Real-Time Computer-Based Translation in Iraq

[TheBORG] writes "The U.S. military has been testing software on laptops that translate English to Arabic and Arabic to English to have conversations with Iraqis without the need to have a Arabic linguist on hand. 'This year the military's Joint Forces Command has been testing laptops with such software in Iraq. When someone speaks into a microphone attached to the computer, the machine translates it into Arabic and reads that translation aloud over the PC's speakers. The software then translates the Arabic speaker's response and utters it in English.'" (See this related story from last year about this daunting machine-translation task.)

Comments

Re:Computer: AL YOUR QAEDA ARE BELONG TO US

[quigonn]

On a more serious sidenote, it is indeed interesting to know that the "Arabic numerals" are actually called "Indian numerals" in Arab countries.

Armed Forces Desperate for Arabic Speakers

[PChuck]

Of the more than 11,000 service members who have been dismissed under the U.S. military's so-called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, about 800 had "critical abilities, including 300 with important language skills. Fifty-five (55) were proficient in Arabic." (Emphasis added). This information comes from the blog "Shakespeare's Sister," which can be found at http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2006/07/arm y-dismisses-arabic-linguist-for.html; this blog also has been quoted with approval by the nationally known non-profit group, Servicemembers' Legal Defense Network. See, e.g., http://freedomtoserve.blogspot.com/.

The dismissal of this many Arabic-speaking military linguists *has* had an enormous impact on the military's ability to function efficiently in the Middle Eastern theatre. Believe it or not, the Army is now recruiting linguists on Craigslist with the following ad:

Your primary responsibility will be to interpret Middle-Eastern languages into English to help with rebuilding efforts. On a day-to-day basis, you might:

* Provide records of foreign language communications * Translate, transcribe or produce summaries of foreign language materials into English or target languages * Identify the language spoken in an assigned geographic area * Scan written foreign language material for key words and indicators * Translate written and interpret spoken foreign language material to and from English, while making sure to preserve the original meaning * Translate and transcribe Middle-Eastern language TV and radio broadcasts into English * Translate foreign books and articles describing foreign equipment and construction techniques

LANGUAGES

The Army Translator Aide Program specializes in the following languages:

Arabic

* Algerian * Egyptian * Gulf-Iraqi * Jordanian * Lebanese * Libyan * Maghrebi * Modern Standard * Moroccan * Syrian * Sudanese * Tunisian * Yemeni

Other

* Pushtu-Afghan * Pushtu/Pashto/Pachto * Kurdish * Kurdish-Behdini (Kurmanji) * Kurdish-Sorani * Persian-Afghan (Dari) * Persian-Iranian (Farsi)

I have also seen a classified ad from the Washington Post from the U.S. military, seeking Arabic linguists (among others) for training and employment. Clearly, discharging all those Arabic-speaking members of the military because of their sexual orientation was foolish, to say the least.

As for the argument that these soldiers should just "clam up" and "not tell the military" they are gay, many LGBQ people would love to serve their country this way. However, you should go to the previously mentioned Servicemembers' Legal Defense Network website at http://www.sldn.org/ to read about the everyday harassment, "witch hunts," and physical and emotional violence inflicted upon gay people by the military in violation of its own "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" rules. I think you would be extremely surprised to find out how many servicemen have been killed in the past five years by members of their own divisions/units; the Armed Forced do not exactly issue press releases every time something like this happens. The bottom line is that the vast majority of LGBQ soldiers are forced out against their will, as they try to be quiet and inconspicuous and to serve their country.