Metaglossia: The Translation World

Eric Lomax, who has died aged 93, long nursed thoughts of revenge on his wartime Japanese captors then, in his dotage, finally had the chance to act when he came face to face with his principal tormentor; his choice of reconciliation over...

A fellow former-prisoner then gave him a cutting from the Japan Times about a ex-Japanese soldier who had been helping the Allies to find the graves of their dead and claimed that he had earned their forgiveness. The accompanying photograph showed Takashi Nagase, the interpreter during Lomax’s interrogation, and the man with whom he most associated his ordeal.
For two years Lomax did nothing. Then he obtained a translation of Nagase’s memoir, which explained how shame had led the interpreter to create a Buddhist shrine beside the death railway. Patti Lomax then wrote to Nagase, enclosing her husband’s photograph and suggesting that perhaps the two men could correspond. She asked: “How can you feel 'forgiven’, Mr Nagase, if this particular Far Eastern prisoner-of-war has not yet forgiven you?”
The reply she received declared: “The dagger of your letter thrusted me into my heart to the bottom.” Nagase admitted that he still had flashbacks about torturing Lomax and thanked her for looking after her husband until they could meet. When Patti Lomax wrote back she enclosed a formal letter from her husband. Eventually the two elderly enemies arranged a meeting.

The granting of a legal monopoly on the provision of interpreting services across UK’s justice sector bodies is looking more and more like a needless mistake.
Katarzyna KASZYCA
Published: 5 days ago Last updated: 5 days ago
agencies country.uk court-interpreting legal-interpreting working-conditions

Photo credits: © Alx - Fotolia.com
Following a flurry of media reports and parliamentary questions about the contract between the UK’s Ministry of Justice and Applied Language Solutions (ALS), court interpreting has finally moved up a notch on the political agenda, becoming the focus of investigations by the National Audit Office (NAO) and two prominent parliamentary committees.
The NAO investigation
The NAO, which conducted its enquiry in June and July, has already published its conclusions. They vindicate many of the criticisms raised by interpreters and others: the company – now owned by Capita – was too small to handle such a complex contract; rules on due diligence were not followed; the government underestimated the strength of feeling among professional interpreters who refused to engage with the company and did not take their concerns on board.

Les autorités bahreïnies ont déclaré leur protestation à l'Iran et exigé des excuses pour une mauvaise traduction du discours du président égyptien Mohammed Morsi, qui a été diffusé en direct, rapporte Associated Press.

Bahreïn dénonce la traduction par l'Iran du discours de Morsi au sommet des non-alignés

Le roi de Bahreïn Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa.
AFP/Khaled Desouki
Par RFI
Rien ne va plus entre l'Iran et le Bahreïn. Le royaume du Golfe dénonce la façon dont les traducteurs officiels iraniens ont déformé les propos du président égyptien Mohamed Morsi sur la Syrie lors du sommet des pays non-alignés, faisant croire qu'il critiquait le gouvernement du Bahreïn.

L'incident est tout sauf banal et met à mal les rapports entre l'Iran et le Bahreïn, déjà tendus. L'affaire remonte au 30 août, lorsque Téhéran reçoit en grande pompe les délégations de 120 pays pour le sommet des non-alignés. Contre toute attente, le président égyptien, Mohamed Morsi, qualifie d' « oppressif » le régime syrien.

DUBAI — Bahrain has criticized Iranian officials over a mistranslation of a speech by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, which replaced the word “Syria” with “Bahrain.”

The reference was diplomatically sensitive.

Morsi gave the speech Thursday during a meeting in Tehran of the Non-Aligned Movement, a group of 120 mostly developing nations.

He did not mention Bahrain, and the Bahraini government lodged a complaint with Iran’s charge d’affaires Saturday over the mistranslation on Iranian state television and radio.

“This is a violation, fabrication and unacceptable media behavior that shows how Iranian media is interfering in Bahrain’s internal affairs,” Bahrain’s news agency BNA said late Saturday, adding that Bahrain had demanded an apology.

The head of Iran’s state media said Sunday the word “Syria” was mistranslated on only one of its channels.

“In a verbal mistake, this translator said ‘Bahrain’ instead of ‘Syria’ and this became a pretext for Western media,” Ezatollah Zarghami was quoted as saying by Mehr news agency.

