The fall of the English language?

What is the future of the English language?

Will Mandarin Chinese replace English as the language of business? Should native English speakers learn another language?

With companies around the world increasingly doing business in English, it might seem like English is quickly becoming the world’s lingua franca. But a book (shown on the right) featured in the Economist argues that's not the case.

A growing number of people are learning English as a second language, while the number of native English speakers is not increasing as fast. So what happens when people decide to stop learning English? Will another language take its place?

The advancement of technology and translation may even crumble language barriers in the future. It is becoming easier to communicate with someone through the aid of an interpreter. And with the new Word Lens app on the iPhone, we can see a bright future for translation technology!

What are your thoughts about the future of the English language? Is it too soon to predict its downfall?

2010 Recap: 12 months of language-related news

One year into the second decade of the millennium, translation technology seems to have a promising future. From new smartphone apps to newly discovered languages, here’s a recap of language-related news in 2010. Enjoy!

January: British newspapers announce a sharp drop in foreign language instruction for teenagers. Only 40% of schools identified that more than half their students were learning a foreign language, down from 45% the previous year.

February: The death of Boa Sr is announced in early February; she was the last fluent speaker of the Bo language (located in the Andaman Islands).

March: Google Chrome Beta offers instant site translation in 52 languages through Google Translate.

April: In response to China’s April 14 earthquake (magnitude: 6.9) in Qinghai, 200,000 books about quake relief are translated into Tibetan and donated to those affected by the disaster.

May: Google Goggles offers image translation, to help people understand what signs or instructions are saying.

June: The iPhone 4 is launched. The new phone is compatible with Braille keyboards.

July: An Australian cave tour is now offered in Klingon, the language created for the science fiction TV and movie series, Star Trek.

August: I have to give a shout-out to Dynamic Language for being included on Inc. Magazine's 5000 list for the third straight year!

September: A claim that many Army interpreters in Afghanistan didn’t pass language proficiency tests stirs up the media.

October: In Northern India, linguists discover a formerly unknown language, which is called Koro.

November: South Africa’s Sunday Times is the first national newspaper to print in the Zulu language—the first Zulu issue was distributed Nov. 7.

December: A new iPhone app takes center stage, featuring direct translation of signs and other short texts. Unlike previous instantaneous translators, Word Lens keeps the sign’s formatting and colors, simply inserting the translation in the place of the original text.

We barely have a week left until 2011! I, for one, am looking forward to seeing what linguists and engineers will do next…

A small business guide to going global

I love reading about companies expanding globally. And with the Internet so widely used, it’s now easier than ever to reach customers on other continents. Even small businesses can take a slice of the international pie—even if it’s just a sliver!

And often, relocation isn’t even necessary.

We touched a bit on this issue with a past blog entry, Increase business by localizing your website. I’m bringing up this subject again, not only because it interests me, but because I found a wonderful blog post that gives additional information on the topic (see below).

One of the most important parts of entering foreign markets is to make sure you don't offend other cultures. But above all else, make sure your company's expansion into the global market is feasible! Do you think you have a customer base overseas, or better yet, do you know?

Once you're positive that international business makes sense for your product or service, where do you start? The blog post linked below suggests five steps to follow to introduce your business to the global stage. The first step addresses the benefits of social media as a marketing tool; the fifth step encourages you to learn about the legal environment of your potential markets. In other words, don't go in blind! Know what you are getting yourself into, and then take the leap!

Small Business Trends: Become a Micro-Multinational Small Business in 5 Steps

Please comment, and then subscribe!

Related tags: Website localization

Language acquisition proven possible for everyone!

No more excuses: it seems anyone can learn a new language! What many people swear is impossible for them has just been proven possible by Cambridge neuroscientists.

The simple act of repetition could be the key to learning new words—only 160 repetitions in 15 minutes is required to remember a new word, the scientists say. In their study, they attached sensors to their subjects and repeated a known word, followed by an invented word. After repetition, brain waves showed no difference between the two words!

The article I link to below also features a language teacher, Paul Noble, who believes “forgetting” is the key to learning. Noble says if you are constantly thinking about your newly acquired knowledge, you have a greater chance of forgetting it in the long run, whereas relaxing your brain allows the new knowledge to seep into your subconscious.

So is it time to restructure language courses? Tell me what you think by leaving a comment below!

Telegraph article: Can't learn a foreign language? Not true, say scientists

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State-funded medical interpreters at risk in WA

Since Washington residents voted in November to reduce taxes, the state legislature has been scrambling in special sessions to cut budgets even further, reaching into education and health care programs once again — and this time, interpreter services may be affected.

Some of this budget shortfall comes after citizens voted to reduce taxes and to repeal the candy and bottled water tax, which alone would have given the state about $300 million in the next three years (Study: 2010 Initiatives Could Impact Public Services).

