Newsbriefs: December 26, 2024
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Biden Unveils Plan to Revitalize Indigenous Languages
Minnesota Reformer (12/10/24) By Shondiin Silversmith
To support the revitalization, protection, preservation, and reclamation of Indigenous languages across the U.S., the Biden-Harris administration released a 10-year National Plan on Native Revitalization during the 2024 White House Tribal Nations Summit.
“Indigenous languages are central to our cultures, our lifeways, and who we are as people,” U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said in a press release. “They connect us to our ancestors, to our homelands, and to our place in the world.”
The National Plan is a joint effort between government agencies that outlines strategies to help address the government’s role in the loss of Indigenous languages among Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.
“This ambitious plan represents the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to address the wrongs of the past and restore what has been taken from us,” Haaland said. The Departments of the Interior, Education, and Health and Human Services produced the plan.
The National Plan on Native Language Revitalization is the result of the Department of the Interior’s work to address the systematic and deliberate policies set in place by the U.S. to forcibly assimilate Indigenous peoples and eradicate Indigenous languages and cultures as part of the Federal Indian Boarding School system.
According to a report released by the Department of the Interior, “Congressional authorization and funding of this plan will reduce the number of vulnerable and endangered Native languages and increase the number of proficient Native language speakers, as defined by Native Americans.”
California to Update Court Interpreter Ethics Standards
JD Supra (12/3/24)
California courts are revising standards for court interpreters, with most changes focused on ethical behavior during remote and hybrid court proceedings.
The proposed revisions to the “Professional Standards and Ethics for California Court Interpreters,” a document last revised in 2013, provide specific guidance for how court interpreters can fulfill their ethical obligations regarding impartiality, accuracy, and protection of confidential information when working in remote/hybrid settings.
The revised standards also address proper conduct on social media, reminding court interpreters to be mindful that their activities on social media platforms could raise questions of impartiality and risk unwitting disclosure of confidential client information.
The revised standards should be of more than passing interest to civil litigators in California and across the country. Professional ethics rules, particularly the lawyer’s obligation under Rule 5.3 of the American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct, require lawyers to make reasonable efforts to ensure that the conduct of interpreters hired by a law firm for depositions is “compatible with the professional obligations of the lawyer.” To a significant extent, interpreters share the lawyer’s professional obligation to safeguard confidential client information and all other ethical obligations to the client.
California’s proposed court interpreter standards are also a useful guide to how litigators can effectively participate in remote or hybrid depositions. They contain many best practices for remote hearing developed during the past few years.
The proposed standards could be adopted by the Judicial Council of California as early as February 2025.
Justice Ministry Allocates €10m to Clear Backlog of Payments Owed to Sworn Translators and Interpreters
The Brussels Times (12/11/24)
The Belgian Justice Ministry says it has cleared a backlog of payments owed to sworn translators and interpreters by making €10 million available through emergency measures.
In a press release, the Justice Ministry acknowledged the delays, which it said were due to “significant budgetary pressures on the justice system,” but stated the backlog had now been addressed.
“Through emergency measures by the Justice Ministry’s Management Committee and intensive monitoring by the Ministry’s strategic cell, €10 million has been allocated to resolve the delays,” it said.
Currently, without this additional funding, the Justice Ministry noted that interpreters and translators could only be paid by scrutinizing expenses, prioritizing this group, and postponing internal needs.
However, the Professional Union of Sworn Translators and Interpreters (UPTIJ) stated that payment delays have not yet been resolved. It stated that many sworn translators and interpreters in Belgium are still experiencing severe financial difficulties due to significant delays in payment for their services. According to the UPTIJ, these issues are also occurring in other provinces.
“We hope the payments will be made as early as possible,” said UPTIJ spokesperson Henri Boghe. “It’s too early to say whether the backlog has been cleared. Some payments were made, but thousands of invoices are still pending.”
The union said it remains cautiously optimistic and is still hoping for solutions.
