No matter where you are these days, it seems that holiday advertising has become increasingly in-your-face: flashing lights, signs that shout at you, and of course Christmas carols played at the highest possible volume starting sometime around Halloween. Leave it to a department store in Japan (where else?) to take it to the next level.

Two readers of the Japanese Subculture blog were strolling around Shinsaibashi, Osaka, when they came upon a store having a New Year’s sale that featured deals so huge that apparently the only way the store could properly advertise them was to festoon their signs with one of comedian George Carlin’s seven dirty English words. As Japanese Subculture’s Jake Adelstein so eloquently put it, this was “no ordinary sale- it’s an effin sale!”

Zarina Yamaguchi, who sent the picture in, explained her reaction:

“I didn’t know how to react but what caught me by surprise was that none of the people around me seem to understand the profanity. My friend Sarah and I, both of mixed Japanese descent, both bilingual in Japanese and English, were struck with the comical twist. Pretty sure I would have never seen this elsewhere, I had to snap a shot.”

Of course, the blogosphere is very glad that she did! But why use the f-word to advertise a sale in the first place? For the answer, we go to the Super Happy Awesome blog, which reports that the signs were actually a pun. The sale, you see, was for special New Year’s grab bags called Fukubukuro. What we don’t know is whether or not the marketer responsible for the signs was aware of how singularly offensive some English speakers consider the “F-word.” Perhaps they thought the clever, multi-lingual pun was only mildly off-colour? That seems quite possible given the non-reaction Zarina noted in the local populace. Either way, it definitely speaks to the importance of getting help from a skilled translator when you’re advertising in another language!

Orginal Article on K International's Language Blog | Japan fbomb

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Frank McCourt’s 1996 memoir Angela’s Ashes chronicled his childhood growing up dirt-poor and hungry in Limerick, Ireland. In writing it, McCourt tried to capture Limerick as he experienced it- the good, the bad and the ugly (and there was an awful lot of ugly).

The book was a hit with both critics and consumers, winning a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Critics Circle Award among others.  It was less of a hit in McCourt’s birthplace of Limerick, however, as some residents were unhappy with the way their fair city was portrayed in the novel. Here’s how the Globe described it at the time:

“It wouldn’t be Irish if there wasn’t a split, and the split here is between those who see “Angela’s Ashes” as an exaggerated, mean-spirited attack on the city and its people, and those who embrace the book’s art, humanity, and the attention, whether good or bad, it has brought Limerick.”

Angela’s Ashes was translated into 25 different languages, but when Mr. McCourt died of cancer in 2009, Irish still wasn’t one of them-until now. Luaithreach Angela, an Irish translation of the memoir created by Irish actor and writer Padraic Breathnach, was made available in Ireland on October 10.  A US release is set to follow next month.

Editor Dominic Taylor explained how the project got started on IrishEmigrant.com:

“The publication in the Irish language is a tribute to Frank McCourt’s Irish roots. On the occasion of Frank’s untimely passing in 2009, the Limerick Writers’ Centre made a decision to honor our famous author in a significant way and after much deliberation we decided that it would be appropriate for us to publish an Irish edition of Angela’s Ashes, the book that put Limerick on the literary map.”

Orginal Article on K International's Language Blog | An Irish Translation for “Angela’s Ashes”‎

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Americans are not heavy consumers of translated literature, but the US success of Scandinavian writer Steig Larsson and the ability to promote translated titles online has convinced more international literary organizations to give it the old college try, according to the New York Times.

While the amount of translated literature purchased by American consumers each year remains at about 3 percent, foreign literary institutes and, in many cases, governments, are working to gain additional market share for their writers by increasing the number of translated titles available. For example, government institutes in Slovenia recently paid for the translation and promotion of a “Slovenian Literature Series” for US publisher Dalkey Archive Press.

Amazon.com has also joined in, publishing a series of translated books under its AmazonCrossing imprint.

Why are governments willing to provide support and funding for translating the literature of their native writers?  Corina Suteu, directer of the Romanian Cultural Institute and leader of  the European Union National Institutes for Culture’s New York office, explained the importance of doing so to the New York Times:

“We have established this as a strategic objective, a long-term commitment to break through the American market. For nations in Europe, be they small or large, literature will always be one of the keys of their cultural existence, and we recognize that this is the only way we are going to be able to make that literature present in the United States.”

Steig Larsson aside, as literature professor Esther Allen told the New York Times:

“There is still a very entrenched attitude on the part of mainstream commercial houses that the U.S. consumer of books does not want to read translations.”

That attitude makes it that much more difficult for Americans to get access to quality literature from authors who don’t write in English. Fortunately, the Internet has made it easier than ever to market quality translated literature, so hopefully the 3% mark will be passed in the next year or so.

Orginal Article on K International's Language Blog | Publishers Rush to Translate More Titles for American Market

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Note: K International can convert any document you have into Braille. Click here >>> Braille Translation <<<.

