Translation and multilingualism at the heart of European Union
Translation: a duty for European Union
The European Union is composed of 28 member States and there are 24 official languages. All have the same status, enabling citizens of the Union to communicate freely and easily with the institutions. It is important for those to be open and accessible to the public, as well as to administrations and to all types of official or informal interest groups. This is also recalled in article 21 of the Treaty establishing the European Community.
This is why the Forum « Translate Europe » was created. This year it took place in Brussels on 28 and 29 October and brought together actors from the world of translation in Europe. The aim of the Forum is to increase the visibility of the profession and to encourage dialogue and projects of common interest. During these two days, the discussions focused on issues of employability, professionalism and quality in order to promote cooperation between these different actors.
This year, the Forum focused on technological aspects and translation tools.
Multilingualism : an asset for European Union
The quote from Umberto Eco, professor emeritus and pioneer of semiotic research, reflects this European multilingualism. He will say: « The language of Europe is translation« . Translation represents this desire to open up to others and is symbol of curiosity. It is therefore the declared goal of Europe through multilingualism.
The European Union wants to promote languages, and multiplies projects in this direction, notably with Erasmus on the school environment.
The Eurobarometer survey “Europeans and their languages” realised in 2012 shows that Europeans have a very positive attitude towards multilingualism:
- 98% consider mastering other foreign languages as useful for the future of their children.
- 88% think that knowing languages other than their mother tongue is very useful.
- 72% agree that people in European Union should be able to speak more than one language in addition to their mother tongue.
- 77% think that improving language skills should be a policy priority.
Indeed, foreign language skills play an increasing role for reinforcing the employability of young people. They are also a factor of competitiveness.
The Authot solution for translation and subtitling
At Authot, our focus has always been on making the word accessible to all. This translates into our voice to text transcription solution. In addition, our application allows you to insert subtitles and translations to your video content. For this reason, Authôt is a partner of choice for MOOC’s captioning, working with OpenClassroom, HEC, or INRIA. This work allows, among other things, for students to have access to translated content, and thus, to promote language learning.
Authot: You speak. we write.
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