ChatterBank1 min ago
Now Surely This Has Got To Make Sense?
19 Answers
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/// Independent figures show that local authorities spend nearly £20million a year translating documents into a variety of different languages. ///
/// In one case last year Crawley Borough Council spent more than £600 translating a 12-page glossy 12-page quarterly ‘Homelink lifestyle magazine’ into Urdu after a single resident complained they couldn't read English. ///
/// Independent figures show that local authorities spend nearly £20million a year translating documents into a variety of different languages. ///
/// In one case last year Crawley Borough Council spent more than £600 translating a 12-page glossy 12-page quarterly ‘Homelink lifestyle magazine’ into Urdu after a single resident complained they couldn't read English. ///
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Translating documents for non-English speakers makes sense. However (while I respect the rights of Welsh people to retain their language and culture) translating documents into Welsh (for people who have a full command of the English language anyway) does seem to be using up money that could be better spent elsewhere.
Possibly what is most worrying about a council having to spend £600 translating a document into Urdu is that they (presumably) didn't have any Urdu speakers on their staff, who could have done the job for free. Perhaps that council should be asked questions about the ethnic diversity of its staff?
Possibly what is most worrying about a council having to spend £600 translating a document into Urdu is that they (presumably) didn't have any Urdu speakers on their staff, who could have done the job for free. Perhaps that council should be asked questions about the ethnic diversity of its staff?
I agree Chris and I'm Welsh.
Whilst I'm proud of my country, heritage, culture and language I speak only smatterings of it, just the way it is.
I believe I read somewhere recently that SWALEC or someone similar were considering getting rid of their Welsh hotline as it received 0.6% of calls.
This however caused a bit of a stink locally a few years back:
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Whilst I'm proud of my country, heritage, culture and language I speak only smatterings of it, just the way it is.
I believe I read somewhere recently that SWALEC or someone similar were considering getting rid of their Welsh hotline as it received 0.6% of calls.
This however caused a bit of a stink locally a few years back:
http://
thought i read that Polish has overtaken Welsh in the language stakes
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Quite right. I was about to cite the US, with its long history of immigration from many countries, as an example of how this should be done. They didn't translate anything; immigrants had to find earlier immigrants who had some English. That seems the right approach. However, even the US now translates some documents into Spanish; in particular, election addresses !
not quite yet, but interesting for all that...
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I don't often agree with Eric Pickles but I do on this. What encouragement is there for immigrants if they know English is a taboo language and not for them.
Its bad enough travelling to Wales and see motoring signs doubled up. Another far greater waste is in the EU itself. All the proceedings their have to be translated into more than 20 different languages and thats not including cross language barriers. ie English>French; French>German. A mathematician may be able to work out this cross fertilisation but isn't it factorial 20! or 20x19x18x...etc.
Its bad enough travelling to Wales and see motoring signs doubled up. Another far greater waste is in the EU itself. All the proceedings their have to be translated into more than 20 different languages and thats not including cross language barriers. ie English>French; French>German. A mathematician may be able to work out this cross fertilisation but isn't it factorial 20! or 20x19x18x...etc.
I agree with Freddie - I would not dream of going into a French hospital without someone 'qui ordonnera pour moi' etc etc
The original idea was to include excluded minorities
however by providing translation services to monophones it was found that husbands were more able to increase social isolation - because there was then no pressure to learn English, and this was a worthwhile social goal for some minorities.
surely not surely not I hear you all say.
The original idea was to include excluded minorities
however by providing translation services to monophones it was found that husbands were more able to increase social isolation - because there was then no pressure to learn English, and this was a worthwhile social goal for some minorities.
surely not surely not I hear you all say.
Mind you, Peter, an immigrant patient in an NHS hospital is likely to find that a doctor and nurse have the same native language as he has! And French doctors, particularly specialists, tend to have good English. However, the bureaucrats must be under orders not to reveal that they have ever learned a word of English; this shouldn't worry the British, who ought to learn the right phrases in advance,and because French bureaucrats set out,as a life ambition, to be as awkward and unhelpful as possible to French citizens, and thus it is a valuable introduction to French culture.
Buenchico
/// Possibly what is most worrying about a council having to spend £600 translating a document into Urdu is that they (presumably) didn't have any Urdu speakers on their staff, who could have done the job for free. Perhaps that council should be asked questions about the ethnic diversity of its
staff? ///
This so called document was a lifestyle magazine for goodness sake, it was not an important document.
And are you suggesting that that councils should employ persons that speak all the different languages they are lible to encounter, would that be the ideal ethnic diversity of its staff that you are suggesting?
/// Possibly what is most worrying about a council having to spend £600 translating a document into Urdu is that they (presumably) didn't have any Urdu speakers on their staff, who could have done the job for free. Perhaps that council should be asked questions about the ethnic diversity of its
staff? ///
This so called document was a lifestyle magazine for goodness sake, it was not an important document.
And are you suggesting that that councils should employ persons that speak all the different languages they are lible to encounter, would that be the ideal ethnic diversity of its staff that you are suggesting?
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