Track Santa Claus around the world and in multiple languages

It’s a Christmas Eve routine in the United States, Canada and beyond: follow Santa Claus’ journey around the globe as he delivers gifts to children everywhere. And then, as he seems to be getting closer, he quickly puts the children to bed so that St. Nicholas doesn’t walk past their house because they are still awake.

NORAD – North American Aerospace Defense Command – tracks Santa Claus every Christmas Eve using a combination of radar, satellites and aircraft from the United States and Canada. Families can follow Santa Claus and his eight tiny reindeer (nine if you count the main character with the glowing nose) on their journey from the North Pole on a desktop computer, via a smartphone app or by phone at 877-HI. NORAD.

And thanks to Interpreters Unlimited Inc. and its network of more than 10,000 interpreters, they can do this even if English is not their first language. They are available to “bridge language and culture gaps,” said Shamus Sayed, vice president of Interpreters Unlimited, which is based in San Diego but has an office in Colorado Springs, Colo., where NORAD is headquartered.

“When the children see where Santa is, they can see it in their language,” Sayed said. “Inclusion and visibility are so important.”

How long has NORAD been tracking Santa Claus?

According to his website, NORAD, a U.S.-Canadian agency that monitors the skies over North America, began tracking Santa Claus because of an incorrectly dialed phone number. In 1955, a child dialed a number thinking he was getting a department store Santa Claus. Instead, it reached Air Force Colonel Harry Shoup of the Continental Air Defense Command (NORAD’s forerunner) at his operations headquarters in Colorado Springs.

Shoup, the commander on duty at the time, soon realized that more calls would be coming in because the phone number was a misprint from a newspaper ad. He assigned a duty officer to answer all incoming calls from children, and a tradition that continued with the founding of NORAD in 1958 was born.

Every year, millions of children stop by on Christmas Eve to see where Santa Claus and his reindeer are. They come from more than 200 countries and territories around the world. Volunteers answer more than 130,000 calls via the hotline; Families can also follow Santa on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

“The tracking of Santa Claus is a global effort,” said Becky Farmer, a NORAD spokeswoman. “So we know it’s very important to make the tracker accessible to people around the world.”

Seeing Santa Claus “brings a smile every time”

Interpreter Unlimited Services: NORAD’s Santa Claus Tracking is free and offers interpreters and voice actors for Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Korean, Japanese and Chinese.

“There are 101 reasons why children want to see a Santa Claus” who represents them and their culture and language, said Sayed, a father of two. “It’s a feel-good thing.”

Seeing Santa Claus “puts a smile on everyone’s face every time,” he added. “It is a haven for children and parents, bringing the spirit of the holidays home and making it tangible.”

The interpreters are also happy to help NORAD: “Not only is it the right thing, we actually have a lot of fun,” said Sayed. “The team on the NORAD side is great, they share the same passion as us and have just as much fun.”

Breaking News

Dellupodisabato

Track Santa Claus around the world and in multiple languages

Leave a Reply Cancel reply