“We understand there is a structural budget shortfall and hope the new government will allocate more resources to justice overall,” the UPTIJ stated. “Legal costs are rising year by year, but we continue to hope for solutions. Many of our colleagues are leaving the profession, which is not beneficial.”
2024 Korea Translation Award Recognizes 20 Translators
The Korean Herald (12/4/024) By Hwang Dong-hee
The Literature Translation Institute of Korea announced the winners of the 2024 Korea Translation Award, recognizing 20 translators for their contributions to translating Korean literature, including three grand prize recipients.
This year’s grand prizes were awarded to Lee Seung-min and Julio Cesar Abad Vidal for their Korean into Spanish translation of Kim Tak-hwan’s historical crime novel Death by Fiction. The judging committee praised their work for its “in-depth research and its role as an excellent guide to this expansive novel set in the Joseon Dynasty, making it accessible to international readers.”
Georgij Nowossjelow received the grand prize for his Russian translation of Sohn Won-pyung’s coming-of-age novel Almond, which the judging panel lauded for “skillfully adapting the original writing style to create a highly readable and faithful translation.”
The annual Korea Translation Award was established in 1993 to recognize translators who have contributed to facilitating communication between Korea and the international literary scene.
It considers translated titles published over a three-year period (2021-2023), with works categorized into three language groups based on the global reach and influence of each language. Group 1 includes English, French, Spanish, and German; Group 2 includes Russian, Arabic, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Chinese; and Group 3 covers all other languages, with the Group 3 selection based on the cumulative number of published works.
Grand prizes are awarded to one translation from each group, with eligible languages rotating annually. This year, Spanish from Group 1 and Russian from Group 2 were selected for the top honors.
All States Now Offer Seal of Biliteracy for Students
Education Week (12/17/24) By Ileana Najarro
All 50 states and the District of Columbia now allow high schools to award their graduates a seal of biliteracy, signaling that they’ve achieved multilingualism, mastering English plus another world language.
While outgoing U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona celebrated this milestone at a summit in Washington, DC last summer, the appetite among students for this distinction has long been on the rise. A newly published report, “The Seal of Biliteracy: 2024 National Report for the 2022-2023 School Year,” documents this increasing interest in a distinction that began as an effort to recognize the abilities of English learners in California.
According to the report, the number of high school graduates earning a seal of biliteracy grew from 147,937 in the 2021-22 school year to 158,384 in 2022-23.
Students also received seals in a greater number of world languages in 2022-23 (143 compared to 127 the year before), and the percentage of seals awarded to current and former English learners rose as well, to 40% from 38% the year before.
The increase is due in part to more states passing policies allowing schools to award the seals and more states reporting data on seal recipients, said Samuel Aguirre, co-author of the report and the senior director of consortium and state relations at WIDA, an organization at the University of Wisconsin–Madison that oversees the English-language proficiency tests used by most states.
But it also reflects rising interest in the seal as a way to recognize both English learners and native English speakers who master another language.
The numbers mark a long journey from what started as a grassroots effort in California more than a decade ago to recognize the linguistic assets of the state’s English learners who graduate mastering both English and their home language. (California was responsible for more than a third of seals awarded nationwide in 2022-23.)
And while many educators hope state education agencies continue to support the seal of biliteracy, those involved aren’t sure how much support they’ll see from the federal government moving forward.
“I think that there is great opportunity in providing federal guidance, not just the data component for the seal of biliteracy, but also some general measures for the award itself,” Aguirre said. “Because every state adopts their own seal of biliteracy, we get to see this diversity of what is needed to be an awardee from state to state, so I think some federal guidance will be very welcome.”
Whatever happens with federal support, those championing the seal have faith in its persistence moving forward. Some of this optimism is due to the fact that the seal is already part of established state policy and that a majority of recipients are U.S.-born students who never needed instruction to learn English, Aguirre said, making it a program for all students and not just a subset of the student population.
