OMITAMA, Ibaraki — Omitama city started to use six tablets this month. The tablets have a translation app. People can use them at service counters.
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The number of foreign residents in Omitama is going up. In April, 2,375 foreign nationals from 36 countries lived in the city.
City hall needs more language help. Some visits take a long time because people and city workers do not speak the same language. The city hopes the app will help them talk more easily.
Omitama has 673 people from Indonesia, 608 from Vietnam, 194 from Thailand, 177 from China and 124 from the Philippines.
The app can use 13 languages. They include English, Chinese, Korean and Indonesian. The city thinks the app can help about 60% of its foreign residents.
A person speaks into a tablet. Then the tablet changes the words into the language on the screen. The tablet also says the words aloud.
The tablets will cost the city 826,000 yen (about $5,400).
The city also plans to make a “living guidebook” as early as this autumn. It is for foreign nationals who move to Omitama. The book will have information about taxes, pensions, garbage disposal and emergencies.
“It’s hard to give support in every language, but we hope this will lead to smoother communication,” an Omitama general affairs division official said.
(Japanese original by Akihiro Kawakami, Tokyo City News Department)
Vocabulary
translation app: a phone or tablet tool that changes one language to another
service counter: a desk where people ask for help
foreign resident: a person from another country who lives in a place
foreign national: a person from another country
tax: money people pay to the city or country
pension: money for older people after work
garbage disposal: putting trash in the right place
emergency: a very dangerous or serious time
Original Source: 毎日新聞
