Translation is still paramount for immigrants

Gavin Wheeldon, CEO of Applied Language Solutions, argues that reducing translation services, as Ruth Kelly has proposed, will foster segregation, and he offers alternative ways of cutting costs.

Ruth Kelly's recent proposal that the Government cut down the amount of translation to encourage immigrants to learn English is the wrong approach, argues a leading translation and interpreting company, Applied Language Solutions.

Gavin Wheeldon, CEO of ALS, argues with the suggestion that the use of translation is a crutch for immigrants deterring them from learning English; stating rather that translation and interpreting is a necessary support mechanism for the integration of immigrants into mainstream society whilst they are learning English.

However, Wheeldon agrees with Kelly in that more immigrants should learn English, and also calls for the need for the Government to implement a more cost-effective translation and interpreting scheme to reduce the cost.

He said: "This is obviously a knee-jerk reaction to the previous outcry over the cost of translation to the Government that Ruth Kelly hasn't thought through very well.

"It's great in theory to say that everyone must be able to speak English and I agree that learning English is certainly the key to a truly cohesive society.

"However, what is unrealistic is to expect immigrants to be able to speak our language fluently before they arrive, or within the first two weeks of arriving, as the majority of immigrants won't have had previous access to any resources that would have enabled them to learn English beforehand.

Everyone who has learnt or is learning a language will understand that it is best to live and breathe the language, and therefore providing translation and interpreting is a necessary step in supporting immigrants whilst they are learning English".

Ruth Kelly's argument that translation and interpreting should only be provided in emergency situations can potentially lead to long-term problems, but how do you define an emergency? Official documents translated by Government bodies that are necessary for everyday life range from Council Tax forms, housing association forms and medical forms to employee contracts, so how are immigrants supposed to understand such important information if it isn't in their language? An extreme but possible example is if a non-English-speaking immigrant approaches a hospital with a medical emergency; if the hospital doesn't have a means by which to communicate with the patient through translation or interpreting, this could potentially be a life or death situation for the patient.

"At the end of the day, non-English speaking communities are people who require access to public services too.

"Reducing translation will exclude immigrants from society and public services, leaving them living in a world of mystery and running the risk of making what is already a segregated society more segregated.

"On the other hand, providing interpreting services and documents to immigrants in their own language whilst they are learning to communicate in English will give them a better chance of integrating with British citizens, learning our culture and getting employment in this country, which subsequently means they will contribute to our society faster.

"It will also enable them access to services, such as health and medical, again highlighting the necessity of providing instant access to their language through translation and interpretation services."What the Government need to be looking at is a more long-term plan of providing more cost-effective translation, and re-investing the money into language lessons.

"Applied Language provides translation and interpretation services to many different local governments, public and emergency services, educational establishments and many other public bodies and quangos, and identifies that more government bodies should join forces and take advantage of the value of shared translation made possible by industry-specific technology known as translation memory.

A recent large contract won by Applied Language is that of the Healthcare Purchase Consortium (HPC), a government body that works on behalf of over 60 NHS trusts, and Applied Language has worked with HPC to provide high-quality translation at competitive prices that benefit each trust by putting in place a specialist translation memory specifically for the NHS.

The majority of information translated is the same across the whole collection of trusts, and the translation memory works by remembering and storing this translation so that each individual NHS trust can access the translation at a reduced rate without them having to individually pay full cost for the translation again, therefore receiving the best possible value-for-money.

"A significant amount of the information authorities have translated is the same; yet they continue to purchase translation separately, which obviously has a major impact on the cost to the Government.

"The amount spent could easily be reduced and more money allocated to English lessons if the Government looked to using advanced translation memory technology.

"This is a central translation pot that works by remembering and storing translation, which would allow each individual body to access the same high-quality translation at a reduced rate.

"Using translation memory can reduce the cost if translation by up to 70% and the Government need to start looking at this technology as an alternative way of saving money, rather than reducing the level of necessary translation." Applied Language Solutions is a rapidly growing language solutions company that deliver a high quality personal and corporate language service with optimal quality, price and delivery.

Applied Language translates all kinds of documents from simple letters to large technical documents, including whole websites and printed catalogues, for specialist Medical, Legal, Financial and Marketing organisations.

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