| One of the major issues for both the American | | | | local interpreter to fit different missions. That is, if |
| intelligence community and the military has been | | | | a competent interpreter can be located. The |
| the paucity of professionals in their ranks who are | | | | Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency |
| fluent in Arabic. Like any other major language, | | | | (DARPA) has spent $15 to $20 million a year in |
| there are dialectic variations within the language | | | | government funds over the past five years |
| that make fluent translation and understanding | | | | developing the mobile translator technology, due |
| that much more difficult. One need only consider | | | | to the shortage of humans with similar skills. |
| the vast dialectical differences in American English | | | | There are many translation devices on the |
| to begin to understand the kind of "nuance" that | | | | commercial market that work through Palm Pilots |
| rigidly thinking machines will have to content with. | | | | and other handheld devices. The type of usage |
| Technologists among us are developing equipment | | | | the military is seeking, however, is a little more |
| that can assist even the most hopelessly | | | | proactive. A platoon leader facing a village official |
| monolingual in uniform communicate with the | | | | doesn't have time to go through a search process |
| citizens of the nation he or she is occupying. The | | | | in order to find the correct phrase. On the other |
| United States Army is field testing a hand-held | | | | hand, these devices can't really be programmed |
| voice translator device developed by Integrated | | | | with the nuances required to get through a |
| Wave Technologies. | | | | get-together designed to win the hearts and |
| This device is already in use in other parts of the | | | | minds of the village elders. |
| world and is being used by soldiers in the field in | | | | Often the few Arabic-speaking soldiers who did |
| Iraq. The device converts simple English | | | | land in Iraq found that differences in dialect |
| commands into Iraqi Arabic or 15 other languages. | | | | rendered their knowledge unusable. Think of the |
| When the soldier says a simple phrase -- for | | | | working class inhabitants of the American Deep |
| example, "keep kids back" - the 'voice response | | | | South and British east London attempting to |
| translator' (VRT) matches that command to a | | | | communicate successfully. Both are speaking |
| more complex phrase in Arabic. In this case: | | | | "English," but it's highly unlikely either would |
| "Keep your children back from us or we will take | | | | understand the other in anything but the broadest |
| action against you." Not exactly a friendly warning | | | | of terms. In January, President Bush announced |
| and completely devoid of emotional content, | | | | that the Pentagon will devote hundreds of millions |
| nonetheless it's better than a warning shot. | | | | of dollars over the next five years to language |
| A firm called Voxtech makes a similar device | | | | training and, perhaps as important, training in |
| called the Phraselator. Voxtech' CEO says that | | | | cultural awareness. In the meantime, technology |
| one advantage of these portable translation | | | | will have to fill in. |
| devices is that they can be programmed by a | | | | |