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(CNN) — I want to translate the Web into every major language: every webpage, every video, and, yes, even Justin Bieber’s tweets.

With its content split up into hundreds of languages — and with over 50% of it in English — most of the Web is inaccessible to most people in the world. This problem is pressing, now more than ever, with millions of people from China, Russia, Latin America and other quickly developing regions entering the Web. In this TED talk, I introduce my new project, called Duolingo, which aims at breaking the language barrier, and thus making the Web truly “world wide.”

We have all seen how systems such as Google Translate are improving every day at translating the gist of things written in other languages. Unfortunately, they are not yet accurate enough for my purpose: Even when what they spit out is intelligible, it’s so badly written that I can’t read more than a few lines before getting a headache. This is why you don’t see machine-translated articles on CNN.

With Duolingo, our goal is to encourage people, like you and me, to translate the Web into their native languages. More.

See: CNN

Editor’s note: Luis von Ahn (@luisvonahn) is the founder and former CEO of ReCAPTCHA, Inc., and an associate professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University. ReCAPTCHA, acquired by Google in 2009, is helping to digitize books, one word at a time, by having millions of people from the Web decipher scanned words. Von Ahn’s current project is Duolingo. TED is a nonprofit organization dedicated to “Ideas worth spreading,” which it makes available through talks posted on its website.

Vasont Systems, a provider of component content management solutions, has released two white papers that provide technical information about component content management system implementation and strategies for technical communications teams and publishing groups within organizations.

See: Multilingual

Ethnologue is an encyclopedic reference work cataloging all of the world’s 6,909 known living languages.

See: Ethnologue

The following excerpts are from Patent Translator blog

(…)

But unlike rock musicians, writers, painters, sculptors, actors and people in other professions, for instance scientists, can sometime do their best work long after the magic of youth has disappeared. They can do their best work in their seventies, eighties, or even nineties because they draw their inspiration not only, or not as much, from powerful emotions. Youth is all about emotions that are new and overpowering. Middle age and senectitudo are about emotions that are tempered by experience, and in some cases even a little bit of knowledge.

I think it is safe to say that unlike rock musicians, translators don’t do their best work while they are still quite young, because they don’t really know anything about anything when they are still young, even the talented ones. Translators don’t need as much inspiration as writers or actors, although they do need some. But they definitely do need experience, and the more the better. Ten years of experience in the field of translation is better than nothing, but it is not much. Twenty years is better than ten, and thirty is better still.

(…)

I also think that because the work of translators is based on what they know about their languages and the world around them, most of them probably do their best work only after about at least two decades of solid experience in their chosen field, whether they translate mostly novels, or mostly patents as I do.

After twenty five years of on-the-job experience as a freelance translator, more if I include also other jobs in which I had to use more than one language on three continents, I am no longer a beginner in this profession. I am probably somewhere on the intermediate/advanced level at this point, and my hope is that I will do my best work during the next twenty five years.

Freelance translators are among professionals who can work well into their old age if they want to or need to (or both). More

See: Patent Translator

What’s your take?

A new, fully-automated translation center means that Translators without Borders can donate ten times as many translations to support humanitarian work around the globe. Translators without Borders is an independent nonprofit association dedicated to helping non-governmental organizations (NGOs) extend their humanitarian work by providing free, professional translations. The funds saved through the use of volunteer translations can then be used by the NGOs in the field, enabling them to extend the scope and reach of their humanitarian work.

While the objectives are different, the operational procedures of Translators without Borders are not dissimilar from those of a translation agency. The company must select the right clients, in this case the humanitarian NGOs, in order to ensure that their translation needs are in line with the organization’s scope, and it must select the right translators as well. Due to the nature of humanitarian work, Translators without Borders can only accept experienced professional translators since in most cases there is no time for reviewing the translations. Also like a translation agency, Translators without Borders matches the translation needs of the clients with the abilities, availability and willingness

of the translators in the pool of service providers and provides a workflow based on solid processes to maximize the deliverance of translations with a minimum of overhead.

When the Haiti earthquake brought an unprecedented number of volunteers from the translation community, Translators without Borders’ screening mechanisms were overwhelmed. To help it respond rapidly to the crisis, ProZ.com created a platform for screening translators and for posting jobs among the translators in the pool. This screening center proved useful, and the recruiting operation was substantially streamlined. However, the coordination of projects was still a demanding task, and this limited the scalability. Scalability is crucial because the contributions provided by Translators without Borders and the dedicated teams of volunteers, even if much appreciated and welcomed by the humanitarian NGOs, are but a drop of help in an ocean of need.

