Exotic Cursing & The Best Cover for a Foreign Spy

Exotic Swearing

Bulletstorm was to be an over-the-top shooter game with large weapons and its arsenal of ridiculous swear words— well, less on the cursing in retrospect, creative director of the Polish development team People Can Fly Adrian Chmielarz admitted:

“Do you know any swear word in a foreign language? German, French, Polish? When you say it out loud, no biggie, right? Not a problem to use it during a family dinner, I assume?

“That is how all the f-bombs sounded to us. Being Polish, all the strong language in Bulletstorm was just exotic and fun to us. We did not feel its power. In other words, Epic thought this is what we wanted and respected our creative vision, while we had no idea this vision was a bit more than we really wanted.

“It was only at the end of the development, when I read the Polish translation of the game, that I realized how dirty we were. I swear a lot. A LOT. And yet still I ...kind of blushed.”

Playing with a foreign language’s curses may be fun and exotic, but it does not translate over well as Chmielarz learned.

*Source: Gamasutra

Best Cover for a Foreign Spy

Modern spies are seen through the Hollywood lens of James Bond or Mission Impossible— suave agents with an assortment of identities suited for any situation. Real spies are more practical in their choice of cover however— like a foreign interpreter for instance, but even that cover is not infallible. This month, Russian revealed that it arrested a Chinese man posing as an official interpreter for spying.

The Russian Federal Security Service said Tun Sheniyun was arrested in Moscow last year for allegedly trying to obtain secret documents about Russia’s missile systems.

The FSB released a succinct, short statement on the issue:

“The investigation established that the Chinese national (was) working on assignment from the Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China.”

Being an interpreter provides the perfect excuse for being in a foreign country without much scrutiny. It is certainly not enough to be caught pursuing classified documents on missile systems, however.

*Source: Global Post

Chinese University Attracts Overseas Students

Programs like Rosetta Stone, online translation sites like Babel Fish and local universities can only do so much. The best way to learn a language is still to go straight to the source, which is what a lot of overseas students have done with Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) to learn Chinese for a variety of reasons.

Adam Daniel Bruer-Zehevi for example is attending the university to open a translation company next year. “I have a business plan in Beijing, and Chinese language study is my final preparation before I open my translation company next year,” he said.

Miyuki Edo, a Japanese woman, is another language student that is studying at BFSU to hone her Chinese, “More Chinese are visiting Tokyo every year, and Japanese who can speak fluent Chinese are popular in the tourism employment market.”

Edo continued that her friends joined the university to be in the city during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Bruer-Zehevi observed that he also wanted to see the “real China and its people.”

“We also enroll a lot of students from less-developed countries who have scholarships funded by the Chinese government,” said university president Chen Yulu. “In China, only BFSU has the teaching and research resources of some less commonly taught languages, so students from these countries prefer our university.”

Yulu noted that about 1,500 oversea students are studying at BFSU this year, an increase of 500 more students compared to the record set in 2008. South Korea has the most oversea students in the university followed by Japan, Malaysia and Italy.

Future plans for the university includes attracting more students from Western countries for degree studies and foreign officials for short-term programs.

“We also welcome overseas students who have learned some Chinese in our overseas Confucius Institutes and want to further their study in Beijing,” Yulu concluded.

*Source: China Daily

Lost in Translation - Interpreter Almost Causes Deportation

In a classic case of being “lost in translation” an Iranian refugee fell prey to the latest language snafu at the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) during a refugee hearing that almost got him deported due to multiple translation errors by an interpreter.

Ali Zaree is an anti-government activist that fled Iran and claimed refugee protection in Canada after authorities came to his home. In his two hour hearing, more than 40 translation errors were made in questions, answers, key words and dates.

“Even the applicant, who speaks no French and understands very little English, noticed that her English was not very good,” wrote Justice Luc Martineau.

For example, when Mr. Zaree said: “I wanted to be completely sure about what party I am active for and then I really accepted from the bottom of my heart that they are,” the interpreter instead said: “I wasn’t prepared to… to work with this party and I wanted to know better about this party… And when I get my heart that this party is the kind of party that I thought.”

“This is an important issue,” said Annie Bélanger, Mr. Zaree’s lawyer. “I have complained about translation problems many, many times. I have written to the IRB about many problems they have with their language interpreting. It puts everyone in a very difficult situation.”

Robert Gervais, a spokesman for the board defended the IRB’s record by pointing out that the IRB has the largest foreign-language interpreter program in Canada with 1,200 interpretation contractors accredited in 267 languages and dialects and that all interpreters are tested before accreditation.

“The board takes seriously the importance of high-quality interpretation in the holding of fair proceedings. The board takes every reasonable measure to ensure that interpretation is held to the highest quality standards,” said Gervais.

Justice Martineau ultimately overturned the IRB’s decision and Mr. Zaree is going to be provided a new hearing.