B raille is a system widely used by blind and visually impaired people to read and write. It is made up of raised dots, arranged in cells that correspond to each letter of the alphabet. Developed in 1821 by Louis Braille of France, himself blind after an accident at the age of three, it has now been adapted to almost every known language and has revolutionised life for people all over the world.

Making Braille

Making braille documents is a complex process, although we do now use technology to speed it up as much as possible. If you’ve ever wondered how the documents are made this short clip from the RNIB shows the process behind making a braille document.

We always ask for electronic source of the original document (this can be InDesign, MS Word, Quark or even PDF). If not then paper copies are scanned and OCR’d. Source documents are then formatted and prepared for translation. Most of the translation into braille is now done by computer, once this is done we check it and send it to be embossed. Documents are then bound and prepared for dispatch. Easy .

Legal Obligation

You may be legally obliged to provide information in braille. For instance the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000 all infer to the provision of documentation in this format. Make sure braille documents appear within your language policies.

Check out our last project!

Recently, we translated a letter into Braille from the Saturdays for a little boy they met at the Pride of Britain Awards. If you want to know more about this great project, read this article> Braille for the Saturdays

Orginal Article on K International's Language Blog | Creating a Braille Document

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According to the BBC a Paris court has fined Google 300,000 euros (£266,000) in damages and interest for copyright infringement of books owned by French publisher La Martiniere.

La Martiniere was one of many publishers to take Google to court for digitising books without explicit permission.

Google have also been told that they will have to pay 10,000 euros a day until it has removed extracts of the books from its database.

Google had planned to scan millions of books to make them available online; this ruling may have ramifications for this plan.

The BBC report that this case will be seen as a victory for critics of the plan who fear Google is creating a monopoly over information.

The publisher Herve de la Martiniere launched his court case three years ago but Google continued to scan books throughout this time.

This is a big set back for the web giant Google.

Orginal Article on K International's Language Blog | Google Fined Over French Books

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The federal court of justice has overturned the conviction of a man who was fined 4,200 euros for possessing and transporting 100 t-shirts which were to be sold with the words ‘Blood and Honour’ printed on the front.

‘Blood and Honour’ is a translation of the German ‘Blut und Ehre’ which was a Hitler Youth slogan.

The Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organisation of the Nazi party, which existed from 1922 until 1945. Young boys were recruited both voluntarily and under duress and trained to be soldiers and ‘true believers’. By the Second World War the Hitler Youth had over eight million members.

In the latter years of the Second World War the Hitler Youth held a large recruitment drive calling up boys as young as ten years old which meant that most young males in Germany became members. As part of their uniform the young boys aged 10 – 18 wore daggers which had the swastika symbol on the handle and early examples had the words ‘Blut und Ehre’ inscribed on the blade. ‘Blut und Ehre’ or in English ‘Blood and Honour had become their motto.

Today the display of Nazi symbols or slogans is forbidden in Germany, but the court ruled that the ban only applied to slogans or text written in German. The court said the context of the original phrase had been sufficiently distorted to render its usage legal. It also said, “By translating it into another language, the Nazi slogan, which is characterized not just by its meaning but also by the German language, is fundamentally transformed.”

The defendant however has not been released. He may now be charged with supplying goods with Nazi imagery on and there is a possibility he could still be convicted of using the English phrase “Blood & Honour” because it was also the name of a far-right organization that is banned in Germany, the original verdict had not taken this into account. The man has not been named at this time.

Surely that is the slogan no matter what language it is in. It has been printed for maximum effect, to offend and upset others.

Orginal Article on K International's Language Blog | Confusion over Nazi Slogan Translations

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The Dictionary of American Regional English has just been completed and is now available to the general public. Why would you need another dictionary, you may ask?

The Dictionary of American Regional English is not a normal dictionary at all. 50 years in the making, it is a compilation of all the different regional dialects that Americans use in daily conversation.

This book would be especially useful for anyone planning a road trip across the country, but it’s also just plain interesting to see how English has mutated in different regions of the country.

The difference in speech between regions goes far beyond “y’all” (a southern word that’s basically a shortened version of “you all” and is used when directly addressing more than one person) and “youse guys” (same thing, only up north).

The ContraCosta Times has a review of the book that excerpts some of the more interesting pieces of dialect. For example, did you know that in Utah, a sow bug is called a “tabernacle?” or that in some parts of Appalachia, a “stool” is an invitation to a party?

One can only imagine the confusion that would ensue if someone from another part of the country heard a group of mountain folk talking about “passing out stools.” In Oklahoma, a dust storm is rather poetically called “Oklahoma rain.”

Earlier versions of the dictionary have also been used to track down criminals based on the dialect used in their letters and to decipher the speech of former President Bill Clinton, whose “folksy” speech sometimes required interpretation for those not born in Arkansas.

