably well served in English, her fiction is only adequately represented by Khushwant Singh’s version of Pinjar [The Skeleton] and a handful of her short stories. Other works are all but unreadable.

 

In Sindhi, Jamal Abro (1924-2004) has been better served in Pirani, a series of stories translated by various hands. Often, however, when judging works translated from a language I can’t read, I wonder whether the selection of some of these stories is based on a sociopolitical rather than an aesthetic criterion, as is the case with many South Asian fictions, including Mohiuddin’s.

 

I’ve always been interested in translations from languages that are considered ‘minor’ in the publishing world, regardless of the numbers that speak them.

 

Among other Asian languages, Japanese, Chinese and, increasingly, Korean are adequately represented in English translation, unlike, for example, Indonesian or Thai. The very enterprising Lontar Modern Library of Indonesia has published a number of renowned and lesser-known fictions in translation, but these are impossible to find in British bookshops. In most cases, I have had to make do with Kindle versions. Recently, I waited a year for Amazon to make available a novel of historical and feminist significance, Against the Grain by Suwarsih Djojopuspito.

 

The story of the novel and its author was told to me by my friend Toeti Heraty (1933-2021), the eminent Indonesian poet and philosopher, in her Jakarta library in 1992. Suwarsih (1912-1977) originally wrote this autobiographically tinged novel in her native Sundanese but, because of its nationalist, anti-colonial content, she failed to find a publisher and, on a friend’s advice, rewrote the novel in Dutch in the early 1940s and published it in Holland.

 

After Indonesia’s independence, Suwarsih moved to a third language, Bahasa Indonesia, the language that Toeti, a feminist of the next generation, also chose above Dutch — in which she had been educated — or Javanese — her native tongue. It was this interface of languages, along with her pioneering pursuit of lost women writers, that led Toeti to Suwarsih’s work. She may have encouraged the older writer to reclaim her radical novel from obscurity by rewriting it in Indonesian for a generation unacquainted with Dutch and with the history of their nationalist predecessors. “I did not know that what I wrote at that time would be valuable and would attract attention today,” she said about her decision to translate herself.

 

The Indonesian version, Manusia Bebas [Free Main/Free People], was published in 1975, with an introduction by Toeti. I have the copy Toeti gave me of the Indonesian edition here beside me today.

 

Somehow, it gives me pleasure to know that the English rendition I have read is of the Indonesian and not the Dutch version, perhaps because I feel that Suwarsih would have had the hindsight to see her own Dutch words in a different perspective, and that the novel is as much a product of her mature years as it is a reflection of her youth. I can’t judge as the Dutch text is unavailable to me. This juxtaposition of retrospection, testimony and linguistic overlay gives the novel its impact; as a bilingual, I cannot believe that the act of translating ourselves can be devoid of mindfulness. (I’m reminded of Qurratulain Hyder’s and Abdullah Hussein’s similar forays into English.) What did Suwarsih delete, or add?

 

What we know is that the text we have before us is Suwarsih’s final and definitive word of memory and invention. How well her English translator has served her I cannot say. But today’s reader can benefit from both the immediacy of direct recall, the distance of considered recollection and reflect on the double vision every act of translation, by self or other, imposes.

 

The columnist is a London-based short story writer and novelist

 

COLUMN: THE IMPORTANCE OF TRANSLATION

AAMER HUSSEIN

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, 27 Jul, 2025 08:19am

https://www.dawn.com/news/amp/1926884

#metaglossia_mundus 

"COPENHAGEN: Three in four people who use AI are turning to the likes of ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot to get advice and recommendations on shopping and travel instead of using the previous online method of search engines like Google, new research shows.

 

AI-supported online shopping is done at least occasionally by 76% of AI users, with 17% doing so most or even all of the time, according to a study conducted by the market research institute Norstat on behalf of Verdane, a leading European investment company.

 

 

The changes in consumer search behaviour pose a major challenge not only for search engine providers like Google but also for manufacturers and retailers, who must adapt to maintain their visibility in the AI-driven world.

