Author Archives: Aleksandra Parcinska

The Future of Languages – more than just words

Posted on by
Reply

British Council Netherlands teamed up with the Club of Amsterdam, an independent, international and future-oriented think tank, and OBA, Public Library in Amsterdam to organize an event on languages and their future: the Future of Languages – more than just words. The conference will take place on Thursday, 29th March 2012 in OBA, Amsterdam. Join us! The speakers and topics are:

Mirjam Broersma, PhD, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics

Why linguistic diversity will never disappear

Simon King, Professor of Speech Processing & Director of the Centre for Speech Technology Research, University of Edinburgh, UK

Making computers speak like individual people

Tsead Bruinja, Poet

Failing in Between – Writing Poetry in two languages

More information on the Club of Amsterdam website. On this occasion Aleksandra Parcinska wrote a short article on the related topic for the Club of Amsterdam Journal – Towards a Global Theatre of Languages which you may also read below.

Towards a Global Theatre of Languages

“Languages differ essentially in what they must convey and not in what they may convey”. – Roman Jakobson, a Russian linguist and literary theorist.

Languages as an Ecosystem

Languages can be seen in some sense alive. They emerge, they evolve and reproduce, and some ultimately die. The meaning accommodates the constant change and interaction with the environment. The vitality of languages depends on the communicative behaviours of their speakers, who in turn respond adaptively to changes in their socio-economic ecologies. Emergence of English as a global language, the high number of dying or endangered languages and (Internet) technology are perceived as the main drivers of the current changes in the landscape of languages, more often than not seen as a threat to their diversity.

Past Times are Pastimes – what about the Future?

In 2012 it is exactly 40 years since the publication of The Gutenberg Galaxy of Marshall McLuhan who coined the term of “Global Village” and also prophesied the web technology. While McLuhan understood the Global Village as “heightened human awareness of responsibility” due to the instantaneous movement of information on the globe, he never referred to the idea that electronic media would create unified communities. On the contrary, McLuhan expected even more discontinuity and diversity as a result of the process. The current state of play seems to indicate a different direction. However, looking at the latest technology and languages, it may well be evolving only now.

Talking Dictionaries – Digitalisation of Endangered Languages

Nuances and possibilities of expression are lost without variation. Intellectual diversity and multiple ways of thinking suggested by different languages makes us, as a species, smarter and more able to solve common problems. The speed with which languages are disappearing nowadays is on an unprecedented scale. Digital technology allows for capturing and preserving the endangered languages. “The talking dictionaries” initiative from National Geographic Society’s Enduring Voices project is an attempt to prevent these ancient languages being forgotten. In some cases, it is the first time a language has been recorded or written down anywhere.

Universal Translator

Improving currently at high-speed, automated translation technology makes texts available in any major human language as well as allowing for a real-time translation. Real-time voice recognition is combined with automatic translation and speech generation to produce a crude but effective “universal translator” that allows a monolingual human to converse (at least slowly and simply) with any speaker of any major human language. With the development of recording and capturing languages currently underrepresented in the digital from, it will expand to any desired language. In the current research, there are also trials to capture emotions and personalize the outcome so that the generated sounds resemble the voice of the speaker.

Second Orality – Towards Fusion of Written and Oral

Gutenberg “Parenthesis” is a period marked by the reign of the printing mode, a concept formulated by Prof. L. O. Sauerberg of the University of Southern Denmark. Isolated from the largely oral culture that came before, this period seems to be coming to an end together with the digitally shaped culture emerging today. We may talk about the “liberation” of words from the nonnegotiable confines of the print and stories circumscribed by beginning, middle and end. We are going towards the freedom of the meaning of the words and story telling as in other oral traditions from the past, which allowed for dynamically changing texts and performances. We may not be reverting to a preliterate society so much as evolving into a “secondary orality”, supported massively by super literacy in the digital form based on a return of the fluidity in communication.

Towards a Global Theatre of Languages

After the publication of Understanding Media, McLuhan started to use the term Global Theater to stress the shift from consumer to producer, from acquisition to involvement. This may well apply to languages, with more people having access to digital tools and new technology. We will be able not only to preserve languages, to learn (about) and communicate in other languages, but also make new voices heard and have more flexibility and freedom of self-expression in our fast and more complex lives.

Aleksandra uit Polen is veeltalig – video

Posted on by
1

My name is Aleksandra and I am a Project Manager of the Language Rich Europe project in the Netherlands. On behalf of the Language Rich Europe team I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year! Maybe you will start learning a new language or improve your skills this year? I speak several languages myself and was asked by the Dutch Language Union to talk about my experiences related to it. Dutch Language Union is an organization which takes care of the Dutch language issues. Every year one topic is put into spotlight. This year it happens to be… multilingualism. You can watch the video below. I also put a few phrases in each language I speak with some observations and tips related to languages and language learning.

