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Nicholas Ostler, a linguist and author who earned his stripes in the language world studying at Oxford’s Balliol College, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has recently published his much-awaited book The last Lingua franca: English until the return of Babel.
This work charts the rise of English over the last centuries but maps a bleak future for the lingua franca in general, citing similar deceased lingua francas, examples of which go way back in time.
A lingua franca is defined as ‘a language systematically used to communicate between persons not sharing a mother tongue’.
For centuries, English has been the world’s lingua franca. There appear to be many contributing factors to its ‘success’. During the 16th century, the Reformation positioned English as the language of business; seafaring, trade and colonisation all provided the English language with a constant and growing tongue supply, which has thrived over hundreds of years.
From the 1980s onwards, the birth of the Internet meant that the English language, via the media of television and radio which started in the 1920s, together with music, began to steadily saturate the media across all corners of the world. The internet slang which developed during the 1980s gave rise to acronyms rooted in the English language, such as LOL and LMAO – many of which are used by non-English speakers.
Olster declares that ‘the main story of growth in the Internet…is of linguistic diversity, not concentration.’ Therefore, one could reason that whilst the Internet appears to propagate English dominance across many territories, it simultaneously empowers other languages, which will inevitably tip the scale back into balance in the years to come. Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, and French are the fastest growing languages online.
Ostler is fascinated by how one language can dominate over another, to be universally accepted as a lingua franca. He is just as eager to map out how a language inevitably declines. His argument centres on the premise that the fate of all lingua francas is devolution; as simple as Newton’s adage – what goes up must come down. English will follow in the footsteps of earlier lingua francas such as Latin, Greek and Phoenician.
Ostler presents the ‘three Rs of lingua franca death: economic Ruin, political Relegation or social Resignation’. Colin Fraser, in his review, adds that Russian has been a victim of the latter; a former lingua franca in Eastern Europe, the use of Russian has almost been eliminated though social Resignation; the younger generation employ the cooler language of Hollywood and popular culture.
Hundreds of millions of people learn English as a second language, however Ostler predicts that soon they will not need to.
He presents the possibility of a “virtual” language: one that is not spoken or read itself but that would allow the user to understand what is being written or said without learning the original language. A sort of “virtual reality”, where the user can communicate without actually experiencing the language in the traditional sense of possessing knowledge of it. This ‘virtual reality’ will be borne by technology. Ostler believes that developments in machine translation technology will mean that everyone can speak each other’s native tongues at the click of a button; computers will ‘remove the requirement for a human intermediary to interpret or translate.’
This is a bold statement – given the limitations of Google Translate, Babelfish and other electronic offerings, it is hard to envisage a time when a machine could replace a human translation, with all the inference, subtleties and cultural nuances which real people necessarily impart on their translations.
Ostler maintains that the emergence of the new ‘Superpowers’ – Brazil, China and Russia – will essentially take over from Anglo Saxon power, and that as its influence diminishes, the English language will lose its currency. The new superpowers will not ‘indulge the nostalgia of their Western suppliants by speaking to them in English.’
It is not that there will be a new lingua franca to take English’s place; the concept of a lingua franca will be defunct. However, how soon English will join the family of ‘dead languages’, is wholly unclear. Fraser pronounces, ‘I doubt we will lament the loss of English’s usefulness for a good time to come’.
Ostler argues that ‘the survival of a lingua franca is always a matter of confidence and ideology as much as reasoned calculation.’ Could it be that English will not mirror the decline of Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, or Persian, based on the communication which the Internet and other technologies have afforded it?
Laura Marsh, in her comprehensive review, concludes that Ostler’s reference to Babel is meant to conjure up the ideal of the tower being rebuilt, as a ‘monument to human ingenuity and technological achievement.’ However, she argues that whilst ‘the ideal of effortless communication’ is comprehensible, it is a fallacy. In practice, a communication without language is an ‘impoverished cultural exchange’, full of ‘irritating misunderstandings’ and is dangerously dependent on technology.
This situation evokes the other message of the Babel story – that the world is catastrophic confusion when there is no shared language. Marsh argues that we should steer clear of this disorder, ‘even if the current dominance of one language seems overwhelming or unfair’.
The belief that English will maintain its status as lingua franca forever is, of course, a narrow-minded one. However, the arguments which support its decline, don’t necessarily point to a world without any lingua francas; if anything they point to the emergence of many lingua francas.
Ostler’s argument that the advent of a virtual language will do away with the need to speak a variety of languages is counter-intuitive; without the crutch of a lingua franca, people will inevitably fight harder to preserve their own mother tongues.
