It is estimated that 25 languages become extinct every year. Every major country has signs that are posted in their countries natural language, as well as English. In this era of globalization, has culture become the main casualty?

According to an article posted in The Australian, this has become the case. However, they further go on to explain that the movement to reclaim dying languages has grown in larger numbers. However, any attempt to save languages will have to grow in larger numbers in order to have a chance of success. The problem is the vast majority of people feel it is too difficult to learn another language, thus simply choose not to.

Despite this, there are still millions of people that share a passion for languages. On the Monterey Peninsula alone there are hundreds of students fully devoted to learning new languages. With this undeniable passion, the culture of languages will still be here to stay for a good while.

The full article from The Australian can be seen here: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/opinion/stop-revive-and-survive/story-e6frgcko-1226385194433

Explore the fun between human and animal communication in different languages!

Unless you were lucky enough to grow up speaking multiple languages, learning a whole new one can be an extremely difficult task. Still, people are willing to put in hundreds of dollars and hours in order to officially call themselves bilingual.

However, we aren’t the only ones capable of achieving this feat… animals are too, and it’s quite a bit simpler.

Avid Scooby-Doo fans know that our animal companions will do practically anything for a tasty snack, and that includes learning new and already-known commands in a different language. By assigning hand gestures with a command in the desired language, your dog will eventually be able to respond to the word or sentence in both languages simultaneously without the need for hand signs or body language.

If you want to see a bilingual dog in action watch this video of a man who taught his dog multiple commands in both English AND Japanese: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdDMvXCeaN8

 Thank those who have served, enjoy the food, and welcome to the summer!  

Memorial Day is a time for everyone in America to appreciate those who have served our country in the past, present and future. But it also means to fire up that BBQ and welcome in summer with open arms. The weather is changing—here in Monterey the ever-present fog keeps it cool—and school will be getting out.

And it all begins with the BBQ on Memorial Day. Food from around the world will sizzle on hot coals and guests at some BBQ’s may have to use their best translation skills when trying to understand what lengua and barbacoa are. Whatever language you may be eating in, branch out those taste buds and explore the universal language of food.

So enjoy the edemame and yakitori, and in the words of Andrew Zimmern, a chef who travels the world eating bizarre foods: “If it looks good, eat it!”

Picture was taken by Monterey Language Services at the Monterey Bay.

People in the fields of human development and education have always suspected that the fundamentals of ASL (American Sign Language) are a useful and stimulating tool for ALL children, not only those who are deaf and hard of hearing. In Lancaster, a mother and son team has sparked interest among other parents to teach their children some useful signs.

Melissa Krile’s is a former special education teacher who also has experience teaching lower levels of ASL. She has always noticed that her son had interest in expression through his hands and not only his mouth. By the time Noah Krile (now three years of age) was 15 months old, the toddler already knew 150 different signs.

Melissa noticed that by using signs such as “MILK,” “DIAPER,” “MORE,” and “ALL-DONE” Noah could clearly explain to her exactly what he wanted. In turn, this cut down tantrums and communication problems between them.

Now, Melissa is working with the Lancaster Parks and Recreation programs to hold Parent-Child ASL classes over the summer.

Source: http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/article/20120523/NEWS01/205230313

New technology from Google includes audio to written translation. Google is currently working on a project titled “Project Glass” that will essentially be a set of glasses that will work like a smart phone; doing everything that you could possibly think of. One of the key elements that have already been developed is the feature of voice detection that will show up as a display of text in the frames.

Now, it won’t be long before a device is made that will enable audio to be translated to any language for display. In fact, a lot of transcribing services already provide the option to do this. However, a mobile device that could perform this feature would be newsworthy material.

Project Glass is still in its development stage, currently gathering patents on all its technology that’s being developed.  If this technology hits the market, the price is sure to be high. However, imagine a similar technology coming out for an affordable price. The means of technology are endless.

Picture and Info Source :
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/05/google-glasses-patent-hints-at-speech-to-text-display-for-deaf-users/

Launched last year, Twitter Translation Center invites translators to help with product but not tweets.

Since its creation, Twitter has been a worldwide phenomenon that has connected everyday people with their favorite celebrities, friends, and everyone in between.  Although the service has been provided worldwide, the company has been trying to translate the business tools into 33 languages in order to reach an even broader audience.

These languages include: Afrikaans, Arabic, Basque, Catalan, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Farsi, Filipino, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Urdu.

At the Twitter Translation Center, translators can sign on using their Twitter account and help translate various blocks of text for the company. The upside for the translator is experience in the field, as well as their name possibly on the “Top Ten Translators” for those who have been translating the most.

The @MRYLanguages Twitter account isn’t in this top ten just yet, but it does connect directly with Director of Translation Mei-Ling Chen where she will gladly answer questions posed about the company, translation services, or any other related topic in the industry.

