Jessica Lambertson from Government Executive (USA) on how the US Administration is spending money on translations:
- Federal spending on language contracts skyrocketed from nearly $14.9 million in 1990 to more than $1 billion in 2009.
- The Army, for instance, went from spending $260 million on language contracts in 2007 to $834 million in 2008.
- The Homeland Security Department's Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau, Internal Revenue Service and Social Security Administration have increased spending on such services significantly since 2007. ICE's spending on language contracts grew $5.6 million from 2007 to 2008, for instance, rising from $19.5 million to $25.1 million.
- spending on language service contracts will continue to grow during the Obama administration. Despite the ballooning deficit and spending crunch, President Obama's programs for foreign trade, diplomacy and domestic multiculturalism urge the federal government to continue to use translation and interpretation services, the research group noted.
For all your English to Arabic and vice versa translations that will help you expand your business into the Middle East visit Arabic Language Experts at http://www.arabic.com.au/.
Showing posts with label USA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label USA. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Stay Proficient or Rank Down, says CIA
Oh, la la!
Under a new policy announced recently by CIA director Leon Panetta, an intelligence officer can’t be promoted to the agency’s highest rank — the Senior Intelligence Service — without a demonstrated proficiency in a foreign language. From a CIA release:
While many senior Agency officers have tested proficient in a foreign language over the course of their careers, some have not kept their skills current. Under the new policy, promotions to SIS for most analysts and operations officers will be contingent on demonstrating foreign language competency. If an officer is promoted to SIS and does not meet the foreign language requirement within one year, he or she will return to their previous, lower grade. This is a powerful incentive to maintain and improve skills critical to the Agency’s global mission. Languages play a key role in the CIA’s work at all career levels.
“The stricter requirement for SIS promotion,” said Panetta, “is meant to ensure that leadership on this vital initiative comes from the executive level. With an unwavering commitment from SIS officers—to both lead by example and to support language proficiency at all levels—we will reach not only our language goals, but our ultimate objective: an Agency that is better positioned to protect our nation in the years ahead.”
Let me guess.. it takes the Yanks 9 years to see the error of their ways, and then they arrest a student at an airport for holding flash-cards in Arabic? The mind boggles!
For all your English to Arabic and vice versa translations that will help you expand your business into the Middle East visit Arabic Language Experts at http://www.arabic.com.au/.
Under a new policy announced recently by CIA director Leon Panetta, an intelligence officer can’t be promoted to the agency’s highest rank — the Senior Intelligence Service — without a demonstrated proficiency in a foreign language. From a CIA release:
While many senior Agency officers have tested proficient in a foreign language over the course of their careers, some have not kept their skills current. Under the new policy, promotions to SIS for most analysts and operations officers will be contingent on demonstrating foreign language competency. If an officer is promoted to SIS and does not meet the foreign language requirement within one year, he or she will return to their previous, lower grade. This is a powerful incentive to maintain and improve skills critical to the Agency’s global mission. Languages play a key role in the CIA’s work at all career levels.
“The stricter requirement for SIS promotion,” said Panetta, “is meant to ensure that leadership on this vital initiative comes from the executive level. With an unwavering commitment from SIS officers—to both lead by example and to support language proficiency at all levels—we will reach not only our language goals, but our ultimate objective: an Agency that is better positioned to protect our nation in the years ahead.”
Let me guess.. it takes the Yanks 9 years to see the error of their ways, and then they arrest a student at an airport for holding flash-cards in Arabic? The mind boggles!
For all your English to Arabic and vice versa translations that will help you expand your business into the Middle East visit Arabic Language Experts at http://www.arabic.com.au/.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
It is still Greek to me..
..or rather, it is still Gibberish. Greek, provided it is correct, is fine.
The Oregon Department of Administrative Services announced Friday that the state’s official Web sites have added Google Translate, giving users the ability to view those sites in 25 languages in addition to English.
A product of Google, the feature is available on Oregon.gov.
