The Interpreting Olympics

As readers of this blog may have recently discovered, we like to draw analogies between sports and interpreting, mainly because well, we are pretty serious athletes ourselves and because we are tired of the same old analogies about interpreting.

During this month's 2018 Olympics in Korea, we are reminded, as you would expect, of the Olympic spirit of competition and sportsmanship. We especially loved Olympic gold medalist figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu motioning for his fellow medalists to join him on the top of the podium. Shoma Uno and Javier Fernández (who took a historic bronze for Spain), and in a touching moment, they all embraced on top of the podium. Uno and Fernández initially seemed to think that Hanyu was only motioning for them to come closer, but no, he wanted them to share the moment with him as equals. It was a touching gesture that's oftentimes done in Olympics, but it's powerful every time.

And perhaps this Olympic moment can serve as an important reminder that in the profession of interpreting, we are all in it together. It's not a competition, and while some of us might have a higher profile than others, get more glamorous assignments, have more visibility than others, have more followers on social media platforms, have cooler clients and higher rates, travel more or less than others, or get more coverage in the media than others, we should keep in mind that we must all work together to further our profession.  We are, essentially, all equals. No matter your language or your skill level (let's face it: there are skills differentials) or whether you are a high-flying diplomatic interpreter or do thousands of cases in dingy courtrooms for non-glamourous cases, you are just as important as every other interpreter. Oftentimes in our profession we don't realize that we need to be each others' best allies and fans in order to strengthen our profession from within. It is true and correct that we also have to work with the outside world to increase visibility and improve rates and working conditions, but let's not forget that it all starts from within. Let's ask each other to join each other on the proverbial podium. Let's celebrate each other's succcesses and get inspired by them: just like Olympic athletes. This analogy may or not be a stretch, but perhaps we can get a medal for trying to make it. Go #teaminterpreters! 

Tuesday Laughs: Voice Recognition Meets Scottish Accent

Happy Tuesday, dear readers! We know there's a lot happening in the world of voice recognition, and here's a humurous take on it. Many thanks to our lovely colleague Willy Martínez in Argentina for sending us this gem. Enjoy!

Mistake of the Week

The solution is on the left side.

True to our tradition to occasionally poking fun at ourselves with the goal of having others learn from our mistakes, here's Judy's mistake of the week during a legal interpreting assignment.

All Judy knew was that she was to interpret at a deposition. She had the case name, the time, the plaintiff's name and the deponent's name. It's very common to get incomplete information about the cases for which you are to interpret; even if you ask. It's just something court interpreters work to live with, but we all know that it's always ideal to have as much context and background information as possible. Having had it would have solved the following situation that we are now delighted to present. In fact, it could have been prevented with a single photograph that everyone but Judy had previously seen.

The attorney is deposing a maintenance worker. That is all Judy knows about the deponent at this point.

Defense attorney: So why did you trim this tree?

Judy (interpreting): ¿Por qué recortó usted este árbol?

Deponent: Bueno, porque las ramas estaban llegando hasta la carpeta (note: last word was hard to understand).

Judy (interpreting): Well, because the branches were reaching all the way to the carpet.

Puzzled looks all around, including from Judy.

Here's an explanation: the Spanish word for carpet is not carpeta. It's incorrectly used by Spanish speakers in the U.S. all the time. The correct word for carpet in Spanish is alfombra. Carpeta is also a Spanish-language word, but it means folder, as in a manila folder that you would have on your desk. We've gotten very used to Spanglish terms, and when we hear carpeta we immediately interpret "carpet." Now, Judy was very aware that it didn't really make sense in this context to talk about carpet since the issue in question as a tree, which would most likely be outside. That said, she didn't have any other context and interpreted what she heard. Here's what followed.

Plainttiff's attorney: At this point I'd like to stipulate that my client said "cart path." Would our interpreter agree?

Judy: It is the interpreter's opinion that the deponent could have used the English-language term "cart path," but pronounced it in such a way to render it almost unintelligible.