The most interesting question now, according to Marsh, is what kind of lingua franca or lingua francas will replace English?
Sources:
Laura Marsh ‘Tongues Twisted’, review for the New Republic: http://www.tnr.com/book/review/tongues-twisted
Colin Fraser’s Book review for the Scotsman: http://news.scotsman.com/features/Book-review-The-last-Lingua.6634109.jp
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It’s nearly the end of the year, so let’s take a flying look at how the language services industry has evolved in the last 12 months. Here are some of the key trends for 2010.
The centralisation of the buying process has been a strong theme, with larger businesses, particularly those in the technology or life sciences industries, opting to streamline their buying processes by favouring a centralised approach to translation and localisation.
It is encouraging to read that buyers are focusing more on the quality of language services. According to a survey carried out by the Common Sense Advisory 44.6% of buyers now make it a priority to formally measure quality, and the overwhelming majority (94.6%) claim to measure it at least on an informal basis.
Sales of commercial translation technologies for automation continued to grow throughout 2010, and there was also an increasing trend towards the creation of home grown software, as language service providers realised the need for an increasingly customised approach and adapted and consolidated their own systems for ease of use.
In a competitive and expanding market many companies have chosen to narrow their focus and offer a niche service, such as transcreation. They discovered that it’s no longer always enough to rely on quality or price to differentiate themselves from rivals, instead it’s becoming more important to have a unique sales edge and market themselves as experts in one particular sector.
Since the launch of Facebook’s translation platform (Facebook Connect) in 2008, crowd-sourced translations have become ever more popular. For example, Google’s pilot “Health Speaks” initiative launched in September uses crowd-sourced and collaborative translation to make health information more accessible to people across the world.
Crowd sourced translations really come into their own in the social networking context (Hootsuite, Facebook, WordPress, Twitter, Flickr) where users are passionate about the site and have a personal interest in contributing and improving the service. Despite the hype, crowd sourcing has not proved to be a corporate trend- probably mainly because business organisations have a specific style or brand they need to protect, but also perhaps due to the fact that visitors are less involved with their sites and lack the motivation to translate them.
The Common Sense Advisory’s review of 1, 000 websites “Gaining Global Web Presence” showed that despite the slowing of economic growth generally, the investment in translation and localisation services continued to grow – and in fact the average number of languages available on websites actually increased. Around a fifth of the world’s highest ranking websites are now available in at least 8 languages, and the globalisation trend shows no sign of slowing down as support for emerging languages becomes ever more necessary.
Demand for interpreting services in Europe has increased over the last year and continues to do so. The figures are impressive, with Northern Europe reporting average growth rates of 153.51% (http://www.globalwatchtower.com/2010/12/15/predictions-postmortem/), for example. Previous Common Sense Advisory reports had shown that compared to the US, spoken language services in 2009 took up only a small amount of the European market- and this may have begun to change throughout 2010 in response to the European Union’s Treaty of Lisbon and other initiatives which championed the rights of individuals to have access to interpreting services during court proceedings.
It’s certainly been another eventful year for the language services industry. I wonder what 2011 will hold!
Source:
http://www.globalwatchtower.com/2010/12/15/predictions-postmortem/
(5 votes, average: 3.40 out of 5) Loading ...As part of our commitment to the Business Language Champions Scheme, Language Connect is proud to partner with the Convent of Jesus & Mary Language College, in North London. We work together throughout the year to provide the students with insight into the world of work involving languages through hosting workshops and work experience programmes.
We were honoured to be invited to attend the year 9 students’ International Business Day last week to act as judges for their multi-language marketing competition.
The students teamed up in groups of four to create and deliver a marketing concept for a hotel of their dreams situated in the target country that they have been studying: France, Italy or Spain. Each group designed a poster and a leaflet to advertise their hotel. Some included clever details like fold-out maps, brochure pockets and tear-off discount offers. Key recurring themes included a multi-coloured tropical paradise and a heart-laden romantic city getaway – one even featuring a crèche for the kids! (We considered that perhaps the romance was a little premature considering the students’ age, but that’s a separate discussion!) The students included both English and foreign language copy on the posters; an intuitive acknowledgement of the ‘Brit abroad’ stereotype: a British tourist who doesn’t speak the language of any country they visit. Schools like CJMLC are of course fighting for a different future for the next generations.
When we arrived, the Assistant Head teacher informed us that the students had only been briefed about the project that morning and therefore had to think on their feet and immerse themselves quickly in order to invent their concept and deliver a poster and a leaflet which conveyed the hotel’s key amenities, style, and clientele using their foreign language.
