Japan - US Business News

The Interpreter's Corner: Interpreter’s Dilemma

I prefer the word augmentation to retraction.  What am I referring to?  Two weeks ago I discussed the importance of using a dictionary to look up a word, even if the consequences of doing so are embarrassing.  I stand by that.  I do.  There is, however, a “but” that follows this professional expectation.  Sometimes the word you’re looking for is simply not in the dictionary.

“Not so!” you say.
“Definitely so,” I reply.

Let’s review.  There is no way any dictionary can contain every word out there.  Even the most advanced electronic dictionaries have limitations.  Case in point.  Let me introduce you to an example.

This is a story that happened to a friend.  I’ll call her Juliette.  Juliette is interpreting for an American teenage celebrity.  Let’s call this celebrity Marie.   Marie is pretty, perky, loud, and popular.  She’s the latest “it” girl.  Juliette is called in to interpret for Marie in an interview.   Marie is starring next to the latest “it” guy in a show.  Let’s call this man Claude.  He’s cute, cool, dashing and smashing.  Marie is asked in the interview what she thinks of Claude, to which she replies,  “OMG!  He is soooooo cool!”

Let’s pause here a minute.  I looked up OMG in my electronic dictionary.  Nothing.  Let me be clear.  I know what it means.  (For those of you who might not be familiar with this phrase, it stands for “oh my God.”)  It’s used as short hand in text messages but also now in speech.  Young people these days honestly say “OMG” instead of “oh my God.”  I kid you not.  (No pun intended.)  So, Marie said “OMG” and it’s not in the dictionary.  It’s important we establish these two points because this is where my not-quite-a-retraction comes in.

The Interpreter's Corner: Public Humiliation

All clients are important.  All meetings are important.  This is not to say all meetings are equal in their importance.  Discussing the best way to put together an air condition does not hold the same social/political implications as a bilateral meeting.  This story is about the latter.

It’s Monday morning at 8:35.  Both parties are sitting in a large room in downtown Tokyo.  The Japanese have greeted and welcomed their American counterparts.  After a few words are spoken about the importance of this meeting, the host says the Director of the department, his superior, will come in for a few minutes and extend his welcome as well.  On cue, a man enters the room, sits at the head table and facing everyone says the following:

“Good morning.  My name is (insert name here).  I’m the Director of the (insert department name here) and I have been in this position for two years.  Welcome.”

I repeat his words.  Verbatim.  I did not omit, change, or embellish anything.  I used his words in the exact order they were spoken.  That’s my job.

Suddenly, he looks over at me, and next thing I know I’m the target of serious public humiliation.

The Interpreter's Corner: “Who’s ‘Grand Julie’?”

Picture this.  You’re working as a team.  The person you’re working with is younger and less experienced than you, but as far as your client is concerned, your senior.  It has to do with titles.  His trumps yours.  Remember this.  It’s important.

Now, picture this.  You and your teammate (let’s call him George) have been asked to interpret at court.  There’s a witness.  She’s coming into testify.  She’s scared.  She doesn’t want to do this.  Unfamiliar with how the U.S. judicial system works, she feels alone.  The two interpreters, yourself included, have been told you are to be neutral, third party personnel.  You aren’t to engage her in conversation.  There is to be no chitchat.  You are to repeat what she says and is said to her and then leave.  Simple.  Right?  Not when George, the one senior to you makes a mistake.

Before I go into what the mistake was, I will go straight to the moral of the story.  There are two, actually.  One is, if you don’t know a word, don’t fake it.  As far as I’m concerned, Romanizing it is pretty close to faking it, unless the word is known and used in Japanese as a Romanized word.

What do I mean by “Romanized”?  Think Roma-ji.  Cake is ケーキ.  Chocolate is チョコレート.  Now think of words that cannot and should not be Romanized.  I doubt any interpreter would use the word ハット for 帽子.  Nor would an interpreter say クロック for 時計.  You get my point.

If an interpreter does not know the word for clock and used クロック in its place, I would say the interpreter is “faking” it.  Don’t do this.  You don’t know a word?  Look it up. 

The Interpreter's Corner: Your Worst Nightmare, a drunk Mr. S: Part 3

The last story about Mr. S. is the most serious and problematic.  Complaining about too much lobster and using rude gestures in a passive-aggressive way is annoying, yes.  Sexual harassment is an entirely different story.  Add alcohol to the mix and this was an explosive situation.  Here’s what happened.

I knew Mr. S. really liked his liquor and got drunk every time he was taken out.  What I did not realize until too late was the fact he probably had a serious alcohol problem.  I have heard of those who cannot process and break down alcohol in their bodies and thus show symptoms of drunkenness or mild alcohol poisoning even after one or two sips.  This was certainly the case for Mr. S.

We are out to dinner with a large group of executives at Mr. S’s new favorite steak restaurant.  Drinks are ordered and poured, appetizers have come and been consumed and the steaks arrive.  The lone female executive in the group ordered a “petit fillet”, an 8-ounce steak.  Mr. S. looks at her plate and says,

“It’s good you ordered the small steak.  Otherwise you’d get fat and then you won’t get promoted.  No one will want to sleep with you if you’re fat, you know.” 

I just about fell off my chair.  I didn’t repeat this, of course, except for the “…you ordered a small steak” part.  I wiped my mouth with my napkin, placed it on the table, stood up and excused myself and walked over to the bar to cool off.  After a few minutes Mr. S. came over.  I glared at him, pointed my finger at his chest and said,

“Don’t ever say that again.”
“Say what?”
“Say what you just said.”
“What did I say?”

I thought he was kidding.  I thought he was deliberately trying to make me angry.  Then it dawned on me.  Did he really not remember?  I asked.