FROM FOOTBALL TO FAMINE, AN INTERPRETER'S ALWAYS NEEDED
Absolutely the last thing I would describe myself as is a football fan. I just don't get it. What I do get is that millions of people around the world love football. They may be misguided in my eyes but to them it's important.
So important that, just a couple of weeks ago, there was almost an international incident when, on the eve of football’s greatest prize, the European Cup Final, Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes commented on Chelsea’s star striker Didier Drogba. He apparently said: “Sometimes he’s an outstanding actor on the pitch”. The English press pack reacted with horror at the suggestion that Drogba was a play-acting cheat until Bayern claimed their manager was ‘mistranslated’, and that the word ‘actor’ should have been ‘performer’, which gives the comment a whole different context.
In fact, even the disclaimer was wrong. The manager was ‘misinterpreted’, not mistranslated, because translation refers to the written word and interpreting to the spoken word.
To many people, this may seem a trivial and humorous mistake but it underlines the potential for calamity in the business of interpreting, which is now used by companies and Governments around the world. In interpreting, there is no second chance, no proof reading, no mechanical or technical backup. It all rests on the shoulders of the interpreter and sometimes they have to be very broad shoulders indeed.
Think about what interpreters have to do. They work at the interface of real human conflict and emotion, in wars zones, natural disasters, with refugees, with fractured families, and alongside doctors dealing with very sick people. Throughout it all, they have to keep their emotions in check and remain impartial and professional.
It's for this reason that thebigword is partnering with the International School of Linguists which has developed a course to help linguists cope with the emotional aspects of their work. This training recognises the fact that there's much more to being an interpreter than speaking two languages.
The 10,000-plus interpreters we work with every year have many qualities. Without them, thebigword wouldn't be able to provide a great service to our customers. More importantly, people already in difficult situations would find it that much harder to cope.
Have a great weekend,
Larry
So important that, just a couple of weeks ago, there was almost an international incident when, on the eve of football’s greatest prize, the European Cup Final, Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes commented on Chelsea’s star striker Didier Drogba. He apparently said: “Sometimes he’s an outstanding actor on the pitch”. The English press pack reacted with horror at the suggestion that Drogba was a play-acting cheat until Bayern claimed their manager was ‘mistranslated’, and that the word ‘actor’ should have been ‘performer’, which gives the comment a whole different context.
In fact, even the disclaimer was wrong. The manager was ‘misinterpreted’, not mistranslated, because translation refers to the written word and interpreting to the spoken word.
To many people, this may seem a trivial and humorous mistake but it underlines the potential for calamity in the business of interpreting, which is now used by companies and Governments around the world. In interpreting, there is no second chance, no proof reading, no mechanical or technical backup. It all rests on the shoulders of the interpreter and sometimes they have to be very broad shoulders indeed.
Think about what interpreters have to do. They work at the interface of real human conflict and emotion, in wars zones, natural disasters, with refugees, with fractured families, and alongside doctors dealing with very sick people. Throughout it all, they have to keep their emotions in check and remain impartial and professional.
It's for this reason that thebigword is partnering with the International School of Linguists which has developed a course to help linguists cope with the emotional aspects of their work. This training recognises the fact that there's much more to being an interpreter than speaking two languages.
The 10,000-plus interpreters we work with every year have many qualities. Without them, thebigword wouldn't be able to provide a great service to our customers. More importantly, people already in difficult situations would find it that much harder to cope.
Have a great weekend,
Larry
