Bonjour, mon amis! I hope everyone is having a lovely Sunday
and preparing for Lent by eating all the
things you’re going to give up.
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| For instance, last weekend I went to a cheese factory! |
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| AND a chocolate factory!! |
For this blog post, I thought I would talk about one of my
favorite things: languages and linguistics! It’s been on my mind since we
started looking for interpreters for our upcoming side event. We’ve been
calling everyone on these lists that we received from an agency, asking whether
or not they would be available to volunteer to interpret our event. We’ve got
some hard no’s, some maybe’s, and five yes’ so we’re doing okay right now.
Interpreters want to get paid (duh), so it would have been nice if some of our
sponsors could have provided financial assistance. Eh, c’est la vie.
Anyway, interpreting is a different kettle of fish than
translating. Interpreting is when a person verbally translates the meaning from
one language to another, while translating is generally written. Interpretation
is also more challenging in my opinion, because the person must be able to
translate the colloquialisms of one language to another in a way that delivers
the same meaning. When you get into simultaneous interpretation, the person has
to be able to translate what they have just heard while memorizing what the
speaker is currently saying so as to translate that as well. This website
offers a basic overview if you want to understand more.
So we’ve been trying to get people who can interpret from
English to Spanish, English to French, English to Arabic, and vice versa for
all of those pairings. And interpreters prefer to work in pairs because, as you
might imagine, it is mentally exhausting to spend to hours constantly
translating one language to another in your head and then having to say your
interpretation for all the people wearing earphones. Heck, just speaking for
two hours straight at all would be horrible, I can’t imagine having to
interpret.
What I find very interesting about all this is the clear
importance that language plays in diplomacy here at the UN (which obviously
means it is important to other diplomatic interactions that occur around the
world at any given time). This past Tuesday was International Mother Language
Day. The UN website states that “languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and
developing our tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote the
dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic
diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of
linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire
solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.”
And it’s true. The way we understand the world is filtered
through our language. Even a word as simple as “y’all.” For people who grew up
not in the south of the United States, y’all is kind of funny. It’s definitely
a marker, something that identifies the speaker as being from the south, from a
‘country’ area (even if they grew up in a major metropolitan area, like
myself). It is more than a contraction of ‘you all.’ Y’all carries cultural
connotations, a history, a statement of identity. Saying y’all is something to
be proud of if you use it and something to make fun of if you don’t.
So you can imagine the cultural differences that exist in a
completely different language.
In diplomacy, words are chosen very precisely. Possible
connotations are heavily considered, word order is scrutinized, and God forbid
someone mention that one thing that happened two hundred years ago but that
stills hacks that one country off. When a diplomat is writing, they have time
to make sure that everything is perfect, and they can write their speeches down
beforehand if that helps. However, when they are speaking to someone who uses a
different language, they have to rely on interpreters to not only translate
their words, but the underlying the meaning and the feelings they wish to
convey. And that requires a lot of trust.
I read this article a long time ago, but it has always stayed
with me because of how true it is. Being an interpreter is more than being a
mouthpiece. It is being a diplomat yourself. It means persuading the President
of Country X as if you are the
President of Country Y. Which honestly, must be absolutely terrifying.
So today when you go out to do whatever, I encourage you to
think like an interpreter. When you’re listening to someone, don’t only listen
to their words, but try to understand their meaning and feelings. Translate
what they said into your own language. And to do that, you have to practice
understanding their language first. After all, we can’t translate a language we
don’t understand.
I’ll leave you with this quote:
I'm a firm believer that language and how we use language
determines how we act, and how we act then determines our lives and other
people's lives.
- Ntozake Shange
Until next time!
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