One of the most common situations in which you hear about translation in the news is when someone complains about the high cost of translation in the public sector. Just browse through some of the headlines of inttranews in March, and you'll see plenty of headlines noting the millions spent on translators and interpreters in various countries. For example:
- 13-03-2008 UK: Hospital translators cost £30,000
- 25-03-2008 Canada: Report suggests $1 billion for Canada's two official languages
- 25-03-2008 Arizona: Budget cuts in translation services
- 31-03-2008 Cost of interpretation services triples for Alabama Department of Public Health
- 31-03-2008 £1.2m spent by Northern Ireland Office in providing translation services
What is the real issue at question here?
Is it that the media questions the professional value of translators and interpreters in a way that they would never question the value of lawyers or doctors?
Or is it an anti-immigrant attitude that causes the media to question the need for these costs?
Or, is it that the media actually questions the responsibility of government to provide certain services for free?
(One argument for the latter is that free interpretation, just as free legal counsel, appears to be more commonly viewed as acceptable for criminal trials ; however, there is more antagonism against free interpretation for civil cases or medical services, just as there is more debate over the right to free legal counsel or medical treatment in the same situations.)
What do you think? Why does the media seem obsessed with the cost of translation in the public sector?
2 comments:
A good deal of the negative comment relating to courtroom interpretation cost is rooted in political biase, compounded by a denial of the "innocent until proven guilty" principle. That said, there is plenty of room for accountability in the public sector when it comes to translation and interpretation costs (http://www.multilingualblog.com/index.php/weblog/irish-translated-at-13000-euros-per-minute/).
Plus, we need to bear in mind just how much of this money actually goes to the translator/interpreter doing the work....
I don't know the answer, but it seems that this attitude problem only exists in English-speaking countries. As far as I can tell, it's a non-issue in the rest of the world, or at least I've never come across it any other country.
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