Morsi perturbed his hosts in his speech by describing the government of Syria as “a regime that has lost its legitimacy” and calling for its ouster. His words prompted Syrian delegates to leave the hall.
Egyptian newspapers said Morsi was also misquoted as hoping for the “continuation of the Syrian regime”.

Jeddah-Sept2(BNA) Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa today lauded the GCC ministerial Council for condeming the flagrant tampering committed by the Iranian First TV Channel deliberately replacing Syria by Bahrain in the Persian translation of Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi’ speech in the 16th Non-Aligned Summit, which opened on August 30 in Tehran.

Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa gave an account on the flagrant distortion as he attended the 124th session of the GCC ministerial council in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Deputy Foreign minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdulla Al-Saud chaired the meeting which was attended by GCC foreign ministers and Secretary General Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani.
In a statement issued tonight, the council slammed the irresponsible distorted translation as flouting probity and established norms.
The delegations discussed the General Secretariat’s reports featuring member states’ feedback on moving from the stage of GCC cooperation to the phase of federation.
The session also discussed key regional and international political issues, reiterating firm rejection of the Iranian occupation of the Emirati islands Greater and Lesser tunbs and Abu Musa, affirming the UAE inalienable sovereignty over the three occupied islands as well as its territorial waters.
The council urged Tehran authorities to settle the dispute through negotiations or referral of the case to the International Court of Justice.

Lors de sa visite très attendue en Iran - la première d'un président égyptien en plus de 30 ans - , Mohamed Morsi était sans doute loin d'imaginer que son discours subirait les coups de ciseaux…...

Bahrain wants Iran apology over speech translation

AFP
September 02, 2012

Pic: Reuters

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Bahrain: Bahrain has demanded an apology from Iran after an official interpreter reportedly replaced the word "Syria" with "Bahrain" in a speech by Egypt's president at the opening of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran.

The foreign ministry in Manama on Saturday filed an "official protest memorandum" with Tehran's charge d'affaires over the "misrepresentation made by Iranian State Television" during President Mohamed Morsi's speech on Thursday.

Bahrain "requested the Iranian government apologise for this act, and take the necessary action to correct the breach and ensure that actions like this one don't happen again," the ministry's demarche said, according to a statement.

Morsi, in the first visit to the Islamic republic by an Egyptian head of state since the 1979 Islamic revolution, in his speech criticised the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a key regional ally of Tehran.

A physician from the Netherlands is producing the world's first Dutch translation of the Talmud in a place that once was home to a unique Jewish community.

DIPLOMATIE - Au sommet des non-alignés à Téhéran, les interprètes iraniens ont eu tôt fait d'évacuer les critiques du président égyptien Mohammed Morsi contre le régime de son homologue syrien Bachar Al-Assad en remplaçant la "Syrie" par le...

Charges Iranian media tampered with translation of Mursi speech to include its name
By Habib Toumi, Bureau ChiefPublished: 20:42 September 1, 2012
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Manama: Bahrain on Saturday demanded an apology from Iran after it charged that the Iranian media tampered with the translation of the speech delivered by the Egyptian president in Tehran to include its name.
“Hamad Al Amer, the foreign affairs undersecretary for regional and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) affairs, has summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires and handed him a formal protest note following the tampering by the Iranian media and replacing Syria with Bahrain in the speech delivered by president Mohammad Mursi at the opening of the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Tehran,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. “Such an abuse and distortion of the facts is rejected and is regarded as interference in Bahrain’s domestic affairs and a violation of the norms.”
The foreign ministry demanded an apology from the Iranian government and the taking of the necessary measures to ensure that such negative attitudes harmed relations fraternal relations between Bahrain and Tehran, the foreign ministry said.
The interpreter replaced Syria with Bahrain when President Mursi talked about the so-called Arab Spring and enumerated the countries where people launched revolutions to change their regimes.

LONDON — Decades of campaigning by victims of thalidomide, a morning sickness drug, have taken a new turn, with the first apology in 50 years to the victims and their families by the drug’s German manufacturer — and an incensed rejection of the apology as too little and too late from many of those it was intended to placate.

