Prosecutors oversold the case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Now they're overselling the case against his accuser.

Translations and Interpreter blamed

By William Saletan

Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Nafissatou DialloThe Manhattan district attorney's office has filed a motion to dismiss the sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn. The motion accuses the alleged victim, Nafissatou Diallo, of a "pattern of untruthfulness" marked by "shifting and inconsistent versions" of their encounter in a New York hotel. But the same can be said of the DA's office. Having exaggerated the case against Strauss-Kahn, prosecutors are now exaggerating the case against Diallo. Here are four elements of their story that don't add up.

[A]fter leaving the defendant's room, she had gone directly into another room (2820) to finish cleaning it. She gave specific details, saying that she had vacuumed the floor and cleaned the mirrors and other furniture in that room. She further stated that after completing her tasks in Room 2820, she had returned to the defendant's suite and began to clean it as well.1. Room 2820. The DA's motion accuses Diallo of "continued conflicting accounts" of the incident. It says she told prosecutors three different versions of what she did after being assaulted: one version prior to June 28, a second version on June 28, and a third version on July 27. But if you read the first and third versions (on Pages 11-13 of the motion), you'll see that they don't differ much: In the third version, unlike the first, she said that after being assaulted in Room 2806 of the hotel, she opened Room 2820 briefly to retrieve her cleaning supplies. The only serious puzzle is the June 28 version. Here's how the DA's report describes it:

This version is plainly wrong: Electronic records show that Diallo opened the doors of 2820 and 2806 in the same minute, which wouldn't have given her time to do all that cleaning of 2820. But did she really tell this farfetched story? In an interview with ABC News, taped shortly before July 24, Diallo attributed the false version to mistranslation. In the 33^rd minute of the interview, she said that 1) prosecutors used a different translator on June 28, 2) they asked her if she had spat out Strauss-Kahn's semen in Room 2820, 3) she told them she hadn't, since she had already cleaned that room, and 4) she told them she had opened Room 2820 to get her supplies. It's easy to see how a mistranslation could have happened: Diallo described how she had cleaned Room 2820, and the prosecutors, through the translator, thought she was saying she had done this after the assault, when she reopened its door.

The DA's motion rejects this explanation. It says that Diallo showed an ability to understand English and that she didn't correct the interpreter's translation. It adds that on July 27,

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Translator Breaks Barriers

By Harold Reutter

Birdie Lopez breaks down barriers.

Her official job title is translator at Dodge Elementary.

Typically, that job entails translating parent letters into Spanish, making telephone calls to the homes of Spanish-speaking families, or being at school to do verbal translation for staff members.

Finding out what's wrong, translator Birdie Lopez (left) talks to kindergartner Carlo Ramos (right) as he is comforted by his teacher, Rhonda Hillman, at Dodge Elementary School in Grand Island. On his second day of school, Ramos was missing his older brother and had an upset stomach after eating some broccoli. (Independent/Barrett Stinson)

Michelle Walker, school social worker at Dodge Elementary, said many translators in the Grand Island school system take their jobs quite literally: They do a word-for-word translation of whatever the English staff member is saying.

But Walker said she can tell that when Lopez translates, she does not limit herself to exact translations and nothing more. She said Lopez is also assessing the parents' reactions and deciding whether additional questions need to be asked to clarify the situation.

That is one example of Lopez breaking down barriers.

Walker said she is glad Lopez takes such initiative because it typically results in questions being asked that she never would have thought of on her own. As a result, Walker learns information that would never have become available if not for Lopez's help.

Such initiative is why Lopez was named the Non-teaching Staff Member of the Year during the all-staff assembly on Aug. 12 for the Grand Island Public Schools.

Nomination letters for Lopez noted that she functions more as an additional social worker at Dodge Elementary than a translator.

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US Military's Iraqi Linguists face uncertain road


MAREZ BASE: The looming withdrawal of most if not all US forces from Iraq leaves their Iraqi interpreters facing unemployment, afraid for their lives and with a difficult decision: whether to stay or go.

Interpreters interviewed at military and police facilities near Mosul in north Iraq all said they fear for their safety.

But accepting special visas to the US still means leaving their country and in some cases their families for an uncertain future -- an incredibly tough choice to make.

Major General Jeffrey Buchanan, spokesman for US forces in Iraq, said that about 9,000 Iraqis were employed by the US military in various capacities as of July.

These Iraqi employees stand to lose their jobs with the US military if all US troops leave by December 31, as is currently required.

