Project Lingua is a translation project of Global Voices that translates English articles into over 15 other languages. It faces challenges like lost context when translating concepts that may be unfamiliar in other cultures and the difficulty of building a sense of community among translators who work individually. The shifting research context also challenges the project as it spans areas of translation studies, journalism, and internet research.

1. What Project Lingua can tell us
about the future of news
Chris Salzberg
Global Voices / The University of Tokyo
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2. Outline of Presentation
1. Background
•
Media attention, bridgeblogging, Global Voices
2. Translation in Global Voices
•
Languages in GV, Project Lingua, collaborations
3. Discussion
•
Challenges: lost context, sense of community
•
Shifting research context
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3. 1. Background
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4. How do we get our daily news about the world
beyond borders of nation, culture and language?
Media
Broadcast media Telecommunications media
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5. Global Media Attention
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6. Attention Bias
●
Traditional news media have constraints:
●
Physical constraints (size of printed page, length
of radio broadcast or television program, etc.)
●
Personnel constraints (limited number of news
gatherers, reporters, gatekeepers)
●
Attention of major media strongly biased:
●
Most accurate indicator of media attention is GDP
●
Economy more important than language, culture
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7. From Global to Local
”The Changing Newroom: What is Being Gained and What is Being Lost in
America's Daily Newspapers?” Project for Excellence in Journalism (2008)
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8. What happened to “Global News”?
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9. Blogs as Media
●
Bridgeblogging
●
Blogs “that reach across gaps of language, culture
and nationality” to enable communication
●
Community is small, but may be essential in
connecting separate parts of the global blogosphere
●
Use of blogs by journalists
●
47% of correspondents in China read blogs daily
for story ideas (but only 16% read Chinese blogs)
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10. Global Voices Online
●
Citizen media project founded at Harvard
University's Berkman Center in late 2004/2005
●
International group of bridgebloggers, original
focus on regions with low media attention
●
Aggregate/introduce conversations in cit. media
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11. The World is Talking
Blog conversations as primary source material:
●
Articles introduce conversations through
aggregation, contextualization, translation
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12. Focus on Listening
●
Objectives
●
Convey conversations in citizen media
●
Maintain close relationship with blogging communities
●
Not a traditional “news site”:
●
Complementary relationship with mainstream media
●
Articles often used as source (NYT, BBC, CNN)
●
New model for community­based journalism
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13. ...in many languages
Engl i sh
Chi nese
Spani sh
Japanese
Fr ench
Ger man
Ar abi c
Por t uguese
Kor ean
I t al i an
Ot her
Language of Internet Users (Internet World Stats, 2008)
Blog posts by language (Technorati, 2007)
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14. 2. Translation in Global Voices
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15. Bridgeblogging and Translation
●
Bridgeblogging often involves translation:
●
Some bridgebloggers translate content (e.g. ESWN)
●
Many bridgebloggers “translate” between languages
in a broader sense (as in news translation)
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16. GV Translation into English
Contextualization
Translation
Blogs on topic X in
Chinese Blogosphere
Article in English
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17. And into 15 other languages
●
Project Lingua
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Cluster of 15 language teams, formed in 2006/2007
●
Translate English­language Global Voices articles
into other languages
●
One of the largest and most active translation
communities in the world
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18. Translation Flow
GV 日本語
GV 全球之声 / 全球之聲
GV en Español
GV en français
GV in Italiano
GV amin´ny teny malagasy
GV em Português
GV në Shqip
GV на македонски
Global Voices article GV ‫بالعربية‬
Blog entry
GV োোোবোল ভেেেেে অনলোইন: বোংলো ভোেসন
Regional Blogosphere
Global Voices in English Project Lingua
Lingosphere
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19. Map of Lingua translators
(Map courtesy GV French editor Claire Ulrich)
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20. A shifting focus
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21. Active teams (October 2008)
Number of posts Number of contributors
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22. Largest translation teams
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23. Regional Focus of Lingua Teams
●
Distribution of regional coverage by Lingua
teams varies by language
●
Language and region linked, in some cases
strongly so
●
Some languages cover multiple
countries/regions: Spanish, French,
Portuguese, Swahili
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24. GV Spanish
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25. GV French
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26. GV Malagasy
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27. Partnerships and Collaborations
GV Arabic GV Chinese GV French
+ + +
Al Jazeera Talk China Times Rue89
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28. 3. Discussion
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29. Communication and Coordination
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Main methods of communication in Lingua:
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Mailing list + editor review (most common):
Translators announce article to translate, one or more
editors proofread translations
●
Wiki + peer review (GV Chinese team): articles
proofread by other team member, sent back for
confirmation, then published
●
Direct publication: minimal communication,
experienced translators can publish directly
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30. Challenges (1): Lost Context
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Major challenge of lost context:
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Assumptions of background knowledge not
appropriate for non­English­speaking audiences
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Links to English­language references are not
accessible in translated article (sometimes replaced)
●
Choice of subjects assumes English audience, not
always suitable for readers of a different language
●
Presentation may evoke unintended response
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31. Examples of Lost Context
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Article about Mauritia (Andriamanajara, 2007)
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Mentions genital excision, a foreign concept to
Malagasy audiences
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When translating to Malagasy, translator had to
consult other people for advice
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Final compromise: “circumcision for young girls”
●
Through translation, translator introduced a new
concept to a language community (Malagasy)
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32. Challenges (2): Sense of Community
To which online community do you feel the closest attachment?
