Atlas Newsletter – April 2009
The Origin of April Fools’ Day – No Joking!
“April Fools’ Day”, sometimes also called “All Fools’ Day”, is a day celebrated in many countries on 1st April. Many practical jokes, hoaxes and pranks are directed to the gullible or they are sent on a “fools’ errand”, the aim of which is to cause embarrassment. Traditionally, in some countries such as the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa, the jokes end at noon and someone who plays a trick after noon is called an "April Fool". In other countries, such as in Ireland, France and the USA, the jokes last all day.
The origin of April Fools' Day is obscure. One theory is that the day was first celebrated soon after the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar and the term “April Fool” referred to someone still adhering to the Julian Calendar, which it replaced. Another theory is that in many pre-Christian cultures, May Day (1st May) was celebrated as the first day of summer and signalled the start of the spring planting season. An April Fool was someone who did this prematurely. On the other hand, an English newspaper article published on April 13th, 1789 said that the day had its origins when Noah sent the raven off too early, before the waters had receded. He did this on the first day of the Hebrew month that corresponds with April. A possible reference to April Fools' Day can be seen in the Canterbury Tales (ca 1400) in the Nun's Priest's tale, a tale of two fools: Chanticleer and the fox, which took place on 32nd March.
Question of the month! Test yourself with our April question: Which European language is officially spoken in Cape Verde? (answer can be found at the bottom of the newsletter).
Taiwanese interpreter is top contender for Australia's dream job
Taiwanese interpreter Clare Wang is one of the top contenders for the dream job as caretaker of an unmanned island off the coast of Australia. Since Tourism Queensland launched the campaign to find a caretaker for six months for Hamilton Island, which is part of the Great Barrier Reef, more than 35,000 people worldwide have applied, lured by the 100,000 US dollar pay and the scenery. By last month, Wang had won 143,965 votes from online voters around the world. In her videotape, Wang describes herself as good at breaking the communication barrier, curious and adventurous. She says she likes swimming, diving, mountain climbing and bungee jumping. That she has never been to the Great Barrier Reef is "one more reason you should vote for me!" she says. Media reports in Taiwan said it was a miracle that Wang has become so popular, suggesting her warmth, enthusiasm and fluency in English could have played a role. Tourism Queensland plans to interview the 11 finalists on May 3rd and announce the winner on May 6th. The new caretaker is due to start work on the island on July 1st, cleaning a swimming pool, feeding fish and producing a blog to relay to the world her impressions of Hamilton Island as a holiday destination.
Brakes to be put on bilingual road signs after safety fears
Moves to extend bilingual road signs in the Highlands are being held up while the Scottish Government checks whether they are affecting road safety. Stewart Stevenson, the transport minister, says drivers take longer to understand Gaelic-English signs and drivers have been known to stop or make U-turns on main roads after misreading directions.
Since 2003 the Scottish Government has been installing bilingual road signs on the A82 Inverness to Fort William road and other ferry routes to the Western Isles and Argyll, including Ullapool, Mallaig, Uig on Skye and Oban.
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Highland Council wants ministers to give "urgent consideration" to extend this policy on the A9 north of Perth, the A96 east of Inverness and through the centre of the city. It says the signs help enhance the visibility of Gaelic and raise the profile of the language across the region.
However, Mr Stevenson said, "We need to know the impacts bilingual signs are having in our primary areas of responsibility. "For example, we know from previous research work that driver cognition requirements of bilingual signs are more onerous than those for monolingual signs. Under test conditions the increase in reading time was up to 41 per cent”. He goes on to say "clearly it could be considered irresponsible not to evaluate the current policy."
Hamish Fraser, chairman of the council's Gaelic committee, said he was disappointed the Transport Scotland review only started in 2008. "While we fully appreciate the responsibility to review policies and expenditure, we feel it is inappropriate for this to be used as a barrier to further expansion of Gaelic signage, especially when there is a range of positive evidence from other countries where bilingual signage is in place."
Other News…
The Atlas Team would like to wish work placement Elena farewell. Elena, who returned to Italy last week, hopes to begin her career as a freelance translator. The team wishes her all the best for the future! On the other hand, Atlas welcomes new work placement Julia, from a small village called Guthmannshausen in Germany. Julia is studying translation at the University of Applied Sciences, Magedburg-Stendal. Atlas Translations is also proud to announce that it has just started its 19th year of trading, started in 1991 during the last recession and is still going strong! All translators and interpreters who have not yet invoiced us for work done up until March 31st, please submit your invoices now!
Answer to April question:
Portuguese is the official language of Cape Verde.
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