What Is Translators Without Borders? Translators Without Borders (TWB) is an independent, non-profit association. It started in 1993, helping non-governmental organisations (NGO) with language barriers around the world. TWB provides free and professional translations that could help those who are not multilingual to get useful information for their health and well-being. Translators Without Borders is associated with Traducteurs Sans Frontières, also a non-profit organization founded in 1993 by Lori Thicke and Ros Smith-Thomas. Goals and Achievements The goal of associations like Translators Without Borders and Traducteurs Sans Frontières is to connect the world’s volunteer translators with non-governmental organisations whose focal point is health, nutrition and education. By providing free translations, they allow the NGO to save money. Because they don’t have to spend money on translators, they can spend the savings on the cause itself. Every year, the two organizations contribute over six million translated words to non-governmental organizations. Among others for Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), Médecins du Monde, Action Against Hunger, Oxfam, UNICEF and Handicap International. However, this is not enough to cover all of the need. A large number of other organizations still need help breaking language barriers in many countries. TWB are doing their best to improve the situation. They have developed an open digital platform, established an organizational structure, opened better communication between NGOs and TWB workers and translators, and created a training center for translators in Kenya in 2012 to help translate life-saving health information into African languages. Working in Translation Is Important Are you a professional translator and wish to play a role in the success of TWB? Why not apply...
Sliding from Chilean Christmas into New Year’s After all the Christmas celebrations, we are looking forward to the next event: The New Year! The New Year approaches in every part of the world, for some sooner, and for some later, like in China or India. But isn’t it interesting how both similar and different traditions and the conditions they are celebrated in around the world can be? With that in mind, let’s have a look at Chilean Christmas and New Year’s celebrations. Christmas in Chile For children, the school holidays have just begun. The hot sun burns your skin during Chilean Christmas while you walk along the beach sipping a refreshing beverage and contemplating the Christmas decorations in the gardens and on the streets. There are people dressed up as Santa Claus in his typical red suit and white beard. It is too hot to hang chocolates on the Christmas trees since they would melt. Also the Christmas trees look like firs but are made of plastic due to the different flora. Chile is a mainly Catholic country and many religious traditions apply here as well as in other Christian countries. They have nativity scenes, for example, and go to a church service after dinner that is called Misa del Gallo. What’s more, Chilean Christmas dinner is quite late around 9 pm to 10 pm, often having an asado, a barbecue outside. There are also dinner types more familiar to minds of Northern Hemispherers, however, like turkey (or any other type of meat) and papas duquesas, Dutchess potatoes. After the late dinner and the church service, Chilean people open...
Gibraltar as a Country Within a Country You drove all the way through Spain. You passed by the dry Andalusian landscape and heard Spanish at every corner. Until you have to stop at the border. But it is not the border to France. It is on the opposite side of the country, at the very Southern tip of Spain. It is just a tiny corner of the Iberian Peninsula at its closest point to Africa: Welcome to multicultural Gibraltar. The Rock of Gibraltar The Rock of Gibraltar has always been a very attractive destination since time memorial. Despite its location, this wonderful gem is actually part of the United Kingdom since 1713 with the signing of the Utrecht Treaty designating it as one of the British Overseas Territories (BOTs). Gibraltar is only 7 km2 of surface and a crossroads of different cultures, religions and languages embracing people from all over the world. You can hear people speaking on the street with their strong conservative British accent while watching the typical Sevillana dance and tasting the Genoese panissa. If you love nature, don’t miss the chance to climb The Rock and see the wild monkeys. Visit one of the 150 caves, or just relax on one of the beaches all around the coastline. English as the Official Language and Spanish Wide Spoken As a part of the United Kingdom, this little isthmus has English as its official language. But its proximity to Spain makes the variety of English highly influenced by an Andalusian dialect. The two different languages find themselves in a diglossia situation. That means they have different roles in...
Christmas Spirit Celebration or Winter Solstice Celebration? These two phrases have been around the world for quite a bit now. But, Christmas Spirit, Winter Solstice, what do they mean? Is there a connection between them? Are they the same celebration? When are they celebrated? Winter Solstice Celebration, also called Yule Winter Solstice is a time of great symbolism and power. It marks the return of the sun, when the days finally begin to get a little longer. Moreover, it marks the beginning of winter which also coincides with the shortest day of the year. The celebration usually is between the 20th and the 22nd of December in the northern hemisphere, and around June 20th and 22nd in the Southern hemisphere. People has been celebrating this major Pagan festival with rituals since before medieval times. It is an originally Nordic tradition that made the burning of a Yule Log its main attraction. Nowadays, terms similar to Yule are used in the Nordic countries to refer to Christmas and its religious rites and holidays of the season. Christmas Spirit Celebration The Christmas Spirit Celebration also has a Nordic origin. It is usually celebrated around the same times as the Winter Solstice Celebration, but it is mainly celebrated in Hispanic countries. It is said that when winter solstice begins, the Christmas Spirit comes down to earth and visits all men of good will who welcome it to their homes with rituals. These rituals bring prosperity, peace, good energy, and love in the new year. If you are interested in Christmas traditions around the world, look here. Steps for a Christmas Spirit Celebration People...
What we’ve been up to! It has been a long time since we updated you on our on-going projects! At LingoStar, we like to work on a wide variety of topics and we learn from each of them. All our professional linguists are fully-qualified and come from different backgrounds. Therefore, we always have a team member able to meet your needs. In this new blog post, we shine the spotlight on the role of languages in the film industry. We also introduce you to some outstanding projects we recently completed. To what extent are language professionals involved? The film industry relies on a wide range of linguists. You might think of dubbing and subtitling, which are obvious fields of specialization for professional linguists in the audiovisual industry. But there are others you may not have thought about! For example, production companies hire localization professionals for movies made in other countries, or movies that have plots in which different cultures are involved. Indeed, even if the director might know the target culture, it is likely that the actors, screenwriters, costume designers, etc., will need training on the particular culture in the film to portray a true representation of that culture. Behind the scenes, language specialists can play a big role, too! As professional linguists, we contribute! Currently at LingoStar, we are working on an interesting project for a film series where we play both the role of a tutor and translator. The characters in the series often have to speak Latin, which is very interesting for us as Latin is often referred to as a dead language, but in this...
A decade of change in communications Can you picture yourself answering a simple “Ok.” when receiving a text? Ten years ago you certainly would have and it is likely that you didn’t even know what an Emoji looked like. With the exploding increase in use of smartphones, you won’t have missed that the language of Emoji has been added to the 7,000 languages spoken worldwide. The 7001st language During the last decade, we have seen that people don’t use their phone as a simple tool anymore. It has quickly become a second version of one’s self. Your smartphone is your reflection in the mirror. You can easily tell whether someone likes a little colour in their life or prefers minimalism by looking at their phone case. The apps they download reveal a lot about their lifestyle. The wallpaper hints about their personal life. But what is betraying us in our way of speaking? Guess! The language of Emoji allows us to transcribe our emotions and tone much more efficiently than using words. How and when did the language of Emoji appear? It all started with the emoji’s ancestors : the emoticons. Emoticons were the very first common digital language. Combining existing characters in chatrooms allowed to insert emotions in a message. For example, if something made you happy you would write “:-)”. The first actual Emoji is born in 1999, in Japan, by Shigetaka Kurita, by request of the mobile carrier company DoCoMo. Their aim was to offer their customers a catchy and effective new way to communicate. For example, one could send an icon of a raining cloud...
