SC translation initiative welcome - Deccan Herald - Translation

The Supreme Court’s decision to provide translated copies of its judgements in every Indian language is a welcome move as it will help to make them accessible to large numbers of people. 

The Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice DY Chandrachud has emphasised the need to reach out to citizens in a language that they can understand. The CJI said that he has constituted a committee headed by Justice Abhay Oka and the first step will be to ensure that judgements are translated into four languages -- Hindi, Tamil, Gujarati and Odiya. Hopefully, the project will be extended to other languages.

The CJI said that Artificial Intelligence could be used for translation, as technology has the potential to bridge the information gap and overcome the linguistic barrier. The Supreme Court registry is now translating a few selected judgements into some languages, including Kannada, but most of them are translations into Hindi. “English isn’t comprehensive, particularly in the legal avatar, to 99.9 per cent of citizens. Access to justice cannot be meaningful unless citizens are able to access and understand in a language which they speak and comprehend”, the CJI has said.

Also Read | CJI announces launch of service to provide verdicts in some scheduled languages
 

It is not just that English is not understood by most people in the country. The language of judgements, which contains many legal terms, is particularly incomprehensible to people. Even lawyers sometimes find it difficult to decipher judgements.

Translations will therefore serve an important purpose. They can be very useful in legal education and can help to improve legal literacy. Regional languages do not have much legal literature and the Supreme Court’s initiative will help to enrich them in that respect.

It is not known whether only future judgements will be translated. It will be useful if important judgements of the past also are translated. The Supreme Court’s initiative should also encourage the High Courts to take steps to translate their judgements into at least the language of their jurisdiction. 

Translating judgements correctly and accurately into regional languages will be a challenge, especially because they may not have an adequate legal and judicial vocabulary. These will have to be developed with the help of scholars of these languages. The CJI has said that the Supreme Court will tap the services of retired judicial officers to verify if the translations are done correctly. This is a good idea.

Live-streaming of some hearings have helped to take court proceedings to the people. Translating judgements is a good step forward from there. The court’s move contrasts with the strange view of former CJI Sharad Bobde who said last week that Sanskrit should be made the country’s official language and the language for use in courts.

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CDIAL unveils dictionary for modern words in native languages - Vanguard - Dictionary

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CDIAL unveils dictionary for modern words in native languages  Vanguard

Rotary Club Hands Out Dictionaries To Third Grade Students - Bay Net - Dictionary

INDIAN HEAD, Md. – It’s been a while since Sanya Sitkoula walked in the hallways of Indian Head Elementary School. Now an eighth grader at General Smallwood Middle School, Sanya recently returned to her former school to help her dad, Kiran, with a special project.

For nearly 20 years, Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) students in third grade have been given the gift of words when members of rotary clubs give each their own dictionary. “You will appreciate this gift for the rest of your life,” Kiran Sitkoula, a member of the Rotary Club of La Plata, said to members of Jessica Garcia’s class.

Rotary clubs around the country — as well as other service clubs and organizations — take part in a program that was started in 1992 by a Savannah, Ga., housewife. Soon the tradition of giving out dictionaries to third graders picked up steam when the Dictionary Project was formed three years later in 1995. Over the years, the program has been taken up by organizations around the country resulting in more than 28 million dictionaries given away. In Charles County, Rotarians have been handing out dictionaries to third graders since 2004. Third grade is the golden age for the giveaway. Second grade is too young, fourth graders is a bit too old. Third grade seems to be the right age.“The level of curiosity is there,” Sitkoula said.

“The more you read, the more your brain grows bigger and bigger,” he told students. “You can’t see it, but it’s growing, and you are making connections and getting smarter and smarter.”

Though classroom configurations and hallway layouts of her former elementary school have faded from Sanya’s memory, receiving a dictionary in third grade has not. She remembered receiving one when she was third grader. “Yeah, it’s easy to go online, but with books … it’s your own book,” she said. “It’s yours to keep. And it’s not just a dictionary. It has stats, information about states, countries and other facts.” Sanya said she referred to the dictionary throughout out elementary school.

