By NNN-Bernama,
Tokyo : A volunteer group is set to send more than 300 Japanese-speaking interpreters to provide linguistic support for foreigners in the areas of northeastern and eastern Japan, that were stricken by the devastating earthquake on March 11, reported Kyodo News.
The Tokyo-based Japan Guide Consortium Volunteer Interpreters Bureau will have the interpreters work for relief teams and volunteers from overseas as well as quake-affected foreigners at places such as hospitals and evacuation centers.
“We keep our interpreters on standby, both in and outside Japan, in more than 10 languages including English, Chinese, Korea, Russian and French,” he said.
“We’re sure there are many who want to get help but don’t know who to ask for. Feel free to call us if you have any language problems,” one of its staff members said.
The contact number starting with the country code for Japan is 81-3-3233-7518 and the email address is [email protected]
While, a sociolinguistic study group at Hirosaki University in quake-hit Aomori Prefecture is posting online many sample signs and instructions relating to post-disaster information for foreigners written in easy-to-understand Japanese.
The group at the university’s Faculty of Humanities created the samples as well as an online brochure so that municipalities and nonprofit organizations can use them to inform foreign evacuees about off-limits places and the dates when open air soup kitchens are operating. The URL is:http://human.cc.hirosaki-u.ac.jp/kokugo/
In Iwate, the International Association is providing information online on the whereabouts of foreigners with Iwate prefectural residency.
The list, updated daily, offers data on the missing person’s nationality, place of residence, age, and the name of the person seeking the information.