“By adding this feature to our Web sites, we can make important government information available to more people who need it,” said Wally Rogers, Oregon’s e-government manager. “We are able to offer Google’s page translation service for over 40,000 pages without spending a dollar. Here in Oregon we have many residents who speak languages other than English, and we have increased our ability to reach out to them through Oregon.gov.”
Visitors to Oregon.gov will now find a “drop-down” box in the upper right corner of every state Web site for which the address ends in Oregon.gov. The label on the box is “Select Language.” The user simply activates the box by clicking on it and selecting any one of the 25 available languages. The page then quickly appears in the selected language.
The following languages are now available on the state Web sites, in addition to English: Arabic, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Danish, Dutch, Filipino, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Norwegian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Thai, Ukrainian and Vietnamese.
Yikes! I would hate to live in Oregon and have to deal in legal issues through a Google translation..
For all your English to Arabic and vice versa translations that will help you expand your business into the Middle East visit Arabic Language Experts at http://www.arabic.com.au/.
The Oregon Department of Administrative Services announced Friday that the state’s official Web sites have added Google Translate, giving users the ability to view those sites in 25 languages in addition to English.
A product of Google, the feature is available on Oregon.gov.
“By adding this feature to our Web sites, we can make important government information available to more people who need it,” said Wally Rogers, Oregon’s e-government manager. “We are able to offer Google’s page translation service for over 40,000 pages without spending a dollar. Here in Oregon we have many residents who speak languages other than English, and we have increased our ability to reach out to them through Oregon.gov.”
Visitors to Oregon.gov will now find a “drop-down” box in the upper right corner of every state Web site for which the address ends in Oregon.gov. The label on the box is “Select Language.” The user simply activates the box by clicking on it and selecting any one of the 25 available languages. The page then quickly appears in the selected language.
The following languages are now available on the state Web sites, in addition to English: Arabic, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Danish, Dutch, Filipino, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Norwegian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Thai, Ukrainian and Vietnamese.
Yikes! I would hate to live in Oregon and have to deal in legal issues through a Google translation..
For all your English to Arabic and vice versa translations that will help you expand your business into the Middle East visit Arabic Language Experts at http://www.arabic.com.au/.
The Tough Condition of Literary Translation in the USA
Why is it so hard for foreign authors to get published in the US? It’s clear to anyone working in international rights that the sophisticated marketplace involving scouts, rights sellers and foreign publishers that exists to get American books out into the world does not exist to the same degree in the other direction.
There are a number of explanations for this phenomenon, very few of which have to do with stereotypes of American readers as being culturally insulated or lacking curiosity about the outside world.
(a) First, there are the unforgiving economic calculations that publishers face in taking a translation to market.
(b) Apart from economics, the often cited reason for the difficult of placing translations with American publishers is the limited number of US editors who speak a foreign language. It costs a lot to have something translated and get it gussied up and ready for the American market. They have to decide, is it really a book that’s likely to find a US publisher anyway?
(c) There is no mature translation market for any one language in the English speaking world, and the fact that books coming into the American market come from many different countries and languages makes it harder for editors here to develop the expertise in what any market has to offer, and which books from that country have the best shot of appealing to American readers. The books that are sold for translation here are more likely to come through the handful of US agents with close ties to one region or another, who are themselves usually working through professional relationships with particular agents or publishers abroad. What books by foreign authors that end up crossing an American editor’s desk, then, depends in no small part on chance and good connections.
(d) The "commercial mindset" versus "cultural mission mindset" that is progressively seeing the later outbeat the first. This difficulty restricts the number of translations Weil is able to take on, while he struggles with the fact that this leaves American readers without access to some excellent writers.
To read this article in full go here.
For all your English to Arabic and vice versa translations that will help you expand your business into the Middle East visit Arabic Language Experts at http://www.arabic.com.au/.
There are a number of explanations for this phenomenon, very few of which have to do with stereotypes of American readers as being culturally insulated or lacking curiosity about the outside world.
(a) First, there are the unforgiving economic calculations that publishers face in taking a translation to market.