 

AI chatbots have emerged as powerful tools for tracking down specific products, often providing helpful advice in response to complex and specific queries.

 

 

Of the survey respondents, 3% are dedicated AI enthusiasts who always use AI tools instead of search engines when shopping online, while 14% said they mostly use AI and 35% do so occasionally.

 

A total of 7,282 people from the UK, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland aged between 18 and 60 participated in the survey in June.

 

The highest proportion of AI use is in online travel research, at 33%. This is followed by consumer electronics (22%), DIY and hobby supplies (20%), and software or digital subscriptions (19%). However, AI usage is still relatively low in fashion and clothing (13%), cosmetics (12%), and real estate (7%).

 

 

STARPICKS

Kidney alert! From warning signs to winning strategies

Among AI tools, ChatGPT is far ahead of its competitors and 86% of AI users regularly use OpenAI's chatbot. This is followed at a considerable distance by Google's Gemini (26% regular users) and Microsoft's Copilot (20%).

 

The Chinese AI bot DeepSeek, which has been the subject of heated debate among AI experts and data protection advocates, appears to have no significant role among consumers in Europe. – dpa"

AI is replacing search engines as a shopping guide, research suggests

Sunday, 27 Jul 202512:00 PM MYT

https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2025/07/27/ai-is-replacing-search-engines-as-a-shopping-guide-research-suggests

#metaglossia_mundus 

A highly original book from the author of Goblinhood explores the art and work of translating fiction

"Fair by Jen Calleja review – on the magic of translation

A highly original book from the author of Goblinhood explores the art and work of translating fiction

 

Alex Clark

Fri 25 Jul 2025 07.00 BST

 

Jen Calleja is used to making things happen for herself, by herself, despite the fact that collaboration is vital to all her endeavours: her work as a literary translator, rendering German prose and poetry into English; her life as a publisher, and co-founder with her friend Kat Storace of Praspar Press, which aims to bring Maltese literature to a wider audience; her own writing, which includes the novel Vehicle and the essay collection Goblinhood; and her other incarnation, as a member of the post-punk band Sauna Youth.

 

All of this takes a significant amount of energy and determination, but one of Fair’s central contentions is that it is all made far harder than it ought to be by, in effect, the covert acceptance of inequality and exclusion in the arts and literature. She recalls, for example, finally feeling that she has made it as a translator when she is invited to speak at the London Book Fair; years later, she returns to tell the audience that she has plenty of work, but only £30 in her bank account because so many of the organisations in the room are behind on paying her. “Out of the frying pan of grifting,” as she acidly notes, “into the fire of contempt”.

 

But it is not simply a question of spiralling workload, dwindling rates of pay, insecure employment or even the spectre of AI. Translators are additionally required to go along with their own erasure: to sign up to the idea that invisibility is hard-wired into their value, and that a truly great translation is the one that the reader fails to notice. Maintaining this fiction might take obvious forms – neglecting to give a translator their rightful billing on the text itself – or it might be subtle and insidious, as in the insistence that translators suppress their regional identity by rendering everything in homogeneous southern English. Departing from such strictures has not hindered translators such as the inestimable Deborah Smith, who introduced Yorkshire dialect into her versions of the novels of Korean Nobel laureate Han Kang.

 

In fact, as Calleja demonstrates through several fascinating and detailed translations in progress, shepherding a piece of writing from one language into another requires so many minute responses, thought processes and decisions that the translator would find it impossible to suppress their own voice and experiences; and that if they managed it, the result would probably be worse, inert and undynamic. Her relationship with the manuscripts on her desk, for example, is informed by her life-changing encounter with Bernhard Schlink’s Der Vorleser (The Reader), a novel that she selected at random in a Munich bookshop when she was a teenager, over time allowing the chasms in her understanding and appreciation of the prose to slowly fill in and resolve. “Looking at this first page now, it feels so strange to know how I would translate it, how only I would translate it,” she writes. “Even stranger to think that now I pick up novels in German, open them, read them, and know how to translate them into books you buy in shops. That people trust me to do this.”