My colleague Jessica and I, along with the other two judges, agreed that it was an extremely difficult decision to try and choose a winner from each language; all the work was of a really high standard. We looked at design, colour, image, and above all foreign language content. The grammar was near-perfect and we spotted several subjunctives (correctly used!). After some deliberating, we managed to agree on 1 winner per language.
The students’ hard work was displayed in the school assembly hall, a backdrop to the gentle buzz of excitement as they awaited the results with increasing anticipation.
Jess and I gave a brief talk about the importance of languages in business, and how studying a language does not only mean a career as a teacher or as an interpreter or translator, but can also open doors to many different jobs and pathways in the future. Studying and practising a foreign language develops your communication, analytical and critical thinking skills, all of which are highly sought by employers.
As the afternoon drew to a close, the 3 winning teams were announced. One-by-one, with enthusiastic whoops and applause, each group came up to the front to collect their prizes, offered by another member of the BLC Scheme. All students received a certificate for their hard work.
(2 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5) Loading ...At Language Connect, we work with translators and interpreters from all countries in the world, every day. The internet makes it easier to conduct business without borders and this in turn, is driving demand for language translations for communication. We have just signed up to the Kiva initiative for charitable giving to small businesses in the developing world, donating a small amount of money to help fund named individuals to finance their start-ups. In a similar way that the internet has revolutionised communications and language, micro-loaning, as it is called, might be indicative of the way that the internet will change consumer finance in future.
Our first Kiva loans
There are so many deserving individuals on the Kiva site that it was difficult to decide who to choose! We decided that the best thing to do was to hold a vote, with all of the staff in our office sifting through the different life stories to pick the one that interested them the most.
And the winner was… Street Vendor José Roberto Mora Arana! This 34 year old is hoping to grow his small clothing sales business in León which he has managed for 5 years.
León is a province on the edge of the Maribios Volcano Range in Nicaragua. The area is an eclectic mix of calm Pacific beaches, boiling hot springs, mud holes, and a chain of some of the youngest volcanoes in Central America. As one of the worst hit areas of Hurricane Mitch in 1998 this already poverty stricken province saw a mass influx of refugees to the colonial capital, (León) fleeing their failed cotton crops, a former major source of income; and disabling an already weak infrastructure.
One of our team, Maggie Little, visited Nicaragua a few years after Hurricane Mitch devastated the country. “The experience was a real life lesson for me. The capital city, Managua, has only a small handful of buildings over two stories high, and people prefer to live out in the open because of the threat of earthquakes. There is a noticeable shortage of employment - veterans and beggars on the streets everywhere, and thousands of abandoned and malnourished children live on the streets”.
José, an entrepreneur from Nicaragua
So poverty, unemployment, overcrowding and malnutrition are all too common in León; it cannot be easy for José to support his family. Jose plans to use the loan to invest in more shirts, skirts, trousers and undergarments, and then sell them with the help of his wife to make them a better life- one in which he can spend more time with his children and finally afford some home improvements.
You can find out more about José here: http://www.kiva.org/lend/241597
We also made a loan to Noel Pandero, who runs a printing business in Gata Daku, a village in the Philippines.
High population growth, income inequality- the poorest 20% of the population account for only 5% of total consumption- the inability of the government to provide basic services in rural areas, and the vulnerability of farming communities to natural disaster all contribute to the difficulties of life in the Philippines. 38 year old Noel has made a living for the last ten years providing photocopying services to local community members. He too dreams of improving the living conditions of his family.
You can read about Noel here: http://www.kiva.org/lend/242784
Here in the UK, our society has been transformed by the arrival of several generations of economic migrants who have entered the country in order to build a better life for themselves. Life for those who remain at home remains a real struggle. The Kiva microloans are an admirable initiative that addresses the need for small entrepreneurs to build a life for themselves, their families and to provide employment.
Let’s wish both of these entrepreneurs’ every success- we’re keeping our fingers crossed that everything works out well for José and Noel!
Why don’t you give it a go too?
You can take a look at the Kiva website here: http://www.kiva.org
Check out our managers’ profiles on the management page to track who we are supporting, by clicking on the Kiva buttons.
Sources:
Visit to SOS Children’s Village León – Nicaragua: http://www.jamerboi.com.ar/engcronica26.html
Australian Government Aid: http://www.ausaid.gov.au/country/country.cfm?CountryID=31
Kiva website- http://www.kiva.org/about/microfinance
(3 votes, average: 3.67 out of 5) Loading ...According to a recent report by IMRG Capgemini, the UK is the top ranking net exporter of e-commerce in the world- bringing in £2.80 in exports for every £1 imported. Hardly surprising when recent research shows that internet sales increased by 24% in the course of the last year alone; massive returns which reflect the growing trend to take business online.
