The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has recently been translated into German in a process involving Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

Dr. Sigrid Arnade of the Verein für Menschenrechte und Gleichstellung Behinderter e.V. criticizes the translation on the basis of incorrect terminology (January 11).

Berlin (kobinet) Gestern wurde die zwischen Deutschland, Österreich, Liechtenstein und der Schweiz abgestimmte deutschsprachige Version der UN-Konvention über die Rechte von Menschen mit Behinderungen bekannt. “Der deutsche Text enthält eklatante Übersetzungsfehler, und die Betroffenen wurden in den Übersetzungsprozess nicht kontinuierlich eingebunden”, kritisiert Dr. Sigrid Arnade, Vorstandsfrau im NETZWERK ARTIKEL 3 e.V., heute gegenüber kobinet.

Specific examples given:
EN inclusion DE Integration
EN living independently DE unabhängige Lebensführung – should be Selbstbestimmt leben
EN accessibility DE Zugänglichkeit – should be Barrierefreiheit

This is blamed on a lack of consultation.

(Via Dirk Nolte)

LATER NOTE: Government’s rejection of criticisms.

Does this mean that if my polar bear is sick I can take it in here for treatment?

Trade Union anti-Nokia banner:

In Weblawg.de beschreibt und verlinkt Stephan Deyerler den zukünftigen Ausbildungsberuf Legal Assistant – dort ist mehr zu lesen.

Stephan Deyerler, in Weblawg.de, reports fairly concrete plans of the Rechtsanwaltskammer Frankfurt am Main (the chamber of lawyers or bar association) for a new qualification and training programme for paralegals. The rather Denglish term Legal Assistant seems to be a reference to the large amount of legal English in their training. The big law firms find that the traditionally trained paralegals have learned a lot about German legal fees and compulsory execution that these firms don’t need, but nothing about commerce, economics and English, which they do need. The new qualification would not replace the current one, but it would be an alternative.

A lot of information in German here – scroll down to Neuer Ausbildungsberuf “Legal Assistant”,

Vorgesehen ist eine dreijährige Berufsausbildung in Kanzlei und Berufsschule. Während der gesamten 3 Jahre steht Englisch auf dem Ausbildungsplan, zudem ist ein halbjähriges Praktikum im Ausland vorgesehen. Von den Ausbildungsinhalten sind neben der Büropraxis und ­organisation (u. a. auch Bibliotheksverwaltung, Recherchearbeit, Dokumentenmanagement), dem HGB sowie dem Immobilien- und Grundbuchrecht (auch Due-Diligence-Abläufe), Steuerrecht (Lesen von Bilanzen), das Marken- und Urheberrecht sowie das Bankrecht (Going Public, Delisting) vorgesehen. Am Ende der Ausbildung soll der ,,Legal Assistant” in der Lage sein, die Kolleginnen und Kollegen u. a. bei der praktischen Durchführung einer M & A/P. E. Transaktion verwaltungsmäßig zu begleiten.

and here is a beta-version syllabus: it doesn’t mention English, but I would be interested to know how they intend to integrate it.

I just discovered (via www.flefo.org) Martin Cross’s weblog Translating Patents.

The context in which it was cited was to do with his latest entry, on producing translations that are as bad as the original text (GIGO). The following remarks were being disputed:

When translating patents for information or litigation support, our job of is like that of a court interpreter — we reproduce what was said without omission or embellishment and strive to make ourselves invisible. Our clients would not be well served if we added matter to fill in the gaps in an incomplete disclosure, or if we took on the role of editor so that the translated claims seemed better supported by the specification than they were in the original. And though it might be tempting to unify disparate terminology, by doing so, we could be denying our client a useful argument against the patent or — if our client is on the other side — producing a false sense of security that risks being shattered by a more accurate translation when used in court.

Martin Cross translates patents from the Japanese. He links to previous appearances and publications.

This reminds me that Steve Vitek of the old Flefo also does Japanese translations. Here’s an article by him in the Translation Journal.

Outside the entrance to the underground, Rathaus. Which party would you like?

In the background, the building occupied by the Jubiläumsshop where the NPD is apparently encamped was the first department store in Bavaria.