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The apology was issued Friday by Harald Stock, chief executive of the Grünenthal Group, a family-owned pharmaceutical company that marketed the drug in the 1950s and early 1960s. It was withdrawn in 1961 after it was linked to birth defects, including shortened arms and legs, and in some cases no limbs at all, that campaigners say affected 10,000 babies around the world, mostly in Australia, Canada, Europe and Japan.

The apology came in a speech Mr. Stock delivered in the Rhineland town of Stolberg, the company’s base, at the unveiling of a thalidomide memorial, a bronze statue of a limbless child.

Addressing the victims and their families, he said the company wished to “apologize for the fact that we have not found the way to you from person to person for almost 50 years.

“Instead, we have been silent, and we are very sorry for that.”

The unsung, unarmed, outsourced heroes of Australia's war in Afghanistan face an uncertain fate as foreign troops prepare to leave.

The unsung, unarmed and outsourced heroes of Australia's war in Afghanistan – young interpreters – face an uncertain fate as foreign troops prepare to leave.
At least three of the civilian interpreters have been killed while serving with Australian troops, risking insurgent bullets and bombs for as little as $US700 ($660) a month.
Now, as foreign forces begin withdrawing, they face a heightened risk of retaliation for what the Taliban regards as their collaboration with foreign "infidels".
While some of Australia's allies have created special migration schemes for their interpreters, the federal government has yet to decide on the fate of hundreds of men and their families. The future of the interpreters is "part of a range of matters that are under active consideration as part of transition planning by the Australian government", a spokeswoman for the Defence Minister, Stephen Smith, said.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/fear-afghans-will-be-lost-in-translation-20120804-23mk4.html#ixzz22eOW0Lqm

CHICAGO, Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Megan Runnion, a 12-year-old girl who is deaf, filed a federal lawsuit against Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana seeking to secure an American Sign Language interpreter for meetings of her Girl Scout troop. The lawsuit, brought under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, was filed in federal court in the Northern District of Illinois.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120802/CG51215LOGO)

Megan joined Girl Scouts when she was in kindergarten. For six years, she was provided with a sign language interpreter by Girl Scouts for troop meetings and outings. But last fall, when Megan's mother renewed the request for the interpreter, Girl Scouts denied her request. Rather than providing the requested interpreter services, Megan's troop was disbanded.

"Megan is heartbroken that she can no longer participate in Girl Scouts," said Edie Runnion, Megan's mother. "All of the children in our family have been involved in scouting, and it is devastating for Megan that she is being prevented from being a Girl Scout."

"Entities that receive federal funding, like Girl Scouts, are prohibited from discriminating against people with disabilities," said Steven Blonder, lead counsel in the case and a principal at Much Shelist, P.C., which is handling the case on a pro bono basis. "The Girl Scouts' denial of a sign language interpreter is a clear violation of federal law and our lawsuit seeks to rectify this injustice."

Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana is the largest Girl Scout Council in the country with net assets that exceed $28 million. Its stated mission is to "build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place" and to create programs for "girls of all age levels, races, ethnicities, beliefs, economies, geographies and physical abilities."

A Editora Boitempo é acusada de plágio na tradução das obras "Considerações sobre o Marxismo Ocidental", de Perry Anderson, e "Lachrimae Rerum", de Slavoj Zizek, livros lançados pela empresa em 2004 e 2009, respectivamente.

CHICAGO, Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Today, Megan Runnion, a 12-year-old girl who is deaf, filed a federal lawsuit against Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana seeking to secure an American Sign Language interpreter for meetings of her Girl Scout troop. The lawsuit, brought under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, was filed in federal court in the Northern District of Illinois.

Megan joined Girl Scouts when she was in kindergarten. For six years, she was provided with a sign language interpreter by Girl Scouts for troop meetings and outings. But last fall, when Megan's mother renewed the request for the interpreter, Girl Scouts denied her request. Rather than providing the requested interpreter services, Megan's troop was disbanded.

BROOKLYN, NY—A U.S. Army contract translator was re-sentenced today to 108 months of imprisonment for illegally possessing national defense documents and using a false identity to procure his United States citizenship and to gain access to classified military materials. The proceeding was held before United States District Judge Brian M. Cogan at the U.S. Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York.

