Foreigners in San Francisco will soon be able to get a Spanish "hola" or Korean "yeobose" translated into "hello" by dialing up an interpreter who can instantly help them pay a utility bill, apply for credit cards or buy an opera ticket. A toll-free telephone number will connect immigrants, tourists and business travelers to translators standing by to communicate a caller's needs to the city government and a handful of San Francisco businesses that have signed on to the eight-language trial program.
The Your World, Your Language service is a collaboration between telecommunications giant AT&T and interpretation provider Language Line Services. It is starting in San Francisco, where nearly half of all residents speak a language other than English, but the plan is to go nationwide over the next year-and-a-half.
"Clearly, the demographics of the country are staggering, and we believe once the service is readily available it will be used by millions," said Louis Provenzano, president of Language Line Services.
PHOTO: AP
The service is free for callers, with participating companies and organizations paying for the two-way translations - about US$15 (NT$500) for a 10-minute call. Language Line already offers over-the-phone interpreters fluent in over 170 languages to government agencies, health care institutions, insurers and other companies, including AT&T.
The service will first be available in eight languages that reflect the linguistic diversity of San Francisco: Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese.
As part of their partnership, Language Line Services is providing the interpreters while AT&T is routing calls and maintaining the telephone network. (AP)
舊金山的外國人很快就能將西班牙文的「hola」或韓文的「yeobose」翻譯成「hello」，只要打通電話，翻譯員就能立即幫忙繳水電帳單、申請信用卡或買歌劇票。移民、觀光客和商務旅客只要打免付費電話給隨時待命的翻譯員，將需求傳達給市政府及已加入八國語言測試計畫的舊金山各企業即可。
「你的世界，你的語言服務」是美國電信龍頭AT&T 與提供翻譯的Language Line Services公司之合作計畫，已在近半數居民都不講英語的舊金山展開，一年半後將陸續推往全美。
Language Line Services總裁路易士．波維薩諾說︰「顯然，美國的人口統計資料相當驚人，我們相信一旦服務推出，將有數百萬人受惠。」
來電者無需負擔服務費用，合作的公司行號則需支付雙向翻譯的費用，通話十分鐘約十五美元（新台幣五百元）。Language Line已提供精通一百七十多種語言的電話翻譯員給政府單位、健保機構、保險公司與包括AT&T等其他公司行號。
率先推出的服務將包括八種語言，反映出舊金山的語言多元︰廣東語、日語、韓語、華語、俄語、西班牙語、菲律賓塔加洛語與越南語。
合作關係中，Language Line提供翻譯員，AT&T則轉接電話並維持電話網絡暢通。 （美聯社/翻譯：賴美君）
A: Hey, didn’t you go to the opening of the Mitsui Shopping Park LaLaport Nangang last week? B: Yeah, there are about 300 shops, including the first overseas branch of Japan’s Mahou Dokoro — a famous Harry Potter-themed store. A: Wow, I’ve always wanted to get a magic wand. B: There are also a bunch of great restaurants, such as Smart Fish hotpot restaurant. A: I wish I had Harry Potter’s “apparition” and “disapparition” magic, so I could teleport to the mall right now. A: 你上週不是有去LaLaport南港的盛大開幕嗎？有什麼特別的？ B: 那裡有多達300家專櫃，包括魔法之地的海外首店——它可是日本知名的《哈利波特》專賣店。 A: 哇我一直想買根魔杖。 B: 另外還有各式各樣的美食，像是林聰明沙鍋魚頭。 A: 真希望我也有哈利波特的「現影術／消影術」魔法，能瞬間移動到商場去！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張迪）
When it comes to movies, some people delight in watching spine-chilling horror films. Surprisingly, apart from containing a few scares, horror movies may also offer an unexpected __1__. According to a study, watching 90 minutes of a scary movie can burn an average of 113 calories, which is roughly __2__ to taking a 30-minute walk. Researchers from the University of Westminster carried out an experiment in which they __3__ participants’ oxygen intake, carbon dioxide output, and heart rates while they were watching horror movies without any distractions. The results revealed that physiological responses to fear play a crucial role
Bilingual Story is a fictionalized account. 雙語故事部分內容純屬虛構。 Echo pulled out a worn and tattered shoe box under father’s large oak desk. “Mariko, what should we do with these family photos?” Mariko stared at the old box with a slightly hurt expression, and then blankly at the photos. “Throw them in the garbage pile. . . along with that old, ratty box,” she murmured. She resented that her father had not cared enough to find a nicer home for the family photos. “Father never really cared about me anyway.” Echo’s emotion sensor detected sorrow. ”Mariko, that is
Dos & Don’ts — 想想看，這句話英語該怎麼說？ 1. 你覺得這部電影怎樣？ ˇ What do you think of the movie? χ How do you like the movie? χ How do you think of the movie? 註︰What do you think of ＝ What is your opinion of。 think 的受詞是 what，不能用 how。 2. 你認為哪一個歌星唱得最好？ ˇ Which singer do you think is the best? χ Do you think which singer is the best? 註︰英語中 which singer 似乎是 do you think 的受詞，實則 do you think 是插入語，其他例子如下： 你以為他喜歡誰？ Who do you think he likes? 你以為我住在哪裏？ Where do you think I live? 你想我昨天在公園裏碰到了誰？ Whom/Who do you think I met in the park yesterday? 3. 他不論到什麼地方，總是帶著一把雨傘。 ˇ No matter where he goes, he
RSS