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Features articles of interest on language translation and localization, culture, language technology and other related topics. The goal of the Global Advisor Newsletter is to inform and entertain.

Other Editions

Twenty-fourth Edition

Contents:

	Why you should consider translation even if you only do business in the USA
	The Thai Language

Why you should consider translation even if you only do business in the USA

According to the US Census Bureau estimate figures for the year 2000, more than 11% of US residents are foreign born (See Figure 1) and almost 18% speak a language other than English at home (See Figure 2).

Figure 1	Figure 2	Figure 3
US population  = 284,796,887 Foreign born = 31,612,454	Language other than English spoken  at home, pct age 5+ = 50,978,643	Hispanic or Latino = 35,599,611 Asian = 10,252,688

More than 35 million people in the US are of Hispanic and Latino origin and more than ten million are of Asian descent.

Relative percentages are even more staggering in some states, like California, which traditionally have attracted a large share of international visitors. For example, more than 26% of the population of California is foreign born (See Figure 4). More than 32% are of Hispanic or Latino descent and almost 11% are of Asian origin.

Figure 4	Figure 5
California population = 34,501,130 Foreign born = 9,039,296	Hispanic or Latino = 11,178,366 Asian origin = 3,760,623

Almost 14 million people in California speak a language other than English at home and about three million speak English less than very well (See figures 6 and 7).
 

Figure 6	Figure 7
Language other than English spoken at home, pct age 5+ = 13,627,946	And speak English less than very well = 2,725,589

Similar scenarios are found in states like Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, New Mexico, New York, Texas, to name a few. These millions of potential consumers, particularly those who lack fluency in English, appreciate receiving information in their own language. Therefore, businesses that accommodate the language requirements of customers in multicultural niches demonstrate a commitment to the local market and thus gain a larger share of their business.

What types of businesses are likely to benefit?

Any business that operates in multicultural areas where people speak more than one language or offers services to an international clientele. The following are just a few examples:

	Attorneys, particularly immigration attorneys, would improve their level of service to non-English speaking clients with information materials in the languages of their major clients.
	City Government in cities with large populations speaking English as a second language often need to provide information in various languages.
	Healthcare providers, clinics, hospitals,  extended care facilities, physicians, etc. will be able to communicate more easily with their non-English speaking patients and improve the level of patient care, if they make available to them medical information in their own language.
	Hotels that cater to an international clientele will gain a competitive edge and make their guests feel more comfortable if they make available to them restaurant menus and other pertinent information in other languages.
	Insurance Companies that target customers in multicultural niches will increase their market share if they provide their clients with the option of receiving information in their languages.
	Real Estate offices working with an international audience will gain a competitive edge if they offer descriptions of properties for sale in the languages of their major clients.
	Restaurants in areas with many international visitors will attract more patrons if they offer menus in their own language.
	Schools interested in attracting a diverse student population could send information in the native language of the parents of prospective international students.
	Transportation industry, such as bus and train companies that operate in multicultural areas would improve their customer service by making available schedules and other traveling information in the languages of their customers.
	Travel Agencies that book flights and tours to various countries for returning visitors, for example, would serve their customers better and thus increase their market share if they provided travel materials in the language spoken in the country of destination.

InterSol provides businesses with all the services required to translate and adapt informational materials and documents into the languages of clients in multicultural niches throughout the U.S. Contact us for more information.

The Thai Language

by Kathy Vanichkorn, InterSol, Inc.

Thai, the official language of Thailand, is spoken by approximately 60 million people. It is a member of the Thai (or Tai), sub-family of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. Several dialects of Thai are spoken in rural areas.

The first Thai alphabet was created by King Ramkamhaeng of the Sukhothai Kingdom in the thirteenth Century AD. The writing was based on Pali, Sanskrit, and Indian concepts, and many Mon and Khmer words were introduced into the language.

Thai is a tonal language. It uses pitch to differentiate the meaning of words that are otherwise pronounced alike. These pitch variations are an important part of the Thai language. There are five tones: Mid, low, high, rising, and falling.

Examples:

The Thai alphabet consists of 44 consonants and 32 vowels that combine to express syllabic sounds. Vowels are written above, below, before, or after the consonant they modify (although the consonant is always sounded first when the syllable is spoken). The vowel characters (and a few consonants) can be combined in various ways to produce many compound vowels.

Thai is written from left to right, like English, and the basic sentence structure is subject/verb/object, with adjectives following nouns. Verbs can be changed into nouns with the use of a prefix. Thai grammar is easier than the grammar of most Western languages. This makes up for the additional difficulty posed by the use of tones. Most significantly, words are not modified or combined for tenses, plurals, genders, or subject-verb agreement. Articles such a, an, or the are also not used. Tenses, levels of politeness, verb-to-noun conversion, and other language concepts are accomplished simply by adding modifying words to the basic subject-verb-object format.

Examples:

gin (to eat) + ja (auxiliary) = ja gin (I will eat)

gin (to eat) + kamlang (auxiliary) = kamlang gin (I am going to eat)

gin (to eat) + laew (auxiliary) = gin laew (I already ate)

In Thai, pronouns indicate social level and familiarity. There are four different levels of Thai: Royal, ecclesiastical, polite / everyday, and slang.

Example:  A Thai greeting

English	Hello (boy)	Hello (girl)	My name is (boy)	My name is (girl)
Phonetic (Thai)	sa-wa-dee-krab	sa-wa-dee-kah	pom-chew	dee-chan chew
Thai script

Other languages spoken in Thailand are Chinese and English. Chinese immigration has made the Chinese language popular in Thailand, and English is mandatory in public schools and widely spoken in Bangkok and other major cities.

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