Previously, on February 14, 2007, the defendant—whose true identity is still unknown and who goes by various names including Abdulhakeem Nour, Abu Hakim, Noureddine Malki, Almaliki Nour, and Almalik Nour Eddin— pleaded guilty to the unauthorized possession of classified documents charge. On December 20, 2005, the defendant pleaded guilty to the false identity charge. On May 19, 2008, the defendant was originally sentenced to 121 months’ imprisonment. That sentence was later reversed on appeal due to an error in the calculation of the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines range. The case was then remanded for re-sentencing, and Judge Cogan imposed an above-Guidelines sentence.

Los Juegos Olímpicos son en Londres, pero los traductores de Lingua de Global Voices están también emocionados con otra maratón: la Maratón de Traducción de Libertad en Internet, un desafío para que la Declaración de Libertad en Internet se...

All eyes turn to Silivri as KCK trial begins today - ISTANBUL
Hürriyet Daily News
4th July, 2012

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Ayse was one of the main animators of the World Tribunal on Iraq, which held sessions in Brussels, Tokyo and New York before concluding in Istanbul in 2005. She proposed the Tribunal in 2002, at a meeting of the European Network for Peace and Human Rights, which the Russell Foundation convened in the European Parliament in Brussels. She works as a translator, and her Turkish translation of Black Beauty has been widely acclaimed.

If you’re a Slovenian fan of J.K. Rowling, and you’re eager to get your hands on the first available copy of her forthcoming novel, The Casual Vacancy, you’re probably going to have to read the book in English. This will also be the case in Italy, Finland, and several other countries. And the reason is that Rowling’s team have made an unusual move: they are delaying the delivery of the manuscript to a handful of foreign publishers over concerns about piracy.

Rowling’s worries about piracy—and her attempt to stop it—have been quite public. (She famously refused to allow the Harry Potter series to be made available in a digital format for years, citing piracy concerns.) Now, with Rowling’s first adult novel, which publishes in September in the U.S. (as well as in the U.K., France, and Germany), her agency is taking it a step further: to tamp down on the possibility of the book being ripped and shared, the manuscript is being withheld from publishers in territories considered high risk for piracy. The move has raised more than a few eyebrows in international publishing circles. Some publishers are worried about having to scramble to get translations ready for the holidays, while others worry that more blockbuster authors may now try to follow in Rowling’s footsteps.

Zoe King, an agent and partner at Rowling’s literary agency, the Blair Partnership, said the novel is being withheld from some houses until its U.S. pub date—September 27—to “minimize the risk of the manuscript being leaked.” Adding that the move is something the agency believes is “in both the author’s and publishers’ interests,” King said the reason some countries are receiving the manuscript earlier has to do with where “security” is deemed the strongest. “We have agreed to let publishers in some countries publish simultaneously with the English-language release, as some publishers are better able to handle the security demands of a simultaneous release,” she explained, via e-mail.

Andrej Ilc, an editor at the Slovenian publisher Mladinska knjiga (which acquired translation rights to Vacancy), said his house is struggling with the schedule. “We will most likely be forced to employ more than one translator and abnormally speed up the editorial and production process to publish in time for the Christmas season,” he said. “Her agent would like to establish her as a quality author for adults, but at the same time this is forcing publishers around the world to break all the rules of good translating and editing.”

Jill Timbers, a translator of Finnish books into English, recently wrote a blog post about the situation in Finland. Writing for the Web site Intralingo, Timbers said that the Finnish publisher of Vacancy, Otava, is giving its translator only three weeks to turn around an edition of the book in order to hit the holiday deadline. This, she said, has caused a stir among translators and others. “Some translators argue that it’s good [that] bestsellers are translated into Finnish even if time pressure means the level of the Finnish isn’t top quality. Others predict that soon ‘entertainment literature’ will not be translated into Finnish at all.”

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Google took a significant step toward resolving its antitrust problems in the EU after regulators warmed to new concessions offered to settle an investigation into alleged anti-competitive...

After months of ongoing negotiations, Google is apparently getting close to a settlement deal with the European Union to resolve antitrust issues that would avoid formal charges against the search company, according to a published report.