OSS - REPORT ON THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES OF THE NEW YORK OFFICE OF THE COORDINATOR FOR INFORMATION,

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: OSS Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP13X00001R000100080004-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 15
• Document Creation Date: November 3, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 18, 2013
• Sequence Number: 4
• Content Type: MISC

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WORT ON LINGUISTIC ACTIVIrIF3
at the
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This report is based on a two week's study se the UAW/tie
aotivities at tho flow York office of the Coordinator or Information.
Various phamos of tho oporation were studied with a rime tie soueoltd.
in. the most *Motive procedure. A plan is presented:which it In-
tended to accommodate both present volume and future expansion.
R000nsmendations nro mado on the basis ors
&dentin? linguistic factors involved IA:
(a) the translation and recreation at tn4lish
:editorial into foreign languages.
(b) original foreign-lan6uags composition.
2. Physioal considorations
of this proosss.
All criticism is directed
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- Staff meetings
- Physical considaratiams
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On the basis of present aotivity aad or 14es1 satOkty-
organisation should 'have a two-fold function to the em0 iiiig,
quality, adequate foreign language service be mattered *-4141,
pests of the C. O. I. New York ?Moe. These fueatiaisraar
stated briefly 4141
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Considerint the first function from the abeme paragraph. it
, .
was oarly apparent that tho prococa of re-creation of itaglish script
?? c c., n-4. into foreign languages requires considerably more latitude an the
4. part or the translators than at present. When transposing an idea
,.,:et?;;. fram on language to another there are literally dofens et possible
''.4'?,'-"' expressions. The meet judioioui selection and caution must 'be:
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exercised. A correspondence is never possible if the speakers et
,.: the foreign lan6ua6e do not have the same set ofexperpossis,;AstWa,,
speakers of the original script. LiteraItianslatiani'aii4i46 '
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-'., ruled out completely except in the case of icieatifio formul*Olte.
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Effectiveliteral translation may b. ruled out'.,O.0.'
roiiada
that the structure of thip,nglish,langUaga-ia,Unlike:1,-,*
., Other lezipiageo rwrithur,', our sritinG and sp.aktn t.obsJ4 ' -
,
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that the most promin4nt.toughij;?,,,plae4.firit':a=
tiOn,ofthis im- thei411Usitration. Thii.strix:
thinking as sell. It entirely,n0:,
have the-101404in, firSt-:, ' In,Oerain?-Ahisjis(uit
'ipeolAtTtri 47 is ?iiicieis!itiry. '% The . .
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lia46ia',,
),.., the 04 ' 0 -st'; iozielliuild4up: , tat ii,:ibio* a :casie ?-t
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y P, griciconsideriblidetiiiand elatiora*C0i.v,:-, fe .;
:! c rora%j St
Originallimatiefrialliit*foroigti?. . ' ii,
Olati'v 1,,:linitiiii- 4'.'"i0itityc.whii4i-re%iVeit requires perk..
.,
t
rrni'.,a vyto insure
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3.
It is also nvoensary to ?wielder this requirements of a putt.
oular language arca. In Finland. for osample, that', is lig4 unt444117
high (inns or national oulture as well as a long.otandlog university
and literary training. The material direeted to this country must
be of exoeptionally high oalibro rrom a literary point or TiWO? This
requires extensive polishing and re...writing. Orowt dosage eon be
done by s000nd-rato work or by an announewr with an unoultivatwd
voice. This last woo recently the ow with ono or the major aa4.
works. Other probloms aro encounto ad in othwr langua40 arose end
oaoh must be ponsidored Individually in ths 11 ht or national
payohology and oulturo.
4. COLLADORATION .i411111 OMR DITISTONJ
rt will bo soon that. to aohievo the ends disoussed in this three
provious sootions, the olosnet sort of oollaboratiqn is rtecessary *ttb
tho other divisions. It will frequently be nooessary to ?molder with
the othor divisions the problems connected rith re-creating original
Enzlish material into foreign lan6uacos. Information should to sup-
plied in both dirootions as to the most orfectivo way getting the
idua &wrong. ? This implios, of course, from the linguistic point or
view, that the right translator has boon oho son for a perticular pivots
or work. This stylos of tho various translators should be noted and
oompftred to the and that the most suitable man evallablo (er om rlio)
is put on * particular job. This is ?specially n000ssary in the case
or material dirootod to a cortain,stratum or a country. Cortaim
level, of sooiety are interested in cortoln aspect* of our-offert.
Curtain translators can handle those aspects better than ether,. I
have here partioulerly in glad suoh langUsge direerenoe oo exist La
Germiny between the military, Catholiu, and workers' greupee A epee-
ial job requires a speolal man and the wrong Ain an produee an um.
happy result. This applies to voioos, aeoonts. modulations rythnet
etc), as well as to translation styles.
National stylletio habits very greatlytrom.esounOy to soustry.
