Found in translation: Tampa Bay kids keep their immigrant families connected - Tampa Bay Times - Translation

In the heart of many immigrant families, a unique role often falls upon the shoulders of the children: translator and interpreter from English to Spanish.

Harye Altamar,14, helps her mother communicate with her younger sister’s doctor.

Virginia Vasquez,16, often checks the mail and reads letters for her parents.

Their contributions not only alleviate the burden of surmounting language obstacles for parents who speak little or no English but also help them develop language skills and enhance their self-esteem, according to experts.

Luis Jr., 10, and Virginia Vasquez, 16, laugh at the dining room table on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023 in Tampa. [ CHLOE TROFATTER | Times ]

A new documentary, ‘Translators’, follows the stories and challenges of these immigrant children, who play language brokers for their families.

The subject of the documentary, which is directed by Rudy Valez, may be a timeless American experience, but it is as relevant as ever. According to Pew Research Center, the share of Latinos in U.S. who speak English proficiently is growing. In 2021, 72% of Latinos ages 5 and older spoke English proficiently, up from 59% in 2000.

“Children who translate for their parents may be pressed to learn about complex ideas and concepts in collaboration with their parents, giving them opportunities to feel positively about the role they play,” said Robert S. Weisskirch, a professor of Human Development at California State University Monterey Bay.

Four years ago Harye didn’t know English when she came from Colombia with her parents, Katerine Eguis, 39, and Felix Altamar, 44. She learned at her school, Orange Grove, in Tampa, through an advanced program designed to assist students with language learning. Now she handles translation and communicates with her younger sister’s doctors, Genesis, 2, who required ear surgery last year and is now going to start therapy.

“I always like to help my parents, and I feel happy to be able to do it,” said Harye, from Carrollwood. “I learned English quickly and I started speaking during my first six months. It’s been tough, but now I feel better.”

Valdez, the documentary’s director, hopes viewers will better understand the challenges and situations immigrant families face, especially their children, through this film.

“I was able to see, very early on, the access that language could provide to people, and that was something that always stuck with me from a very young age,” said Valdez.

Virgina Vasquez, 16, (left) eats lunch with her parents, Luis Sr. and Wendy Ronnau de Vasquez, on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023 in Tampa. [ CHLOE TROFATTER | Times ]

Felipe Pinzon, president and CEO of Hispanic Unity of Florida, a nonprofit that helps with the transition for newcomers, said that becoming the vital link connecting their parents and the world around them helps immigrant children learn empathy and understanding.

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“Often handed the responsibility without asking at a young age, it enhances the awareness of the challenges their families and community face, nurturing a deep sense of responsibility that lasts a lifetime,” Pinzon said.

One of them is Virginia, a 16-year-old twelfth grader at Sickles High School in Tampa. She helped translate instructions to aid her parents in obtaining a driver’s license, and she often reads emails and makes calls when Spanish is not available. The family came from Venezuela six years ago. Her mother, Wendy Ronnau, said it was a significant change for everyone, but especially for Virginia, who felt very shy initially about speaking in English at her school.

But now Virginia said her sense of pride and commitment is stronger since she’s fluent in English. She has a responsibility to assist her parents with matters that can be either big or small.

“I can’t imagine not helping them,” she said.

Translators will be screened on August 24th from 5 pm to 8 pm at the Tampa River Center, in Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park, located at 1001 N Blvd.

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For word nerds, Twitter’s rebrand is for the birds - The Philadelphia Inquirer - Dictionary

Bad news: It’s time to throw out your dictionary. The poor thing is outdated … again.

Elon Musk broke it. Add it to the list along with the SpaceX Starship, self-immolating Teslas, and all of Twitter.

Dictionary editors went out on a tree limb for Twitter, which launched in 2006. Typically, they like to wait until a word has been in circulation for at least a decade before adding it — doing so prevents flash-in-the-pan neologisms from receiving more credit than they’re due.

When Merriam-Webster added the verb tweet in 2011, and Oxford English Dictionary followed suit in 2013, they believed the word wasn’t going anywhere.

Now in 2023, Twitter is no more. In one of the more head-scratching rebrandings in history, Twitter has become X, and tweet no longer sings as a verb.

Of course, the bird sense of tweet has been around a lot longer. It was first used as a verb in the mid-19th century and as a noun 300 years before that. Now the word is once again just for the birds.

Dictionaries have adapted with increasing rapidity to technological changes. Google cofounder Larry Page had the first documented use of google as a verb in 1998, and both Merriam-Webster and Oxford English Dictionary added it in 2006 — eight years later.