(Online survey conducted in January 2008)
A: All bloggers across the world (2) 9
8
B: Bloggers in your language or region (8)
7
6
5
C: Global Voices (7) 4
3
D: Lingua (0) 2
1
E: Lingua community for your language (5)
0
A B C D E
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33. Bloggers and Translators
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Bloggers
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Connected to local blogosphere / lingosphere
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Well­versed in blogging software, web services
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Speak language of “web 2.0”, conversation­oriented
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Translators
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Typically work as individuals, profession­oriented
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Lack of knowledge about blogging technology, need
for training
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34. Context of Global Voices/Lingua
Translation Studies
Research on
Journalism Studies
Internet and Society
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35. Languages and Global Voices
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History of Global Voices:
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Began as a region­oriented, not language­oriented
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Translation embedded in organization at an implicit
level (no mention in manifesto, etc.)
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English bridgebloggers, translation not essential
●
This approach was not sufficient:
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Began hiring translators to cover “lingospheres”
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Growth of Project Lingua, region/language overlap
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36. From Region to Language
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“In the next century, [...] the definition of proximity [will
change] from geographic to linguistic: two countries [will]
border one another if and only if they have a language they
can use in common.” (Shirky, 1999)
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37. Shift of Context
Translation Studies
Community Translation News Translation
Fan translation (Díaz Cintas and Muñoz Sánchez, 2006) Translation in Global News (Bielsa and Bassnett, 2008)
Examples in (Baker, 2006) and (Salzberg, 2008)
Project Lingua
Research on Internet
Global Voices Journalism Studies
and Society
Participatory Media / Citizen Media / Citizen Journalism
Many references, e.g. MacKinnon (2007, 2007a), Zuckerman (2003)
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38. News Translation
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Resent research has shown:
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Drastic reorganization in
news translation (Hursti, 2001)
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News translators see
themselves as “international
journalists”, not translators
(Bielsa and Bassnett, 2008)
●
Translation plays a critical role,
Translation in Global News
but is invisible (Bielsa and Bassnett, 2008)
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39. Community Translation
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Translation in communities of anime fans (Díaz
Cintas and Muñoz Sánchez, 2006):
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Networks of fans collaborate to translate anime
subtitles (typesetters, translators, editors, encoders)
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Frequent use of detailed translator notes
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English as pivot language, translation into English
often conducted by non­native speakers
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Translators translate for a specific community of
anime fans (not a general news audience)
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40. Translation Communities
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Cucumis
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Paris­based, no linguistic pivot
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System of administrators, similar to Wikipedia
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Open translation
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Translation of open­source software, documentation
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Spontaneous emergence of communities:
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e.g. translation of Harry Potter into Chinese
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41. Translation and Globalization
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42. Translation and Participatory Media
Translation Studies
Community Translation News Translation
Research on Internet Participatory Media Journalism Studies
and Society Studies
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43. 4. Summary
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44. Main Points
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Global Voices: bridgeblogging across nation,
culture, language
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Lingua: translating GV into many languages
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Challenges: lost context, sense of community
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Bloggers and Translators
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From region to language
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References: news translation, fan translation
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45. Open Questions
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Should a translation be considered “news”
because it is new to a linguistic community?
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How many other translation communities are
there out there?
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Open­source tools for translation communities?
●
Translation communities around non­English
pivots?
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