Comments on: iSummit2008: The Japanese-English divide

By: 塩山・shioyama » Blog Archive » iSummit 2008: Day 2

塩山・shioyama » Blog Archive » iSummit 2008: Day 2 — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 07:56:11 +0000

[...] page at Global Voices, and the two articles I posted there: one a general recap, and the other a translation of a post by Shinya Ichinohe about the division between Japanese and English speaking …. For those interested in the challenges of language and culture in organizing international events [...]

By: iSummit08 Experience 02 « back from the world

iSummit08 Experience 02 « back from the world — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 01:10:34 +0000

[...] Salzberg’s post on GV has touched upon this issue already. All I want to do is add a little personal flavor. There [...]

By: Solana Larsen

Solana Larsen — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:33:40 +0000

I wasn’t at the iSummit, but had a similar experience at the World Social Forum in Brazil. There were very few English-speaking participants and sessions. And North Americans and Europeans in particular were surprised how much English was a minority language. Volunteer translators at the World Social Forum did an admirable job of translating even small sessions, but it is exhausting to communicate through interpreters. Logistically, I guess the best solution is to mix panelists up better so you don’t get this sort of divide between audience members for different sessions.

By: Jose Murilo

Jose Murilo — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:10:45 +0000

Hey Chris,

Thanks for graciously pointing out the one thing that really puzzled me throughout the iSummit08. For me it was a BIG SURPRISE the fact that English does not function as the ‘hub language’ in Japan the way it does in other parts of the world.

The fact can only highlight the importance of initiatives such as GV Lingua, which, we could say, ‘generatively’ came out from a ‘hub language’ principled project such as GVO.

For me, the iSummit08 main insight is that translation is the one emerging issue as we go deeper in understanding what the notion of a true global commons stands for.

Thanks for helping me better understand my ‘Japanese experience’ at the iSummit08.

By: Chris Salzberg

Chris Salzberg — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 03:03:58 +0000

Hi Gen,

Thanks for your comment. I think Ichinohe-san’s post was less of a “criticism” than it was an observation (albeit of course a disappointing one). Having attended the event, I can confirm what he is describing.

(Thanks for pointing out the URL mistake, just fixed it.)

By: Gen Kanai

Gen Kanai — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 02:45:04 +0000

I didn’t catch this critique (and wasn’t able to make the event myself) so I appreciate the coverage. Shinyai has some understandably appropriate criticism but I think that it comes down to 1) costs to provide translation, and 2) multiple-tracks (common at any large event). iCommons probably did what it could to provide as much translation as possible but there are limits considering it’s NPO status and the costs involved. I would also say that any large cross-cultural event in a nation where English is not the main language will have this division in the participation no matter what. I think it’s stronger in places like Japan where English is less often used than in nations where English is commonly used as a second language.

p.s. the url to shinyai’s post is 404. The accurate one is this:

http://shinyai.cocolog-nifty.com/shinyai/2008/08/isummit_08_0be6.html