Lingo24 Company Blog

A recent Government sponsored report has concluded that Federal spending on the promotion of both French and English in Canada should be increased to $1 billion over the next 5 years – an increase of some 25% on current levels. The report has a certain immediacy, as the current national bilingual program which was inaugurated in 2003 is due to come to the end of its term at the end of this month. Over the five years since 2003 the Government has spent a total of some $810 million on resources to aid bilingualism.

In an interesting survey that was commissioned to gauge the validity of the 2003 program, it was found that some 80% of Canadians support bilingualism as a part on the Canadian national identity, however, the same survey showed that around 76% of Canadians stated that there was a certain ‘apathy’ about actually taking action to learn a their second language.

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Now we all know the importance of clear, concise and above all accurate translations…after all, the consequences of an error in the translation of a document could have serious repercussions. Imagine then, being the interpreter who cost your Government a whopping 2.7 billion as was the case recently in India.

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This week saw the launch of a new tool for translators, media officials and, most of all, football fans. UEFA announced that a brand new football dictionary is now available for purchase from Langenscheidt, one of the leading publishing houses in Germany for language-related subjects.  Read the rest of this entry »

Australia is due to withdraw the troops it has currently serving in Iraq this year. The withdrawal will mean that some 600 Iraqi translators working with the Australian troops will face serious dangers – some of them, or their families, have already been victims of murder attempts, and these attempts will only increase when the soldiers they work with go home. Read the rest of this entry »

Figures released last week indicate a spectacular increase in spending by UK courtrooms for translation and interpreting services. The bill for such services was £16.7 million in 2004-2005 and increased to £29.3 million in 2007-2008, almost the double. This expenditure is frowned upon by many in the British law enforcement, legal and administrative systems. Read the rest of this entry »

On Monday 24 March 2008, Eyak — a branch of the Athabaskan Indian family of languages spoken in the past by the Eyak people, ancient inhabitants of the shores of the Gulf of Alaska — became extinct. It is on this date that the last native speaker of the language, Marie Jones Smith, aged 89, died at her home in Anchorage, Alaska. Although linguists worked with Mrs Smith for several years, striving to preserve her native language, Eyak will probably never be spoken again.

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The issue of aid requested by some 20,000 Iraqis, who saw their lives endangered in their own country following their assistance to British troops, just took a step closer towards resolution. The UK government is offering the translators and interpreters who worked for its troops a chance to settle in the UK with their families for an indefinite period, or one-off financial aid, destined to help them resettle in countries neighbouring Iraq.

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