/n Turkey, fer osamploo editoria,Vopinipakanduoditorial,typwroftting
are held In great esteem. In apalnOlpt*Apriso ttet
tistios are'neniiderod,boring but in Auoolii,os th*Aotheihil?
tMQr
form ?part of the ' nteriat***tile ? Suilh, -tietot*aa
theme *tad; tie:406en i8lto atoOount when reipiriptg 41 i".444(astertal,
The :roieign'14guaige group : shOuld supply this intoned Loa toii' the
OOnOerned.',
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5. STAFF AUTIPOS
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Provision nhould be made for frequent (if not daily) *tett milt
ins. The report of the various language-units (Spenlah, Freneh, itd#
can be taken up at nuch meetings and definite reeommendatIone made. In
oonnootion with the staff meeting it is of paramount importan,. that
the Foreign Language staff listen -- *very day
1 Our own programs as they go over the Air
2 Foreign broadcast in their language.
From those broadeets information oan be given on the nathre er
our own programs as well AO the shirting tendencies in the foreign. Ian.
guage. Since language is a dynamic, ever ohanging phenomenon, It is
abaolutoly necessary for the staff to keep abreast or whatever chane,
occur. In Germany, for instance, Hitler And the Giessen Univereity
linguists have chanced noores of German words to give them amore
germanio flavor; o. g., dor Rundfunk for das Radio, or dor Schwund
for das fading (the En arEE7WiTr377-A per74077717E?Ef totia77717-Fr;
nati7=1-547E7e, for even a few months, loses that rasor-edge pre-
cision which is necessary for quality work. It la obviously ttpossible
for our people to go abroad every few months but they can listen
to the foreign stations. Provision should be made for this nooessary
review-listening.
In connection with this 1as4 point provision should Also be mad*
for a daily check of our own programs aa they go over the air. The
person to do this is the head of each language unit. Notations should
be made to the head of the Division with a view to a constant, improye.
meat. The staff meetings will be further necessary from the ralevring
points of view:
Routine, procedure and treatment of particular problems.
2 Discussion of previous day's script as wellas pre-
vious day's programs, with view to improvement.
Presentation of original ideas on the pert of the
language unit heads. This includes presentation et
ideas for original scripts as well'as other-suuss-
tions which will be trininitted to parties' interested.
Discussion of qualifications of.' translators qualified
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? Discussion of epecial holiday1 atros4 and momonrsit4a
to too sent to other Divinionsi e. pi April Ord
ishioh is children's da 1fl?UAW.
? Insistence of same man daily to translate *Metal
U. S. government communiques to assure seeessee end
evenness or style.
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6. EILISAL.,12131DRRATIOSS
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High quality. accurate translations 1n4 first rate original
foreign languago materialcannot be produced %leder peyeh4legleal
pressure? The analysis of lan?uate is ? soience but the carrying
over of a thought from ono lanipuage to another is a delicate art?
In order for this procooc to be carried out mast effeotively. It is
neceseary for the translators to have quiet and a certain almost of
repose to mull ovor in their minds and reflect this various slays of
rendering a passage. Sometime a translator may have to 1?,ry a pars.
agraph lovers" tim a or even drop it ror a while and zo to oomorthing,
else. This is espeoially true or such items as the Preisid4ntli
speeches. The presont location or the translators rondo:re A.number-
one work and recreation into the foreign lanpage impeesibles I have
in mind here particularly the noise element. The entire tranalsting
(and original script writing in foreign language) group should be
removed immediately to a lees noisy location. A special set of
rooms or officos should be ronorved for the exclusive use of this
type of work.
Further considerations or physical desiderata Aires
? VOreign language newspapers. ,:This 'would ISLOP,14111 'Oie
funny papers ail US* the raellir*itioistiii
is especially necessary for the oerre,otrmmijkteM'ic
up-towdate political and techniCal,teemm-i 1000.0
fective. the current newepper.:teri(404m1d*/ *rote Ilk_
should be used in olmotly:the*Mij i0me'iviriOdue *11,-
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instances siss:
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?uprosoiet '011 r, go
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,imitugaa?;'aiiolit4ter 'iiii,
*:iiiinviiito;,iitilliC.Oitift4iS OO
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2 - Sectional libraries cont4401.ig '''' 1, "..f
canary materiel andretpratnee.limr*i:1':::
dictionaries en
, eyelopedisisi- aossiiiliiiiii?r
,
3 - Files of Important material oppeari '4.4:
language press both here aid abroad* ' '''
Hitler's speeches. sto? A tranalatiosk.44.
tion oann Th
ot be offeetive? e nsassater '.. - ''
In $ uoh an operation must be N1?412044, iii, 40.,':
gaged In the operation or by researsh assistants
with the language units. Mese files shc014. be la -a-,
central pl&co and kept up to (1st**
- In oonnootion with the private translating an4
iris rooms instructions should be given that this,nwr
'coign lenguage staff converse only in the forelocicn-
guage. Constant hearing of English tends to, imiiart
a rearrangement or the foreiin struoturt *a *an air
impinge American phonetics habits on the foreITA lens.
euage,
The processes outlinod In the Coregoing paragrephe arm,
highly specialised nature. Th. personnelanet - -
informed as to the psychology and oulturerarany.., ;3,
and must be able to re-create into that-area:
'Ice l. turning out a minimum of 283 translation*,
l'te- peak week, s total of 360 spselallsed:Irastela
siparate ,langsMiges' Werie , supplied) tertthe
and PublIontions r?r-iyoor,; oke wilot z.?
su Division to Supply the tez1
t?nd,n0j?5 and shift5 in
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General gimperwieer of all tpealik
Alleviator of work Losortiog ts 411014411t1400
of staff meabers.
