The Internet creates expectations of instant response. We receive around the clock news; we shop in stores physically located thousands of miles away from our homes, and receive our purchases the next day, thus we have the impression that, armed with a computer and connection to the Web, anything can happen in an instant, including global, multilingual communication.

However, the suitable approach to multilingual business and formal global communication is to use the computer to assist human translators to work more efficiently. An example of this is the application of TM (Translation Memory) technology to the art of translation. These tools, such as TRADOS permit translators to create databases of previous translations that can be used to pretranslate the text of future revisions of the same or similar documents. Pretranslated files contain text where the source text was identified to be a Match, of a previous version of the same or similar document; or Fuzzy Match to text of a previous version, that needs a few adjustments in order to match it to the new source text; or entirely new text, for which No Match has been found.

After the text has been pretranslated by the Language Engineer, the Translators review Matches and adjust Fuzzy Matches so they accurately reflect the meaning of the new source text. They also translate the text for which No match was found in the terminology database. This method serves to ensure consistency of terminology within and across product documentation and, since Matches and Fuzzy Matches are priced at a discounted per word rate, clients also benefit from lower translation costs.

InterSol has used TM tools since they became available; thus our language engineers and linguists are experts users of this technology that also allows us to meet tight deadlines, notwithstanding the number of changes that clients typically submit in the middle of a project.

A key success factor for any project and particularly for a project that uses TM tools, is the level of cooperation that exists between the translators and the writers of the source text. The best results are achieved when the writers of the source text and the translators work closely together on the project, from the very beginning.

Sadly, when a language becomes extinct, an entire culture is lost to future generations. According to the experts, fifty percent of the world’s six thousand languages will be extinct by mid century. The following are some of these endangered languages, listed by major geographical area.

Endangered Languages of Europe:

Tofa (Tofalar, Karagas), Indigenous minority language of Russia. Belongs to the Turkic system of languages and has approximately 200 native speakers. Members of the Tofa nation, numbering approximately 600, live in the remote villages of the Sayan mountains in Southern Siberia. For ten months of the year, these villagers are virtually isolated from the rest of civilization and can be reached only by small bi-planes. Unfortunately, the Tofa are struggling with the loss of their traditional life style, including their language and cultural traditions. (Reference: Many songs, one tune:  (Reference:"A field report from Tofalaria").

Votian (Votes) Finnic/Finno-Ugrian (Uralic) In 1848 there were approximately five thousand members of the Votian population. In 1989 that number had been reduced to a mere sixty-two. Votians live in the Russian coast of the Gulf of Finland. They are the only minority in Northwestern Russia without a written language. Votian is nearly extinct today, with only thirty native speakers, all adult. (Reference)

Faeroese (Related to the Norwegian, Icelandic and Celtic languages). Spoken in the Faeroe Islands, this language counts with approximately 50,000 speakers. In an effort to preserve this language, the Fróðskaparsetur Føroya (Faroese Academy) was established in the 1960s (Reference).

Sardinian: (Romance/Indo-European language) Spoken in the island of Sardinia, particularly in the Central and Southern regions, the number of speakers of this language continues to decline. Currently, there are approximately 500,000 speakers of Sardinian.
(Reference)

Yiddish: (Indo-European - West Germanic language) Spoken by Jews around the world, particularly in Argentina, Canada, France, Israel, Mexico, Romania, and the U.S, Yiddish is not a national language. There are about four million speakers of Yiddish; many were eliminated by the Nazis. At one time, Yiddish was the language of about eleven million people. Yiddish is close to Middle High German, but it has also borrowed words from Hebrew as well as from Slavic, Romance languages and English. It dates back to (c.1100). (Reference)

Endangered language of the Middle East:

Modern Aramaic: (From the Semitic group of languages that includes the Assyrian, Babylonian, Chaldean, Aramean, Hebrew, and Arabic). A descendant of Aramaic, which is closely related to Hebrew, and is written in a variety of alphabetic scripts. Actually, what is usually referred to as "Hebrew" script is actually an Aramaic script.)

The first known inscriptions date to 900-700 B.C (Modern Aramaic dates from 700 to our time). Aramaic propagated very quickly to Palestine, Syria and widespread areas of Asia and Egypt and replaced many languages, including Akkadian and Hebrew. For approximately one thousand years, Aramaic was the official and written language of the Near East
Currently there are only about 400,000 Aramaic speakers.
(Reference)

Endangered Languages of Asia

Nushu: This language originated in the Jiangyong County of the province of Hunan, China. Nu shu means "Woman's Writing". Since traditional Chinese culture discouraged the formal education of women, this writing system was developed in secrecy. Some of the characters are Chinese, but others are originally Nu Shu.All characters have a more flowing, graceful and unstructured look than the usual Chinese characters. Nushu is often found on Chinese silk screens.

Discovered in 1983, this writing system is in danger of becoming extinct, as the few women who are able to read and write it are reaching an advanced age. It would be a great loss to future generations to allow this symbol of the resilience of women in the face of oppression to become extinct.

The following is a translation of a Nushu writing: “Beside a well, one does not thirst. Beside a sister, one does not despair.”

Endangered Languages of South America

Oro Win: (Of the Chapakuran language, that includes also Wari', More', and Tora' ) Pronounced OR-oh WEEN. This language is spoken by about half-dozen members of the Oro Win Tribe, that has only forty of fifty members. The Oro Win inhabit the area at the source of the Pacaas-Novos River, a tributary of the Mamore River, that runs along the border between Brazil and Bolivia. OroWin is what linguists refer to as a VOS  (Verb/direct Object/Subject) language, where the verb is placed before its object and both the verb and its object precede the subject (e.g. Ate banana monkey). In English, the sound is represented as "tp~" and pronounced as the "t" consonant sound followed immediately by what linguists call a "bilabial trill." This sounds like a person releasing air between vibrating lips in imitation of a snorting horse. (Reference)

Piraha: (Related to the Wari language). This is the language of the Piraha tribe. It has the same "bilabial trill," sound of the Oro Win and the fewest consonants (seven) and vowels (three) of any known language. (Reference)

Endangered Aboriginal languages of Australia

The country’s aboriginal languages, such the tribal Queensland tongues are becoming extinct at the rate of one every three years. Some of these are: Garawa, Wanyi, Wakka Wakka, Kulilli, Yanyula.