STAR TS Translation Services Blog

A great event with fantastic colour and skills.

Welcome Bejing Tourism to Dublin.

Last night we had great pleasure in attending the Magical Bejing Tour of Pandas. The event took place in the fabulous Convention Centre Dublin (theccd.ie)

The event was hosted by the Bejing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development, and Tourism Ireland and was attended by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Andrew Montague.

It was full of amazing color and spectacular. The story follows a group of pandas on their path to excellence – learning many martial arts skills along the way.

There where dancing Pandas and martial arts demonstrations that where world class and a beauty to behold. The show for me really highlighted Chinese culture and their understanding of balance. Fighting skills where combined with the beauty of dance, fantastic sound, music and action. In the same light as Yin/Yang both balance each other the show highlighted this to perfection. The Chinese have a great understanding of colour, sound, movement and balance.

Damian Scattergood, Managing Director of STAR Translation and Andrew Montague, Lord Mayor of Dublin discuss the evenings fantastic show.

The evenings event was put together by Bejing Art-creation and Cultural development Limited. The performers includes Jet Lee’s Schoolmates and some of the production team of Bejing Olympics.

The children who attended where entertained by the amazing kung-fu pandas. They had both comical antics coming into the crowd and bouncing large red ‘”Welcome Bejing’  beach balls across the audience.

Members of the Bejing Municipal Committee and Lord Major of Dublin share their enjoyment of the show.

The show featured many different styles of martial arts and dance. My favorite Tai Chi was included alongside Kung Fu, Kung Fu Boxing. Monkey warriors danced and fly across the stage showing amazing acrobatic skills.

Shi Sha Hi, street dance crowded with people and possessing extraordinary Kung Fu skills.

Overall a fantastic night was had by all. It was a perfect blend of culture and business combined. Did you know there are over 100,000 Chinese people living in Ireland.

The event was perfectly run to allow both cultures to blend together and show each other the best of tourism from China and Ireland.

Congratulations and Thank you to all involved.
Damian Scattergood

Managing Director
STAR Dublin

Kung Fu Masters show Dublin their fighting skills and the beauty of dance combined.

Chinese Masters perform at the CCD.

STAR Provides Chinese Translation Services to clients in Ireland and the UK. With our own offices in Bejing and Shanghai we can deliver professional translation of your documents, brochures and websites to help you communicate in Chinese.

A new book mapping the languages of London’s schoolchildren and highlighting the richness and diversity of the 233 languages used in the capital is unveiled for the first time at this year’s Language Show at Earls Court.

All the major languages of the world are represented in London, and “Language Capital” highlights the value of this important resource for London’s future as a key global player. It also reveals how this enormous potential can be harnessed and developed.

Teresa Tinsley, Director of Communications of CILT,  the National Centre for Languages, said: “London enjoys an incredible advantage in having English in combination with such a wide range of other languages used by millions of people around the world. We need to do more to capture the potential of this linguistic talent to create a generation of highly competent, globally connected bilinguals capable of mediating between different cultures and competing in global markets”.

The book of  contains a wealth of data alongside 29 pages of  full colour maps illustrating  the way London’s languages have changed and how communities in the capital have evolved  over  the last decade.  Building on the groundbreaking research of “Multilingual Capital” published in 2000, it is a vital reference book for specialists and non-specialists alike. Pre-launch copies will be available at the Show.

CILT, the nationally recognised centre of expertise on languages will be at the Language Show on stand 411 throughout the three days offering a wide range of support and information on services for teachers, learners, and businesses. Visitors to the stand will have the opportunity to sign up for a free trial to CILT Plus, a new service which provides primary schools with unique access to a host of language learning resources and online training. They will also be invited to sign the Languages Work Pledge – a campaign for businesses and individuals to sign up and show their support for improving the nation’s language skills for employment and the economy.  The stand will also be showcasing the latest online tool for schools – MYLO a free interactive way for youngsters from 11 to 16 to learn and practise their languages.

CILT staff will also be hosting seminars on raising students’ motivation to continue learning languages they speak at home, and on how schools can compete for the ever popular European Language Label.

There is a growing  level  of demand on translation agencies to deliver quality public sector translation services in Ireland. Translation for government departments both takes place in-house and is outsourced to translation agencies who offer public sector translation services.