What are your experiences? Feel free to share!

Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku! Moja przygoda z językami zaczęła się w Polsce, skąd pochodzę. Moim językiem ojczystym jest język polski. Przez obcokrajowców uważany za język “szeleszczący” (uwielbiam to słowo – wspaniała polska onomatopeja!), polski zawiera różnorodne dzwięki, co niewątpliwie ułatwia naukę innych języków… Można powiedzieć, że jestem szczęściarą pod tym względem.

Happy New Year! My parents started to teach me English as soon as I could read. I will never forget the excitement of deciphering all the strange words, which felt like discovering mysterious texts written in a secret code. In addition, I was born in a country, which was still communist, behind the (heavy) iron curtain, where English was perceived as an “imperialistic” language and a carrier of information potentially threatening the system. It made the whole experience even more exciting and fun.

с Новым Годом! Когда я пошла в начальную школу, я начала изучать русский язык. У меня не было никакого другого  выбора – в Польше был обязательным в то время. Поэтому многим людей не понравилось этот язык, но я всегда думала, что это красивый и мелодичный язык. Кроме того, это было мое первое столкновение с различным алфавитом, чем латинский, и это был важный момент у меня, в которым я открыла новые горизонты.

Bonne Année! Étant polonaise, j’ai une inclinaison naturelle pour le français (il y avait des nombreuses liaisons, parfois même dangereuses, entre l’histoire polonaise et française). J’ai commencé un cursus du français et je suis allée pour mon premier échange en France, dans une belle petite ville en Corrèze, Uzerche. Avec mon français de base à cette époque, j’ai découvert le pouvoir et la joie d’improvisation en transformant les mots d’autres langues.

Ein glückliches neues Jahr! Während meines Studiums in Frankreich wollte ich mein Deutsch verbessern. Ich ging nach Wien für Erasmus, der Austausch von Studierenden in Europa. Diese Erfahrung war sehr interessant – ich konnte die Unterschiede zwischen die Sprache in Deutschland und Österreich  beobachten und erleben. Eine Sprache kann als eine Weise der Verständigung, gebunden an die Koordinaten einer bestimmten Sprachgemeinschaft gesehen werden.

Buon Anno! Durante il mio soggiorno Erasmus a Vienna non parlavo tanto tedesco, inglese o francese, solo… italiano. C’erano tanti italiani a Vienna, che non ci potevo credere. Prima di arrivare nella capitale austriaca sapevo una sola frase in Italiano: “La principessa vuole una bicicletta” del film “La vita è bella”. La seconda frase era “Dimmi che ce l’hai” imparata a Vienna giocando a “Scopa”, un famoso gioco di carte italiano. E il resto è la storia di praticare e giocare per imparare.

¡Feliz año! Hace tres años, fui a Barcelona para una sesión de los estudios en gestión cultural internacional de la Universidad de Barcelona. Era un momento perfecto para practicar mi español. Un año más tarde, me fui en América Central, a Panamá. Las aventuras diferentes durante mi viaje allí, tal como subir un volcán en la noche, y después también en Ecuador y Perú, eran maravillosas. Lo que puedo decir es que sin saber hablar español, mi viaje y sobre todo el contacto con la gente no habría sido el mismo. 

Gelukkig Nieuwjaar! Al vanaf vijf jaren woon ik in Amsterdam met een klein intermezzo in Londen. De beide steden zijn echte hoofdsteden van meertaligheid. Er zijn mensen die uit de gehele wereld hier komen. Meer weten? Kijk naar de video!

The Chronicles @Crossing Border [Literature + Music Festival] – Unlimited

Posted on by
Reply

The story of The Chronicles is a story of literature coming down from the “Ivory Tower” of elitist outreach by bringing it “to the streets”. It happens during the Crossing Border Festival, the annual Literature and Music feast in The Hague (NL) and Antwerp (BE) in November with borders mingling in various dimensions (national, arts genre, origins, ages). During the Festival, young international authors are invited to share their impressions in own languages about the city of The Hague within the Festival context. The Chronicles also bring to our attention young translators who get a unique opportunity to be in the spotlight of the stage.

Prologue – About getting there

The Chronicles started with the idea of making literature more accessible to people, especially to a younger audience. While in the first year of the project contributing writers were Dutch, the international aspect came into place for the first time one year later, in 2007 – a natural direction taking into account the character of the Festival itself. [Worth noting, the first international partner to be involved was the British Council Netherlands with whom Crossing Border brought young British and Dutch writers from and to the UK].

The Chronicles were celebrating their fifth anniversary this year in the good company of the authors Ben Brooks (UK), Peter Zantingh (NL), Pola Oloixarac (AR), and Sacha Sperling (FR). The participating translators were: Anne Roetman, Astrid Huisman, Beth Fowler, Katinka Staals, Laura Williams, and Vivien Doornekamp-Glass.

