The audience at today’s event received Spanish translation through reading rather than listening. Why? Because this method can accommodate a large turnout, since everyone can read the translation on their phone or tablet.

This instant translation solution involves a combination of simultaneous interpretation and real time captioning.

Simultaneous interpretation first appeared as a mode of oral translation in response to the need for a way to receive interpretation without doubling the length of a meeting. Using technological advances that are now available, Monterey Language Services combines simultaneous interpretation and real time captioning to provide “instant translation” or “visual interpretation.” This method gives audience members the convenience of a translation they can read on their phones, tablets, or other devices. Instant translation is suitable for audiences of any size and useful for those who are hard of hearing and require CART or Remote CART services.

Monterey Language Services is a long-time provider of Simultaneous Interpretation, Remote Real Time English Captioning, Remote Real Time Spanish Captioning, and other services, which cover All Languages. We specialize in providing solutions to address both the cost and time-saving needs of our customers, regardless of the size of their audience.

Contact us if this type of service is what you need for your next event or conference!

With that being said, we are sad to see that some languages are in fact going extinct. Google is doing their part as a worldwide service to provide these languages a lifeline:

As Google sees it, documenting the 3,000-plus languages that are on the verge of extinction — about half of all languages in the world — is an important step in preserving cultural diversity, honoring the knowledge of elders and empowering youth. And Google sees technology’s role in strengthening those efforts through research and collaboration.

This collaboration is through a website www.endangeredlanguages.com where people can upload the languages and share the most up-to-date information about them. An example is seen in the Miami-Illinois language, once spoken by Native American communities throughout the region. Although the last known person who spoke this language died in 1960, a contributor to the project is teaching himself the language through old documents. Because of this, children in Miami are now learning the language and even teaching it to each other.

If you know a language that is becoming extinct, post it in the comments or through the website and we will all do our best to preserve the language. Also, check out the video below to learn more about the project.

Information from: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/endangered-languages-project-supporting.html

Image from: http://www.endangeredlanguages.com

There are an estimated 40,000 people who are fluent in Triqui worldwide. More than half of them no longer live in Oaxaca and around 10 percent of them live right next door in the Salinas Valley.

Although institutions like Monterey Language Services provide translation services in courts and hospitals, there is still worry that this rare language will not survive.  Any attempt to save a language will have to be in large numbers in order to succeed.

Barbara Hollenbach, who works with the Summer Institute of Linguistics, is working on a Triqui-Spanish dictionary with 6,000 entries. She believes this is a step in the right direction but says, “The only way to keep a language alive is oral transmission between generations.”

Source : http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/news/2012/jun/07/speaking-minds/

Note:

The picture, which shows traditional Triqui weaving patterns, is from one of our colleague’s private collection. The artwork was created by a Triqui artisan group here in our area of Monterey County.     

In our community, other languages indigenous to Oaxacan Mexico are spoken, including Mixteco, Zappotec, Chatino, & Nahuatl, etc. These languages need to be preserved as well.