> ``It's easier to train someone to fly an F-14 than it is to speak
> Arabic,'' said Kevin Hendzel, a spokesman for the American Translators
> Association.
As a fellow ATA member, I'm interested to see him appear on this list. He's showing up just about everywhere these days.
> The FBI has acknowledged since the attacks that it needs more and
> better
> translators of all languages, especially Middle Eastern languages.
> Similarly, the armed forces need Arabic speakers who also understand
> military jargon and are in good enough shape to keep up with troops.
A large part of their problem is that the government pays rock-bottom compensation to translators and interpreters. Any decent T/I can earn a much better living elsewhere. Also, of course, they insist on squeaky-clean security backgrounds and toss out the gays. I suppose they probably recruit a lot from the Mormons, who train their missionaries in many languages.
> To make up some of the gap, the government is turning to private
> translators to handle documents and tapes through secure electronic
> connections. ``The work we have right now we measure by the
> truckload,''
> said Everette Jordan, director of the new National Virtual Translation
> Center.
I wonder what rates they're getting.
> U.S. soldiers sent to Iraq also take a cultural awareness class and
> receive a ``green book'' that describes cultures, customs and phrases,
> including Arabic greetings, according to Army public affairs.
Oh great -- that'll really help them bust down doors and bomb "suspected" guerilla hide-outs. What's the Arabic greeting for "want some of this, you son of a bitch"?
> ``We realize from our experience in Northern Ireland and also in the
> Balkans that basic-level greetings, confidence-building and persuasion
> comes with a smile and a few words. And the more people that can say
> those few words, the better,'' Rabbitt said.
Of course the Brits had several centuries of experience with trying to colonize the darker, non-English-speaking parts of the human race. But their empire had to come to an end eventually, anyway.
Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org __________________________________ A sympathetic Scot summed it all up very neatly in the remark, 'You should make a point of trying every experience once, excepting incest and folk-dancing.' -- Sir Arnold Bax