This was a letter to the editor of Cameroon Tribune of Tuesday, July 4, 1989.
Dear Sir,
Many knowledgeable Cameroonians, who had long regretted the neglect of our tourism industry, gave a standing ovation to the decision to raise the industry into a Ministry in its own right. One of Cameroon’s trump cards which, if used diligently, can stand us in good stead with tourists, is our status as a bilingual nation.
Our use of French and English as official languages puts us in a class of our own in Africa. Our position in the eyes of the world has just been further enhanced by our wise decision to make our presence felt in the assembly of French-speaking nations, “La “Francophonie”, and in the Commonwealth of Nations. To make ourselves understood in such international bodies requires, of course, that we present our case in both English and French. Hence the importance of translation and the translator in our tourism industry.
Some well-meaning Cameroonians have expressed amazement that Cameroon’s embassies and diplomatic missions abroad, notably in English-speaking countries, have been presenting material about touristic sites in Cameroon in one language only – French!! The new Ministry must steer clear of such short-sightedness if we are to make any noticeable inroads into the highly competitive tourism industry in Africa.
Tourism brochures or pamphlets issued by the new Ministry of Tourism must not only be in English and French, but also in German and, if possible, Japanese and Chinese. This means that the new Ministry must give serious thought to setting up a powerful translation pool to be run by at least six competent, well-qualified, experienced Cameroonian translators.
Since the bulk of the translator’s work in this country is usually from French into English, I’ll suggest that four of the six translators in question be those with English as an active or target language, i.e., those translating from French into English. The translator has a crucial role to play in promoting tourism in this country. Officials of the new Ministry must recognize this fact and not bow to that widespread, narrow-minded tendency to consider the translator as an expendable maverick with nothing useful to contribute to national development. Were they to ignore the translator, the tourist would ignore our country.
Martin Jumbam
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