That same year, Oxford English Dictionary added the verb photoshop, which had been in use as a verb since 1992, after an initial 1990 release of the photo-editing software. Merriam-Webster added it two years later, in 2008.

Word nerds have reacted with varying levels of consternation to this quicker rate of language change; I remember attending a copy-editing seminar in the late 2000s, at which attendees were aghast that YouTube might be used as a verb.

For tweet to be added to the dictionary only four years after its launch was a major feather in its cap. It’s every brand’s dream to have your product become part of the lexicon: Think about how often you lowercase band-aid, crock-pot, kleenex, or dumpster, all of which were born as product names. Even heroin, when it was first introduced to the dictionary in 1898, was capitalized as a trademarked drug manufactured by Bayer.

Since tweet entered the dictionary, Merriam-Webster has broken its own record for fastest entry: In 2020, COVID-19 went from coinage to official entry in just 35 days — a stark reminder of how quickly everything changed when we all had to suddenly slow down.

We can’t necessarily fault dictionaries like Merriam-Webster and Oxford English Dictionary for making moves as early as they did. Most modern dictionaries are descriptive, which means they describe how language is used, and technology has enabled faster and more widespread language change than ever before.

But the dead bird shows just how treacherous such a move can be. Rather than tweeting, will we start “Xing”? Will tweet live on as a zombie verb, continuing to describe our online actions even after its feathered head was cut off?

Or maybe, if we’re lucky, X will follow the precedent of its owner’s unmanned spaceship and it will just blow up — at which point the only noise we’ll hear will be the dulcet singing of the birds.

The Grammarian, otherwise known as Jeffrey Barg, looks at how language, grammar, and punctuation shape our world, and appears biweekly. Send comments, questions, and determiners to jeff@theangrygrammarian.com.

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Tokyo Station Installs Display That Offers Simultaneous Translation - My Modern Met - Translation

Photo: VoiceBiz UCDisplay © TOPPAN INC.

Japan is known for its state-of-the-art technology, and its latest creation is a significant step toward breaking language barriers. A new device named Voice Biz UCDisplay offers live face-to-face translation between Japanese and 11 other languages.

Developed by printing company Toppan Inc, the translation tool can be best described as a window-like screen. When two users converse, real-time translations appear as text bubbles on either side of the screen. Its transparent quality allows for eye contact as well as for facial expressions to be conveyed—something that is usually lost by talking via translation apps.

With international travelers in mind, the company Seibu Railway will install one of these translation screens at Tokyo's Seibu-Shinjuku Station for a three-month test run. This will allow tourists to effectively communicate with station staff when buying tickets or asking for information. Once the experimental phase is over, Seibu Railways expects to adopt it by the fall and would consider expanding it to other stations depending on the results of the test runs.

Among the languages featured in this device are English, Spanish, French, Korean, and Chinese. For an even smoother translation, the Voice Biz UCDisplay relies on a Japanese-created translation engine that switches directly from Japanese to other languages, instead of translating to English first before going into other languages.

“Toppan initially provided a translation app called VoiceBiz,” said Tomoaki Nosaka, the manager of the social innovation center at Toppan told the Japan Times. “But we realized that by implementing our translation engine on a transparent display, we can make it into a universal design that could help communication with both foreigners and people with hearing or speaking disabilities.” As such, it is also a valuable accessibility tool for those with hearing impairments, thanks to its Japanese-to-Japanese option, as well as a keyboard feature for users to enter their queries.

With this handy creation, not only will it be easier for tourists to get around and for travel staff to assist them, but it could also be a major breakthrough in international communication. So if you find yourself in the busy Seibu-Shinjuku Station this season and want to see the Voice Biz UCDisplay in action, the screen is located next to the express ticket office.

A new device named Voice Biz UCDisplay offers live face-to-face translation between Japanese and 11 other languages.

Photo: Seibu Railway

With international travelers in mind, the company Seibu Railway will install one of these translation screens at Tokyo's Seibu-Shinjuku Station for a three-month test run.

Photo: VoiceBiz UCDisplay © TOPPAN INC.

Toppan Inc: Website
Seibu Railway: Website
h/t: [Japan Forward]

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Baldur's Gate 3 translation company commits to change after leaving staff out of credits - Eurogamer.net - Translation

Altagram, the translation company which was found to have not credited staff who worked for years on Baldur's Gate 3, has issued a lengthy public apology and a list of commitments to change.

In a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter, Altagram said that it had "come to our attention that the omission of translator credits from our contribution to Baldur's Gate 3 has generated frustration and disappointment among the freelance translator community".

