Language Blog Translation Times: February 2016

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As a federally certified court interpreter for Spanish, Judy works with attorneys on an everyday basis. Most are quite grateful to have the services of an interpreter, as it enables communication with their clients and/or the other party. There are a few things that attorneys have told us that they appreciate throughout the years when it comes to interpreting rendition, and there's one thing that stands out.

It's something all court interpreters know, and it's part of our code of ethics: it's about interpreting fully and faithfully. This means that you have to be very, very precise. And that's the feedback Judy has gotten the most: that the clients and everyone involved appreciate her precision. In practice, this means interpreting "um" when the non-English speaker says "um" and not omitting anything, not finishing sentences for the non-English speaker, etc. You just have to resist the urge to complete sentences or answer verbally when the deponent (or defendant, of client, or witness) did not. This can be difficult, especially in the beginning, and one can be tempted to make things easier by just "helping out a bit," but as court interpreters we are not allowed to do so.

Consider this example:

Attorney: Ms. Quiroz, so you were at home the morning of February 21?
Interpreter (Judy): Señora Quiroz, ¿así que usted estaba en casa la mañana del 21 de febrero?
Deponent (Ms. Quiroz): A-ha.
Interpreter (Judy): A-ha.
Attorney: Did you mean "yes"?
Interpreter (Judy): ¿Quiso usted decir "sí"?
Deponent (Ms. Quiroz): No entiendo.
Interpreter (Judy): I do not understand.
Attorney: Sorry, let me make this clear. Please provide audible answers. So that means answering "yes" or "no" so we can take your answer down for the record.
Interpreter (Judy): Perdón, permítame clarificar esto. Le ruego dar respuestas verbales. Esto significa que debe decir "sí" o "no" para hacer constar su respuesta en el acta.
Deponent (Ms. Quiroz): Ah, ya entendí. Sí, estuve en casa.
Judy: Ah, I understand now. Yes, I was at home.
Attorney: Thank you.

Of course, this would have all been a bit less painful if Judy had interpreted "yes" instead of "a-ha" the very first time the deponent spoke, but it wouldn't have been correct. This is the one thing that attorneys comment on the most: that accuracy is key for them. As one of our favorite attorneys said last week: "I may not speak Spanish, but I am smart enough to pick up on a lot of things." In summary: be precise, don't omit or add, and you will make yourself popular with attorneys and other clients. We'd love to hear your comments, dear readers!

About us

We (Judy and Dagmar Jenner) are a pair of identical translating and interpreting twins working in Spanish, German, English, and French (Dagmar only). We were born in Austria, grew up in a bilingual household in Mexico City, and run our translation, interpreting and copywriting business, Twin Translations, from Vegas and Vienna (Austria). In this blog, we dispense (useful) tips and tricks on how to run a translation and interpreting business. We frequently share what we know with fellow linguists via our "The Entrepreneurial Linguist" workshop. The "Entrepreneurial Linguist" book has sold more than 5,000 copies and is available on www.lulu.com. Judy pens the monthly "Entrepreneurial Linguist" column for the American Translators Association's Chronicle and also serves as a spokesperson for the ATA. She holds an MBA in marketing from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Dagmar has a graduate degree in French, an undergraduate translation degree and a graduate degree in French and Spanish conference interpreting from the University of Vienna. She is the president of UNIVERSITAS Austria Interpreters' and Translators' Association and is an accredited freelance conference interpreter for the institutions of the European Union, where she works in the German booth. Judy is a federally certified Spanish court interpreter, a master-level certified Spanish court interpreter in Nevada, a certified Spanish court interpreter in California, a registered German court interpreter in Nevada, and a past president of the Nevada Interpreters and Translators Association, and serves as the organization's professional development committee. She also teaches in the University of California San Diego's Extension translation and interpreting certificate program.