 

Fair is so titled in part to reflect its qualities as a manifesto – not only an improvement in pay and working conditions, but a demand that literary translation as a practice and profession should be a viable aspiration for a far greater number and type of people. It also describes the book’s puckish structure, in which we wander the stands, stalls and hallways of a notional trade fair, and where the illusion of cosy intimacy and friendliness – the decorated cubicles for meetings, the drinks receptions, the musical performances – are at odds with the corporate reality of such gatherings, which are essentially transactional rather than poetic. It can be a somewhat distracting and disorientating mechanism, which is perhaps the point. Stripping away the industrial structures of creating art is far easier said than done, but as she repeatedly tells us, you have to start somewhere.

 

 Fair: The Life-Art of Translation by Jen Calleja is published by Prototype (£12.99)."

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/jul/25/fair-by-jen-calleja-review-on-the-magic-of-translation

#metaglossia_mundus 

"Abstract: This study investigates the motivations of Emirati creative writers to choose the global language, English, rather than the UAE’s official language, Arabic, for their literary texts. Much scholarship has been dedicated to the role of English in the Gulf region, but hardly any of this research focusses on the arts. Drawing upon studies of anglophone literature from other countries where English is not an official language, content analysis, and a case study, this article identifies the reach for international audiences as the main motivation, followed by personal language command. Literary influence and genre selection are minor reasons causing Emirati writers to published in English. Situating the small but steadily growing translingual, or exophonic Emirati canon within the short local literary history as well as within a global anglophone context, the article also demonstrates that innovative uses of language may occur. Regional efforts to promote local authors along with changing publishing conditions will likely lead to an expansion of the studied canon in the near future."
Relevance

Literary Translingualism in the United Arab Emirates: Anglophone Emirati prose and poetry
Doris Hambuch, Moza Al Tenaijy, Aisha Khamis Aldarmaki & Ali Nawab Alblooshi
Cogent Arts & Humanities, Volume 12, 2025 - Issue 1
Article |Published Online: 24 Jul 2025
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311983.2025.2534252?src=#abstract
#metaglossia_mundus

Nevada Supreme Court has an all out call for court interpreters to help those involved in court proceedings who are not proficient in English.

"RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - Often viewers are taken into a court room to watch the proceedings. It could be a preliminary hearing, it could be an arraignment. Or it could be a full-on court case.

 

The words used can be confusing, not to mention the protocol, and the proceedings aren’t commonplace for someone who’s never been in a courtroom.

 

Imagine then, what it’s like if you don’t know the language.

 

“There’s always a need for court interpreters yes,” says Regina Flores, Nevada Supreme Court Web Archtitect.

 

And that need is not going away here in Nevada.

 

Twice a year Nevada’s Supreme Court puts a call out to bilingual residents who have an interest in becoming court interpreters.

 

Tests are given twice a year. Both oral and written. It’s estimated there’s a 30% pass rate.

 

The difficulty may lie in that interpretation must be consecutive and simultaneous.

 

Applicants must also participate in 40-hours of courtroom observation.

 

“So, they will get certified and then whenever a court requires an interpreter from a specific language background they will then, they will have a sort of roster of court interpreters,” says Flores. “They will seek out whoever is available.”

 

That hearing could be virtual or in-person.

 

Flores says the job can become a career for some interpreters depending upon how often they work.

 

And they won’t be lacking in requests for their services.

 

“It is so important,” says Flores. “You are helping people whose lives may be at stake. So, you are not only making a career out of it. You are making a huge impact on the justice system.”

 

Those bilingual in Spanish are most in demand. But those who speak both English and Tagalog, Cantonese, and Vietnamese are also encouraged to apply.

 

For more information go to the following website:

 

https://nvcourts.gov/aoc/programs_and_services/court_interpreter/become_a_court_interpreter

 

Copyright 2025 KOLO."

 

https://www.kolotv.com/2025/07/26/court-interpreters-needed-throughout-nevada/

#metaglossia_mundus