During the presentation on Monday morning, Kiran Sitkoula went over some of the highlights within the book’s binding. The U.S. Constitution is in it, information about U.S. presidents and states, and facts about countries around the world are contained between the front and back covers. Countries like Nepal, where Kiran Sitkoula, was born. Sanya and her father taught students about Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world, which Sanya saw out of her bedroom window while visiting Nepal for an extended stay recently.

Students discussed the population of countries they have visited or hope to in the future. They also took a shot at saying the longest word in the English language – all 189,819 letters of it. The chemical name of titin, the largest known protein, takes up more than half of the page it’s printed on in the students’ dictionary.

“If we get that word on the spelling bee, we’re so out,” Krisstopher Garcia, a third grader in Paige Koerbel’s, class said.

About CCPS

Charles County Public Schools provides 27,598 students in grades prekindergarten through 12 with an academically challenging education. Located in Southern Maryland, Charles County Public Schools has 37 schools that offer a technologically advanced, progressive and high quality education that builds character, equips for leadership and prepares students for life, careers and higher education.

The Charles County public school system does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age or disability in its programs, activities or employment practices. For inquiries, please contact Kathy Kiessling, Title IX/ADA/Section 504 Coordinator (students) or Nikial M. Majors, Title IX/ADA/Section 504 Coordinator (employees/ adults), at Charles County Public Schools, Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building, P.O. Box 2770, La Plata, MD 20646; 301-932-6610/301-870-3814. For special accommodations call 301-934-7230 or TDD 1-800-735-2258 two weeks prior to the event.

CCPS provides nondiscriminatory equal access to school facilities in accordance with its Use of Facilities rules to designated youth groups (including, but not limited to, the Boy Scouts).

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CDIAL unveils dictionary for modern words in native languages - Vanguard - Dictionary

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

CDIAL unveils dictionary for modern words in native languages  Vanguard

La Plata Rotary Club hands out dictionaries to third grade students - The Southern Maryland Chronicle - Dictionary

It’s been a while since Sanya Sitkoula walked in the hallways of Indian Head Elementary School. Now an eighth grader at General Smallwood Middle School, Sanya recently returned to her former school to help her dad, Kiran, with a special project.

For nearly 20 years, Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) students in third grade have been given the gift of words when members of rotary clubs give each their own dictionary. “You will appreciate this gift for the rest of your life,” Kiran Sitkoula, a member of the Rotary Club of La Plata, said to members of Jessica Garcia’s class.

Kiran Sitoula, a member of Rotary Club of La Plata, left, and his daugther, Sanya Sitoula, aneighth grader at General Smallwood Middle School, recently visited Indian Head Elementary School to give each third-grade student a dictionary. Credit: Charles County Public Schools

Aniaya Turner leafs through her dictionary to find a certain fact. Credit: Charles County Public Schools

Liam Potts, a third grader at Indian Head Elementary School, looks through a dictionary he was given by members of the Rotary Club of Indian Head. Credit: Charles County Public Schools

Indian Head Elementary School third grade teacher, Paige Koerbel, helps Damyah Walston find a word in her dictionary. Credit: Charles County Public Schools

Indian Head Elementary School students Laila Bacon, left, and Lance Moore were among the students who received a free dictionary from the Rotary Club of La Plata. Credit: Charles County Public Schools

Rotary clubs around the country and other service clubs and organizations take part in a program started in 1992 by a Savannah, Ga., housewife. Soon the tradition of giving out dictionaries to third graders picked up steam when the Dictionary Project was formed three years later in 1995. Over the years, the program has been taken up by organizations around the country resulting in more than 28 million dictionaries given away. Rotarians have been handing out dictionaries to third graders in Charles County since 2004. Third grade is the golden age for the giveaway. Second grade is too young, fourth graders is a bit too old. Third grade seems to be the right age. “The level of curiosity is there,” Sitkoula said.

“The more you read, the more your brain grows bigger and bigger,” he told students. “You can’t see it, but it’s growing, and you are making connections and getting smarter and smarter.”

Though classroom configurations and hallway layouts of her former elementary school have faded from Sanya’s memory, receiving a dictionary in third grade has not. She remembered receiving one when she was third grader. “Yeah, it’s easy to go online, but with books … it’s your own book,” she said. “It’s yours to keep. And it’s not just a dictionary. It has stats, information about states, countries and other facts.” Sanya said she referred to the dictionary throughout out elementary school.

