Interpreting
The power of interpreters
December 14, 2007
Interpreters have a lot of power. People rely entirely on me to communicate, and sometimes it is ever so tempting to be “creative” to get out of an unpleasant situation. The following illustrates something that happened on Monday. My client...
Interpreting tip
April 5, 2007
So I was out of the office interpreting last week and really enjoyed the experience. It was hard work, with very long days, technical presentations, rowdy participants, karaoke and long bus journeys. But I was on the local news (well,...
Out of the office
March 23, 2007
So, where was I interpreting yesterday? You're allowed two visual clues: ----------------------- UPDATE You lot are too clever. And quick! I was on a RIB (Rigid-hull Inflatable Boat) visiting the Kentish Flats off-shore windfarm, the biggest in the country, off...
Translation costing public £100 million in the UK
December 13, 2006
"When you are trying to help us you are actually harming. Even before we ask, all we have to do is say hello, they are here with their interpreters. We just sit here doing nothing and we don't need to...
Language and the brain
October 30, 2006
I’ve been thinking about the way the brain processes language, admittedly in a rather unscientific way, prompted by my own experience of interpreting and reading several articles on the Internet. While reading one of my favourite blogs, The Dilbert blog,...
The end of interpreters?
October 26, 2006
A "Tower of Babel" device that gives the illusion of being bilingual is being developed by US scientists. Users simply have to silently mouth a word in their own language for it to be translated and read out in another....
Interpreting during dinner
September 12, 2006
I’m interpreting during a dinner tomorrow and had to choose what I wanted from the menu: I chose Wild Mushroom Risotto, Globe Artichokes Barigoule and Chocolate Marquise & Pistachio Ice Cream, when really, what I wanted was a selection of...
Interpreting in Rouen
June 5, 2006
I spent most of last week interpreting in the beautiful city of Rouen. Actually, I hesitate to say that I was interpreting in the strictest sense of the word, since as well as interpreting during meetings and working dinners, I...
By the way...
May 22, 2006
I’m interpreting tomorrow and Wednesday for kids from a French school who are coming to spend the week with their English counterparts. Workshops have been organised to make them more aware of the threats the environment is facing, and we’re...
Interpreting in emotional situations
January 18, 2006
If you browse through the "interpreting" section of this website, you won’t find many unpleasant stories. The jobs I normally work on are environment or business-related, and although it can be upsetting to stand on a mountain of rubbish or...
Interpreting and taking notes
October 13, 2005
I had a day out of the office interpreting yesterday. I really enjoyed it, especially as it was a trip to France. The journey back on the Eurostar gave me the chance to think about how the meeting had...
Guess where!
September 14, 2005
This morning, I gave a client my foot size so he can make sure there will be safety boots for me to wear during my interpreting job next week. What sort of place are we visiting? Answers in the comments...
Fifty French Farmers
August 31, 2005
Yesterday I accompanied fifty French farmers (okay, it was more like forty-seven, but fifty sounds better) around the beautiful, beautiful Sussex countryside, where they were looking at how their English counterparts are dealing with change in their industry. It was...
The English church
August 1, 2005
Preparation is everything when interpreting. And I mean, everything. Your clients count on you to communicate in the most natural manner possible, and you can only do that efficiently if you are familiar enough with the subject matter and terminology...
Interpreting and stress
June 24, 2005
What? The last Friday of the month and no guest blogger? Well, the colleague who kindly offered to write this month’s entry had an unexpected rush job to attend to and will deliver his entry later than expected, so we’ll...
Interpreters beware!
March 9, 2005
This morning I received the following email: Myself, my wife and my son are visiting the UK for 15 days and we are jus shopping / sightseeing. This is why we will need a translator service of someone we can...
Il est tombé dedans quand il était petit
March 4, 2005
"L'écologie? Il est tombé dedans quand il était petit!" (Ecology? He fell in it when he was small!) Those of you who are familiar with Astérix and Obélix will know that this is a reference to Obélix the Gaul. Obélix...
La bise
December 17, 2004
This funny post by petite anglaise reminded me that after my jaunt in Dunkirk, I wanted to write a post on the delicate subject of kissing. The two-year project I've been part of as an interpreter is coming to an...
Do you speak Frenglish?
December 10, 2004
I'm back. I promised you anecdotes, so here are a couple of incidents, which are quite revealing of a well-publicised phenomenon: the invasion of English words into French. Coordinator: "Please write your ideas on the flip-chart." Céline: "Veuillez noter vos...
Badges and giggles
September 10, 2004
I spent the last two days interpreting, which I wasn't looking forward to, as my last two interpreting jobs were very difficult and stressful, for different reasons. One of them I mention in this entry, it's the one with the...
Accent issues
July 7, 2004
Last night I was chatting to a Black police officer, and somehow we got onto the topic of accents. He said that at work, he was very aware of his Asian accent and did his best to adopt a Queen's...
Officially a high-flyer
May 13, 2004
I've interpreted in difficult conditions, while feeling tense, nervous, tired and even ill, but I never thought my biggest challenge would be to interpret while feeling like a four year old on Christmas morning. In a helicopter. Yesterday, I was...
Interpreting jokes
April 7, 2004
Jokes are a nightmare. I dread them. Interpreting between French and English people has taught me that humour is definitely culturally defined. I've often had to say to French people, curious to hear why their English partners were giggling at...
How not to interpret
April 5, 2004
I loved the film Lost in Translation, and in particular (for obvious reasons), the scene where they shoot the commercial, with the interpreter helping the American actor and the Japanese director to communicate. Or is she? Here is the translation...
Interpreting nightmare
March 5, 2004
I've been away interpreting for two days in Hastings. This meeting certainly pushed my adaptation skills to the limit, as I had to deal with three very different styles of presentation, all with their own challenges. I think that, although...
A translator and an interpreter
February 25, 2004
Translators who, like me, are also interpreters, seem to be an odd kind of beast to most people. In the village where I grew up, Saint Martin de Hinx, my mum owns a minuscule shop, which brings you back a...
Lunch and Culture Shock
December 19, 2003
I’ve just spent two days interpreting in Dunkirk for a meeting between French and English partners. My favourite time of the day: lunch. And not just because of the food, but because a work lunch is one of the most...
The letter and the spirit
November 24, 2003
The subtleties of interpreting: it’s not just the words you say that carry the message, you also have to be careful about the tone of your voice. Illustration: I was interpreting in a very long meeting. It was around midday,...