To close this budget gap, legislators are considering a budget cut that would eliminate the state-funded interpreter program. Currently, the state subsidizes interpreter services for hospitals and clinics that serve Medicaid patients.

This possible $2 million budget cut, as explained in the Seattle P-I, could encourage practitioners to reduce their number of limited-English Medicaid patients. Cutting the program would shift the cost of hiring interpreters to doctors, hospitals and clinics or worse, it might encourage medical providers to start using family members to perform essential interpretation services.

Although some social services will need to be cut in the state to make up for the tax reduction, this could be a dangerous budget cut. Medical interpreting should not be taken lightly, especially in the administering of prescription drugs. Even if many of these patients do speak some English, it is often not enough to clearly understand their treatment options; for their safety, dosage and side effects should be explained to patients in their most fluent language.

Seattle P-I article: Cut could eliminate interpreters for thousands

How to prepare a document for translation

All translations start with a document written in a "source" language. The text is then translated into a "target" language. But what happens when an error in the source text confuses the translator and as a result makes the target language less than accurate?

If text is ambiguous, translators must guess what it’s trying to say; there is a big difference between "lose" and "loose" and “principle” and "principal". When writing, we assume everyone knows what we mean, but mistakes happen.

While translators are able to keep the context consistent from one language to another, one of the best things a content author can do is to edit his or her text before the translation process.

Here are ways to prepare your document for translation (this does not apply to birth certificates/court documents/etc):

1. Change difficult-to-translate expressions. Some idioms and sayings may be tricky to translate from the original language. If you’re not sure, play it safe and adjust the expressions in your document before sending it out for translation.

2. Make document easy to understand. If the translator can’t figure out what you are trying to say, they will have a hard time translating your project.

3. Specify need for consistent wording. If you include technical terms in your document, give a list of them to your project manager so the translator can build a glossary for your documents. This will ensure that these words are always translated in the same way.

4. Check spelling and grammar. All caps with an exclamation points means that this step is extremely important. Misspellings and grammar issues may be a detrimental to the final translated product. They will also make the translator's job twice as hard, because they need to figure out the meaning behind your document.

37signals features Dynamic Language on Product Blog

We take quality very seriously here at Dynamic, and we also place a high premium on communication, tracking and responsiveness. Unless a client opts out of any steps, our translation projects follow a strict checklist:

□ Analysis
□ Translation
□ Content Verification
□ Independent Review
□ Graphic Design
□ Quality Assurance
□ TM Validation/TM Consolidation

To-do items can multiply rapidly, so we had to find a way for everyone to stay on the same page. We use 37signals’ Basecamp as our online project management solution, to keep project managers, designers, proofreaders and clients on track. Because of the way in which we use this tool, we were featured on the 37signals Product Blog!


If you’re interested in finding out how our staff specifically uses this tool to function more efficiently, click on the link to our feature on the 37signals Product Blog.

Thanks for reading!

What makes for a great literary translation?

If you’ve read “Crime and Punishment,” “War and Peace” or the Bible, you’ve read a translation. But they are so much a part of our culture that we forget they were written in another language!

Even modern books, originally written in English, have become worldwide successes because of translation — “Eat Pray Love” was translated into more than 30 languages while the “Harry Potter” series has been translated into nearly 70 languages!

For a translation to be successful, a great translator is key (emphasis on “great”). A literary translator can’t simply change the text from one language to another. The result will be too literal. Here are a few things translators must be aware of:

Idioms: Expressions and sayings from one language can't be translated into other languages too literally. Here's an example: He couldn't speak; he had a cat in his throat
This expression, literally translated from French, can better be translated in English as “having a frog in your throat”.

Dialogue: Be true to the target audience. Expressions used by characters in a novel may not be understood by speakers of another language. Translators must make sure they translate dialogue to be relevant to different cultures, while still respecting the context of the book.

Writing Style: A translator’s job is not to write the book — it is to interpret the book for people who can’t read the original. Translators must adopt the writing styles of the original author. And the great ones do!

The best way to judge whether someone is a great literary translator is by reading his or her work. The true test of a great translation stems from a common saying: A great translation shouldn’t sound like a translation at all!

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Incoterms update goes into effect Jan. 1; are you ready?

Time has flown by… somehow, it's already Dec. 3! In no time, Jan. 1, 2011, will be upon us and that can only mean one thing -- other than the fact that some of us will fail yet another resolution:

Incoterms 2010 are going into effect!

If you need a refresher of what Incoterms are, here’s a quick explanation: Incoterms are commercial terms, accepted worldwide, that detail the relationship between buyers and sellers as far as transport of goods is concerned. In other words, what are the costs and risks of freight between buyer and seller and how are they allocated?

These terms are updated every ten years or so by the International Chamber of Commerce. Companies that include Incoterms in their contracts are accountable for following the conditions. If you're interested, you can order them here: Incoterms 2010

This FAQ from the ICC goes more in depth with Incoterms.