The consequences for our profession of a Cyprus settlement Thread poster: Tim Drayton
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Tim Drayton 
Cyprus
Local time: 03:29
Turkish to English
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A new series of negotiations has just started in Cyprus with the aim of solving the island's long-standing problem. There is a broad consenses that the settlement will take the form of a federal state with Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot components. Many people are sceptical given the long history of failed UN plans aimed at solving this problem, but I think that many external factors now favour a reunited island, and I have a hunch that a federal Cyprus will emerge.
It is intere... See more A new series of negotiations has just started in Cyprus with the aim of solving the island's long-standing problem. There is a broad consenses that the settlement will take the form of a federal state with Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot components. Many people are sceptical given the long history of failed UN plans aimed at solving this problem, but I think that many external factors now favour a reunited island, and I have a hunch that a federal Cyprus will emerge.
It is interesting to speculate what the consequences of this would be for the translation business. A federal Cyprus would have two official languages, Greek and Turkish. The federal parliament and other official bodies would have to be bilingual and would require simultaneous interpreting facilities. Federal laws and a great many other official documents would have to be produced in both languages. This would surely give the Greek-Turkish language pair, surely not one of the busiest pairs at the moment, a huge boost. Since the communities on the island have had very little contact with one other for the past 34 years, not many younger people in Cyprus have any knowledge of the other communty's language. I can envisage a skills shortage emerging until a sufficient number of Cypriots are trained in the necessary skills. Where are all the translators and interpreters between Greek and Turkish going to come from until then?
It should also be borne in mind that the whole of Cyprus acceded to the EU in 2004, with the proviso that the application of the acquis communautaire was suspended in the northern part of the island pending a settlement. The federal Cyprus which emerges from the settlement will automatically be an EU member state. Given that its official languages will be Greek and Turkish, Turkish will then become an official EU language with all the consequences that this entals for people working into and out of Turkish. ▲ Collapse
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| Unless they do an India | Sep 21, 2008 |
Sadly, what happened in India all but killed any translation industry in India that may have existed. We caved in and acquiesced to English as the language of law and governance. Now everyone in India is focused on learning and transacting in English, and the language services industry for services between Indian languages limps along. Pretty soon, we'll all be speaking in English, as things appear.
I'm glad Europe has not chosen such a drastic solution and maintained the dignity o... See more Sadly, what happened in India all but killed any translation industry in India that may have existed. We caved in and acquiesced to English as the language of law and governance. Now everyone in India is focused on learning and transacting in English, and the language services industry for services between Indian languages limps along. Pretty soon, we'll all be speaking in English, as things appear.
I'm glad Europe has not chosen such a drastic solution and maintained the dignity of all its languages, keeping the translation industry alive and vibrant. I hope Cyprus does the same for its two main languages as well. ▲ Collapse
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Edward Potter
Spain
Local time: 02:29
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
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| Interesting situation | Sep 22, 2008 |
The main thing seems to be how the new language, Turkish, will affect the EU. It would be the first (I think) non-Indo European language of the Community.
I just got back from an excellent intensive Greek course in Greece. Very recommendable for anyone who wants to get up to speed in the language quickly:
www.greekingreece.gr
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Tim Drayton
Cyprus
Local time: 03:29
Turkish to English
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TOPIC STARTER | Finnish and Hungarian | Sep 22, 2008 |
Edward Potter wrote: The main thing seems to be how the new language, Turkish, will affect the EU. It would be the first (I think) non-Indo European language of the Community. I just got back from an excellent intensive Greek course in Greece. Very recommendable for anyone who wants to get up to speed in the language quickly: www.greekingreece.gr
Finnish and Hungarian, while European languages, do not belong to the Indo-European family.
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Marc P (X)
Local time: 02:29
German to English
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| The consequences for our profession of a Cyprus settlement" | Sep 22, 2008 |
Edward Potter wrote:
[Turkish] would be the first (I think) non-Indo European language of the Community
Not so. Finnish, Hungarian and Estonian are all non-Indo-European languages, and as far as I know, so is Maltese.
Marc
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| Don't look through the window! | Sep 23, 2008 |
Hi Anil,
You may find some of my expressions little strong in nature; accept my apology for that.
Translation industry emerged in India around 1990. That before it was confined to Inland business, mainly legal and literature. Though British ruled India for comfortable period. It is incorrect to say that India went “Englishaized” (what you understand by this term! I hope you do!!)... See more Hi Anil,
You may find some of my expressions little strong in nature; accept my apology for that.
Translation industry emerged in India around 1990. That before it was confined to Inland business, mainly legal and literature. Though British ruled India for comfortable period. It is incorrect to say that India went “Englishaized” (what you understand by this term! I hope you do!!)
It is fact that in literate class people understand English; it means, they try to and they get ‘what you say or write’, what is the percentage? 15%. In India we have computers all over! How much? 6 % these are facts on ground, you can check with it.
Lots of MNC are investing millions of Dollars in Indian translation market. Domestically almost around 100 companies are working in Language field, with strong investments. What you saw, they do not find; what you predict, they do not think; what you estimate, nether official nor NGOs statistical data supports it! One of first 5 in our industry says; ‘gradually for last 5 years, out of there total turnover of 400 million Dollars, 1/4 is from India operations.
You can check the serch and number of pages provided by search engine. ▲ Collapse
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