(b) Apart from economics, the often cited reason for the difficult of placing translations with American publishers is the limited number of US editors who speak a foreign language. It costs a lot to have something translated and get it gussied up and ready for the American market. They have to decide, is it really a book that’s likely to find a US publisher anyway?
(c) There is no mature translation market for any one language in the English speaking world, and the fact that books coming into the American market come from many different countries and languages makes it harder for editors here to develop the expertise in what any market has to offer, and which books from that country have the best shot of appealing to American readers. The books that are sold for translation here are more likely to come through the handful of US agents with close ties to one region or another, who are themselves usually working through professional relationships with particular agents or publishers abroad. What books by foreign authors that end up crossing an American editor’s desk, then, depends in no small part on chance and good connections.
(d) The "commercial mindset" versus "cultural mission mindset" that is progressively seeing the later outbeat the first. This difficulty restricts the number of translations Weil is able to take on, while he struggles with the fact that this leaves American readers without access to some excellent writers.
To read this article in full go here.
For all your English to Arabic and vice versa translations that will help you expand your business into the Middle East visit Arabic Language Experts at http://www.arabic.com.au/.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Philadelphia Loves It
Republishing this here so as not to be accussed of bias against the whole of the US - here comes the wobbly health care from Philadelphia, and they are getting their priorities right (although the comments under the article are the same old "must speak English or die" variety).
"Methodist Healthcare System is dismantling the language barrier with a new translation system. A state-of-the-art interpretation service makes communication with anyone from any country easier.
When you are in the hospital, time is of the essence. The last thing you want to worry about is whether the health care professionals can understand you.
“It’s very frustrating if you are trying to take care of a patient and you can’t ascertain the information that you need to make the appropriate choices in their care,” said Pam Dwyer, RN, director of nursing operations.
Methodist is the first hospital system in the southern U.S. to offer this service, a connection to interpreters within 15 seconds of dialing the phone. Hospital personnel dial up an office in Philadelphia where thousands of certified medical interpreters are available to help speed up the question and answer process.
Patients are happy for the help. “They are surprised. They are happy. They feel relief,” explained Tatiana Sultzbach, manager of diversity and inclusion. “And what better way than to be able to communicate your health care issues in the language you prefer.”
Web cams enable deaf interpretation on the spot. Where there used to be delays of an hour or two for language help, that aid is now immediate.
“We love it. We absolutely love it,” stated Dwyer. “It is essential to taking care of our patients in a timely manner.”
“We’re here not only to service the people who speak English, but everybody who needs it,” added Sultzbach.
The top five languages used by Methodist so far are Spanish, Burmese, American Sign Language, Arabic and Swahili."
Funny how the comments on the article do not demand that the deaf become hearing or leave the country. Funny how people born native speakers don't see language deficiency as a disability, but as a national issue to be dealt with. And interesting, too, that when they start griping it is almost always about the Spanish-speakers.
For all your English to Arabic and vice versa translations that will help you expand your business into the Middle East visit Arabic Language Experts at http://www.arabic.com.au/.
"Methodist Healthcare System is dismantling the language barrier with a new translation system. A state-of-the-art interpretation service makes communication with anyone from any country easier.
When you are in the hospital, time is of the essence. The last thing you want to worry about is whether the health care professionals can understand you.
“It’s very frustrating if you are trying to take care of a patient and you can’t ascertain the information that you need to make the appropriate choices in their care,” said Pam Dwyer, RN, director of nursing operations.
Methodist is the first hospital system in the southern U.S. to offer this service, a connection to interpreters within 15 seconds of dialing the phone. Hospital personnel dial up an office in Philadelphia where thousands of certified medical interpreters are available to help speed up the question and answer process.
Patients are happy for the help. “They are surprised. They are happy. They feel relief,” explained Tatiana Sultzbach, manager of diversity and inclusion. “And what better way than to be able to communicate your health care issues in the language you prefer.”
Web cams enable deaf interpretation on the spot. Where there used to be delays of an hour or two for language help, that aid is now immediate.
“We love it. We absolutely love it,” stated Dwyer. “It is essential to taking care of our patients in a timely manner.”
“We’re here not only to service the people who speak English, but everybody who needs it,” added Sultzbach.
