You’ve no doubt heard the expression, “something was lost in the translation.” One local nonprofit tries to make sure that does not happen, especially during difficult situations.

News 8 Austin’s Paul Brown spoke with Esther Diaz, the president of the Austin Area Translators and Interpreters Association.

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German, Thai, English, French, – you name the language, there’s likely to be a volunteer on the Thai vacation island of Phuket speaking it.

[Interpreters] are key aid workers in tsunami-stricken southern Thailand, where people of some 40 nationalities were on vacation when the waves hit.

Many of the multilingual helpers advertise their linguistic skills by writing the languages they speak on their T-shirt for all to read.

“We have just about every imaginable language, from English to this Russian dialect from Kazakhstan,” said Tony Carney, of Louisville, Kentucky, who has been coordinating the Phuket Relief Center’s volunteers.

Carney, an actor and television producer who has been living in Thailand for 13 years, speaks English, Thai, French and Spanish.

Other [interpreters] are tourists, volunteers who flew here to help, and multilingual Thais keen to contribute to the relief effort any way they can.

“Even though I hear a hundred different languages a day, it’s all the same thing, “Let’s help each other,” said Carney.

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Making sure delegations from European Union member states understand each other when they meet in Brussels is no easy feat.

It is up to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Interpretation to make sure communication at meetings and conferences is smooth.

That was particularly challenging after 10 new member countries joined the EU in May this year, adding nine new official languages to the EU’s existing 11.

For the Directorate-General of Interpretation that involved more than a decade of preparation.

The problem was that professionally-trained interpreters in many of the candidate countries were few and far between.

It was up to the directorate-general – which every day provides between 700 and 800 interpreters for 60 meetings – to develop a pool of skilled people from which to recruit.

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The [Korean] Supreme Court said yesterday that starting next year the Ministry of Court Administration will provide interpretation and translation services to foreigners accused in criminal cases.
The ministry will manage the pool of interpreters and translators for courts nationwide and arrange appropriate services for foreign defendants, the court said.
Courts will also tape-record all trials that require interpreters. A foreign defendant is also allowed to raise an objection over interpretation and to request another interpreter for clearer communication.

According to the Supreme Court, 1,291 foreigners were tried in lower courts around the country last year, up from 588 in 2002.

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“Adam” is supposed to be the Iraqi face at a key U.S. military checkpoint south of Baghdad, but he is so fearful for his life that he wears a black ski mask to hide his identity.

Dressed in camouflage fatigues, he is part of an army of [interpreters] that serves as a vital link for U.S. occupiers short on Arab speakers needed for manning roadblocks, mounting patrols and interrogating suspects.

But because of their highly visible jobs, they also face an especially high risk from Iraqi insurgents who have branded them traitors and collaborators and marked them for death.

The pressure is so intense that some [interpreters] have quit.

“We use American nicknames and wear masks because if the Ali Babas find out who we are, they will kill us,” said Adam, referring to guerrillas and bandits who have executed hundreds of interpreters hired since last year’s U.S.-led invasion.

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Jasper County dispatchers can now speak 150 languages.

Sort of.

As part of its expanded E-911, Jasper County Emergency Services recently joined a service that allows dispatchers to use over-the-phone interpreters from a California company.

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They are four people who signed confessions to murders written in a language they said they don’t understand…

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I was in attendance at the Houston Interpreters and Translators Association quarterly meeting this morning. Presentations were given on improving one’s memory and on the ethics of interpretation.

The ATA 45th Annual Conference in Toronto is coming up November 14-16. I’ll be there. Will you?

Katja Virtanen muses on the importance of an interpreter on the openBC Language and Translation forum.