Translating Languages From CDO

Mindanaoan Meets World
by: Maria Irene Aserios

I attended a pretty exciting event last weekend here in Cagayan de Oro. I took part in a Google Translate-a-thon, where volunteers like myself translated phrases and sentences from English to Tagalog, English to Cebuano and Tagalog to English.

Together with 7 other volunteers, I had fun translating phrases like “mamahalin kita nang walang hanggan,” “asa man ang balay nilang Tasyo” and even interesting, challenging lines like, “ang kapal ng mukha mo!” I found that challenging because if I translated it quite literally, I felt that the “essence” of the phrase would diminish! We also came across a lot of “hugot lines” so that was pretty fun. We did the translations for Google Translate, Google’s free online language translation service which instantly translates text and web pages. Now available in 90 languages.

That local Google Translate-a-thon was organized by the Google Business Group (GBG) – CDO community. I’m the GBG Women Techmakers lead organizer but that’s not the only reason why I participated. The mere idea that my translations (when verified) will be part of the Google Translate service is already enough to get me stoked! Plus the fact that the translations were made here in CDO – cool, right? Can you imagine this scenario – someone from Russia came across a Tagalog phrase, logged on to www.translate.google.com and the translation that she found was the one I crafted! Awesome.

Meet the other managers of GBG CDO. This photo was taken during our most recent gathering (where we were all gifted with our very own 3D viewers – Google Cardboards!)

Meanwhile, since it’s fiesta season in CDO, why don’t you grab a really cool Higalaay Festival t-shirt from Islands Souvenirs? Shoppers can look forward to a whole line of limited edition Higalaay Festival 2015 shirts with all-new designs and colors for that ultimate festival #selfie and #ootd. These exclusive shirts come in various sizes – even in ones that fit little babies! Super cute, trust me. Grab these exclusive tees today and feel the festival vibe with your friends and family. As a special treat, get a 50% discount on all regular colored shirts and 20% off on all special effects and regular black & white shirts.

Islands Souvenirs has always been in full support of the city’s annual celebration, which reinforces the company’s advocacy to promote Cagayan de Oro as a great tourist destination. With over 80 outlets nationwide strategically located in the country’s top tourist destinations, Islands Souvenirs continues to strengthen its brand identity and position by giving customers a vibrant shopping experience, best-quality products at affordable prices, innovative and creative concepts, exceptional customer service and exciting events. In CDO, Islands Souvenirs stores are located at the East Concourse of Limketkai Center and 2/F of Centrio Mall.

That’s it for this week! Enjoy the fiesta and don’t forget to thank our patron saint for all the blessings. For more travel and lifestyle stories, please visit my blog Mindanaoan.com. Til next ish! Safe travels, everybody!