Be thoroughly informs* as ts payskelsocy and
cultural patterns of 3pftn10-wpsakialc
turoot 4 ?
Be Able to draft An ttea amid pmt tt tato
action from sowse natarial empplied tram
other sour's**
Creative writing.
Have knowledge ofi
(A) VOrAVIZA announcers.
b) I tramolotors.
eliters.
artists and actors*
faeeist 4 antl-fassist
groups.
Channels of intermotiesm
(g) Nle 'hangs,.
Keep abreast of forodenLenii prim hero
and abroad.
Meek staff material Its it leaves*
ThorouAhly familiar with all sweets of star
eperation.
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By 'normal staff* and tAnergenoy staff" are mennt twe werittON
graapn. The Margenay Oaf: will le a paper staff Atiek is tem
mediately available in ease of emergeseye Oenteet is arw *rift
made nt the vnrioas networks, universities, emit ether empties
for persons of special talentl et., proftetieft nee with litheleroleitge
of foreign lanmAges, epeeial feature writers. traselaterce etc
When these are ?idled in on speelal asslimeonte they will he smiler
the immediate supervision of the Head of seek Innimema volt.
the (wee of teohnlaions with foreign leninao ability. ChM/ All
he under the supervision of the Radio Division. Pratemilen
Department with whom liaison is nov losing astablishmd.
Under the "laninul4A unite 3panish, sta. is indisatet the
of separate language departments in the Division. The Number,
now 15, oan be expanded to moot any situation ismasmnah as ma
amerganar staff of language slports for the Aajor nli*reefs
of the entire globe will be set up.
The organisation of a typical unit. Spanish in this ease, Is
a pattern-type for other similar units. Thiess units mar be
whenever nusespary, to the total divisional orgmalsatioa without
disrupting the flow of work. Thews units are self-oselained in
that they have & supervising director, trwaslatimg assistants,
and a eaerstarial assistant along with the neesseary refsrenee
works and files.
The unit supervisor should be dirootly responsible for ell
phases of activity in his unit, and should himself he dirootly
under the administrative officers of the Division. Xaoh unit,
fnrther, should have an esargeney roster from which Ames ema be
secured immediately for any emergenv. The warms of the enerm
gamy radior are indicated on the chart.
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TO achieve n smoothly flowing P700400010* fPNN LIONS Soo INISm
put, a retains) sheet and plan.of..work sheet is emgmeied alshog the
followine line's
1 - Dissuasion and investigation aa to speeial direetivie
for a particular oemntry. This disemssioa Is with the
offices nupplyInw; matorial.
- piscuscion and Investightion with Reed and officer' of
Foreign LanguAge Division as to apecial needs and
problems conneotod with psychology and cultmre of par-
ticular languace-area. Allocation of work according
to capabilltieo of staff members editing.
3 - Discussion withSupervisor of Spanish Departmeat AS
to particular trontmant. Trmaslation and re-creating
into apanish.
- Return to Spanish aupervisor for ?hooking and 0. X.
- Listening Jury to sit in at production and rehoarsals
for aceeptanoo, rejootion, revision. At this point
close oollaboration with other officio* (Preduatjon.
etc.) is nioessary.
- Vinal O. K. by Foreign Division for release wherever
necessary.
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Ths !Unction of tho listmtioN jory will to that of posideir
final linduistic judgment on all materials intended for boost&
east. This can best be asoomplishod 'by horded a owes. *ter
(preferably an outsider) sit in the emstreI room slam vith She
engineer and production MAA40 My damns ems be esoght at the
dreso-rehegirsal before tho final eat is mad,.
In Inn:1601m with tho listmang Jr a twe or threemiama
listesissg jury Is recommended at all **Miens fir fOredst
language talent. atandard language-quill* row, Shaft shalt
be prepared for shooktm in various appropriate beam OW
reform's file.
In addition to the voice-West files, ability files ef
various foreign language translators, writer*, prediseera. 0144
aro suggested. These will enable the Division to sentaet
the best persons fitted for a particular piess of wit.
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in view of the atiatily iaareasing binviat ihiti efflie*
occasioned by the illtroduction of origiala lansiteige
script presentation an(1 the now pressine tresslatien surviss.
it Is suggested that the aop totnother leeetienb.made
basdiatelY? ergiuttsation end proiesdure eiggesied
then be introduced.
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