![\"Charity](\"https:\/\/www.textform.com\/tf2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/international_day_of_charity.png\")
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5<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a0September is the\u00a0<\/span>United Nations International Day of Charity<\/span><\/a>, established to bring awareness of the value of helping others \u2018through volunteer and philanthropic activities\u2019 and therefore a good opportunity for us here at text&form to take a look at how linguists and the language industry contribute to the global aid and volunteering effort.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The date of 5<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a0September marks the anniversary of the death of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her contribution to helping the poor and sick of not only Calcutta, but many people all over the world. Being Albanian by birth and then having lived and worked in India, Mother Teresa\u00a0<\/span>spoke several languages<\/span><\/a>\u00a0fluently including Bengali, Hindi and English, and evidently recognised the necessity of adapting her language in order to reach those in need. Her often spoken about gift of communication was undoubtedly helped by her ability to speak multiple languages.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The role of language in humanitarian work should not be underestimated. Ensuring that vital information can be accessed by those who need it most, in a language they understand, is key. World events over the course of 2020 have emphasised this more than ever and there has been a huge effort from the language sector to make Covid-19 health information freely\u00a0<\/span>available<\/span>\u00a0in as many languages as possible.\u00a0<\/span>The Endangered Languages project<\/span><\/a>\u00a0has created information in over 500 tongues and other similar schemes are in place. Making sure minority languages are represented is a priority and even\u00a0<\/span>translating a phrase<\/span>\u00a0as simple in English as \u2018social distancing\u2019 can be have serious health implications if not nuanced correctly.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Translator w<\/span>ithout Borders<\/span><\/a>\u00a0is one of the most prominent language charities and works \u2018towards a world where knowledge knows no language barriers\u2019. Their projects focus on providing translation and interpretation as part of the response to humanitarian crisis and building translation capacity at local level. Translators without Borders also places great emphasis on using language technology to bridge the language divide and increase the digital presence of marginalised languages using machine learning systems. TWB relies on volunteer translators to produce its millions of translated words and encourages those fluent in at least one other language to\u00a0<\/span>join<\/span><\/a>\u00a0them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Volunteer translators play an essential role in helping many other organisations across the world. The\u00a0<\/span>UN<\/span><\/a>\u00a0asks for as little as a few hours per week of a translator\u2019s time to help in its global projects and the\u00a0<\/span>Global Voices<\/span><\/a>\u00a0organisation counts on volunteer linguists to makes its stories available in as many languages as possible. Not unsurprisingly\u00a0<\/span>Wikipedia<\/span><\/a>\u00a0is also reliant on volunteer translators to help make its content obtainable in more than just the handful of dominant world languages and particularly encourages students to participate in its effort to bring information to the global community.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n