Who translates a letter that is sent through the USPS from a foreign country that uses a different alphabet?

serpa

If the letter is sent from a foreign country to the USA the address would be in English allowing delivery to the destination without translation. Aug 21 10, 9:56 AM

star_gazer

The USPS does employ linguists at their International Exchange Offices, located at the major ports (New York, San Francisco, Miami, and Boston) where foreign mail is received. If no postal worker can translate an address, the postal service will likely call the embassy or consulate of the country of the sender and hope for the best. http://www.uspsoig.gov/foia_files/FT-AR-08-005.pdf Aug 21 10, 11:34 AM

Arpeggionist

I can say that the US is better about things like this than other countries with foreign writing systems. Often enough when my relatives in the States corresponded with my family in Israel there would be serious problems with translation, transliteration and basic understanding on the part of American and Israeli postal workers alike. As late as two weeks ago, a package arrived at my front door in Boston after having traveled two weeks from Israel. I was beginning to get worried - since the thing was sent by my American uncle who addressed it to me in (perfectly fluent) English. Only once have I been able to send any mail to my composition teacher in Japan, after painstakingly copying down the address he gave me in Japanese (and I'm still not entirely sure he actually received it). Aug 21 10, 7:18 PM