Thailand: Political scandal continues over speech translation

Lost, even in translation
Despite the Hollywood A-list air and oomph he exudes, Jakrapob Penkair is no Bill Murray or Scarlett Johansson. His lamentation that all the intent and substance of his infamous speech were “lost in translation” may sound glamorous, but it is as hollow as the sense of emptiness that permeates the movie itself. [...]

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US translator goes to China to help earthquake rescue team

An Ithaca businesswoman will be leaving to join an international rescue team in China soon.
Kim Gosline, who owns Shangri-La Gifts at 156 E. State St. on The Commons, will travel to Shifang, which is in the Sichuan Province in southwest China, the epicenter of the May 12 earthquake.
Gosline will be a Chinese translator for the [...]

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European criminal records to be made available via automated translation

New rules on availability of European criminal records to be tightened up

Grundläggande rättigheter

How can we ensure that someone who has been found guilty of a crime and is banned from certain professional activities cannot do those jobs in another EU Member State? In the light of cross-border crime [...]

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Living on the edge as interpreters in Iraq

Kurdish interpreters for U.S. Army share experiences

An Iraqi interpreter walks with American soldiers with his face covered so as not to be recognized by locals. PRESS PHOTO

Responsibilities go beyond simply breaking the language barrier.Living on the edge as interpreters for the U.S. Army in Iraq may not be their first choice of professions, but it [...]

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China: Guide for disabled athletes withdrawn for poor translation

Beijing withdraws advice on disabled
Olympic organizers said Thursday that they had withdrawn parts of an English translation of a guide for volunteers because of “inappropriate language” used to describe disabled athletes. Zhang Qiuping, director of the Paralympic Games in Beijing, did not offer an apology and attributed the problems to poor translation. “Probably it’s cultural difference and [...]

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UK: Court case adjourned for lack of interpreter

Man goes from the dock to bid for job
UNEMPLOYED Antonio Martins Vieira was released from custody and able to make a job interview on Wednesday afternoon – because his court case was adjourned as there was no Portuguese interpreter available. The 46-year-old appeared at Boston Magistrates’ Court, where he pleaded guilty to stealing a bottle [...]

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Australia: Report calls for more Aboriginal interpreters in the legal system

Yolngu struggling with basic legalese, report finds
The Northern Territory Opposition has backed a report calling for more Aboriginal interpreters in the legal system. The research conducted by the Aboriginal Resource and Development Service shows 95 per cent of the Yolngu people from north-east Arnhem Land do not understand the meaning of the words ‘bail’, ‘consent’, [...]

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Indian Minister Pranab Mukherjee to meet Chinese translator

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will, during his visit to China next week, formally inaugurate India’s new consulate in China’s economically vibrant province of Guangzhou – a step that promises to take rapidly burgeoning business ties between the two countries to a new high. Mukherjee’s four-day visit to China starting June 4, announced by the [...]

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Native Language Learning and Preservation

The American Indian Language Development Institute, now in its 29th year, is working to preserve American Indian languages by teaching educators and others how to preserve them.

Research has shown that students of color who learn in their native language and are taught about their respective cultures and heritage tend to perform better academically. That is [...]

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The Translator: a Tribesman’s Memoir of Darfur

If Darfur doesn’t suffer from international inattention, it certainly suffers from international neglect. Here we are, five years after the region became a household term and the grim statistics – at least three million displaced and 300,000 killed – only tick higher. For years, editorials have been written, campaigns launched, peacekeepers dispatched, but the violence [...]

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