Welcome to Language Barriers, Incorporated. Our tour today will consist of the history, current work, and future plans of the company. We’re currently in the original building. Language Barriers was established in 1985 to translate children’s books into other languages. The founder of the company, Maxine Delane Strickler, was a sociologist that realized cultures cold be united by written works if there were no language barriers. Ms. Strickler established the company here in Atlanta to be reminded of why she was doing this.
Language Barriers was turned over to Ms. Strickler’s niece, Michelle Lyons, in 1990. Ms. Lyons expanded the company from its 200 employees and one building to ten branches and over 5,000 employees. Ms. Lyons has kept the sociological aspects important to her aunt, but has also added the journalism and publishing that are her expertise.
Language Barriers current work is translating children’s books, publishing new children’s books in several languages, and distributing children’s books to over 50 countries. The current branches are the one here in Atlanta and others in Iola, Kansas; Dallas, Texas; Torrence, California; Indianapolis, Indiana; Paris, France; Madrid, Spain; Tokyo, Japan; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Mexico City, Mexico.
If you will follow me, I’ll show you a language laboratory and the communications room. The language laboratories are where the actual translation is done. In each branch five languages are translated per laboratory. Here we have one of the seven language laboratories at this branch. As you can see, there are several computers. Each computer is set to a certain language. No computers are set to English because that is the language all works at this branch are translated from. Normally, there are fifty people in here at a time translating different books. After the books are translated, they are sent by computer network to the communications room.
The communications room is this way, please. In the communications room, native speakers of the languages read the stories and see if they make sense. Also, experts from the different branches communicate with each other from this room. If one translation does not make sense, it can be sent to another branch for expert advice from here and then sent back to this room. All company communications are carried out through one of the branch communications rooms.
That concludes today’s tour. Be sure to get a pamphlet on the company on your way out. Any questions?
© Megan Delia Ratcliff, 1998