New! ATA Guide to Buying Translation Services
Translators help power the global economy, working with businesses, governments, nonprofits, and individuals. Translators work with the written word. The ATA Guide to Buying Translation Services is a resource to help clients identify, select, and work with translators.
The ATA Guide to Buying Translation Services was developed by ATA’s Public Relations Committee.
ATA Guide to Buying Translation Services (Flip Book)
ATA Guide to Buying Translation Services (Download the PDF)
Attention Volunteers! Two ATA Blogs Need Your Help
SEO Coordinator: The ATA Compass Blog
ATA’s Public Relations Committee is seeking a volunteer SEO coordinator for The ATA Compass blog. We publish new content regularly and need high-level guidance for SEO optimization, as well as article-specific SEO editing assistance. If you’re knowledgeable about SEO and interested in volunteering with ATA, please contact PR Committee Chair Jamie Hartz at jamie@tildelanguage.com. Thank you!
Learn more about The ATA Compass blog.
Blogmaster and Writers: The Savvy Newcomer Blog
The blog team for The Savvy Newcomer, ATA’s blog for newbies to translation and interpreting, is seeking a blogmaster and strong writers with a passion for writing about issues relevant to new translators and interpreters. The volunteer blogmaster should be an organized individual seeking to lead a team of talented writers and editors. The blogmaster is responsible for general blog maintenance, organizing the blog schedule, and connecting authors with editors on the team. Volunteer writers should be self-starters who can identify and write relevant content for T&I industry newcomers. Volunteers must be current ATA members in any individual member category.
Contact Danielle Maxson at (atabizpractices@hr888888.com) to learn more and express your interest in either the blogmaster role or to volunteer as a writer.
Learn more about ATA’s The Savvy Newcomer blog.
Apply for ATA’s Mastermind and Mentoring Programs
Mastermind Program
ATA’s Mastermind Program uses a peer-based mentoring approach offering a combination of brainstorming, education, and support. You’ll work together in small groups to share knowledge on specific topics and work collaboratively to achieve your learning goals. Application Deadline: February 28.
Mentoring Program
Get the support you need! ATA’s Mentoring Program offers matching services to members at different stages in their career. Mentees and mentors benefit from this mutually rewarding program. Application Deadline: March 31.
Save the Date!
In 2025, the ATA professional development calendar includes a mid-year virtual conference. Learn about the latest in translation and interpreting technology as it affects you today and tomorrow. Join us in the spring to discover up-to-the-minute market research in a keynote by Slator’s Florian Faes, hear from tech-savvy language services providers and linguists, technologists, as well as advocates for the role of humans in language services, and network in live sessions in your time zone.
January 14, 2025
ATA Webinar Presented by Stephen Rifkind, Dmitry Beschetny, and Ben Karl
“Crafting a Translator’s or Interpreter’s Website: A Guided Approach”
Register Here
January 21, 2025
ATA Webinar Presented by Paula Ianelli
“Strategies for Excellence in Remote Simultaneous Interpreting”
Register Here
January 30, 2025
ATA Webinar Presented by Gosia Wheeler
“Tips for Accessible Digital Translation and Interpreting”
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February 1, 2025
ATA Webinar Presented by Chris Guichot de Fortis
“Professional Performance, All the Time! Part 2”
Register Here
February 20, 2025
ATA Webinar Presented by Majd Haddad
“Brain Power for Medical Interpreters”
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March 20, 2025
ATA Webinar Presented by Devin Gilbert
“Developing Expertise in Interpreting: Reflection, Feedback, and Repetition”
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March 25, 2025
ATA Webinar Presented by Ehsan Etezad and Sam Pournezhad
“Preventing Burnout in Healthcare for Translators and Interpreters”
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See ATA’s Online Calendar for translation & interpreting events around the world.
Member News
A space dedicated to celebrating the accomplishments of our members!
ATA Literary Division Administrator Shelley Fairweather-Vega was featured in a two-part interview with Asymptote, an online journal of international literature.
· Read Part 1 Here
· Read Part 2 Here
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