This was not the first time the IRB had a translation error case. Just this summer a woman that was also on the verge of deportation to her native Kenya for providing incoherent and evasive testimony was later revealed that the Swahili translator had “butchered” the translation.

In another case a refugee claim was delayed for years because a qualified Kusai translator could not be found— apparently long enough for the claimant to learn English well enough to proceed without a translator.

These cases only highlight the importance and need of accurate translations and competent interpreters, especially in situations involving foreign refugees.

*Source: National Post

Forget Classrooms - Go Online for New Languages

Two things: the importance of bilingualism is growing and classrooms are going digital. Combined, these two things reveal that more than ever people are migrating to the web to learn another language. Studies show that in the U.S. alone there are increasing demands for interpreters or employees well-versed in Spanish, Arabic or Chinese. And public schools and libraries are more than happy to be the frontrunners in accommodating that demand.

According to KFYR-TV, students in Bismarck grade school are using the online program Rosetta Stone to learn Spanish. The program keeps students immersed by receiving instructions via headset and associating pictures with phrases without an English translation. Rosetta Stone is already available to consumers, but it’s a hint of a trend on the increased accessibility of language learning. Seattle public libraries are going for a different approach with LiveMocha, another online language learning service.

LiveMocha and Seattle public libraries are going to be the testing grounds for a nation-wide launch to provide free-language learning services to library patrons. Already the service is available to all 600,000 Seattle library regulars from at home or 28-hosting libraries.

“Livemocha is like a giant World Atlas filled with people and languages, and we encourage our members to become virtual tourists through language and cultural exploration,” explained Livemocha CEO Michael Schutzler.

Digital accessibility is increasingly becoming the new norm— and so is the demand to speak more than one language. Thankfully, the means for meeting the demand are mounting for those with a computer, internet access and a will.

*Source: KFYR-TV,  Tech Flash

Referees’ Calls May Get Lost in Their Translation

“We are used to moving our eyes left to right so we have a preference for viewing events left to right,” said Alexander Kranjec, a neuroscientist at the University of Pennsylvania.

Because of this preference, events moving from right to left are perceived as atypical, and referees may be more likely to call fouls, Dr. Kranjec said.

Previous studies have suggested that such directional effects are reversed in those whose languages read from right to left.

“It would be interesting to do this with Hebrew- or Arabic-speaking soccer experts,” Dr. Kranjec said.

He and his colleagues conducted the study on varsity soccer players at the University of Pennsylvania. The players assessed foul calls on images of plays, and were then asked to do the same on mirror images of the same plays.

On average, they called about three more fouls on action going right to left.

The news is unlikely to have any application to disputed calls in soccer since the referee’s ruling is absolute. It would also depend on the position of the referee and the language or languages he reads. So there’s little chance that science will calm the arguments that are as much a part of the World Cup as the games themselves.

NY TIMES http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/science/13obrefs.html?_r=1

A version of this article appeared in print on July 13, 2010, on page D3 of the New York edition.

Talk is Cheap

Talk is cheap, but solid communications are priceless in this global economy. World Services can provide you or your company with dependable interpreters and translators nationwide at costs lower than other companies. Visit our website for more information!

Not lost in translation!

The language industry has survived the economic crisis better than other sectors, according to a survey conducted for the European Commission. The study, the first to analyse the size of the language industry EU-wide, covers translation, interpreting, localising and globalising, subtitling and dubbing, language technology tools, multilingual conference organisation and language teaching. The survey put EU-wide turnover at 8.4 billion euro in 2008. This is set to increase by at least 10 per cent annually, over the next few years, to between 16.5 billion euro and 20 billion euro by 2015. This is one of the highest growth rates in EU industry.

"The language industry has both an economic and a strategic importance. Economic, because of its size, its resistance to the present crisis and especially its future potential. Strategic, because it is essential to preserving people's identities and culture and to coping in a globalised world. This study shows a more accurate image of the language industry in the EU and is a way to put it into the limelight on the employment market," says Leonard Orban, commissioner for multilingualism. Increasing globalisation demands translation and interpreting into new languages, as well as new language-related services.

"The industry is different from what it was years ago. It has seen the rise of new fields such as subtitling, localisation and editing. So professionals working in the field need to acquire new competences. The European Commission supports the development of such competences, for instance by promoting the European master’s in translation," Commissioner Orban said. The analysis was apparently conducted on the basis of questionnaires sent to professional associations, national authorities, individuals, language-service providers and language-service departments. The study included an analysis of each EU member state.

Read more at http://www.sofiaecho.com/2009/11/27/822313_not-lost-in-translation

Why Choose World Services

• Fast turnaround delivery

• Professional quality guaranteed

• Best translation and interpretation agency rates

• Estimates within 24 hours

• Interpreters available 24 hours/day, 7 days a week

In this world of internet globalization it is essential for your business to expand to this multicultural society. World Services can help you achieve that goal by helping you translate all of your business advertising and products into any language you may need. This is the best investment you can make to expand your business! Call us today, and a World Services agent will be happy to assist you.