President Obama seems ready save the world. But will they know what he's saying?

The inauguration of the new US President, Barack Obama, was watched right across the world. It lit a small flame of economic, military and diplomatic hope whose warmth was felt across the world. Watched by millions around the globe, the speech by America's 44th President was translated from English to German, Arabic and Chinese and flashed across TV screens in over 150 countries.

Massive coverage

This massive global coverage shows the importance of the swearing-in of the country's first African-American leader, a concept that would have been ridiculed even ten years ago. But has President Obama inherited a poisoned chalice? The world economy, led and massively influenced by the US, in the grip of the credit crunch for the last year, has now descended into full-blown recession.

President Obama has, though, promised to create three million jobs in the US by 2011, as part of an $800bn ('526bn) stimulus plan. He has given his plan universal appeal by including substantial tax cuts for individuals and businesses, plus an ambitious programme of spending on roads and schools.

Global appeal

Naturally, the speeches of such a charismatic figure with such global appeal will be translated into many languages. That's already been the case with his inauguration speech, which showed amazing differences between, and even within, nations in their interpretations.

In France, expert observers noted differences between the Le Monde and Lib'ration translations. Le Monde was generally held to be more faithful to President Obama's oratory, which uses much anaphora. This involves reiterating words at the start of each line to show willpower and resolve.

Monitoring the media

The official Chinese translation, meanwhile, carefully omitted any reference to 'facing down' Communism, thanks to the ruling Communist Party, which monitors the Internet and media carefully. In Germany, translators had to grapple with 'Amtseinsetzungszeremonie des Barack Obama', the German translation of 'inauguration of President Obama'.

So important was the speech that, apart from German, French, Spanish, Russian, Hindi and other mainstream translations, it was even interpreted into Jive. This was a long-standing commitment from the Obama team. Once the inauguration was over, President Obama put his name to an Order that decreed that all broadcasts from the President's Office must also be translated into ebonics or 'Jive talk'.

Truly, a shot in the arm for the power of multicultural translation.