And a significant number may still face unemployment even if the US and Iraq reach an accord on a post-2011 US training mission, as it would likely be much smaller than the current roughly 47,000-soldier contingent.

"I'm worried about my security (and) I'm worried about my family, because I don't know what's gonna happen after the Americans leave," said Ismail, an interpreter for US soldiers partnered with the 3rd Federal Police Division, who requested that only his first name be used.

The 25-year-old Assyrian Catholic, who had his dark hair cut short and has tattoos on both arms, already knows well the dangers of working for the US in Iraq.

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Medical Dictionary Translation: The Advantages And Requirements

The world of health-care and medicinal treatments is vast and varied and is dynamically progressive, which renders new and innovative medical terms and phrases each day by medical researchers and experts.

The main aim of this particular article would be to enlighten readers about the reasons behind the service provision called 'medical dictionary translation’ and the various aspects which made the idea of consulting one a popular and reliable practice. But before that, let’s start with the basics first. The role and significance of dictionaries in our life can never be underestimated as these are the ultimate storehouse of innumerable words and their meanings which form an inseparable part of our day-to-day communication, both written and oral.

Although we may not consider reading dictionaries to comprehend the meanings of new words as fun as we do like reading books in general, but the necessity of dictionaries are felt vividly whenever we face the need to know the meaning of a particular term or word in order to use the same in practical life. The rising and never-ceasing benefits and requirements of dictionaries have led to the formation of various kinds of online dictionaries dedicated to vocabulary associated with specific field or subject and thus the formation of Medical Dictionaries. People in various stage of their life may come across certain situations wherein they feel the needful urge to know, comprehend and apply the meaning and association of various terminologies related to the world of medicines and treatments and this is where medical dictionaries come to the rescue of the seekers.

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GMC Software Technology Establish Partnership with *Talo

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Press release from the issuing company

Boston, Massachusetts and Appenzell, Switzerland-- GMC Software Technology, the standard in customer communications, today announced that the company has established a partnership with *Talo, a Netherlands-based software company, specializing in the development of language modules. Under the terms of the partnership, GMC will offer *Talo's advanced multilingual spellchecking and hyphenation software as part of their customer communications platform, GMC Inspire. This will allow enterprise users and print service providers precise content control of text rich documents.

"We are pleased to have established a partnership with *Talo," said Hansruedi Jörg, Vice President, Worldwide Business Development at GMC Software Technology. "As a result, GMC Inspire users can confidently produce the highest quality text rich communications in compliance to many local hyphenation and spelling standards".

*Talo is a Netherlands-based software company, specializing in the development of language modules. The company conceived, designed and developed the *Talo Hyphenation System from a psychological, cognitive and language perspective. The system is based on a unified structure for syllabification that works in every alphabetical language and the company's first product was integrated into the Dutch version of WordPerfect in 1985. Currently, the company provides language modules for nearly every European language, English as well as Middle Eastern, Asian and the African languages.

"We are excited that GMC Software Technology has entered into a partnership with *Talo," said Dr. J.C. Woestenburg, PhD at *Talo. "We are pleased that using our software, the GMC Inspire platform will add another dimension to its content management capabilities"

www.worldlanguagecommunications.com

International Legal Translation Conference

On October 7th and 8th, 2011, join your colleagues in Lisbon, Portugal for two full days of practical learning sessions – translation and terminology workshops – aimed at: legal translators and interpreters company owners and project managers legal terminology authors / managers translation teachers translation / interpretation students For more information about the conference, click here

MERCHANDISING MANAGER FOR UK ENGLISH AND CASTILIAN SPANISH

Candidate for UK English must have considerable knowledge about UK Film and pop culture. 

Candidate for Castilian Spanish must have considerable knowledge about Film and pop culture from Spain. 

IMPORTANT: TO BE CONSIDERED YOU MUST REGISTER ON OUR SITE HERE:
http://WWW.WORLDLANGUAGECOMMUNICATIONS.COM/CAREERS

Also email your resume to careers [at] worldlanguagecommunications.com

Overall role:

Create and manage a merchandising, promotion and editorial strategy for premium content on YouTube Movies.  The promotions should include editorial selections, which take full advantage of current trends, pop culture, media events, releases and emerging trends on YouTube.

Responsibilities involve working with our client and the YT team on:

●      Managing all promotional activity of premium content on YouTube, taking advantage of themes and events and taking into account contractual obligations

●      Creating and maintaining consistent programming for YT movies. Examples: Spotlights, New Releases, timely promotions (Halloween, Valentine’s Day, etc), and evergreen movie collections

●      Maintaining a release schedule, which tracks upcoming titles and calendars our promotional efforts (including launch plans).

