How much is spent on translaters for immigrants per year?

Question

On BBC2 Newsnight programme they have just asked this same question. Some Immigrants said they were entitled under Human Rights to demand a translater and we the tax payers should foot the bill. Others had been here 25 years and have no intention of learning English our Culture or Traditions. So on top of the illegal Immigrants and other monies that are needed to keep these people here how much is it really costing us. Just for the Health Service they were talking something like £400 million......A Council paid £20,000 per print for one page in it's newsletter to be translated....... the mind boggles is it any wonder the country has no money for the real things like Police, Hospitals, Schools, etc.

Answer 1

That is a fantastic question. I have no idea what the answer is but I sure am glad you brought it to my attention. I hadn't thought about how much money is wasted on immigrants who don't care to learn the language of the country they chose to live in. I couldn't even imagine moving to another country and not learning to speak the language.

Answer 2

There are well over 500 language groups in the world, ranging from the 850 million that speak Mandarin Chinese, all the way to the few handfuls of people who speak the dying languages of certain Native American tribes.

While it's impossible to find a translator for every single one, with so many different languages spoken on this planet, there are going to be a lot of people out there who won't speak your language. So translation work is highly necessary and if your country/area has a large population of a certain language group, it would be most beneficial to make sure that language group is included in any communications.

Here in the US, while English is our unofficial language (it IS official in many states, though, just not federally), there are a large number of foreign language groups in certain areas. Along the southern border, Spanish. Along the west coast, Asian languages. In the northeast on the Canadian border, French. It's no wonder that a state like California, which has the largest immigrant population in the US, offers the driving test not only in English, but in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog and Vietnamese as well. Arizona even translates certain documents into Navajo Indian, and Louisiana actually made French it's official language.

While it is easy to say "Well, why don't they learn English?", one must remember that English is one of the harder languages to learn, because it is such a mish-mash of other languages (roots in both Saxon-Germanic and Middle French languages) and because it has a lot of nuances and exceptions to standard rules (for example: I before E, except after C, or when sounding like A as in neighbor and weigh). Also, while many immigrants DO learn English, it still takes them a while, and if they are fresh OTB (Off The Boat, for those of you who don't know the term, which is generally used by Asian immigrants to describe their ancestors who were the first to come to the US), then they probably will need a translator to tell them where to go and what to do.

As for taxpayers footing the bill, it would really depend on the reason the translation is needed. In court, or for any legal proceedings and documents, it is absolutely necessary, so that any non-English speaking immigrant can know what is going on (especially if they are getting in trouble). In schools, it's helpful but not necessary, as one would assume that if they're in school, they're probably learning English there.

While I would hope that someone who's lived in a country 25 years has learned a good amount of the language, it doesn't always happen, since people tend to segregate themselves and one can live in the US without ever having to speak English. And while it's the immigrants' responsibility to learn the language if they want to get around in this country and make something of themselves, no one is forcing them to learn it. They can stay stuck in their own language community if that is their grandest goal in life.

But the bottom line is that no matter where you live, or the group you're dealing with, you will need translators because not everyone in the whole world is going to speak your language.

Answer 3

1 dollar Bob

Answer 4

here in the US my county specifically the court has a spanish translater that makes $100 dollars an hour and believe me she is there everyday.

Answer 5

local councils alone were playing out 55million,i cant remember what the others were,1 local council in question were paying out to run a "give up smoking course" in turkish!!

Answer 6

Yes and they want to give the Local Councils even more power....

Answer 7

Mention money to an immigrant , speaking English or not THEY UNDERSTAND WITH HAND OUT..

Answer 8

100 mil

Answer 9

Too much, if they want to come to my country they should damn well learn to speak the language.

Answer 10

that makes me mad. If they are spending that much money on translaters, then why do they still have spanish choices in phone calls, books, everthing.