The Language Rich Europe project proudly supported the initiative.

The Chronicles – About the columns

It all starts before the Festival itself with a prologue column from the young writers. They write about their expectations, excitement about being translated into languages they do not know themselves, or simply travel. As Sacha Sperling, a young French author, notes “Aujourd’hui, les mots sont devenus mon passeport.” [Words became my passport today].

07-11-2011 Prologue                          Pola Oloixarac (Argentina, 1977)

En fin, no sé qué me espera en el festival europeo. ¿Podré, como mi paisana Máxima, alcanzar cierto trato principesco? ¿O me pareceré mas a mis compatriotas sudamericanos que llevan a cabo trabajos mal remunerados para subsistir en tierra neerlandesa? ¿O se parecerá a la zona roja de Amsterdam; un festival que incluye la celebrada carne argentina a manos de una dominatrix holandesa entrada en carnes? Really can’t wait…

During the Festival, each author writes one column per day in her/his own language – each year Dutch, this year also French, Spanish and English. They are immediately translated into other languages. As Federico Fellini said “A different language is a different vision of life” and columns capture it well. In different languages, they allow us to see the Festival and The Hague through eyes that see the world from different perspectives. Young authors enjoy much freedom of expression in relation to the subject – it is about their personal experience and in a loose relation to the Festival, which makes texts varied and also intimate. All the versions including translations can be found on the Crossing Border blog and during the Festival are available fresh from the press to the audience.

18-11-2011 Column 2                           Ben Brooks (United Kingdom, 1992)

Does the ‘joy spring’ from the reinterpretation of a good text because the text is good, or is it because the act of translating that makes translation fulfilling. I’m not sure how much sense that made. It’s hard to talk about. Is cooking, or eating the most fun. You have to eat, but you don’t have to cook. And someone else can always cook for you, but they can’t do your eating.

19-11-2011 Column 3                           Ben Brooks (United Kingdom, 1992)

We went to the ‘afterparty’ and the DJ was very bad and the only drinks you could order were ‘wine’ and ‘beer’ and ‘bacardi and coke already mixed in a can’. It was fun. I smiled at people and walked around. I talked to Adam Levin a lot and he is one of my favourite authors in the world and I think the way I talked was similar to the way a twelve-year-old girl would talk to Justin Bieber. Sorry, Adam. It is exciting and cold here. Everyone is everyone.

 20-11-2011 Column 3 (La dernière nuit)      Sacha Sperling (France, 1990)

Au milieu de la nuit, j’ai regardé par la fenêtre. La rue déserte. Spui. On aurait dit une route. J’entendais l’écho des voitures fantômes. J’ai regardé la lune (elle était rousse), et puis de nouveau la rue. Un camion est passé. Un camion énorme. Je n’ai pas eu le temps de lire l’inscription sur le côté. C’était un trente cinq tonne dont les phares projetaient une lumière féroce. Je ne pouvais pas détacher mon regard. Il avançait doucement à travers la brume. Comme en apesanteur. J’ai pensé à la route. Zone de passage. Non lieu. Désert organisé. La route qui donne le sentiment que les choses flottent. Qu’il est facile de flotter soi-même.

The Festival also gives the stage to both writers and translators (on the photo to the left, Ben Brooks on being translated). It is possible to meet them in person and listen to their reflections on the writing and translation processes, which are both very intense taking into account the timelines.

And the last words are written down after the end of the Festival – the last words within The Chronicles as the conversations behind the stage go on… Unlimited…

30-11-2011 Epilogue            Peter Zantingh (The Netherlands, 1983)

Elke ochtend schreef ik een column. Op zaterdag las ik op het festival voor wat ik die ochtend, in mijn pyjamabroek op de hotelkamer, geschreven had. Wat ik maakte had direct een publiek. Crossing Border was het mooiste dat me overkwam sinds het boek er is. Echt. 

Maar nu wil ik weer schrijven waar niemand het ziet.

Epilogue – About the influence

The Chronicles are more than chronicles of the Festival. More often than not, the project acts as the first Dutch publisher and helps to introduce a new young international writer or translator to the market. The project underlines the importance of translation by raising awareness and appreciation of translation among the audience and also the young writers themselves. After the festival, a selection of the columns is published in The Chronicles magazine (usually in the beginning of the following year). The Festival creates an opportunity for young writers to meet their favourite writers and build on their international network.

All the literary events are combined with various concerts, which definitely makes literature friendlier to the wider audience and more fun to the authors themselves. We are already looking forward to the next year, but first the publication!

A big thank you to Jessa Bertens, Project Coordinator of The Chronicles for all the information and contagious enthusiasm!