During the Monday morning presentation, Kiran Sitkoula reviewed some of the highlights within the book’s binding. The U.S. Constitution is in it, information about U.S. presidents and states, and facts about countries around the world are contained between the front and back covers. Countries like Nepal, where Kiran Sitkoula, was born. Sanya and her father taught students about Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world, which Sanya saw out of her bedroom window while visiting Nepal for an extended stay recently.

Students discussed the population of countries they have visited or hope to in the future. They also took a shot at saying the longest word in the English language – all 189,819 letters of it. The chemical name of titin, the largest known protein, takes up more than half of the page it’s printed on in the students’ dictionary.

“If we get that word on the spelling bee, we’re so out,” Krisstopher Garcia, a third grader in Paige Koerbel’s, class said.

---

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Dictionary biz finally infiltrates gaming as Merriam-Webster buys Quordle - Ars Technica - Dictionary

A sample game of Quordle.

Merriam-Webster

A year ago, the Wordle phenomenon was so huge that the venerable New York Times spent a "low seven-figure" sum to acquire the game and its massive player base. Now, a year later, the word-guessing game is still popular enough that blatant Wordle clone Quordle has been purchased by dictionary-maker Merriam-Webster.

As the name suggests, Quordle is simply a game of Wordle multiplied by four, with each guess simultaneously filling in information on all four boards. It's part of a wave of similar "multi-Wordle" clones that started with Dordle last January and has since expanded to include the ridiculous 100-fold guessing of Centordle and the absolutely ludicrous 1,000-fold Kilordle.

Apparently, "four at a time" was the sweet spot for Merriam-Webster, a 192-year-old dictionary company that isn't exactly known for daily puzzles in the same way that The New York Times is. But the Merriam-Webster website has included some basic word games and quizzes since at least 2015. And while the modern version of that Games & Quizzes landing page doesn't currently mention Quordle, the main Merriam-Webster website prominently features it as "a new daily challenge."

"I'm delighted to announce that Quordle was acquired by Merriam-Webster!" Quordle creator Freddie Meyer announced on Twitter Friday. "I can't think of a better home for this game. Lots of new features and fun to come, so stay tuned!"

While Merriam-Webster seemingly didn't even bother with a press release to announce its new game purchase, company President Greg Barlow told TechCrunch that the game is "a favorite of Merriam-Webster editors" and that it "will make a great addition to our lineup of games and quizzes."

A Quordle purchase might seem a bit silly when an outfit like Merriam-Webster could easily have made a copy-of-a-copy version for itself. But the acquisition gives Merriam-Webster access to the Quordle brand name and website, which now redirects to the dictionary maker's Games & Quizzes page. That Quordle site was popular enough to reportedly draw half a million daily players as of last April. Even now, Barlow told TechCrunch that the editors "look forward to playing along with the millions of Quordle fans every day."

Those who want to keep playing without supporting "Big Dictionary" can move over to many existing Quordle clones (i.e., Wordle-clone clones) such as Quordle-Wordle, Quordle Game, or even an unofficial iOS app (so much for Apple's "no copycats" policy). If any of those knockoffs of a knockoff are purchased by Roget's Thesaurus or something, we'll be sure to let you know.

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Here are the winners of the first Albertine Translation Prize. - Literary Hub - Translation

January 27, 2023, 11:48am

At a ceremony in New York on Thursday, Villa Albertine announced the winners of the first Albertine Translation Prize, which honors “the best contemporary French literature in English translation,” as selected by a committee of independent professional experts.

“Together with the authors and publishers, [these translators] have created works of literature that communicate across cultures, each weaving a tapestry of timely questions and poetic insight that open up new perspectives for readers in France, in the US, and around the world,” said Gaëtan Bruel, Director of Villa Albertine, in a press release.

Each winning translator will be awarded $5,000, in addition to grants to support the cost of publication in the United States.

Here are the winning books:

La femme et l’oiseau (The Woman and the Falcon) by Isabelle Sorento, translated by Heather Green (JC Lattès/seeking American publisher)

Des empires sous la terre : Histoire écologique et raciale de la sécularisation (Empires Beneath the Earth) by Mohamad Amer Meziane, translated by Jonathan Adjemain (Le découverte/Verso Books)

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