Disappointment in the lack of creditation was initially directed at Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian. But in an exclusive statement given to Eurogamer yesterday, Larian said Altagram had failed to provide a full list of names, and that it was now working to ensure these were all added to the game in a forthcoming patch.

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A beginner's guide to multiclassing in Baldur's Gate 3 - with every class explained.Watch on YouTube

"We take full responsibility for the omission of our freelancers' names and apologise for the effects that it had," Altagram wrote in its statement today.

"We are learning from this experience and are reviewing the failures of our internal processes regarding credits. We would like to thank Larian for allowing us to quickly fix that error and update the credits section. The names of the Brazilian Portuguese translators will be included in an upcoming patch to the game."

Altagram's apology comes as social media posts highlighted another case where the translation company apparently failed to credit its full team of staff. Back in June, Altagram issued a short statement to say it was "truly sorry", after it was noticed that it had not included its German freelance translation team in the credits for Diablo 4.

"Once more, we acknowledge that this has been an unfortunate and frustrating experience, and that all too often in this industry, freelance contributors do not receive the recognition they deserve," Altagram's statement today continues.

"As a leader in the game localisation space, we aspire to be a positive example and to lead change across the industry for credits in games, as seen by our commitments we have outlined."

Altagram goes on to list seven commitments it will adhere to in order to ensure proper accreditation of its workers in future, including the establishment of an internal crediting commitmee, improved transparency between clients and staff, and a commitment to the IGDA guidelines which were set out earlier this year.

Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian used seven local translation companies to help adapt the game's mammoth million-word script into 11 languages - work which took several years.

The fact Altagram had not credited its full translation staff was brought to light this week by a much-shared LinkedIn post from game localisation specialist Diego Perez, who praised the other translation companies for listing their staff in full.

Examples where staff have been left out of the credits in other video games have frequently hit the headlines, and recently included translators who worked on the Persona 3 and 4 remasters, as well as staff missing from the credits of Callisto Protocol.

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Gmail app makes communication easier with new translation feature - MobileSyrup - Translation

If you ever receive a Gmail email in a language you don’t understand, you no longer have to switch to a web browser or a separate app to translate it.

Google is adding native translation integration within the Gmail mobile app to make communication easier and more accessible.

The feature has long been available on Gmail web and is finally coming to the Android and iOS apps.

When you receive an email that is typed in a language different from the language you’ve set on Gmail, you’ll see a prompt banner on top of the email that will allow you to translate, as seen in the example below:

You can also switch back and forth between the original and translated versions by tapping on the banner again. According to Google, “You can also choose to have Gmail always translate or never translate specific languages.”

You can also customize the feature to always translate messages from a specific language, avoiding the hassle of always tapping on the ‘translate’ prompt.

The new feature is rolling out to all Gmail app users on Android and iOS devices. To use it, make sure you have updated your app to the latest version and set your Gmail display language in the settings.

For Android, the feature started rolling out on August 8th, and can take roughly 15 days for visibility.

For iOS, the feature will start rolling out on August 21st, and can take roughly 15 days from the date for visibility.

Image credit: Google

Source: Google

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How to Translate Emails in the Gmail Mobile App - MUO - MakeUseOf - Translation

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How to Translate Emails in the Gmail Mobile App  MUO - MakeUseOf

Rauw Alejandro Pens a Heart-Wrenching Love Letter to Rosalía in ‘Hayami Hana’: Here Are the Lyrics Translated Into English - Billboard - Translation

Rauw Alejandro pours his heart out in his new song “Hayami Hana by Raúl,” a love letter to Rosalía in which he opens up about how difficult their breakup has been for him and says that he never thought they would separate.

“We’ve argued, I find it hard to express myself/ All my shortcomings you already know/ I have to put up with your things too/ But the option of removing myself never crossed my mind,” sings the Puerto Rican star.

The track released on Thursday (August 10) — whose title in Japanese could be translated as “flower of rare beauty” — comes less than a month after the couple announced that they have ended their relationship after nearly four years together. Its moving lyrics evidence Rauw’s deep love and respect for his ex-fiancée, both as a person and as an artist.

“What will come next? I don’t know/ But I know that for you it will be all the Grammys, hey/ They will study your art over time/ When they plan, I know that they always take you as an example,” sings Rauw. And in one of the most heartbreaking moments he laments, “I’ll finish our little house in case you feel like coming back/ Today I stop writing you, not loving you.”

Rauw and Rosalía met in person in 2019 — after months of messaging each other on social media — at a Las Vegas hotel lounge during the Latin Grammys. It was love at first sight, the couple told Billboard for their cover story interview. Shortly after, on March 24, 2023, they revealed that they were engaged in the music video for “Beso,” one of the three songs included on their joint EP RR, released that same day.

