If you take part in outreach activities, or if people ever ask you the difference between translators and interpreters, and what they actually do, then you might find this “More Than Words” TEDx talk useful. Produced by the Monterey Institute of International Studies, it features Laura Burian, Miguel Garcia and Barry Olsen.
The talk also provides a good answer to anyone who asserts that everyone speaks English so there’s no need to bother learning other languages:
If you talk a man in a language he understands, that goes his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.
Nelson Mandela
Anyway, it’s a myth that “everyone” speaks English: check out the Map of the percentage of people speaking English in the EU by country from Jakub Marian’s website (for copyright reasons, I can’t reproduce the image here). Only 22% of Spaniards say they can hold a conversation in English, 27% of Portuguese and 34% of Italians. So if you want to do business in those countries, you’d do well to learn (or employ a translator/interpreter who knows) their languages!
By the way, check out the back-drop to the speakers: it’s amazing what you can do with plastic bottles and coloured lighting.
Other posts you might like:
Languages as they is spoke, by Catherine Tate
Ministry of Justice language services: FUBAR?
Spreading the language love (1)
By Marian Dougan
2 Responses
What a fantastic video! I have so much admiration for translators and interpreters, particularly simultaneous interpreters. I had two interpretation exams as part of my finals for my French and Spanish degree. Each was only 20 minutes but I was SHATTERED! The concentration required is phenomenal – as the speaker explains you need to listen, understand, process and convert to the other language all within about a second! I hope these professionals are well paid!
Thanks for commenting Kim. I haven’t done much interpreting but, as you say, the concentration required is indeed phenomenal and mentally exhausting. I loved the part of the video showing Miguel Garcia’s notes (hieroglyphics?) for consecutive interpreting.