In Translation…Size isn’t Everything

The importance of size may have been rendered obsolete by the tiny Faroe Islands as they take on technology giants, Google, in a bid to have their language, Faroese, featured on Google Translate, the online translation service.

The Old Norse language is spoken by less than 80,000 people worldwide, with two-thirds of those residing within the archipelago, but after being excluded from Google Translate, the Visit Faroes tourism organisation decided to create their own translation service for visitors which they hope will preserve local culture and language, while also persuading Google to think again about its inclusion.

Faroe Islands Translate uses volunteers who will live translate words or sentences, for free, via their website. Quite simply, once a request for a translation is received, a volunteer then translates through a live stream uploaded via a smartphone.

This is then stored on the website creating a database of phrases, words and sentences which can then be used repeatedly whenever someone else requests the same information, and will mean that it is a constantly improving and evolving translation service.

This isn’t the first time that the Faroes have taken on Google in an attempt to be incorporated into Google’s technologies; last year they created their own version of Google Streetview, which they named Sheepview, as it used cameras mounted onto the backs of sheep to give images of the topography. It was so successful that it gained the attention of Google and led to the Faroes finally being included!

The benefits of Sheepview have already seen significant increases in visitor number compared to previous years and it is hoped that the new translation service will improve on these figures.

On their website, visitfaroeislands.com, it is claimed that the whole archipelago have been encouraged to become involved with the new service, and that potential tourists will have “an opportunity to see the friendly Faroese before visiting, and to gain a window on their magical world.”

Even the Prime Minister, Aksel V. Johannesen, has joined with locals to show his support for the campaign, by recording an open letter to Google in which he asked them to consider the difficulties faced by the Faroes.

Faroe Island Translates hopes the production of the translation service will help visitors communicate with local people, and at present is offering up to 14 different languages available to translate including, English, Russian and Chinese. Their website states they wanted to assist “frustrated visitors who can’t fully immerse in their unique traditional culture by learning a few phrases in Faroese” so that visitors can entirely absorb the experience of the Faroe Islands.

This, in turn, should encourage greater numbers of visitors, raise business interest, and therefore, increase revenue within the archipelago.

Google would be wise to keep an eye on the Faroe Islands, as it seems that even though they are small they are perfectly formed, and are definitely a force to be reckoned with when it comes to keeping up with big boys of technology!