Information & Chat > Russian & Ukrainian Language. The Cyrillic Alphabet.
Interpreters: The Do's and Don'ts, Misconceptions, Stereotypes, etc.
mendeleyev:
Stirlitz, what a great topic idea!
A question...if a guy isn't certain that his meaning is being correctly translated (based on his lady's body language or facial expressions, etc) what should he do? Are there any clues for a man to know that his conversation is being correctly translated?
erudite:
If you know your translator well or have verified their veracity, they will be accurate for you in my experience. I guess she is and was because my relationship has flourished.
mendeleyev:
You've been fortunate and congrats by the way on your relationship. tiphat
I've sat in many interviews where an official translator is in use and have politely rephrased something, or asked the translator to rephrase, because I knew the first translation had missed something in the idea being communicated.
You can see this often with politicans who speak multiple languages. President Medvedev is more than capable in English but diplomatic protocol calls for use of an official translator(s). He is not afraid to rephrase or restate something that a highly trained translator has missed. Knowledge of both languages is an advantage that is missing for guys who don't understand much Russian and are therefore dependent on an Interpreter to get it right.
Therein lies my question to Stirlitz: If you suspect something was missing or misunderstood, are there any clues for a man to know that his conversation is being correctly translated?
dbneeley:
--- Quote from: erudite on November 18, 2010, 11:20:07 PM ---If you know your translator well or have verified their veracity, they will be accurate for you in my experience. I guess she is and was because my relationship has flourished.
--- End quote ---
If you don't understand the language, how can you possibly know how accurate they are being?
I have had correspondence with a number of professional translators regarding the finer points of English, for example, when they have asked for better explanations for a word or, more often, a phrase, than they have found. This is because my university degree is in English and I spent many years as a writer and editor--beginning with my first professional writing job when I was hired a couple weeks after my 16th birthday to write commercials for a radio/TV station.
Even those translators who are highly trained and very talented are occasionally at a loss, especially if they have not lived for substantial periods in the society of those for whom they are translating. There are many colloquial terms that are especially difficult to translate.
(I am not referring to Stirlitz, by the way,with whom I have not corresponded off-list. Obviously, his written English is superb. Since we have not spoken, I can only assume his spoken English is equally good.)
I was watching a couple of Youtube clips just yesterday of interviews with Hugh Laurie--who does an incredible American accent in his role as "House M.D." In one of these in particular he was comparing colloquial expressions common in Britain with some from America in an interview on a talk show. He had no clue about those particular American slang expressions, and Ellen deGeneris had no idea about the British ones.
This illustrates why men who use translators---either human or machine based--do well to avoid colloquialisms as much as possible and stick to standard words and simple grammar.
At the Donetsk airport a couple months ago, I met a young Ukrainian lady who had a phenomenal command of English with what sounded like a purely British accent. She was taught by English teachers schooled in Britain, as it happens, and she appeared to have a terrific ear for accent. I spoke with her for five minutes before I tumbled on to the fact that she is, in fact, Ukrainian. That is exceedingly rare, as you might imagine.
David
erudite:
--- Quote from: dbneeley on November 18, 2010, 11:54:21 PM ---
--- Quote from: erudite on November 18, 2010, 11:20:07 PM ---If you know your translator well or have verified their veracity, they will be accurate for you in my experience. I guess she is and was because my relationship has flourished.
--- End quote ---
If you don't understand the language, how can you possibly know how accurate they are being?
--- End quote ---
DB Neeley:
You obviously miss the meaning of my posting. I state if you KNOW the translator or have verified their veracity. Which is meant to convey that you have worked with them previously and had good experiences OR you have done your homework with making sure that they have done good work with someone else.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version