According to an article at http://www.nccri.ie/pdf/Interpreting%20and%20Translating%20Services.pdf,

the increasing diversity in languages spoken in the country today means that the provision of interpreting and translating services has become a pressing need if people with low proficiency in English are to experience equality of access and outcomes in their interaction with key government services such as health, justice, education and housing.

The 2006 Census illustrates the diversity that exists among Ireland’s non-Irish population.  Immigrants numbering over 10,000 without mother tongue English come from Poland, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Nigeria, Latvia and China and  there are between 1000-10,000 immigrants from each of the following countries: Czech Republic, Estonia,  Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Russia and Ukraine. While there are some remarkable similarities among the different groups there are also areas of strong dissimilarity e.g. while many Polish people are primarily here to work, Chinese people often come here to study.

Graph and figures from Census 2006

According to Paula MaGovern at http://careeradvice.loadzajobs.ie/industry-insight/multilingual/multilingual-jobs-in-ireland-irish-translation-942, over recent years there has been a particularly sharp increase in demand for the translation of English into Irish, not least because from 1 January 2007 Irish became an official language of the EU. This means that all key EU legislation must be translated into Irish. At http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/article/3828/government/public-bodies-get-lost-in-translation/ John Kennedy states that the introduction of various pieces of legislation means that every document produced will have to be done in both languages, ranging from an information notice to a press release.

A major challenge for public sector translation services in general, and for translation for government departments in particular, is producing health care, education, and legal service documents that are sensitive to cultural differences. According to a Garda spokesman at http://thetranslatorscafe.wordpress.com/2008/08/11/ireland-garda-siochana-spent-almost-e3-million-on-interpreters-last-year/ the Garda Siochána spends almost €3 million on interpreters per year,  and deals with over 200 languages and dialects on a regular basis.  The contracts to translate for the Health Service Executive (HSE), the Courts Service and the Garda are the biggest public sector translation contracts in the country. In 2007,  these three bodies had an annual bill of about €5.75 million.  The HSE spent €750,000 on interpreting in 2007 and uses a list of preferred providers that it issues to hospitals and other healthcare facilities. The Courts Service spent more than €2 million on interpreting  in 2008, and expected to spend €2.5 million  in 2009.  According to Ivana Bacik  in her article The Language Barrier: Access to Justice in the New Ireland

http://www.jsijournal.ie/html/Volume%207%20No.%202/2007%5B2%5D_Bacik_Breaking%20the%20Language%20Barrier.pdf,

the most frequently used languages in court are Cantonese, Mandarin, French, Romanian and Russian.

Dublin, Feb 20, 2009

In a classic case of mistaken identity the case of the infamous Polish Driver Prawo Jazdy has been solved.

Lost in translation Inc.- have idenitified the driver in question.

Over the last few years the named Polish driver had been stopped and issued with several driving offences. However each time he gave a different address. Recorded in 2007 the driver had more than 50 driving offences and the Gardai where keen to catch up with him.

The Garda Pulse system was working overtime trying to identify him .

The case was solved when a member of the garda traffice division checked the name in the Polish-English dictionary.

“Prawo Jazdy is actually the Polish for driving licence and not the drivers name”

The error occured as this appears at the top of all Polish licenses and would appear to someone who does not speak the language that it is the drivers name. It is only under this are the texts for first and surname.

A Garda source has reported that steps have been taken in the case and the issue is now resolved.

Need Polish Translation? – Call STAR Translation Services Now 01-8365614

With the June elections drawing nearer, political parties are showing more interest than ever in harnessing immigrants’ potential, as both candidates and voters.

The Four main parties – Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour and the Greens have selected candidates to stand.

Together they have selected some 16 immigrants to stand.

The battle for a share of foreign nationals’ votes is being fought with the aid of Polish websites, multilingual leaflets and full-time migrant organisers.

In Mulhuddart,  north Dublin, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have each selected a Nigerian candidate.

Adeola Ogunsina is a petrol station manager in Mulhuddart and joined Fine Gael four years ago. He was drawn to the Fine Gael based on the party’s support of enterprise and small businesses.

Another candidate is and fellow rival from Fianna Fáil is Idowu Sulyman Olafimihan, who lives in nearby Clonee and runs his own security company.

Other candidates include:

 Elena Secas – Labour
Anna Banko – Fianna Fáil
Tendai Madondo –  Green Party

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