Speak2Tweet, Spreadsheets and the #Jan25 Revolution
Looking back with one of the translators of the crowdsourced translation effort in Egypt
On January 27, 2011, amid growing social unrest and mounting protests on the streets of Egypt, the Mubarak regime took the unprecedented action of cutting all access to the internet.
Amid great concern over the internet blackout, Google launched an initiative with Twitter using SayNow — a newly acquired app for voice to web — to set up a service that would allow Egyptians (and, later, Libyans and Syrians) to dial a free international number and leave a voice message. This message would then be posted online, and a link to the audio recording would be tweeted by @Speak2Tweet. The service thus allowed Egyptians to make their voices heard to the world — be they journalistic, passing messages to loved ones, or railing against crimes witnessed on the streets. Almost all of the messages were in Arabic.
In the hours following the launch of Speak2Tweet, a team of technologists, journalists, and translators organized to start transcribing and translating these audio messages, in what would go on to become a groundbreaking example of collaborative, community-driven translation.
Nour al-Ali — interviewed here by Meedan Labs’s Tom Trewinnard — was one of the key figures in translating this content, and in managing a dispersed and ad hoc translation team working around the clock to ensure that the voices of Egyptians were heard in languages ranging from English to Urdu.
Tom: You were one of the main people behind the Alive In Egypt translation initiative — what made you get involved?
Nour: The beautiful space that Twitter is, I was introduced to a Google Sheet with many contributors through a call for volunteers from Brian Conley. The night I joined, it wasn’t Alive In yet. The next morning, with Habib Haddad’s mindset, Eman Hassaballa Aly, and Sara Badr as well as Conley’s team — Aaron Huslage, Josh Mull and Steve Wyshywaniuk, Alive In was born.
It was all so spontaneous, effortless, and beautiful. We worked using some unconventional translation tools: Skype, Google Docs, Twitter and Facebook. Slowly but steadily, we called for translating volunteers in many languages; Arabic, English, French, Dutch, and even Urdu. This is where I met the Meedan team, as many of their members joined under the guidance of Ed Bice.
I couldn’t stop to think why, or how, but I am glad that I was given the chance to be part of this great initiative. It was a new experience that came with its own set of challenges, but I loved every second of it, especially the fluidity between thought and action. I believe this kind of system has become the norm in many volunteer-run translation efforts such as the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, which functions in a similar manner.
Tom: Alive In Egypt was a pioneering translation initiative — what unexpected challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?
Nour: The biggest problem was bringing in enough volunteers and managing them, but Sarah Badr did a great job in helping volunteers settle and familiarizing them with basic guidelines. There was also the issue in the translations themselves given that they were done by volunteers who — like myself — have had no experience or appropriate training.
It was all so spontaneous, effortless, and beautiful. We worked using some unconventional translation tools: Skype, Google Docs, Twitter and Facebook.
Creating guidelines and manuals for translating was helpful, and social media was a great catalyst whenever we needed more hands on deck. There was a clear objective in mind, and everyone knew their role. Ultimately, whatever issues we faced, the team dealt with them as a whole and moved on to the next challenge.
Tom: How and why did you get started in translation?
Nour: I work translating from Arabic to English and vice versa. While I’m Arab, I consider both languages my native tongue. I went to schools that followed the British system growing up (my parents wanted us to acquire the glorious accent), and to make up for that, my parents put me in a Quran school that I frequented on weekends. While all my siblings and I got the accent, now it is strictly an Arabic-speaking household.
I began translating documents and subtitling videos as favors for extended family members, friends, and freelancing for the sake of it in my early teens. It was mostly random documents that were of no interest to me. The process itself was quite interesting — seeing how words drastically changed in meaning when translated into other languages always fascinated me.
I love translating Tweets at work because they’re such a breeze!
As I grew older, I began honing my translation skills in political and literary fields. For a literary theory course, I started analyzing Syrian poet Mohamad al-Maghout’s poetry. The poems I chose were not translated into English, and I had to do it myself while remaining true to the poetic voice. Of course, the translated version is never as good or genuine as the original, but I gave it my best and included my notes on the translation process in the limitations of study. While I never received professional training or took courses in university, I mainly use my skills professionally — at work, in my research, and even for my personal blog at times too.
Tom: What were the most interesting or important translations you’ve ever done?
Nour: It is not fair to pinpoint a certain text, audio or video and say that is the most important. However, the translations that mostly resonate in mind to date are certainly those I did as part of my efforts in Alive In Egypt and Libya. I remember subtitling Wael Ghonim’s first interview since his release as it happened. Every few minutes, I found myself awestruck, unable to continue. It was quite difficult to separate the need to translate the videos on the spot from my desire to actually listen and take to heart what Ghonim was saying.
English, in my opinion, cannot mimic or mirror the rhetorical depth of Arabic. Both languages are independently beautiful in their own ways.
2 years after the Speak2Tweet project, Nour al-Ali joined Global Voices as a writer and translator after hearing a call for writers from Leila Nachawati Rego and then speaking with Amira Al Hussaini, editor the platform’s Middle East and North Africa section. She continues to work at the American University of Sharjah.
