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Wired News Jan. 20, 2004

13 Languages Speak With One Voice By Swaroopa Iyengar

MUMBAI, India -- The World Social Forum is speaking in 13 languages this year. And amazingly, most of the time, everyone understands what the others are saying.

Moving the WSF to India meant that more Asian groups would participate in the forum, giving it a different flavor from previous years. But India is also a land of 14 official languages, which meant WSF organizers had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on expensive translation equipment so the participants, Indian and otherwise, could follow each other.

In previous years, translations were offered to delegates in three languages: English, French and Spanish. This year, in addition to these languages, translations are being provided in Korean, Japanese, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Malayalam, Bahasa Indonesian and Thai. And yet, the service costs are minimal.

The translations are being done by an international network of volunteer interpreters called Babels, using a newly created open- source Linux software. The software can be run on a midrange computer, therefore cutting out the high costs of translation associated with special high-speed computers, consoles and mixing equipment.

The translator uses an interface on the computer screen to select the language being spoken. The speaker's voice is digitized and sent to the translator, who then sends the translated text out through the interface to audiences, who listen on headsets.

"This is the first time we have used such an innovative free-share on such a large scale," said Sophie Gosselin, a member of Nomad, the organization that created the translation software. "And because all the speeches and their translations are going through our computers, we are going to be able to archive all of them. This means we will be able to put it up on the WSF's site to be shared with everyone who was not able to attend now, taking the forum to hundreds of thousands of people."

The WSF is also using an FM radio frequency to provide translations in various Indian languages to help cut the cost of attaching headsets to every seat. FM radios are being sold at the venue for 100 rupees ($2).

"Our main aim is to keep the costs as low as possible and yet not impose English upon everyone," said Gosselin. "We want everyone to feel like they have ownership of this event. For example, when we contacted the Koreans to ask them if they wanted translations, they were really surprised, as they were so used to being marginalized. But the Korean delegation turnout here is now higher because they feel included."

But it hasn't all been smooth sailing. The interpreters have been beset by technical difficulties and infrastructure problems at the forum, causing many delegates to attend only panels spoken in their language.

"It's great when it works," said Andre Grosso, an interpreter from France. "The technology is democratic, it's independent of the politics of different agendas, it's open-source -- keeping in line with the philosophy of the forum -- and it's highly economical."

source: http://wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,61966,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_4

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