Since the inception of their relationship, Rosalía and Rauw were each other’s biggest supporters on and off the stage. Rosalía sang backing vocals on “Dile a Él” from Rauw’s first album, Afrodisiaco (2020), as well as on “Corazón Despeinado” from Saturno (2022), while Rauw co-wrote some lyrics for Rosalía’s “Chicken Teriyaki” from her Grammy and Latin Grammy-winning 2022 album, Motomami.

“I’m lucky to be your partner, and I want to be there for you, sabes? And I feel you’re there for me, independent of the careers,” said Rosalía, who had Rauw as a guest on her Coachella set in April where they performed “Beso” and “Vampiros” off RR. “For me, our relationship is first, and then there’s everything else. Of course my career is super important in my life, but at the same time, in my life, you’re my companion, and everything else comes second.”

Listen to “Hayami Hana by Raúl” and read the lyrics of the song translated to English below:

In case we never talk again
And my favorite eyes don’t look at me again
I do this for when you want to remember
Of the crazy person who really loved you.
And I’m not going to make myself strong
I am not going to fake it
Everyone here knows that I’m gonna cry, I’m gonna miss you
Yes, there is nothing to hide here
But there are a couple things that I want to get off my chest.

Everybody knows, everybody knows
Everybody knows, everybody knows
Everybody knows, they know s–t
Everybody knows, everybody knows
Everybody knows, everybody knows
They say they know, they know s–t

We’ve argued
I find it hard to express myself
All my shortcomings you already know
I also have to put up with your things
But the option of removing myself never crossed my mind.
And what a pity, couples no longer last
They last a little, there are few old people left
To tell us their little tricks
How can I see
All my life with you, the dawn?
And mami I don’t have the answer for this
But I loved both your qualities and defects equally
Everything gets harder with time
But not all people are prepared for this
And I don’t blame you, the life we ​​lead is not for everyone
The press, social media, peer pressures
Being away is more difficult, easier together
We work non-stop but to what extent
Being in our little camp is worth more than all the money and fame
To wake up and see you by my side
I don’t feel like getting out of bed

Hey, all my songs are for you since Afrodisíaco
Everyone knows that, that’s irrelevant
It’s that I can’t stop missing her sleeping in my arms
I don’t know how to stop thinking about that last hug
And if I had known that it was going to be the last one, I wouldn’t have let her go
Maybe now she would be by my side
Watching movies in tuck in bed
But this summer I had to be like the sun, alone

I may be many things, but never unfaithful
She always had the key to my cell
This was something else that is not in my power
My crystal girl, my paper boat
You disarmed and I tried to fix you
And although you went far away from me, I stayed
Now I’m not here but I want you to know that
You are stronger than you think
And I hope someday we can laugh at the past
There are no grudges here, this is not a complaint
If you have given me the best days
That’s why I have your name tattooed on my belly, ma
I gave you everything and I would do it again
I will finish our little house in case you feel like coming back
Today I stop writing you, not loving you
How to forget your kisses after that nap?

Everybody knows, everybody knows
Everybody knows, everybody knows
Everybody knows, they know s–t
Everybody knows, everybody knows
Everybody knows, everybody knows
They say they know, they know s–t

To finish
I know you’re going to be the best artist
It’s just that another like you I really don’t think exists
You are the most beautiful cover of all magazines
I would know even if I couldn’t see
If just by hearing your voice
The sea calms down from any torment
Thousands of people agree
I don’t say it because of this feeling
And from Los Angeles I knew it
She is my MOTOMAMI
What will come next? I don’t know
But I know that for you it will be all the Grammys, hey
They will study your art over time
When they plan I know that they always take you as an example
And even if they copy you, they will fail in the attempt
Because only God chooses a few with that talent
You are genuine, you are amazing, you are, you are pure joy, huh
You are medicine
You heal my heart
All those nights at home dancing to our song
And if life brings me together with you on another occasion
I won’t argue with fate’s reason

Once again I’m staying here without you
D–n, baby, I’m gonna miss you
I didn’t see this coming to an end, yeah
Once again I’m staying here without you
This time I’m not going to stop you
I say goodbye to you, have a great time, yeah
Oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh, how it hurts
I say goodbye to you, have a great time
Oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh, how it hurts
I say goodbye to you, have a great time
Oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh, how it hurts
I say goodbye to you, have a great time
Oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh, how it hurts
Oh-ah-ah-ah
Hayami Hana!
Hayami Hana!
Hayami Hana!
Hayami Hana!
Yeah, yeah

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