Ways With Words

Some years ago, the UK Local Government Agency published a list of words that it suggested public bodies should avoid using if they want to communicate effectively.

As part of their campaign which was named ‘Communications Month’, they introduced ‘Junk the Jargon Week’ (why stop at a week?).

Regrettably, this didn’t extend to ‘Start Making Sense Day’ or ‘Just Tell Me What You Mean Hour’, but at least they were trying.

Anyway, the idea was that stakeholders staff would keep their communications free of the words, phrases and abbreviations that leave people bemused and frustrated, such as, ‘synergies’, ‘improvement levers’ and everybody’s favourite, ‘meaningful dialogue’.

Naturally, as there was no allocated budget for this campaign, a great deal of blue sky thinking was needed, going forward. In order for people to start singing from the same hymn sheet it was and still is necessary to engage top-level competencies and flag up as much information architecture as possible.

You can find the full list of nonsense here

As a translation agency, we naturally aim to facilitate the most accurate translation possible, probably in a value-added type way. However when words and phrases such as these are difficult to understand, the translator’s job becomes much more difficult.

We’d like to invite any translators reading this to send in examples of jargon or phrases they have struggled to find a meaning for, and perhaps we’ll post them on this blog once they’ve been tested for soundness.

What’s the best way to learn a foreign language? Evening classes? Private tutor? Living abroad?

Newspapers recently reported the story of a British milkman who has become virtually fluent in Gujarati simply by chatting to his customers.

Based in Blackburn, he first started his rounds 50 years ago and made friends with Asian families settling in the area. As more and more families arrived, he started learning Gujarati to help overcome the language barrier. Over the years he has become almost fluent as well as being proficient in Bengali!

“It was not very difficult to learn it” he said when interviewed. “ I just remembered what they told me, kept it in my memory and repeated it when I saw them. I don’t know how long it took me to learn. I’ve known the language for about 30 years and once you pick up words you remember them”.

French has the Académie Française, Spanish the Real Academia Española and Italian the Accademia della Crusca. The Queen’s English Society (whose slogan is “Good English matters – the world uses it – we must keep it safe from declining standards”) is forming an equivalent for the English language, to protect the language from impurities.

The Society is not a dusty, antiquated organisation that shuns the modern world: it has its own website which contains a wealth of information and tips on correct English usage. It insists that the Academy does not set out to dictate rules on how to use it, police it or stand in the way of a natural evolution of the English language. Its aims are to record best practices in the use of English by those who use it well, to provide a reference for good usage, to point out common errors and campaign for more effective teaching of English and for the use of correct, error-free English by the media.

The issue of what is and is not acceptable or correct English is a sensitive and controversial one. For every Lynne Truss, for whom punctuation is paramount, there is a Stephen Fry, thought by many to be one of the most articulate and correct English-speakers of our time, and not exactly a fan of the idea of an English academy. In response to an article in The Times about the idea, he tweeted: “Of all the foolish, ignorant, poxridden, pathetic and tragically misbegotten notions, this one beats them all”.

Language does evolve, and what one generation will consider an offensive mistake, the next will accept unquestioningly. At Ways With Words, we are committed to producing error-free translations, which reflect the right style and register for the context in which they will be used. We will be watching the English Academy’s progress with interest…

It was reported recently that the European Commission is facing a shortage of translators for a range of language combinations. This shortage is particularly acute in the English language department which is expected to lose 20% of its staff by 2015 through retirement.

Many translators who were recruited during the 1970s, when the UK joined the European Economic Community, are now reaching retirement age, but there are not enough linguists with the necessary skills or experience to replace them.

With the addition of 12 official languages since 2004, the number of documents in need of translation has grown exponentially. EU citizens and national authorities have the right to submit documents, questions and complaints in any of the 23 official languages of the European Union. To keep the translation costs down, officials sometimes use a “bridge-language” to communicate with stakeholders.  English has grown into this role, as it is the language most widely spoken by the new generation of officials and the first foreign language taught in most schools within the EU.  As a result, the last five years have seen a 45% increase in demand for translation into English. In 2008, the number of pages translated into English was a mind-numbing 188,034 pages.

Recent recruitment drives for English-language translators have been largely disappointing.  In both 2005 and 2007, less than 50% of the target number of successful candidates was reached and in 2007, only 24 successful candidates were available for recruitment to the EU Institutions involved.  The target was 70.

The limited range of languages on offer is a further problem for the Directorate-General for Translation. Most candidates offer either French, German, Spanish or Italian, but less common languages such as the Baltic languages – Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian – are also in high demand.

Whether the shortage of English mother tongue translators is due to a general decline in students studying foreign languages, a poor standard of teaching or a lack of interest in the profession as a whole, will doubtless continue to be debated in the press.  In the meantime, the Directorate-General for Translation is stepping up its recruitment drive in conjunction with the National Centre for Languages (CILT) and educational institutions, and is confident all departments will eventually be properly staffed.

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Keeping with the World Cup theme…

Online reports describe how Brazilian officials took a crash course in English ahead of England matches. But not your average everyday language course. Instead they took a course in English profanity, with a view to disciplining players who verbally abuse them.

Referee Carlos Simon and his two assistants studied a list of 20 English expletives ahead of England’s first match against the United States. One of the assistants revealed English was the only language they were studying: “We can’t do this in 11 different languages but at least we have to know the swear words in English”.

Of course, English isn’t the only language to be heard in the stands and the streets over the course of the tournament. South Africa itself has eleven official languages – Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu – more than any other country excluding Bolivia and India.

Several others are also recognised as unofficial languages, not to mention the eighteen official languages of the thirty-two countries represented in the competition!

Lately we’ve had an increased number of requests for ‘certified’ translations. In our experience, certification is a pretty grey area and one which can vary a great deal depending on the nature of the document, language combination, and the purpose of the translation.

Types of documents that may need certification include birth, marriage and death certificates, divorce decrees, academic transcripts/certificates and contracts.

Although there is no such thing as a ‘sworn’ or ‘certified’ translator in the UK, we can arrange the following:

• Certified translations – we translate your documents and return them with a letter on our company paper to confirm they are true and correct representations of the originals.
• Notarised/sworn translations – we translate your documents and attend the offices of a public notary or solicitor to declare in writing and on oath that they are true and correct representations of the originals.
• Legalised translations – translations are notarised/sworn and subsequently submitted to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office who checks the signature/seal/stamp and attaches an apostille.

If you do need translations for legal or official purposes, please remember to allow plenty of time – not only because we may need to book an appointment with our local solicitor/notary, but because translations will have to be returned by post.

The most important thing to remember is that although we’re happy to offer advice based on past experience, we are by no means legal experts and it’s always best to check with the relevant organisation or authorities to find out exactly what type of certification you require.

For a free quotation, please call 01285 640998 or contact us online.