Bilingual signs are also now being used by some government offices in the Gaelic-speaking areas. Bilingual signs are also a common sight in many British schools. If everyone is to understand their entitlements, public information needs to be translated into many different languages, as suggested by the montage of leaflets and brochures illustrated here. Their translators regularly deal with signage, council documents, standard letters to parents, letters from the housing department, and publicity materials for social services. They recently completed a phrase book in 28 different languages for the London Ambulance Service.
Most people are happy that their mother tongue has greater visibility.
As the director of Learning Design, Eddie McParland, explained, 'It's a way of enabling them to pass their language on to their children - it gives it validation'. If you were to do everything in every language, it would cost a fortune. Established by the local council in the early 1990s to make public information more easily available, the balance has gradually shifted over the years from information to news, and now it has the feel of a local newspaper. 72,000 free copies a week are delivered to every home in the Borough. The Council funds the paper to provide public information, while other aspects of its work are covered by advertising revenue.