With this in mind, a new and improved platform was made available to Translators without Borders by ProZ.com in mid-2011. The new translation center (http://twb.translationcenter.org/workspace) incorporated the clients as active participants intheir translation projects and thus brought the whole translationworkflow into a shared environment.

Technology and community

To give an idea of the scale that the new translation center is making possible, Translators without Borders donated around one million words to charities in 2010. After less than a year using the translation center, it is currently translating the equivalent of four million words per year for humanitarian NGOs such as Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), UNICEF, Partners In Health and Oxfam. Within a few months Translators without Borders expects to add enough

volunteers and NGOs to increase this figure to ten million words per year —significant, considering that every dollar saved is another dollar available for caring for people at risk. Operations have expanded not only in volume but also in linguistic diversity, evolving from a few Eurocentric language pairs into more than 50 language pairs, including translations into Swahili, Yoruba, Tigrinya, Bengali and Haitian Creole.

One remarkable project was the localization by volunteers of GoodPlanet’s web page (www.desforetsetdeshommes.org), which involved over a quarter of a million words into 27 target languages (TLs), including Persian, Slovenian, Indonesian, Japanese, Finnish and Yoruba With this in mind, a new and improved platform was made available to Translators without Borders by ProZ.com in mid-2011. The new translation center (http://twb.translationcenter .org/workspace) incorporated the clients as active participants in their translation projects and thus brought the whole translation workflow into a shared environment.

A new book annotates the history of Hong Kong in the most illustrative way — through the lives of people who have made an impact here. Hong Kong’s first tome on the who’s who of history, “The Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography” contains more than 500 entries authored by 90 contributors, including the editors May Holdsworth and Christopher Munn. Other than the stipulation of including only the deceased, the editors worked with open-ended criteria. In addition to around 100 major figures such as governors, the individuals portrayed in the Dictionary run the gamut of identities and professions, including entrepreneurs, colonial administrators, philanthropists, journalists, artists, photographers, athletes, corrupt cops, revolutionaries, clan leaders, pirates, gangsters, merchants, missionaries, military figures, scientists and film stars. The Dictionary entries paint a comprehensive portrait of Hong Kong’s history, from the earliest about a fifth-century Buddhist monk, to those depicting the lawless days following the First Opium War when the colony was a “fever-ridden strip of matsheds and mudpaths, subject to almost nightly raids by seaborne gangs of robbers.”

See: CNNGo

China on Friday announced five software applications designed to further promote and standardize the use of minority languages.

These programs include electronic dictionaries for the characters of the Yi and Zhuang ethnic groups, a proofreading tool for the Zhuang ethnic language, and transcoding applications for the languages of the Tibetan, Uygur, Kazakh and Kyrgyz ethnicities, according to a statement released Friday by the State Ethnic Affairs Commission.

These applications are highly compatible and can be used in “various operating systems,” said the statement.

See: China.org

The European Language Resources Association (ELRA) has added new speech resources to its catalog, including several Catalan-SpeechDat databases, Catalan Speecon database, Spanish EUROM.1, Emotional speech synthesis database, several Catalan TTS baseline databases, Spanish Festival databases and Bilingual (Spanish-English) Speech synthesis HTS models.

See: Multilingual

The Justice Ministry’s 2012 directive will not require government offices to translate Estonian laws into Russian, thereby perpetuating the current situation, in which one-fourth of the nation is not guaranteed the right to read the law in their mother tongue. If Russian-speaking citizens or residents want a law translated into Russian, they’ll have to pay a private company. The 2012 directive formalized a status quo of the past few years, as hardly any laws have been officially translated into Russian since 2006, due in part to budgetary constraints. More.

See: ERR News

Common Sense Advisory, Inc., an independent market research firm specializing in the language services industry, surveyed 226 respondents at global businesses that purchase language-related services.  Most of these organizations reported that their spending on translation had increased from 2010 to 2011, in spite of global economic woes. The findings are compiled in the report “Translation Performance Metrics”.

