WSF: Language diversity or tolerant inclusion?

The language barrier

WSF 2005 can be characterised with one word — communication. If we cannot communicate, then we better not meet at all. But what language shall we choose for that? The Forum participants come from different continents, countries and regions, where many people do not speak any other language than their mother tongue. Despite this difficulty, there is no translation in at least 30 percent of the events.

In this Forum, we meet people with common ideas, who are doing what we are doing in our own country, but we do not speak the same language. What shall we do in such situations ? How do we communicate with each other ? The most difficult part is when we have to talk about topics that we are not so familiar with. There comes the language barrier, the mixture of cultures, the diveristy of languages, the paranoic fear that no one understands you.

Diversity and tolerance

Language diversity and the corresponding need for translation has become a great issue in Porto Alegre. Small and big events have had no translation. The problem is not with the lack of translators — there are actually a lot of volunteer translators. The problem lies with the lack of facilities and equipment like translation booths and headphones which perhaps really boil down to lack of technical and financial resources. In many workshop venues, the audience are grouped in different corners of the room, and in the middle of each group a Babel translator translates the speeches and the presentations consecutively — Babels is the network of volunteer translators in the WSF. This happened in big sessions such as the Forum on Communication Rights, and the Assembly of the World March of Women.

In small sessions, translation was not provided at all. The event organisers choose the language — if they are from the U.S., then it is English, if they are Braizilians — it is Portuguese. These were actually the main languages where translation was made available.

But what do South and Central American people do when they only speak Spanish? What do Brazilians do in English sessions? What do we all do — we, people from different countries — to ensure that we are getting our messages across?

The solution?

Yes, solutions were found! Some have chosen alternative ways: t-shirts, dress or even tattoos. Others are more artistic: they dance, sing or paint together.

Solidarty is the solution. More and more volunteer translators have come into the rescue in different events. The collaboration is amazing! Imagination breaks all rules. Mixtures of languages are invented: people speak Portanol (from Portuguese and Spanish), or Frenglish (between English and French). No need to depend on high technology, when cultures need to meet. One more thing is helping too: when we talk about our commonalities, when we have the same problems to share, and when we search together for progressive solutions, language is not a problem.

What language do you speak? Does it really matter?