GN translators can’t keep up with demand

DENISE RIDEOUT

With a backlog of government documents waiting to be translated into Inuktitut and a severe shortage of translators in the territory, Nunavut’s language commissioner is calling on the government to put more money and resources into training translators.

Eva Aariak says the pile of reports needing translation is more than the government’s pool of translators can handle.

“The Language Bureau in Kugluktuk is overworked,” Aariak said. Most government documents are written in English and sent to the GN’s Lang-uage Bureau to be translated into Inuktitut. The bureau employs six full-time translators and uses contract translators to fill in.

Because of the high demand for translators, Aariak is urging the GN to make the interpreter/translator program at Nunavut Arctic College a much greater funding priority. The program desperately needs additional staff and resources to expand.

Aariak’s recommendation is part of a list of suggestions for improving GN language policies. The recommendations are outlined in the language commissioner’s 2000-1 annual report, presented to a legislative assembly committee on Jan. 31.

There are only two instructors in the interpreter/translator program. Students learn translating skills in the first year and interpreting in the second year. But with only two instructors, the college can’t offer the two years simultaneously.

As a result, the program can admit new students only once every two years. And it can accommodate no more than 10 students in the first year. That means there are just a handful of college-certified translators entering the workforce every two years.

Alexina Kublu, an instructor at Arctic College since 1996 and one of two teachers with the interpreter/translator program, welcomes any plan to increase the number of qualified translators.

“Our students are snatched up even before they finish the program,” she said.

“It would really help to get more instructors so we can expand. It’s something that we’ve wanted for some time.”