The top five languages used by Methodist so far are Spanish, Burmese, American Sign Language, Arabic and Swahili."
Funny how the comments on the article do not demand that the deaf become hearing or leave the country. Funny how people born native speakers don't see language deficiency as a disability, but as a national issue to be dealt with. And interesting, too, that when they start griping it is almost always about the Spanish-speakers.
For all your English to Arabic and vice versa translations that will help you expand your business into the Middle East visit Arabic Language Experts at http://www.arabic.com.au/.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Texas So Poor It Can't Afford Interpreters?
"Police officers arriving at a murder scene at a north side apartment complex could not speak Spanish to the residents, so a cameraman from a local TV station translated until bilingual officers arrived hours later. It is a situation that plays out across Houston several times a week as officers who speak only English rely on wrecker drivers, bystanders or victims' children to act as translators if bilingual officers are not available."
This is not a report from a third world country, or some war-torn conflict zone in the Middle Chaos. This is, ladies and gentlemen, Houston, TX. The state of the guy who was known for being less than mono-lingual, a bit oily, and into world conflicts.
Mooooo...
Makes you wonder if the recession is really so bad in the USA that the Houston Police Department cannot afford hiring professional interpreters (something the Australian Government provides for free in such cases) or whether they are so backwards that they just don't get it. The comments underneath the rather shameful article make me think it is the second.. "Why can't they learn English?" Hey, why can't you learn Vietnamese, Mr. Cowhide?
For all your English to Arabic and vice versa translations that will help you expand your business into the Middle East visit Arabic Language Experts at http://www.arabic.com.au/.
This is not a report from a third world country, or some war-torn conflict zone in the Middle Chaos. This is, ladies and gentlemen, Houston, TX. The state of the guy who was known for being less than mono-lingual, a bit oily, and into world conflicts.
Mooooo...
Makes you wonder if the recession is really so bad in the USA that the Houston Police Department cannot afford hiring professional interpreters (something the Australian Government provides for free in such cases) or whether they are so backwards that they just don't get it. The comments underneath the rather shameful article make me think it is the second.. "Why can't they learn English?" Hey, why can't you learn Vietnamese, Mr. Cowhide?
For all your English to Arabic and vice versa translations that will help you expand your business into the Middle East visit Arabic Language Experts at http://www.arabic.com.au/.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Are we heading towards Obamisms
Bush couldn't string sentences in English. Obama speaks in tongues and makes wunderbar mistakes in foreign languages.
After the "Austrian language" error, he did a Spanish one.. On May 4th, he addressed a crowd gathered in front of the White House for a May 4 celebration of Cinco de Mayo, the Mexican holiday honoring an upset military victory over the French.
"Bienvenidos. Welcome to Cinco de Cuatro — (laughter) — Cinco de Mayo at the White House. We are a day early, but we always like to get a head start here at the Obama White House.”
Ouch! Cinco de Cuatro?? Fifth of the Fourth? That's April 4th, three days too late for April's Fool, and a whole month ahead of Cinco de Mayo.
Next time, it would be nice if the elected President was also an academic. I am dreaming, nu?
For all your English to Arabic and vice versa translations that will help you expand your business into the Middle East visit Arabic Language Experts at http://www.arabic.com.au/.
After the "Austrian language" error, he did a Spanish one.. On May 4th, he addressed a crowd gathered in front of the White House for a May 4 celebration of Cinco de Mayo, the Mexican holiday honoring an upset military victory over the French.
"Bienvenidos. Welcome to Cinco de Cuatro — (laughter) — Cinco de Mayo at the White House. We are a day early, but we always like to get a head start here at the Obama White House.”
Ouch! Cinco de Cuatro?? Fifth of the Fourth? That's April 4th, three days too late for April's Fool, and a whole month ahead of Cinco de Mayo.
Next time, it would be nice if the elected President was also an academic. I am dreaming, nu?
For all your English to Arabic and vice versa translations that will help you expand your business into the Middle East visit Arabic Language Experts at http://www.arabic.com.au/.
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