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TranslationTalk / Carmen Profile picture
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27 Apr, 4 tweets, 3 min read
Today I want to share some resources that I really enjoy - to do with language in a more general sense. #language #linguists #translation #interpreting
The first one is the @NativLang youtube channel - a must-watch for everyone passionate about languages.

youtube.com/user/NativLang
Another great resource is the @langfocus youtube channel, where you can find samples from all sorts of languages and which I really enjoy watching as well!

youtube.com/channel/UCNhX3…
@langfocus I am sure there are many other interesting resources - feel free to share them on this thread!

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More from @translationtalk

TranslationTalk / Carmen Profile picture
29 Apr
Yes but let's be honest: many European conference interpreters consider some "variants" no worth learning or engaging with... there is huge bias in this.
I mean the number of people who go on and on about having to read James Joyce to be a conference interpreter. Do I really? How many have read Wole Soyinka? Amadou Hampaté Bâ?
What counts as "world knowledge" is really, really biased.
It is stark if we compare the perception of Latin American Spanish and literature vs. francophone/anglophone Africa. We all know LatAm Spanish is a force to be reckoned with but if you don't know the person speaking right now is actually the president of Togo no one bats an eye.
Read 4 tweets
TranslationTalk / Carmen Profile picture
29 Apr
It was a bit more complex. They had a right to an interpreter for things to do with their case (i.e. the reason they were in prison). But often their visa / work permit tended to expire during their sentence and there was no right to legal counsel / interpreting for this.
bc basically once imprisoned, a process of stripping ppl of their work permit / residency takes place and they are not entitled to a lawyer / interpreter to fight this and have to submit filings while inside detention to keep the deadlines.
Is it a human rights violation? I am not an expert - my gut says yes. But it is also legal and common practice in many countries, EU included.
Read 5 tweets
TranslationTalk / Carmen Profile picture
29 Apr
Today I want to tweet about an interpreter training course I did a few years ago. For data protection reasons I will not disclose the names of institutions and persons involved. The point here is to give you some food for thought. #1nt
#Terps
The request came through a group of academics who had made contact with a nearby prison. This prison was reserved for foreign nationals, i.e. people not holding citizenship of the country of detention. My task: teach the inmates to interpret better.
For a variety of legal reasons, these inmates had no right to an interpreter. Even when they had interpreters for official exchanges, 95% of exchanges inside the prison were not covered by this provision. Many inmates did not or only barely speak the official language.
Read 24 tweets
TranslationTalk / Carmen Profile picture
28 Apr
Remember before COVID when restaurants were open? Remember this situation:

(Person eating food from their country of origin): "Wow, this tastes exactly the way my mother used to make it!"

(Person eating their favorite dish): "Wow, I never manage to make it like that at home."
So what? you might ask. How does this relate to interpreting. Well hang in there. Getting to it.

Remember telling someone you are an interpreter and the person going "Oh wow, interpreting is so difficult, I used to do it a bit while I was living in Tahiti for a year."
Now, remember having a discussion with your surgeon before a scheduled surgery and you telling them:
"I really admire surgeons, I used to do some surgery on the side as a student..."

No?
Well, that's my point exactly.

Interpreters are cooks. Not surgeons.
Read 5 tweets
TranslationTalk / Carmen Profile picture
28 Apr
The truth is: #terps feel delegates using English as a lingua franca is a replacement for interpreting & a threat - and there is a lot of truth in that. The problem with this attitude is its hypocrisy: we use English in our own meetings (prof. associations, academic confs)!
When I present an academic paper, I use English to increase my reach bc I know that things like "impact factors" matter. So I am in no position to criticize any speaker doing the same. I am tweeting in English right now for the same reason - see the irony?!
Ultimately, English as a global Lingua Franca is a reality. It has obvious pitfalls but it also opens a lot of opportunities for millions of people. And interpreters acting as gatekeepers here is not very helpful.
Btw this also exists in community interpreting...
Read 11 tweets
TranslationTalk / Carmen Profile picture
27 Apr
... for example, the following situation has happened to me many times:
Spanish is one of the official languages provided for at a conference but Portuguese is not. Lusophone delegations then decide to speak "Spanish" but actually speak a mix of PT and ES.
You then find yourself having to "draw the line" - i.e. if you (as is my case) officially have only Spanish and not Portuguese in your language combination then you might rapidly hit a limit and develop a very subjective idea of "where Spanish ends and where Portuguese begins"
But our perception of these language variations and also of accents is always shaped by our background and there are strong cultural and geographic biases in Conference Interpreting. Our profession at the highest echelons suffers from a genuine lack of diversity!
Read 7 tweets

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