The internet has earned its place as an intrinsic part of the economy according to Matt Brittin, the Managing Director of Google for the UK and Ireland, who commented-
“Now for the first time we can see how its adoption by British business has become a major contributor to the UK’s GDP and that the internet is a central pillar of the UK’s economy,”
These comments are encouraging, but they should also be a cause for more serious reflection. Industry cannot afford to ignore the fact that the internet now underpins the UK’s economy in a vital way; outperforming sectors such as restaurants, utilities, construction, and transportation. Another report by the Boston Consulting Group shows that companies selling online saw a yearly growth rate of 4% while those who did not offer a transactional service remained static or grew just a little. Now more than ever, businesses need to invest resources in growing an online strategy before they are overtaken by younger companies who were quicker to take the plunge.
So how are businesses making the move online so successfully? Well, they’re building powerful brand identities with the use of social media. 30% of UK companies now have a social media page and 25% have corporate blogs or use Twitter to update their customers.
In addition, let’s not forget that the internet is global. Out of the 100 million additional internet users each year, 72% don’t speak English- so it’s not just a question of an online presence, businesses are increasingly waking up to the fact that they need to speak the language of their target markets too. The average number of languages supported by large multi nationals has increased from 12 to 20 in 5 years. Facebook, for example now supports over 70 languages compared with just two languages when the site launched. Apple has doubled the number of languages available on their website in the last year- from 12 to 24.
Choosing which languages to invest in is also an important consideration. 28% of internet users are English speaking, which is a substantial figure, yes- but did you know that 22% of internet users speak Chinese? A massive and largely untapped market surely exists here for UK businesses.
Plus, let’s not forget basic accessibility, currently only 29% of UK businesses accept online payments, which seems low when we know that 30% have a social media page. With the profits already garnered from e-commerce being so high this shows amazing potential for the future as the number of sites offering an online checkout increases.
In the current economic climate e-commerce is proving to be a real beacon of hope, showing massive growth levels, and no signs of dying down for the foreseeable future as internet businesses are likely to double their economic contribution in the next five years.
Sources:
Boston Consulting Group: The Connected Kingdom, How the internet is transforming the UK economy: http://www.bcg.com/documents/file62983.pdf
Yunker, John: The Art of the Global Gateway, Strategies for Successful Multilingual Navigation, Byte Level Books, One internet, many languages, Page 10
IMRG/Capgemini Sales Index: October 2010
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Last week, Language Connect joined forces with StorePOINT International at London Olympia’s mediaPro event to present a dynamic partnership which is saving our clients, as we speak, 50% in time and money.
Ben Taylor, Managing Director of Language Connect and Mark Alford, Managing Director of StorePOINT, delivered a dynamic keynote speech on the cost-saving platform which creates multi-lingual artwork at a fraction of the cost.
‘A collaborative approach to transcreation – how a new best-of-breed partnership can deliver quality, time and cost enhancements to international marketing’ showed how StorePOINT’s PointandGo Localise solution works around the complex industry of transcreation and typesetting, to transform it into a consecutive online collaboration between translators, proofreaders and project managers. Language Connect’s translators work directly within the artwork, and the artwork is built containing the foreign language.
Ben Taylor enthused, “this partnership is a game-changer”. The foreign-language typesetting and desktop publishing industry has always been linear in its methodology; the opportunities which this type of partnership presents are unbounded.
We were thrilled to have the chance to demonstrate this exciting new development at mediaPro, which brought many of the key marketers, agencies, brand managers and social technology providers together in one room. The ‘room’ was a little smaller than we had envisaged, but this worked in our favour as it meant that we were able to meet a large number of the attendees and also had the chance to chat to fellow exhibitors.
In our view, competition is always a good thing at these types of events, especially as everyone is already buzzing from the free confectionary. In the weeks running up to the show we designed a pretty nifty web game, a sort of jigsaw puzzle meets ‘Pin the Tail on the Donkey’ where tail meant country and donkey corresponded to map. The pieces were western European countries, recognisable by both domain name and shape. The approach varied wildly but we found that the stock response ‘‘but I’m no good at geography!’’ was actually adopted by those who scored the highest, whereas a couple of gung ho players who thought that the game would be easy got thrown by those tricky little European Microstates. Yes, they are countries; no we weren’t 100% sure of the location to-the-nearest-kilometre of San Marino either until we played this game!
The winner, Natascha, from Sony, was actually one of the first to play the game and her high score remained unbeaten. She is now the proud owner of an iPad; better than sticking your business card in a pot any day!
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