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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: translation

translation stories: 12 news summaries

 Après Le Deluge: 
 French Battle 
 Anglo Terms 
 in Web Age 

Experts struggle to create equivalents for terms like 'cloud computing'

Oct 14, 09 4:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - Defenders of the French language are fighting a rear-guard action against a flood of Anglo-Saxon computing terms. In a process that lags far behind advances in technology, experts are tasked with finding French equivalents for new computing technology. The terms must then be passed by a panel of linguists and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Internet • France • language • translation • terminology • foreign languages • computing • French

Top-Selling US Bible Due for Translation Update in 2011

Translators promise to revisit TNIV's gender-neutral revisions

Sep 1, 09 6:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - The New International Version of the Bible will get an update in 2011 as scholars adapt translations to contemporary English usage, USA Today reports. The top-selling Bible translation in North America has not been updated for 25 years, with a proposed 1997 edition scuttled after provoking a contentious debate among... More »

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gender • Christianity • study • religion • gender politics • translation • Bible • controversy • New International Version • T-NIV

US Still Lacks Translators in Vital Languages

Intelligence, military officials often unable to read texts, emails

Aug 31, 09 2:03 PM CDT
(Newser) - Nearly eight years have passed since 9/11, but national security agencies remain disturbingly low on translators for crucial dialects, the Washington Times reports. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, al-Qaeda and Taliban operatives email and text-message each other freely in languages the CIA largely ignored before 2001. "I can't explain... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Iraq • Afghanistan • national security • War on Terror • CIA • Pakistan • Pashtun • translation • Arabic • Urdu • intelligence agencies • Dari • translator

LOST IN TRANSLATION

Shanghai Seeks to Stamp Out 'Chinglish' Signs


Aug 25, 09 6:06 AM CDT
(Newser) - Foreign tourists in Shanghai may soon have to go without the amusement of photographing signs in mangled English: City authorities, long embarrassed by the signs, are launching a campaign to root out "Chinglish" ahead of hosting the 2010 World Expo, the BBC reports. Student volunteers will check the city's... More »

MORE ABOUT:
China • translation • Shanghai • World Expo

Facebook, Google Roll Out Persian Updates

Internet companies
rush new tools for Iranian protesters

Jun 19, 09 6:38 AM CDT
(Newser) - Twitter has taken extraordinary measures to keep its site running during the Iranian election protests, and now other websites are speeding up developments. Today Facebook launched an early version of its site in Persian, relying on 400 volunteers to translate pages into the local language. "We felt it was... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Iran • Google • Facebook • translation • Internet censorship • Twitter • Iranian election • social media

 2 Afghans Face Death
 Over Koran Translation 

Clerics say book aims to replace holy text

Feb 6, 09 11:23 AM CST
(AP) - A pocket-size translation of the Koran has landed six men in prison in Afghanistan and left two of them begging judges to spare their lives. They're accused of modifying the Koran, and their fate could be decided Sunday in court. The trial illustrates what critics call the undue influence of... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Afghanistan • death penalty • Islam • trial • Islamic Sharia law • Muslim • Koran • translation • cleric • Bill Maher Grid

 Obama Speeches Teach English, Hope to Japanese 

Dem's speeches good for language-learners, more inspiring than local pols'

Jan 21, 09 10:46 AM CST
(Newser) - The Japanese version of Amazon.com features an unlikely bestseller: the collected speeches of Barack Obama, with Japanese translation and accompanying CD, Reuters reports. Obama’s inspiring but straightforward rhetoric is perfect for teaching English in a country that hankers to learn the language. He “uses words such as... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • Japan • language • English • translation • book • Japanese • foreign languages • Amazon.com • best seller • President Obama

OPINION

 Top Foreign Fiction of 2008 

Pair of Spanish-language works highlight NPR list

Dec 2, 08 4:40 PM CST
(Newser) - Of 340 new works of foreign fiction and poetry translated for US audiences this year, NPR has culled five of the best into a list:
  • Senselessness, by Horacio Castellanos Moya: A Latin American freelance writer is hired by the Catholic Church to edit sinister documents in this
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
fiction • literature • translation • Best of 2008

Army May Pay $150K Bonus to Arabic Speakers

It considers hefty retention incentive
to keep translators

Aug 5, 08 6:26 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Army may pay $150,000 to US soldiers who speak Arabic if they agree to stay in the service, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The Army also is ramping up its program to recruit and train Arabic speakers, both in the US and abroad. If the retention bonus is... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Iraq • US Army • translation • Arabic

US Expands
Visa Program for Iraqis Tenfold

5,000 allies, plus families, can come
to America annually

Jul 25, 08 7:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - The US embassy in Baghdad announced a major expansion of its visa program for Iraqi employees of the American government, raising tenforld the number of work permits it currently offers. The move is the latest step by the Bush administration to answer criticism that it has neglected the Iraqis, particularly... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Iraq • Baghdad • State Department • US embassy in Baghdad • visa • translation • Iraqi refugees

Facebook to Ask Users to Specify Gender

But site remains sensitive to those who find gender limiting

Jun 27, 08 3:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - Facebook announced a seemingly minor change today: Users will soon be prompted to specify a gender for their “mini-feed” updates. The site has been using the awkward “themself” to avoid gender specificity, but Facebook managers say that doesn’t work so well when the site is translated into... More »

MORE ABOUT:
gender • social networking • Internet • Facebook • translation • gender roles • Genderblind

Rowling Goes Easy on Teen Translator

16-year-old who couldn't wait for the French edition won't be punished

Aug 13, 07 11:24 AM CDT
(Newser) - JK Rowling has agreed not to prosecute a 16-year-old who got the jump on France’s October “Deathly Hallows” release date by posting his own translation online. The young Frenchman said he never attempted to make money from his work, the BBC reported . More »

MORE ABOUT:
Harry Potter • JK Rowling • translation • book • teenager

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