Vol/53 No/6 2014
DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 The Linguist 5
Will technology take over? Now, as Microsoft
prepares to unveil its Star Trek translator – a
Skype service that promises to understand
spoken words and translate them into another
language, speaking them back in real time –
that question seems more relevant than ever.
Pre-launch demonstrations… have been
impressive, making only a handful of mistakes.
'Tech is Removing Language Barriers – But
will Jobs be Lost in Translation?', 19/9/14
What the
papers say…
Since both parties were entirely reliant on a
translator, exchanges followed a slow and
laborious pattern… Some MPs took time to
get to grips with this procedure, in particular
Michael Ellis (Con, Northampton North), who
barked out his first question, and then, the
instant the translator had finished translating
it into French, barked out his second
question. "Can she just answer the first
question," suggested Mr Vaz helpfully.
'Immigration Sketch: Keith Vaz gets a French
lesson', 28/10/14
The latest from the languages world
A multilingual thesaurus used by the European
Parliament and national governments
worldwide is now available for free download.
Covering EU terminology in a broad range of
fields, including politics, science, technology
and law, the Eurovoc glossaries contain terms
in all 24 EU languages, plus Serbian.
To find glossaries in your language
combinations, see http://alexandria-translation
-resources.com/resources-for-translation
-providers/glossaries/eurovoc-glossaries.
NEWS & EDITORIAL
Researchers have found that bilingual
children are able to concentrate better in
the busy classroom environment than their
monolingual peers. The research from Anglia
Ruskin University found that 7- to 10-year-
olds who speak only one language were
more negatively affected by noise and were
less able to keep their attention on a task
when there were other noises nearby.
Published in Bilingualism: Language and
Cognition, the study shows that the
heightened performance of bilingual
children is dependent on how well they
know the two languages.
Reading the register at the start of my classes
became an exercise in snigger control…
"Vampire? No Vampire? Is she here…?
Rabbit? Good morning, Rabbit. Porridge?
Ahh, Porridge, how are you today?" And so
on. Years earlier, the most imaginative
children had seized the opportunity to create
a new identity by choosing words from the
dictionary that they liked the look of.
…For English names to be expressed in
Mandarin characters, they have to be
adapted… [I became] Xi Men (Simon) E Si
Ben (Usborne). Xi, said the right way, also
means West, appropriately, but Si can mean
'death', and Ben can mean 'stupid'. So the
sniggering can go both ways.
'Chinese State TV is Offering Advice for
Citizens Picking a Western Moniker', 22/10/14
EU glossaries
go online
Bilingual
advantage
A team of deaf entrepreneurs has developed
a tablet that interprets sign language. The
MotionSavvy Uni incorporates existing
motion-sensing technology that uses a
camera to record the movements of hands
and fingers. Its software then checks those
movements against a growing database
of signs.
• At Stanford University, a machine
translation system has been created that
combines human and machine intelligence
to improve output. Leading the way in
'hybrid models', the team claims that the
software will enable professional translators
to work much more quickly.
Technological
developments
The Forum Prize has announced that its
theme for 2015 will be 'Translating Cultures'.
Submissions should look at the role of
translation in intercultural understanding. The
Oxford journal Forum for Modern Language
Studies suggests a range of possible
subjects, including how translation
contributes to the development of particular
literary forms, the relationship between
multilingualism and creativity, ethical
questions, and mistranslations (deliberate or
accidental). The deadline is 3 April (see
www.oxfordjournals.org/our_journals/
formod/forum_prize.html for details).
Research
competition
UNDERGROUND MAP
An interactive map shows the second most
commonly spoken language in areas of
London by Tube station. Oliver O'Brien, a
researcher in geovisualisation and web
mapping at University College London (UCL),
created the data map using 2011 Census data
(see http://vis.oobrien.com/tube/#tongues).
©
SHUTTERSTOCK
