Teltow: Unique test office for light language helps millions!

Teltow: Unique test office for light language helps millions!

Lichterfelder Allee 45, 14513 Teltow, Deutschland - In Germany, more than ten million people need easy language to participate in social life. In Teltow, Brandenburg, there is now the only test office for light language that has an important function in checking and certification of texts. The test office, which was opened in July 2022, is guided by a team, the "Controllettis", which gathers once a week in order to evaluate the comprehensibility of already translated texts. The customers of the test office include the castle foundation, parties and consumer advice centers. The texts that meet the requirements receive a striking red-blue test seal with the lettering "light language".

The examiners in Teltow are people with disabilities or learning difficulties. Under the direction of Jolika Sudermann-van Die Berg, you have completed a six-day training course at the Easy Language Association and now have a certificate. This training included important aspects, including the rules for easy language, the use of images to support comprehensibility and the quality features for certified translations. An example of a tested text is about a queer youth center.

The meaning of the light language

Easy language is not only important for people with disabilities, but also helps dementia patients, non-mother speakers and people with reading and spelling weakness. The basic rules include short sentences, simple words and avoiding foreign words. Images support the comprehensibility and the texts should be spoken slowly to enable a better understanding.

The training of the examiners was co -financed by the state representative for the interests of people with disabilities, Janny Armbruster. During an event at the opening of the test office on July 1, 2022, Armbruster handed over training certificates to the ten new examiners. The training was carried out in cooperation with the freelance translators Ingeborg Naundorf and Dorothea Traupe, who brought valuable expertise into the project.

The test office in Teltow ensures that texts that are provided with the red-blue test seal correspond to the high standards that are required by the easy language e.V. At least two examiners have to check each text for its intelligibility before the coveted seal is assigned. For the work of the test office, financial means of the Ministry of Social Affairs are available to provide support of 5,000 euros in order to advance the important work.

The history of the light language goes back until 50 years ago in America, where it was launched to offer people with learning difficulties better access to information. The test office in Teltow is a crucial step to implement this philosophy in Germany and to promote the participation of all people in social life.

For more information, please visit rbb24 and Diakonissenhaus .