Defense attorney: For the record, I did not hear anything resembling an English word in the deponent's answer.

Judy: Would counsel like the interpreter to clarify that the deponent meant to say "cart path"?

Both attorneys: Yes, please go ahead.

A few minutes after this incident, the defense attorney introduced an exhibit: a photograph that clearly showed an image of a golf course, a tree, a cart path, and a maintenance cart belonging to the worker. An image speaks a thousand words, and context sure is king. After the session ended, all parties agreed that this was a new one. But yes, if you pronounce "cart path" a certain way, it could sound like carpeta. Mystery solved.

We don't really know how Judy would have been able to do any better with this one under the circumstances, but it's still a mistake that's worth pointing out. Actually, mispronounced English-language words by Spanish speakers and Spanglish are very interesting topics that we don't discuss much in our industry, and we plan on writing more about them in the future.

What do you think, dear colleagues? How would you have reacted? Having asked for repetition would have resulted in the deponent repeating the word with, most likely, the same pronunciation, so the options here were limited. 

I Speak Spanish!

We speak Spanish, too. Photo taken in Mexico City.

Happy Friday! For today's post, we figured we'd send you off into the weekend with some humor. Fellow Spanish court interpreters can surely relate to today's (humorous) post. This is a situation that Judy, in her role as a certified court interpreter, encounters relatively frequently.

This is the situation: You walk into a deposition or into a courtroom, and next thing you know, the plaintiff and/or defense counsel walk(s) up to you to let you know that they also speak Spanish. Now, one might think that they are only making friendly conversation, but as those of us who deal with attorneys know, in litigation, attorneys don't say much without trying to make a specific point. When saying, "I speak Spanish!" what is really being said is this: "I will be checking up on you. You better watch out, interpreter." Now what? 

The problem which such a statement from an attorney is that there are really no possible reaction, except for maybe one, that do not make you sound at least somewhat defensive. That's a problem, because even though the attorney is clearly a bit aggressive here, as service providers, we usually want to keep our composure and maintain a friendly tone. That said, it's marginally possible that the attorney just wants to make conversation about his/her Spanish skills, in which case it's a great idea to start a high-register Spanish conversation about the expropriation of Mexican petroleum to show them the limit of their Spanish (kidding). Seriously, now: How do you react? Here are things Judy has wanted to say, but has never, ever actually said:

"Thank you for sharing. I am really worried about my performance now."

"Well, I really have been put on notice. Duly noted, counsel."

"Maybe you should just do the interpreting then and I can go have an espresso."

Of course, please do take this with a grain of salt (we told you this would be a humorous post). We'd never seriously think about saying anything like that, but it's fun to at least let these thoughts appear in your head. 

Usually, it's just best to say: "That's fantastic! It's a great language, isn't it?" and leave it at that (or something similar). We are very aware that many professionals, especially here in the American Southwest, do speak Spanish (some better than others). While humility and the desire to keep on learning are important for interpreters, so is confidence in one's skills and certifications. One doesn't become a certified court interpreter by osmosis or chance, just as no one becomes an attorney by taking a few criminal justice classes and watching a lot of Judge Judy. 

So, dear fellow court interpreters: Be proud of your skills, and let's welcome all the Spanish speakers into our proceedings. Now, we've heard from other court interpreters that sometimes there are entirely incorrect objections to certified court interpreters' renditions, and that's another topic--one that has actually not happened to us. What are your thoughts, dear colleagues? How would you react or how have you reacted when confronted with "I speak Spanish"? 

Ouch: Mistake of the Month

Because few things are as fun as poking fun at ourselves, we wanted to do a quick post with this month's utterly horrifying mistake. We make many errors, but try not to make the same ones twice. This one was Judy's, so we will let her tell the story.

