We wonder whether this Google Trends measurement of searches on the phrase ‘Spanish translation’ suggests business for translation companies is increasing?

Then again would optimism be tempered by the following search activity measurement on ‘translation services?’ Despite the arguably mixed messages we tend to be encouraged.

Affinity Translation website: http://www.affinitytranslation.com

When we saw the conclusion (implied in the title above) of a news article on Google’s efforts to facilitate translation, we thought it would be interesting to include it in our blog. It seems that Google is working on instantaneous translation software for phones. If you talk in English into the speaker of the phone it would translate it, and produce French, or Spanish, or whatever, in the receiver of another phone.

The Googler working on the project, Franz Och, says it should only take a few years to complete. Franz says the more people that use it, the better it gets.

“Speech to text is imprecise on phones we’ve used. Web-based translation services are also imprecise. Add them together and you have a great opportunity to be misunderstood,” according to the report published in the Business Insider.

11,000-member Association’s Letter to Obama: Technology alone is not the answer

(Alexandria, VA) October 19, 2009 — The American Translators Association (ATA), the largest association of professional translators and interpreters in North America, issued a pointed response to a call for “automatic, highly accurate and real-time translation between the major languages of the world” in the White House’s recent Strategy for
Innovation policy paper. In a letter dated October 2nd, ATA President Jiri Stejskal urged the Obama Administration to “take a long-term approach to language security by investing in human skills and promoting greater awareness of and expertise in foreign languages.”

“Are we against technology? Certainly not,” continued Stejskal. “Most translators use computer tools to speed up their work.” However, “both translation software and qualified human translators are vital to language security,” he noted. “Today all the leading proponents of computer translation recognize that human beings will always be
essential, no matter how sophisticated translation programs become.” The stakes are high: from diplomatic embarrassments to potentially lethal mistranslations in medical device instructions, translation errors create unnecessary hazards, cause misunderstandings, and diminish prestige and good will in international relations, national security and global commerce.

Press coverage of the Obama initiative has confused the issue by creating a false conflict between humans and technology. “This approach misses the point entirely,” noted Kevin Hendzel, national media spokesman for the Association. “Translation software and human translators simply have different capabilities,” he said. “Software is indispensable for ‘gisting’ – translating large volumes of information in cases where immediate access is more important than accuracy – but only an experienced human translator has the skill and cultural awareness to convey every nuance when you absolutely have to get it right.”

“The challenge for translation consumers lies in understanding the proper application of each,” Hendzel noted. “Translation software is like a chain saw. It’s an invaluable tool when you need to chop a lot of wood in a hurry – but you need skill to use it safely, and it’s not recommended for surgery. When you need precision and sensitivity, you need a human translator.”

About ATA
Founded in 1959, the American Translators Association is the largest organization for translators and interpreters in the United States. Its primary goals include fostering and supporting the professional development of translators and interpreters and promoting the translation and interpreting professions. Based in Alexandria, Virginia, ATA currently has nearly 11,000 members working, with proven skill, in hundreds of languages worldwide. To learn more, visit www.atanet.org or call 703-683-6100.

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There’s an interesting article on the topic of translation appearing online at cnn.com today. It speaks for itself so we’ll simply provide a link to the article here. The highlights: 

• Facebook and Google are finding new ways to translate the Web
• Facebook favors human translation; Google leans on its computers
• Google claims to be the largest translation service online, with 51 languages
• Facebook announces a new service to let Internet users help translate site

To read the full article click here.

On our blog we frequently like to mention interesting tidbits of news that touch upon language and in particular the Spanish language. So we were especially delighted to see a recent item concerning Salma Hayek, who as most people know, is a native Spanish speaker. It seems that Ms. Hayek was less than pleased about her experience at an LA restaurant and expressed her displeasure in Spanish, prompting comments about the need for “translation.”

For those interested in reading more the full article can be viewed here. For us we’re just thrilled to have sufficient justification to feature the photograph below that elevates times about 1000 the usual graphical appeal of the images included on our blog.

In New York City the City Council approved legislation yesterday requiring large pharmacy chains to provide translation services in the city’s most popular languages.

The bill, which was approved by a vote of 36 to 7, would apply to pharmacies with more than four locations that are under the same ownership. Opponents of the bill say it is another example of the city overregulating private businesses.

According to a 2006 survey by the New York Academy of Medicine, 88 percent of randomly selected pharmacists served people who spoke only limited English every day, but 50 percent did not translate labels or did so less than once a week. About one in four New Yorkers do not speak English.

In a related announcement, Mexico City pharmacies will not be required to provide customers with product labels in any language other than Spanish.

Recently it was announced by The Californian.com that the City of Salinas has launched a new Spanish language website. According to the report:

“The city of Salinas has created a Web site that allows residents to view community information as well as submit online crime reports, maintenance requests and other forms in Spanish.

The site, http://espanol.ci.salinas.ca.us, went live Thursday.

The city paid its vendor about $19,000 to translate its English site at www.ci.salinas.ca.us, said Tom Kever, the city’s finance director. The vendor company will get an additional $1,700 per month to translate updated pages.”

For the record, we’d have done the job for $18,950.

According to an Associated Press published story from the past week, New York City is getting sued over translation services for welfare clients.

A group called Legal Services NYC filed the lawsuit in state Supreme Court in Manhattan on behalf of six clients. The suit alleges that language barriers caused lost or delayed benefits, among other things. The plaintiffs in the case speak Spanish, Mandarin or Cantonese Chinese, and Soninke, a West African language.

In defense of the city’s position, Commissioner Robert Doar says the Human Resources Administration provides 7,000 to 8,000 contracted interpretation services each year. It also uses hundreds of bilingual staff and community resources.

Doar says the agency has translated 800 forms, brochures and notices into required languages. The plaintiffs in this case it seems are not swayed.