Languages
English - Mandarin – Korean - Hindi
English
From the beginning of the concept of producing and broadcasting radio programs based on Dr. James M Cecy’s extensive recorded works, it has been the desire to translate them into the languages of the listeners. Having begun with broadcasts reaching into China and the surrounding countries, Mandarin was the 1st language targeted for programs translation. Although there existed at the time translation software that was rather accurate, none was accurate enough for broadcasting biblical content well. And no means existed to voice any translation well.
In April of 2024, while scouring the available services in the vast cloud, I located a service under the name, “Synthesys.” Synthesys used Artificial Intelligence not only to translate English content into several other languages, but the service would also decode the original recorded audio into English text, then perform the translation with an option to then edit the English as well as the translated language before then converting the translation into a new audio recording – using the voice that originally spoke the English voice!
Partnering with Synthesis, Global Radio Ministries performed several tests on the Synthesys system, producing trial translations that were then read and heard by native Mandarin speakers. The results were positive, though some anomalies in the phrasing in Mandarin were noted by the Mandarin listeners. It was clear that to be the best, each translation needed to be vetted and edited before being voiced in the target language. God provided a volunteer who lived in Merizo, Guam. He had grown up in China speaking Mandarin, had then moved to Taiwan and then to Guam. He literally knocked on the door of the station KTWR and offered to volunteer in any way he could at the station. The station manager sent him to me and over the course of two hours brought him on as a volunteer editor, to review and edit the Synthesys translations.
Through his edits, we gained confidence in the results. So, in March of 2024 we began our first program broadcasts into China in Mandarin using the voice of Dr. Cecy. We dubbed the process, “Transclonation” because it is a process that both translates the original language into another language and uses the cloned voice of the original speaker to present the translation. After nine programs, our Mandarin editor told us that he did not need to make any edits to the translations for numbers 7, 8 or 9. They were perfect. Going forward, he felt that he was no longer needed.
Since late 2024, another transclonation system became available that overcame an issue that existed with Synthesys, limiting us to transclonating recordings only three minutes at a time. Our new service allows us to transclonate up to thirty minute segments, saving us a significant amount of time and effort, while increasing our available target languages to over 180.
Mandarin
Since 2015, the governments of large countries in Asia have increased its suppression of western influences within the country, especially Christian influences. Using its control over the Internet, cellular and all other means of communication within China and over communication with the outside world, its citizens now have nearly no was to use the internet or cellular to access Christian materials. Missionary organizations have been expelled. Internet addresses in the west and those that contain Christian content have been blocked. Searching for Christian content can be monitored and results in a knock on the door by Party officers. Email is scanned for keywords. Pressure is being put on the underground Christian churches, known as house churches, to close down. The State church is tremendously heretical and aimed at supporting government doctrine. Many other Asian countries are following suit.
As a result, an older technology has become effective at getting around the restrictions on most of Asia’s citizens accessing biblical truth and spreading the Gospel and having discipleship teaching available, shortwave radio. Shortwave radio reaches across great distances, over oceans and country borders. It is extremely difficult to stop, jam or disable by international law and for practical reasons. It is essentially impossible to detect when a person is listening to an international shortwave broadcast, so safety and security are high for someone desiring to listen to our broadcasts.
We will continue to produce our English programs in Mandarin as well so the library of Mandarin language programs will continue to grow. China is not our only target for foreign language broadcasts.
Korean
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