28 - How many languages does the ORF speak?

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The Slovenian-language Radio AGORA can be received in Carinthia and southern Styria. The content is produced as a program cooperation in close collaboration between ORF Carinthia, ORF Styria and Radio AGORA; the television program "Dobar dan, Koroška" for the Slovene ethnic group in Carinthia is produced by the Slovene editorial team of the Carinthian regional studio and can be seen weekly on ORF 2 Carinthia. The TV magazine "Dober dan, Štajerska" for the Slovene ethnic group in Styria is also broadcast weekly on ORF 2 Styria. And of course there is information on the internet at volksgruppen.ORF.at.



ORF therefore speaks at least seven languages.

Incidentally, ORF does not only broadcast in German or in the languages of the ethnic groups; with FM4, it also produces a radio program that is predominantly in foreign languages, mainly English. And he is intensifying the translations of his programs into sign language. It also offers numerous films and series in the original language or with original subtitles.

How many languages does ORF speak?

The answer can be found every second Friday at 10.40 a.m. on ORF 2. The title of the program "WIR | ČEŠI, HRVATI, MAGYAROK, ROMA, SLOVÁCI, SLOVENCI" already shows it: now it's multilingual. The contributions are in Czech, Croatian, Hungarian, Burgenlandromani, Slovakian and Slovenian. What is this program about? Is it a program for the ethnic groups? Or for the "others" who do not belong to an ethnic group? It is for everyone. Admittedly, it's a balancing act. It's about finding topics that are of interest to everyone and at the same time conveying very concrete content specific to the ethnic groups.

And so in one program, for example, there is a Croatian story about primary school children who build tepees out of willow branches, a yoga lesson in Hungarian, the search for the disappeared Roma settlement in Halbturn, a story about four Slovenian artists from Carinthia who talk about their family history, the portrait of a Slovakian gallery owner in Vienna and a report from the traditional ball of the Czechs and Slovaks in Vienna.

Six different contributions in six different languages can easily degenerate into chaos, but there is a unifying element here and that is again a language, namely German. The German moderations are the framework of the program, they are the common thread and the German subtitles of the individual contributions ensure accessibility for everyone. The subtitles are a challenge that the ethnic group editorial team is constantly confronted with. How do you find the wording that expresses exactly what the original text conveys? How much additional information does the audience, which does not speak the language of the respective ethnic group, need in order to understand what is meant? What are the basic tasks of subtitles? Should they be as literal a translation as possible or should they convey the content and the feeling? And that brings us back to the question of who are we making the programs for? For our own ethnic group or for everyone else?

These fundamental questions require very concrete decisions on a daily basis. The Slovakian editorial team is making a report about the classic Slovakian Christmas cake "štedrák". How should we best translate it? Not at all? And if not at all, then how do we spell the name of the cake? "Štedrák"? Or "Schtedrak" to ensure the correct pronunciation? Is the Hungarian "csavargás" really "vagabond"? Nobody in Austria says that. The interviewee means something more like "driving into the blue", but that's too long as a subtitle. Thoughts and snippets of conversation from everyday editorial work. The everyday life of an editorial team that produces in five different languages and where the phrase "What do you mean?" is probably the most common. All of this is necessary but also very enriching preparatory work before a report goes on air.

Of course, the respective ethnic groups also have their own programs on both television and radio. "Dobar dan Hrvati" in Croatian as well as "Dober dan, Koroška" and "Dober dan, Štajerska" in Slovenian are simply part of Sunday for many viewers. Just like "Adj' Isten magyarok" in Hungarian, "Romano Dikipe" in Burgenlandromani and "České Ozvěny | Slovenské Ozveny" in Czech and Slovakian, although these programs are only shown 6 times a year.

Listening to the radio in the language of the national minority has been a matter of course on ORF for many decades. Radio Kärnten with Radio Agora and Radio Burgenland offer news and magazine programs on a wide variety of topics and, of course, music in Slovenian, Croatian, Hungarian, Burgenlandromani, Czech and Slovakian.

At ORF.at several languages are represented too. At volksgruppen.ORF.at, each ethnic group has its own page with several sub-pages. The editorial teams provide daily news and background stories in Slovenian, Croatian, Hungarian, Burgenlandromani, Slovakian and Czech. Volksgruppen.ORF.at bundles the life of the ethnic groups in Austria. Of course, you can also find all the information about the individual programs here and, of course, ORF.at is also the platform for live streaming, re-listening and re-watching the ethnic group programs. On ORF ON you can watch the TV programs of all national minorities. Radio Burgenland offers two separate lanes on ORF Sound just for the national minority group broadcasts, and the radio magazine programs are also offered as podcasts. And the fact that the editorial offices also have their own social media presence is a matter of course these days.

With its ethnic group program, ORF stands for diversity. In terms of content and language. ORF's editorial teams for the national minorities live this diversity and ensure that this diversity is heard and seen with their daily work. Because we are an ORF for everyone, amen jek ORF le cilenge sam, hiszen az ORF mindenkié, pretože sme ORF pre všetkých, saj smo ORF za vse, protože my jsme zkrátka ORF pro všechny, mi smo ORF za sve.


Text: Dorottya Kelemen, Head of the editorial department for the national minorities
Translations: Josef Schmidt (Burgenlandromani), Dorottya Kelemen (Hungarian), Miriam Spring (Slovak), Marijan Velik (Slovenian), Pavla Rasnerova (Czech), Anka Schneeweis (Croatian).

Der ORF spricht also mindestens sieben Sprachen.

In its radio and television programs, on the Internet and in teletext, the ORF offers a wide range of programs for the six autochthonous national minorities, for which the Federal Chancellery has an advisory council for the national minorities. The editorial department of the Burgenland regional studio produces and broadcasts programs for all ethnic groups living in eastern Austria, i.e. Croatians, Slovaks, Czechs, Hungarians and the Roma ethnic group.

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