See: Multilingual

The John Glassco Prize recognizes excellence in literary translation and the talent and dedication of the next generation of literary translators. It is aimed at building greater awareness in the publishing world and in the general public by promoting a literary translator’s first published work which demonstrates  extraordinary talent and literary excellence.

Since 1982, The Literary Translators’ Association of Canada has awarded a prize for a literary translator’s first book-length literary translation into French or English, published in Canada during the previous year. Fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, and children’s literature are eligible. The award consists of a $1000 prize and a one-year membership to the LTAC. It is awarded at the end of September during the celebration of St. Jerome, the patron saint of translators.

John Glassco, after whom the prize is named, was a well-known writer and translator who died in 1981. Among his works are translations into English of the poetry and journals of Saint-Denys Garneau.

Submission deadline is July 1st 2012. Click here for the GUIDELINES and SUBMISSION FORM

WINNERS OF THE JOHN GLASSCO TRANSLATION PRIZE 2011

Casey Roberts for Break Away: Jessie on My Mind (Baraka Books), the English translation of Panache (vol. 1 of Aréna), by Sylvain Hotte (Les Intouchables)

See: ATTLC

The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, or the annual records of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea, will be translated into English by the year 2033, according to the National Institute of Korean History.

The government-affiliated organization, who in 2010 announced their initial idea for the grand project, recently secured a budget of 500 million won for the starting phase of the venture this year. According to one of its officials, a total of 40 billion won will be needed until the completion of the project in 2033.

The organization is currently setting up a team of native English-speaking scholars who have previously translated Chinese classics into English, as well as local historians for the project.

“Up until the year 2014, however, the selected scholars will only practice their translation technique and work with each other to find the best way to create a coherent translation of the historical record,” an official member of the institution, who wanted to remain anonymous, told the Korea Herald. “We felt that such a preparatory phase is necessary in order to produce accurate translation.”

Though nothing has been decided yet, the official said the selected scholars will translate the Chinese character text directly into English, without translating it into Korean first. “We feel that that’s the right way to do it,” she said. “Some scholars have told us that they are totally capable of doing that. Some have said they’ll have to work with Korean scholars in order to avoid factual errors. We are expecting a lot of collaborative work, and are still doing a lot of negotiating and talking.”

Once completed, the translated text will be posted on the organization’s website, alongside the original Chinese character and Korean copies. More.

See: The Korea Herald

BHUBANESWAR: ‘Man Beyond Earth’, the English translation of Odia science fiction ‘Prithvi Bahare Manisha’ was released here on Sunday by Sahadev Sahu, former chief secretary.

The book authored by eminent writer Gokulananda Mahapatra in 1952, has been translated into English by his daughter Jyotshna Mahapatra, Associate Professor in Chemistry in the Regional Institute of Education.

On the occasion, Jyotshna said the 214-page science fiction ‘Prithvi Bahare Manisha’ is the story of a scientist couple moving to Mars where they find the human beings living there utilising science for development of the planet. “It is an interesting story of the couple’s journey to Mars who find similarities between the planet and the Earth. The couple witnesses various inventions and analysis of scientific thoughts by people of Mars and ways the inventions are used for progress of the planet,” she said, adding that even as the book was written more than 50 years back, it is of great significance today. “The book gives us a message of using science for welfare of humanity and not destruction as is witnessed in the modern society,” she said.

Stating that although translating the book was difficult on her part, she did so to enable the younger generation to read the ‘great piece of work’. More.

See: IBN.live

A €6m project is set to produce the first new Irish-English dictionary in 50 years.

Foras na Gaeilge’s dictionary will add thousands of new Irish words into the lexicon.

Technological words in particular will form the bulk of the new words.

Cathal Convery, project manager for the new dictionary, said: “The coverage in the dictionary 50 years ago, while it was excellent at its time, didn’t cover things like Irish usage of English.

A “physical” assault is not the same as a “sexual” assault. Touching “between legs” is not the same as touching the “genital area.” And “a couple of weeks” is definitely not “two days.”

But a Hindi interpreter mistranslated those phrases exactly that way in a sexual assault case in Brampton, triggering a mistrial and sending ripples through the GTA legal community.

Superior Court Justice Casey Hill declared a mistrial in a case against Vishnu Dutt Sharma, an Indian citizen on a work permit in Canada, because the interpreter’s Hindi interpretation of the proceedings was poor and substandard, according to court documents.

