The ATA Chronicle - May/June 2017 - 2

FROM THE PRESIDENT
DAVID RUMSEY
president@atanet.org
Twitter handle: @davidcrumsey

ATA Advocacy
Efforts

T

here's a mantra in real estate that says,
"location, location, location." Which
is to say, no matter where your house
is built, it's the neighborhood that really
establishes its value. In terms of ATA and the
U.S. translation and interpreting industry as
a whole, our neighborhood could use a little
tender loving care. Particularly now.
Despite its massive size and rich history
of immigrants from around the globe, the
U.S. still considers itself to be a primarily
monolingual, English-speaking country.
As a result, "translation" and "interpreting"
are still largely alien concepts for a vast
portion of the population.
In an effort to "improve the
neighborhood" for our industry, advocacy
plays a key role. ATA has been sponsoring
advocacy and outreach efforts on a
number of fronts.
A report by the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences1 and a related effort by
the American Council on the Teaching of
Foreign Language (www.leadwithlanguages.
org) paint a language landscape in the
U.S. that's in dire need of attention.
Language learning programs have dropped
precipitously in recent years, and with
them the chance to train new translators
and interpreters. Where will tomorrow's
translators and interpreters come from
to meet the growing need for Chinese,
Arabic, Hindi, Farsi, Korean, and many
other languages that are rarely taught in
school? Less exposure to foreign-language
instruction also leads to clients with
little understanding of language issues in
business or government settings, making
translation and interpreting projects all the
more challenging.
ATA recently participated and sponsored
a Language Advocacy Day in Washington,
2

The ATA Chronicle | May/June 2017

DC, an event hosted by the Joint National
Committee for Languages and the National
Council for Languages and International
Studies (JNCL-NCLIS). ATA Past President
Caitilin Walsh, who now serves as ATA's
JNCL representative, joined dozens of
other delegates from language-learning
organizations and language industry
representatives to meet with congressional
staff members to lobby for greater foreignlanguage education and the importance
of translators and interpreters in helping
American businesses succeed.2 Investing
in language learning and educating
government officials about what we do will
bear fruit in the future as the world becomes
even more tightly connected.
ATA offers many other ways to plant
seeds and flowers to improve the language
landscape in the U.S. The long-running
and popular School Outreach program
helps fertilize the soil at the roots by
having translators and interpreters meet
with local children to expose them to
what translators and interpreters do and
to foreign-language learning in general.
ATA's Public Relations Committee
also sponsors business outreach through
its pool of event speakers, who address
audiences from a variety of industries.
Presentations explaining the basics and
finer points of translation and interpreting
to business audiences have been held at the
Philadelphia Bar Association, the American
Chemical Society's Annual Conference, and
the Society for Technical Communication
Summit. ATA will also be present at the
International Association of Business
Communicators' World Conference this
summer. Since many audience members
don't have a background in foreign
languages, they are incredibly appreciative
of any guidance through the landscape.
As we know, like gardening and
landscaping, advocacy is a job that is never
done. It requires regular attention to make
sure the seeds we planted grow strong and
tall and don't get choked by the weeds
around them. It takes time and effort by
dedicated volunteers, who help to bring
passion, patience, and understanding to an
industry that we care about deeply. 
NOTES
1	
"America's Languages: Investing in
Language Education in the 21st Century"
(American Academy of Arts and Sciences,
2017), http://bit.ly/AAAS-report.
2.	

Walsh, Caitilin. "Advocacy Matters,"
The ATA Chronicle (March-April, 2017),
11, http://bit.ly/ATA-Chronicle-advocacy.

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