A few weeks ago, Dagy had the unique opportunity to interpret at an OPEC conference (English booth), and I was to be the back-up interpreter (I also did get to interpret). The setting in Vienna's regal Imperial Palace (Hofburg) was amazing, and the permanent booths were top-notch. As a US-based interpreter, I am usually quite impressed by anything resembling a permanent booth. We checked out the other booths, which are located on the third floor high above the stage, to meet our colleagues from the Spanish and Russian booths, but no one was there, so we reviewed our materials and got ready for the big moment. After we had sat down, a distinguished-looking gentleman walked in, extended his hand (without introducing himself), smiled, and said (in Spanish) that he was delighted to see us. I thought, don't ask me why, that this lovely gentleman was the colleague from the Spanish booth because no one else every ventures up there, so I immediately went into very casual small talk, and yes, I addressed him informally. As if I knew him. As if we were colleagues. As opposed to English, in Spanish we've got two pronouns, the formal usted and the informal tú (which I used). Among colleagues, we usually use the latter. 

The rest of the morning went better.

The only problem here was that this gentleman wasn't a fellow interpreter, but an ambassador to Austria of a South American country. Dagy had the good fortune of getting a glimpse of his badge, which had been facing away from me, and recognized the name immediately (research pays off; as the badge doesn't say "ambassador," either). She immediately greeted the ambassador with something appropriate along the lines of "Good morning, Your Excellency." This is of course when I realized my error and I was completely utterly mortified. However, the ambassador didn't miss a beat, didn't take offense at all, and just chatted away. I did recover enough to thank him for coming upstairs and for hiring us (yes, he hired us!), and exchange some other pleasantries. So yes, I committed a pretty big faux pas at a high diplomatic level, and I lived to tell about it. It's a nice reminder that people at the top can be very kind and forgiving, and I am grateful for it. I was pretty sure I'd never hear the end of this one from Dagy, and now that we've shared it here, I am guaranteed that it will last forever!

What about you, dear colleagues? Care to share your favorite mistake? We won't tell. Oh wait, this is a public blog....

Bad Client?

Made on www.canva.com. 

Today's  post is about something that comes up in our industry quite often. The scenario is this: the highly talented translator delivers a world-class translation, only for the clueless client (we mean this tongue-in-cheek, in case you haven't noticed) to destroy it by "editing" it when the client should stick to his or her area of expertise and leave the translating to the talented translator. The resulting edited translation is not improved at all: quite the contrary. It's a disaster. Now the translator is  indignant and complaining to all her colleagues and friends about it. Does this sound familiar? Let us suggest a different way of looking at it.

After the client pays for your work, he or she owns it. Period. They are free to do with your product as they please, because you now longer own it (yes, we got a legal opinion on this). A translator can certainly insist that his or her name not be listed as the translator on a mutilated translation, but the reality is that most translators can't get their names within 10 miles of most translations anyway, so this shouldn't be a big concern. We are not saying that the client is right in destroying a perfectly good translation with good intentions but bad language skills, but that's life. Translators are no different than lawyers, doctors, interior designers, stylists, etc. We hear our stylist when she tells us black is not our color, but we love it anyway. We hear our doctor when she tells us to lay off the fatty Mexican food, but it's so tasty.  Our CPA is right that we should be more organized in our charity donations, but we aren't. Sometimes clients buy a Mercedes and put gaudy rims and license plates with rhinestones on it. The dealer probably cringes, but if the client's money is good, what can be done? Not much. 

We have had this scenario happen very infrequently, but when it does happen, we just make sure to detail in writing why we think the translation should be published/going to print as is and list the reasons. Then we say that we are happy to give our professional opinion, since that's in part what we are getting paid for. If the client insists to use the mutilated translation anyway and our names are on it, we respectfully ask to have our names removed. We think it's important to stick to your role of professional advisor and not become too indignant when the client doesn't follow our advice. They pay us for it, so they are free to take it or leave if after they've paid for our services.