In March of this year a court date occurred which was supposed to take place on the 16th, but 20 minutes after it started Magisterial District Judge James R. Ferrier decided to stop and reschedule for a further date. Why?

Because rather than hiring a professional interpreter, the court let one of the witnesses’ uncle do the interpretations.

The problem occurred because rather than following Ferrier’s instructions of interpreting word for word what the witness said, the interpreter went beyond relaying and started to explain what his nephew was saying.

Usually courts will not allow anything but professionals to interpret for this exact reason. Most court interpreters are trained exactly for this purpose so that there is no need to explain anything that the witness is saying, thus, preventing complications like this one.

Source: http://republicanherald.com/news/problems-with-interpreter-lead-to-continuance-in-auburn-attempted-homicide-case-1.1315986

If you ever wanted to say hello to someone from everywhere in the world, you would have to be able to say that in at least 2,700 languages. And if you wanted to say this to every person that’s alive, you would be greeting at least 6.5 billion people.

Now, it’s not entirely logical to think that one person could talk to that many people or know that many languages. But interpreters may know many various languages, and may have to greet thousands of people daily. Monterey Language Services alone has interpreters in over 175 languages, enough to say hello to the vast majority of those 6.5 billion people.

Someone could be thinking: Why would it be necessary to be able to say hello in that many different languages? Well, consider someone with a role in customer service. Tourists from other countries still have stuff to buy, so they have to shop in stores here. Nothing is a better greeting than a simple hello in their native language. Also, it even just makes you sound smarter knowing many different languages.

Photo taken from
http://www.mozilla.org/causes/subtitles/?utm_source=gsnippet&utm_content=subtitle&utm_campaign=s010410

Interpreter goes the extra mile for MLB pitcher client.

To expand on the sports post we published last week, we found some interesting information that looked into the life of a baseball interpreter. Most specifically, the relationship between Japanese interpreter, Mike Peters, and his client, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Ryota Igarashi has blossomed into a great friendship.

Professionally, Peters acts as a bridge between Igarashi and the coaches, but he also plays the role of friend and even driver. Unfortunately, Igarashi’s career has taken a turn for the worst when he was sent down to the minor leagues after playing for the New York Mets. He then was traded to the Pittsburg Pirates, released, and eventually picked up by the Toronto Blue Jays. This relationship was strongest when Igarashi was a member of the New York Mets.

When the pitching coach of the Mets would go over the complicated game plan, Peters would frantically write down every detail and translate the notes to Igarashi later. Peters, who is half-Japanese, would teach Igarashi English, find good restaurants in each city the Mets traveled to, and showed him the way through confusing American airports. One time, when Peters couldn’t lead Igarashi through the airport, he texted Igarashi the words to say.

This type of personal relationship between interpreter and client is fairly common and can be beneficial in helping the client assimilate to American culture. It has been said that English is one of the most difficult languages to learn, but with interpreters who go the extra mile, it can make for a smooth transition.

Photo provided by Associated Press

Story and photo found at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903596904576514683404636782.html

A study put on by the Common Sense Advisory found that more translation in Africa could improve economic development, human rights, and even save lives. The study titled “The Need for Translation in Africa” surveyed a total of 364 interpreters and translators for African languages in 49 countries. Combined, these people represented 269 different languages.

269 languages is a large amount, but that only accounts for a little more than 10% of the languages on the continent. Major languages are used by millions of people such as Amharic, Berber, Hausa, Igbo, Oromo, Swahili, and Yoruba, however, across the continent there are over 2000 languages. Problems occur because of the 2000 languages, only 63 are used in the judicial system and around 56 are used in public administration.

Some of the data from the study is as follows:

• 97.14% of respondents said greater access to translated information would help individuals in Africa understand their legal rights.
• 95.85% of respondents said greater access to translated information would help protect human rights in Africa.
• 94.92% of respondents said greater access to translated information would have a positive impact on the collective health of people in Africa.
• 94.87% of respondents said greater access to translated information would help Africans in times of emergency or natural disasters.
• 91.96% of respondents said greater access to translated information would help people in Africa contribute to the political process.
• 88.78% of respondents said greater access to translated information would help prevent international, civil, ethnic, or communal conflict in Africa.
• 63.07% of respondents said greater access to translated information could have prevented the loss of life of Africans in their family or circle of friends.

If you are interested in looking into some data collected here is a link to the study: http://www.commonsenseadvisory.com/Portals/0/downloads/Africa.pdf

Picture taken from: http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/students/curriculum/m8/map1.php
Source: http://kontax.com/Greater_Access_to_Translation_Could_Save_Lives_and_Protect_Human_Rights_in_Africa-341-en.html