The issue of interpreter visibility has been discussed many times, and it remains an ongoing discussion. I was reminded of it just recently when I read an interview with an interpreter who repeated the old mantra of the invisible interpreter. It was something along the lines of, “I know I’ve done a good job when no one knows I was there.”...
Count Smorltalk does voiceover Many moons ago I wrote about heteronyms. You know, those awkward words spelled the same but pronounced differently in different contexts. If you only have a second to think about it, how do you know it is second and not second? How did you know it was “How to perfect perfect speech” in the title? Context, as always...
Count Smorltalk cogitates on the machinery of translation Je pense, donc je suis. These famous words, penned by Descartes in his 1637 Discours de la Méthode, are a cornerstone of Western philosophy: the fact of thought means that the thinker is real. Later, the words Je pense, donc je suis were translated into...
Count Smorltalk speculates on WER “Well there you are, four candles!’ “No, fork ‘andles! ‘Andles for forks!” If you haven’t ever seen the Two Ronnies sketch The Hardware Shop, do it now: It immortalises the kind of chaos that ensues when one human says one thing and another human hears something else. Genius.Of course, we interpreters listen...
Count Smorltalk fails the Turing test On some dark days in the depths of the Covid lockdown if you had asked my friends whether text messages emanating from my account were generated by human or by computer, they would have answered that the thing the other end was definitely not human. Sadly, at some points during these bleak times I would have...
Count Smorltalk takes a look at the 2nd Edition of Gillies’ seminal work I was contemplating sending these notes into Mme Blog as proof that I had read the book I was asked to review. And I thought I might leave it at that. But I had a niggling feeling I’d get sent away with a flea in my ear and told to do the review properly, so I have...
Conference interpreter, Paris-based member of AIIC, EN<>PL, EN<>FR, PL<>FR, RU>PL, RU>EN, RU>FR. Former semi-professional chess player, author of several original mathematical theorems, globetrotter. Canadian, Polish and British national, a Pole by choice. Monika: Jan, let’s first talk about your working languages and...
Preparation is the invisible work that contributes to the success of meetings large and small – and one of the main reasons why interpreters are so often heard but not really noticed. Preparation is essential, whether working face-to-face with people in a hospital or immigration office, or in a booth at the back of a meeting room. But before...
Count Smorltalk combats an invasive alien species You know what, for a man of few words, I don’t half talk a lot. It’s an occupational hazard for interpreters, talking a lot. Conversely, our punters do an awful lot of listening. Day in and day out they listen to us. On and on and on. So you’d be forgiven for thinking that an essential component of...
An American conference interpreter writes to Count Smorltalk: “As a Brit you are at a major advantage – you have to make a third of the effort that I do as an interpreter into American English.” Dear Count Smorltalk, I have been reading your column with great interest and enjoyment for some months now. Although I have no idea as...