●      Working with Engineering and Partner Services to ensure all titles in programming plans are ordered and ingested.

●      Creating various types of promotional artwork (or supervise its creation with contractor) based on partner’s artwork

●      Working with YT Marketing and PR to include top titles and editorial curations on consumer-facing marketing executions.

●      Working with Product manager on YT Programming tool enhancements (and later on YT Movies-version 2 new features)

●      Working with Marketing/PR to execute new promotional opportunities (e.g. celebrity playlists)

●      Give YouTube movies a 'voice' and Pod using editorial tools on the site, the YouTube Blog, Twitter, Face book, etc.

●      Managing YouTube Movie Extras curation

●      Working with Partner Marketing Manager and BD on managing the process for requesting promotions from specific partners

●      Participating in regular meetings with studio partners, in order to identify promotional opportunities

●      Working with BD and Partner Marketing Manager on negotiating partner deal points that involve spotlight and promotional commitments.

●      Creating Editorial Guidelines and a policy to determine what films YT will promote and duration

●      Maintaining excellent partner metadata, curation and hygiene

●      Measuring performance of programming and reporting out

The areas where the role would require our client's collaboration are:

●      Customized artwork, Movie Extras curation, and input on editorial curation (e.g. Collections, Spotlights)

Other:

●      Program Film & Animation Category Spotlights on You Tube (1x week)

●      Program Shows spotlights (currently programming updates as needed)

●      Shows: Participate in BD meetings regarding deal commitments for Showtime.  Once other premium partners are acquired (e.g. HBO), the Shows page will evolve into a page that will require regular planning and curation

THAI TO ENGLISH TRANSLATOR NEEDED

We need a Thai to English translator for some short immigration related documents.

Only NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS will be considered.

If you qualify, please register on our website at http://www.worldlanguagecommunications.com/careers

and email us at info [at] worldlanguagecommunications [dot] com

Arab Spring And The U.S. Approach To The New Middle East: Al-Jazeera

The United States supported protesters rallying for democracy in Tunis, Sanaa and Benghazi. It engaged in war to come to the aid of opposition groups in North Africa. So why did America choose to remain silent on the protests in the Gulf?

In the second part of its documentary on the United States in the New Middle East, Al Jazeera's "Fault Lines" team traveled to Bahrain, a Sunni majority monarchy reigned by the Khalifa family; home to America's fifth fleet, which monitors Iran and is key in ensuring America's oil supplies.

"Fault Lines" finds that American policy in the Gulf States has remained fairly consistent over the years, as geopolitical calculations complicate U.S. abilities to politically manoeuvre the region. "The calculations of Bahrain are much more complex and difficult for us," Nicholas Burns, formerly connected to the U.S. state department, explains to Al-Jazeera. "Number one because our fleet is stationed there. Number two because Bahrain is of course important to Saudi Arabia -- one of our major partners in the Arab world. Number three because no one wants to see Iran -- which is a government we despise -- profit from the changes in the Arab world."

Securing the flow of oil also proved a major factor in American policy. "Stabilizing the oil markets has been a central tenet of U.S. policy for decades," Fault Line's Seb Walker narrates. "It often meant empowering dictators in oil producing countries at the expense of supporting democratic ideals."

Watch the full "Fault Lines" report here:

Fault Lines: The US and the New Middle East: The Gulf

Linguist Considers 'What Language Is' — And Isn't

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Talk of the Nation

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Linguist John McWhorter says sign languages function in ways that no other languages do. But, he says, like all spoken languages, they also morph over time.

Whether or not the first humans could speak is still a matter of debate, but most scientists agree that languages have been around for at least 80,000 years.

The written word, in contrast, is relatively new. Humans have been putting words on tablets, textiles and paper only for approximately the past 5,500 years.

Yet many assume the written word is superior to how humans actually speak. If a language isn't fixed on a page — like English, French, Spanish or Chinese — it isn't "real."

And while many English speakers consider the English language to be relatively advanced, linguist John McWhorter says it's actually profoundly simpler than many ancient languages.

In his book, What Language Is: And What It Isn't and What It Could Be, McWhorter, a professor of linguistics and Western civilization at Columbia University, debunks some of our most persistent myths about language.

Languages are anything but pure, he writes; they are complex, intermingled and, as he tells NPR's Tony Cox, constantly morphing "like a lump in a lava lamp."

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