Translation Sensation

Translation Sensation
A Profile of YPFP Member Eugene Yi
 
By Emily Valentine
 
To many students, studying languages means learning grammar rules, memorizing vocabulary and reciting verb tenses. But according to YPFP member Eugene Yi, learning a foreign language can provide much more.
 
Yi, a Korean-American who has studied Mandarin Chinese for the past seven years, believes that individuals who speak a foreign language wield a powerful political advantage, particularly when working in foreign policy and international relations.
 
“Having the ability to communicate ideas with citizens of other countries, even at the most basic level, allows us to influence foreigners on an individual basis,” he said.
 
Yi experienced this sort of individual diplomacy firsthand when he spent a summer abroad in Beijing.
 
He returned to the U.S. inspired by the power of public diplomacy and eager to channel the linguistic skills of his peers at Princeton.
 
The result was the Princeton University Language Project (PULP), which Yi established in the fall of 2005.
 
PULP, which is staffed and run by students at Princeton, provides free translation services for non-profit organizations such as Kiva Microfunds, Earthrights International, the World Resources Institute and the New York Asian Women's Center.
 
“The project offers a pragmatic way in which aspiring polyglots can practice their language skills while helping to break down the language barriers that limit these organizations’ efficiency and capability,” Yi said.
 
The organizations PULP serves benefit not only from free, high quality translation services, but also from the relationships they establish with students who may contribute to their causes in the future.
 
Likewise, the students who work for PULP benefit by gaining professional translation experience, enhancing their fluency in a foreign language, and supporting the free exchange of information among organizations seeking to affect foreign and domestic policy.
 
Yi, who graduated from Princeton in 2008 and now works in East Asian Affairs at the Pentagon, is striving to spread the idea of PULP to campuses across the U.S. He would also like for young professionals and graduate students to be able to participate in the project’s efforts via the web.
 
“I believe that we can revolutionize how international non-profits, NGOs and other civically engaged organizations operate by widening the network of translators who can help these organizations reach demographics previously unreachable because of language barriers,” Yi said.
 
Although Yi initially founded PULP as a means to practice his Chinese and Korean language skills, it has also been an exciting exercise in social entrepreneurship for him.
 
“Learning how to manage time and resources and market ideas has helped me immensely,” he said.
“And of course, as a country desk officer [at the Pentagon], using the languages that PULP helped me maintain has been a rewarding and fulfilling part of my job.”
 
For more information or to get involved with PULP, visit it on the web at www.princeton.edu/~pulp
 
Emily Valentine is a staff writer for the Wire and a communications and marketing student at Virginia Commonwealth University.