That said, we are on our way to the tailor to have her add some ruffles to a gorgeous black Jil Sander suit. While we are at it, we might stop by the hairdresser's to see if she can turn us into redheads. Just kidding! 

What do you think, dear friends and colleagues? We'd love to hear your thoughts. 

Breaking News

Created on www.canva.com.

To start off the second quarter of 2015, we wanted to share some important news with all of you, dear readers. As you know, we've both been in the translation industry for a long time, and we've tirelessly worked to share knowledge, empower colleagues, improve rates and working conditions, and elevate the status of our professions (translation and interpretation) in general. It's been a lovely ride, and we are so lucky to have amazing clients all over the world and fantastic contractors who make our business what it is. We couldn't be more grateful.

However, building a business is a lot of hard work, as all of you know. We've put in a lot of 100-hour weeks, and while we do take vacations, we usually work even while on vacation. We are a bit tired, so when a great offer came along to sell our business to a big multinational corporation that doesn't care about quality nor the quality of its translators' lives, we jumped at the opportunity. We know it doesn't make much sense and that it goes against everything we believe in, but it was time for us to exit the industry. The time was right. So was the price. As of April 2015, we plan on getting our own Caribbean island and sip fancy cocktails out of coconuts while hard-working translators around the world slave away for nothing and clients get sub-par work at high prices.

Of course we are kidding. Happy April Fools' Day! Did we have you fooled?

If you've read this far, you either know us and our sense of humor, or you were an unsuspecting new visitor who is now shaking his or her head. In either case, thanks for reading.

Nothing we just stated above is true, at all. It couldn't be further from the truth. We made it up, and we had a lot of fun doing it. But we do want to take this opportunity to reiterate how essential it is that we all keep working together as a profession to grow and strengthen it. You know when low prices will end? When translators will stop accepting them. You know when we will get more respect? When we start demanding it. We will continue working towards these goals, and we invite you to join us.

Finally, thank you for all the wonderful clients and contractors who have made Twin Translations what it is. We are so very, very grateful to be in this fantastic business. Our number one goal is to make our clients happy and to treat our lovely colleagues like family, pay them well, and pay them on time. It seems to be working. The first quarter of 2015 was the most successful in our company's history, and we look forward to many more decades of success, friendship, and great memories.

Our Top 5 Stress Busters

Business has been really, really good, and we are very grateful. However, with lots of business comes lots of work, and with that comes some stress. We admit it: one of us has been a bit overworked and grouchy (hint: it's not Dagy), and as we try to follow our own advice, we figured we'd compile a few easy stress busters here for this Friday post.

1. Take a nap. Sure, a nap won't solve the problem about all the things you still have on your plate, but it will probably make you feel better. We come from a long line of nappers, and we can do quick naps of 30 minutes or so and feel refreshed. If you need a two-hour nap, this might not work for you as it will probably stress you out more.
2. Go for a walk. Clearing our head always helps. We grab the doggie and go for a walk around the block, which only takes five minutes.
3. Call a member of the complaint club. When we are frustrated and overworked, we try not to voice our frustrations online. Rather, we place a call to a trusted member of our so-called complaint club, which is comprised of dear friends and family members. We usually vent our frustrations (which largely revolve around lack of time) for 10 minutes or so, which helps put things in perspective.
4. Have a cup of tea. We've spent enough time in England to know that having a cup of tea solves most problems, including stress, so sometimes we do that. If all else fails, we have a lovely piece of Austrian chocolate to go with our Earl Grey tea. We've also been drinking a lot of ginger tea lately. We've experienced with grating fresh ginger, which is instantly invigorating.
5. Yoga. We are as inflexible as the next translators, but we are working on it. If we only have 10 minutes to decompress, we will do a few easy yoga poses, including laying down on our backs with our legs up a wall. Downward dog, tree, child's pose and others are also fantastic poses for a quick refresher.

What about you, dear friends and colleagues? Do you have any quick stress busters that you would like to share? We'd love to read about them in the comments section.

