Decibel
Translating Information Into Voter Turnout
Clip | 5m 5sVideo has Closed Captions
How one volunteer is translating voting information for her community.
Đi bầu cử ! Or is it just Đi bầu? One says let’s vote, one says let’s get pregnant. That nuance is why having solid translations is crucial. But even though there are hundreds of Vietnamese speakers in Travis County, there’s not enough for the county to translate voting material. But one volunteer is working to change that.
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Decibel is a local public television program presented by Austin PBS
Funding for Decibel is provided in part by Texas Mutual and Roxanne Elder & Scott Borders
Decibel
Translating Information Into Voter Turnout
Clip | 5m 5sVideo has Closed Captions
Đi bầu cử ! Or is it just Đi bầu? One says let’s vote, one says let’s get pregnant. That nuance is why having solid translations is crucial. But even though there are hundreds of Vietnamese speakers in Travis County, there’s not enough for the county to translate voting material. But one volunteer is working to change that.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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- [Interviewer] What are some terms that, you know, it's a little trickier to translate?
- You have to say the word, "Go to vote."
So b'u c But if you just don't say the word c you just sayi b'u B'u is also another meaning of getting pregnant.
(light music) So I'm gonna go get pregnant.
So we have to be careful on those.
and what exactly your role is now.
- Okay, yeah, my name is Lana Nguyen.
I'm the president, elected president of the Vietnamese-American Community at Austin, Texas, short for VACAT.
(crowd chattering) There are 35,000 Vietnamese-American here in Central Texas.
We are the central point of resources for them.
(crowd chattering) The healthcare system, translating documents, and also civic engagement.
And to be able to help educate not just the older generation, but the younger generation, too.
Well-informed voter we call it, right?
But it's very hard.
(light music) Even myself, when I try to search for information, (keyboard clacking) especially candidate in Vietnamese, I can see that's a challenge, but I wish, like, all the, like, the whole state of Texas united and, you know, work with the community.
Get it translate, disseminate it.
- Having it translated to the native language, it makes a huge difference.
My name is Gretchen Otto and I volunteer with the League of Women Voters.
I've been working on the team that produces the voter's guide for about the last 10 years.
We want all eligible voters to understand what they're voting for.
We cover every race, every candidate, the ballot measures, which are so hard to understand even if you're a native English speaker.
About eight years ago, the Austin league was then able to start doing Vietnamese and Chinese translations, but there is a lot of nuance to it.
(upbeat music) We started out by hiring a professional translation company.
(keyboard clacking) Translations that we got back were not as good as they needed to be.
- It was not good.
That's when we engaged with the Women League.
- That's when Lana from VACAT reached out to us and said, "Please, I wanna help you with this translation.
We need it to be better."
- For too long, both party have used immigration.
(speaking Vietnamese), for too long.
(Lana speaking Vietnamese) I think that will be better.
We're working in the voter guide for the League Women Voter.
We've completed the local one all the way to the ISD level.
Now I'm working on the national version of it, you know?
(light music) - There could have multiple meanings for one word in English, and so when you translate it, sometimes a translator can choose the wrong connotation for the word.
- Like for example, you say, "Let's go vote," right?
And b'u c , right?
But then when you say something like that, it's meaning you, like, command someone to go.
"Go vote," right?
But we say, Hãy b Basically, "Let's go," like, "Please let's go vote," right?
That will give an emotional, like, a persuasive way, so emotion to it.
- Or a race, we mean a candidate is running for election, not a candidate is running in a marathon.
- That's really good.
I'm happy with this guy.
(laughing) - Lana has been an amazing partner to us in providing a translation that is culturally-sensitive and much more accurate.
- That's motivate me because I say, I have to have a voice.
(soft music) My parents are boat people.
We come here as refugees.
Most of our parents are first generations, and they come here and they just busy working, make a living for themselves.
This basically stayed a a room share, and everything's included, you know, five minutes from here.
They know a democracy, but they don't understand much about voting, right?
So I'm trying to educate them, though.
(soft music continues) As a community leader, as I say, by you going out to vote, that give us the number, that give us the voice.
You have to engage in civically, yeah, in order for you to be known, and be heard, and be having a voice.
(soft music continues)
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Decibel is a local public television program presented by Austin PBS
Funding for Decibel is provided in part by Texas Mutual and Roxanne Elder & Scott Borders