The former president once left a roomful of reporters scratching their heads in confusion after he told them that an Air Force official didn’t know him “from Adam’s off ox.” In Arkansas, according to the book review, an “off ox” is “one of two oxen in a team.”

Orginal Article on K International's Language Blog | Dictionary of American Regional English Just Released

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Americans are not known for being avid consumers of foreign literature. In fact, last year, only about 2 or 3% of new titles published in the US were translations of titles by non-English-speaking authors.

However, as the New York Times reports, an independent publishing company called Europa Editions has had quite a bit of success bucking the norm and selling translated novels at independent bookstores across the country.

The company is operated by a married couple from Italy.  Only 5 years old, the publishing house just reported its first profit last year. The company focuses on literary novels translated from European authors, such as The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by French writer Muriel Barbery.

The book has sold 71,000 copies and has been on the New York Times’ trade paperback fiction best-seller list for the past 6 weeks. Although the novel was a hit in France, Germany and South Korea, it was an unlikely hit in the US, where most publishing houses are afraid to touch translated novels because they don’t think they will sell.

It would be wonderful to see more translated novels made available for American consumption. Perhaps Europa Editions’ success can prompt other publishing companies to follow suit.

As Sandro Ferri, one of the co-founders of the publishing house told the New York Times, “I have a universal, global feeling that everywhere people should read and could read books from different countries. Even if up to now, only 3 percent of the American books are books in translation, I think that this is not a reason that it should always be like that.”

Those ambitions are echoed by Kent Carroll, Europa’s publisher.  “We don’t want to be in that small-press translation ghetto. Our ambitions are large,” he said in the article.

Orginal Article on K International's Language Blog | Europa Editions Translates Novels for the American Market

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Lá Nua, the only Irish language newspaper published on a daily basis, has closed down due to a lack of funding.

Lá Nua, which means “New Day” in Irish, stopped its presses at the end of the year. The newspaper had been in print for more than 20 years, but according to Eurolang.net, there simply wasn’t enough demand to keep publishing it.

The newspaper was funded by Foras na Gaeilge, an organisation set up to promote the development of the Irish language and to serve as its governing body. According to Eurolang, the organisation stopped funding the paper because not enough people were reading it.

However, the paper’s managing director, Mairtin Ó Muilleoir, believes the decision was made too hastily. He is quoted as telling the Belfast Telegraph, “At a time when an Irish-speaking Gaeltacht Quarter is taking shape in west Belfast, the decision to stop publishing a daily newspaper is counterintuitive and unwise.”

According to Wikipedia, the newspaper had a circulation of “a few thousand” readers. The paper has been struggling for some time: according to this blog post, it almost closed in March of 2008, again due to funding issues.

While it’s definitely sad that Ireland no longer has a daily newspaper written in Irish, Foras na Gaeilge is going to replace Lá Nua with a weekly publication and a website. They’re currently looking for a company to publish it and offering a grant of 400,000 euros per year. If demand grows for a daily newspaper written in Irish, they might be willing to start funding for a daily paper again.

The closure of the paper is an excellent example of how hard it is to reverse the decline of a language once the process has started. Of course, that doesn’t make it any less of a worthwhile endeavour, but it does offer a lesson about the importance of encouraging language preservation before the situation becomes dire.

Orginal Article on K International's Language Blog | Lá Nua Closes Its Doors

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Last month at the Frankfurt Book Fair, one of the largest international literary gatherings, guess what American publishers lined up to buy?

Work by other American, or at least British, authors.

Apparently, according to the New York Times, large American publishing houses are afraid to buy publishing rights for foreign-language books because they don’t think Americans are willing to purchase literature that has been translated from a foreign language. But are they being given a chance?

Out of 15,000 new book titles released in the US this year, only 330 were from authors that write in a foreign language.

That’s only about 2%!

Sure, a poorly done translation can turn off readers, but great literature is not just limited to the English language.

A good translation of a foreign novel can capture and communicate the essence of the original book, allowing English-speaking readers to enjoy reading books from all over the world even if we speak a different language than the writer.

Why are American publishers afraid of publishing translated books?

The conventional wisdom is that they don’t sell well. However, the New York Times article quoted Anne-Solange Noble, the foreign-rights director at Gallimard in France, as saying that translated books simply don’t get the same marketing and promotion as English-language books, so of course they don’t have strong sales.

However, even highly regarded international titles are usually much cheaper to purchase than work by American authors. Plus, many European governments will reimburse publishers for the translation costs.

With so much great foreign literature going un-translated and unpublished in America, what are Americans missing? In the Times article, Anne-Solange Noble has an answer:

“American publishers are depriving the American readership of the cultural diversity through translation to which they are entitled,”

Ms. Noble said.

“It is what I call the poverty of the rich.”

Orginal Article on K International's Language Blog | Lost in Translation

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