Two Hands = Violinist?

Today we'd like to discuss one of our favorite topics -- why the simple fact that being bilingual doesn't automatically make anyone either a translator or an interpreter. There's significant training involved, but oftentimes outsiders to the profession equate bilingualism with professional translation and interpretation because writing and speaking is something we already know and do, so they don't perceive it as a learned skill. We've spent a few years trying to collect some convincing analogies, and depending on who we are talking to, we select from this list. Some might be more direct analogies than others, while others might be funnier. As always, take some of these with a grain of salt.

In addition, we like to add that just because you like to do something, it doesn't mean you do it well or that others would pay you to do it. For instance, just because you like to crochet doesn't mean that it's good enough that anyone wants to buy your work. Just because you like to dance doesn't mean that event planners will hire you as entertainment for their events. Passionate chess players might very well not be good enough to play payed exhibition matches -- but the professionals are. Enjoying something doesn't necessarily mean you are good enough that others will pay you for it, or, in other words, that it will have value in the marketplace. However, oddly enough, this is what the general public usually incorrectly assumes about languages skills and translation or interpretation. We rarely hear anyone say that they like numbers, ergo they are an accountant, perhaps because there are significant barrier to entry to becoming an accountant, but we digress.

We've written about this many times before, but we'll state it again: being bilingual is the minimum requirement for this job, just like having two hands is the minimum requirement for being a violinist. But having two hands doesn't automatically make you a violinist. And being bilingual doesn't automatically make you an interpreter or a translator, but all interpreters and translators are bilingual.

Now, without further delay, here are our analogies. Some might be better than others, and we look forward to hearing which ones you like!

Being bilingual doesn't make you a translator just like.....

• being able to write in English doesn't make you a journalist.
• being able to write in English doesn't make you an advertising copywriter.
• being able to write in English doesn't make you a public relations professional.
• being able to type doesn't make you a court reporter.
• enjoying cooking doesn't make you a professional chef.
• driving every day doesn't make you a race car driver.
• being tall doesn't make you a basketball player.

Being bilingual doesn't make you an interpreter just like...

• speaking English doesn't make you an actor.
• speaking English doesn't make you a TV anchor.
• speaking English doesn't make you a professional comedian.
• speaking English doesn't make you a voice-over talent.
• liking to argue doesn't make you a lawyer.

I Was Bored Before I Even Began

We created this image on www.canva.com.

Many times, we hear from newcomers to the profession that they want to become translators and/or interpreters because they love languages and really enjoy working for themselves. Those are two excellent reasons, but of course those two things don't make anyone a translator or interpreter, nor do they guarantee success, but we digress. Today we wanted to address some lesser-known facts of the business: much of it won't have anything to do with language at all, and some can be, well, a bit boring. We are not saying, by any stretch of the imagination, that all adminstrative tasks are boring, but it does make for a catchy title. 

Most readers of this blog are experienced linguists and will certainly know that self-employed translators and interpreters have to devote a significant portion of their time to tasks that have absolutely nothing to do with language. These are neither fun tasks nor tasks that you can romanticize at all: they are the nitty-gritty basic tasks (some very easy, some challenging) that are necessary to run a business. They include highly interesting (yes, we are being sarcastic here) things such as:

• Logging our mileage and our business expenses so we can deduct them from our taxes 
• Calling customers who have not paid their invoices (does not happen very often)
• Sending customers the requested paperwork (W-9s, confidentiality agreements)
• Dealing with tax-related paperwork
• Paying our bills and your vendors
• Renewing business licenses and dealing with government bureaucracies
• Going to see our accountants and lawyer, etc. 

On the other hand, there are many routine tasks that we enjoy very much, such as:

• Issuing invoices
• Working in our trusty accounting system, Translation Office 3000
• Corresponding with clients
• Depositing checks
• Checking the online balances of our accounts

Others are not boring, but can be taxing, such as:

• Dealing with computer challenges
• Doing software upgrades
• Calling the bank again to deal with an incorrect charge

In addition, we frequently outsource work to a small group of our superstar contractors, so we oftentimes do project management and edit others' work, which is not boring at all, but can be quite cumbersome on the administrative level.