“In this case, the non-English-speaker was prejudiced by a denial of full linguistic presence at his trial on April 27, 2011, on account of pervasive departure from the guaranteed standard of interpretation to which he was constitutionally entitled, and in particular during the very details of the complainant’s factual allegations of sexual assault,” Hill said.

Stories about the shortage of accredited interpreters are common in courthouses in the GTA — ask any lawyer.

What is unusual in this case is that audiotapes from cross-examination were sent to an expert in the United States, who, in a scathing report, said the interpreter “did not interpret verbatim, summarized most of the proceedings and was not able to interpret everything that was said on the record.”

Umesh Passi, a member of the New York State Bar, said the interpreter spoke “perfect Hindi but could not keep up with the required for simultaneous interpretation.”

See: The Star

http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/article/1111412–mistakes-by-hindi-interpreter-leads-to-mistrial-in-brampton-sex-assault-case?bn=1

On Wednesday, January 25, at 10:00 AM Mountain Time/Noon Eastern Time (you can convert this to other time zones using The World Time Clock), join Eve, Corinne and Michelle for a free question and answer conference call to kick off 2012! The call is expected to last about 30 minutes.  More information.

See: Speaking of Translation

Also listen to this interview with Corinne McKay on “How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator”

CSOFT International, Ltd., a provider of localization, testing and software development, has created TermWiki Mobile for Android. The app provides Android device owners with instant access to TermWiki’s database of terms in over 1400 subjects and 97 languages, directly from their mobile phones.

See: Multilingual

Ottawa, Canada (CTTIC): The Canadian Translators, Terminologists, and Interpreters Council (CTTIC) has just launched a new website dedicated to providing access to ongoing educational programs for its member organizations’ members and other language professionals. The program concentrates on Canada’s official languages, English and French. More information.

See: CTTIC

The following excerpts are from Freelance Switch. The article is for freelancers in general but it may also apply to freelance translators.

The beginning of a new year is always a good time to take stock of your business, and plan your direction for the coming year.  Some freelancers work toward building up a name for themselves within a niche; others intentionally avoid focusing too much in one area.

Here’s a breakdown of the pros and cons of each approach.

The Specialist: Establishing Yourself in One Market Area

You might have been a financial guru in the past, and naturally kept that route when you opened your freelance business. Or maybe you started out covering many markets, but your best client was in real estate, and you found yourself getting established in that area. However it happens, building a name for yourself as a specialist has its benefits, including:

• You’ll build knowledge of the vocabulary, trends, and who’s who in the market, enabling you to jump in faster, and potentially complete jobs quicker and easier.
• Customers in similar markets will get wind of your work and contact you.
• With a specific target audience in mind, you can slant your marketing efforts and materials appropriately.
• You can establish yourself as an expert through speaking engagements, teaching, writing articles, or hosting a blog.
• Your proven track record can help you negotiate higher compensation.

But along with the good comes the bad.  Reasons not to get too comfy might include:

• A slump in your chosen market can send you into a dry spell.
• Known as a specialist in one area, you may find it difficult seeking a job out of that circle.
• You may become bored or experience burn out.

The Generalist: Keeping Your Finger in a Variety of Markets

Remaining a generalist is a chosen path for many freelancers, and with good reason: wider options bring more opportunity. Advantages of keeping abreast of a handful of differing markets include:

• No need to panic if one of your markets goes dry; you can compensate by pursuing another area.
• You’ll learn new things routinely and work with a variety of people.
• Varying audiences will have different personalities, enabling you to use different styles and remain creative.
• You can avoid markets that you don’t want to work with.

And the cons:

• Just like the Chinese restaurant that also serves pizza, customers might question where you excel.
• You may face overhead issues maintaining various versions of a resume or web site.
• You may become frustrated dealing with the ramp-up time of a new project, particularly if facing a tight deadline.

See: Freelance Switch

Upcoming 2012 GALA Conference

Called the Language of Business, the Business of Language, the upcoming 2012 GALA Conference is hosted annually by the Globalization and Localization Association, a non-profit organization that was created for industry enterprises to have a common forum, and to promote language services and technology. Conference attendees are anyone from language service providers and professional translation company managers and CEOs to localization businesses, and those within translation software and technology enterprises. Read more

See: GALA