The point of this post is the following: newcomers to this profession must realize that while of course we work with language on a daily basis, all linguists devote part of their time to administrative tasks. Sometimes it's 30% of our day, sometimes it's 50%, sometimes it's even 100% (as happened during a recent computer crisis). We think it's important that newcomers know about this reality, which is why we share it here on this space as food for thought.

What about you, dear colleagues? How much time do you spend on boring (read: administrative) tasks every day? Which one is your least favorite? Do you have one that you actually like?

And surely music fans were quick to recognize the title of this post: it is a favorite line from an 80s song by The Smiths. The name of the song is "Shirtlifters of the World Unite." Yes, Judy is a huge The Smiths/Morrissey fan.

Spanish Grammar and Writing: In Pictures

Our friends over at Ortografía Real have been tweeting up a storm and have been sharing a large amount of interesting tidbits about the Spanish language. We really enjoy their tweets and their Facebook page, and highly recommend you follow them.

They recently tweeted two images that nicely illustrate some very common mistakes. If we had a penny for every time someone sent us an e-mail with Hay nos vemos (correct: Ahí nos vemos) or Haber si te quedas a cenar (correct: A ver si te quedas a cenar), we would be rich. Perhaps this will clear up some of these common errors. Enjoy!

Thank you, Ortografía Real, for this gem.

Simple and priceless. A ver si se acuerdan.

Professional Headshots: Our Experience

We are SO not models.

We've long been advocates of professional headshots to be used on business cards, websites, marketing materials, etc. Long gone are the days when we saw many T&I professionals use cropped summer snapshots as their profile pictures on LinkedIn and other online media, and that's a great development. Lawyers, doctors, and other professionals long ago discovered the power of professional images, and translators and interpreters need them, too. It's rare to visit a website these days that doesn't feature an image of the actual services provider. It builds trust and it's always nice to see a picture of a real person rather than a stock image. We are usually surprised when there isn't a real picture to be found on someone's website, and we bet clients feel the same way. Having a professional image is relatively easy and doesn't require a big investment. This year, we just spent $100 each because of a fabulous special at a local studio that made us feel like royalty for an afternoon.

Dagy's royal treatment.

A few years ago, we started encouraging our local and national associations to host photo shoots with professional photographers at discounted rates for their members, which allowed many colleagues to obtain top-notch photos at reasonable prices. We had our pictures taken at several of these events, and it's fantastic that this is catching on!  Even if you hire your own photographer, it's usually a worthwhile investment and one of the few upfront investments you need to make in your online presence. 

Photo by Sam Woodard.

Photo by Sam Woodard.

After doing four or five outdoor photo shoots in a row (all in Vegas), we decided to have an indoor studio photo shoot this year. We had just received a very attractive offer from Fremont East Studios through our downtown Vegas co-working space Work in Progress and we had a fantastic experience! The photo shoot even included the services of a highly talented and lovely make-up artist, and the studio was fantastic and very comfortable. We hope you enjoy both the finished product (that's Judy on the left) and some goofy behind-the-scenes pictures as well. As you can tell, we are very far from being model material, and we usually don't know how to stand, where to look, or what to do with our hands (told you we weren't model material). Luckily for us, photographer Sam Woodard and make-up artist Doralynne Valenzuela told us exactly what to do. What a great all-female team! You'd think that posing in a studio would be really unnatural and awkward, but it was quite the opposite.

And don't forget that this is a classic business expense. Actually, it's one of our most entertaining business expenses of the year. 

What about you, dear colleagues? Have you had a professsional headshot taken or are you still thinking about it? We are always looking for good photo ideas, so we'd love to hear about your experiences!