Effective July, 2010, the California Administrative Office of the Courts will begin using the written and oral court interpreter certification exams developed by the Consortium for Language Access in the Courts (Consortium). The decision to adopt the exams of the Consortium was based on the results of a comprehensive study conducted by ALTA Language Services. The report is now available electronically for the public to read here (PDF). Questions or comments about the study and the ensuing move to Consortium exams may be submitted to courtinterpreters@jud.ca.gov.

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In April, Monterey, California, hosted its first TEDx event. The TEDx program is an offshoot of the yearly Technology Entertainment and Design conference. TEDx events are independently organized by local communities.

Notably, TEDxMonterey featured live audio in 8 different languages including Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, French, German and Korean. Students from the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS) provided simultaneous interpretation during the conference.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with one of the student interpreters, Lu Ye, about the conference.

How did you first hear about the TEDxMonterey event and how did you get involved?
The MIIS (Monterey Institute of International Studies) organized the conference. They posted information inviting students to volunteer to interpret. Anyone in the school’s Conference Interpretation specialization could participate, and it was first-come, first-serve. There’s an assumption that students at that level are capable of doing the job.

Students found out about TEDx two weeks in advance and started preparing one week before the event. At rehearsals, TEDx speakers were invited to give briefings. Some gave their outlines, and some even recited their speeches beforehand.

What was the experience like of interpreting at TEDxMonterey?
It was great. The whole interpretation was broadcast live via the internet, so we got a lot of traffic. Our booth got over a hundred listeners from around the world. It was different from the classroom setting. The TED speakers spoke faster than what we’re used to in class. They talk without considering that people are interpreting what they say.

Do you have any observations about simultaneous interpretation after your experience at TEDx?
We have a practicum at MIIS which is organized in combination with other programs like business and international policy studies. Translation and Interpretation students go into booths to interpret for presentations that are organized in the auditorium. We practice without the pressure of making mistakes or shouldering responsibilities – we only have our peers sitting in and giving comments.

With TEDxMonterey, this was the first time I broadcast my interpretations around the world. The added pressure actually helped enhance the quality of my interpreting rendition. Personally, I feel that it’s easier for me to build a connection with the speaker this way.

During simultaneous interpretation you feel like your spirit flies out of your body and into the speaker. You begin to think like the speaker. You’re basically in that person’s mind, but speaking in a different language.

Lu Ye is a professional Chinese-English translator and interpreter based out of the Monterey area. She graduated with a master’s degree in conference interpretation this May. You can reach her at luludt2002 [at] yahoo.com.cn.

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Photo by TEDxMonterey

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ALTA has completed a comprehensive study of court interpreter exams for the Judicial Council of California. The published report, California’s Assessment of the Consortium for Language Access in the Courts’ Exams, appears on the California Court’s website.

In May of 2009, the Judicial Council of California contracted ALTA to assess the Consortium for Language Access to the Courts’ (CLAC or Consortium) test development process. The aim of the study was to perform a comparative analysis between the examinations developed by CLAC to certify its member state court interpreters and the examinations developed by California to certify California state court interpreters.

The study includes literature and document reviews and interviews with members of the Consortium’s staff both past and present, including language consultants and exam writers. Additionally, ALTA and a team of psychometricians performed a psychometric audit of the Consortium’s test development process to identify its key strengths and any areas that were in need of improvement to meet test industry standards according to the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (AERA, APA, & NCME, 1999.)

Once the psychometric audit was complete, a group of subject-matter experts examined both the written and oral Consortium exams to identify the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for successful court interpreting , as determined in the Study of California’s Court Interpreter Certification and Registration Testing. Results from the comparative analysis showed a high degree of overlap between the California and CLAC written and oral exam KSAs, as well as a strong degree of comparability between the structure, content, and level of difficulty found in the oral exams for each program.

The final step of the study involved performing a standard-setting session applying the Angoff Method to establish the level of functional equivalency between the passing requirements of each program’s oral examinations.
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ALTA is a leader in language testing and large-scale language solutions for government agencies and corporations nationwide. In addition to being the official language testing provider for the cities of Los Angeles and New York, ALTA has worked with the Judicial Council of California on language testing studies for several years. Learn more about us at altalang.com

The boundaries between formal and informal language are often blurry. Misunderstandings can arise when a language student or interpreter does not choose correctly when speaking a language that distinguishes between formal and informal personal pronouns. One runs a risk of being considered impolite on the one hand, or snobbish on the other.

The formal singular pronoun is used to express respect to an addressee, whether it is a superior, an older person, a business partner, or a new acquaintance. The informal pronoun, conversely, establishes a sense of closeness and trust among friends and relatives. There is a very special—even intimate—moment when the formal pronoun suddenly changes to its familiar form in the middle of the conversation; or there is a reverse effect of chilling distancing when the formal pronoun is uttered in place of the familiar. Interestingly, most European languages preserve the distinct forms of polite and familiar personal pronouns. In Modern English, however, the practice became largely obsolete.

A similar form of both formal and informal pronouns exists in almost every Indo-European language. Here are a few examples:

In linguistics, the practice of distinguishing personal pronouns on the basis of familiarity and social courtesy is referred to as a T-V distinction, from the first letters of Latin pronouns tu and vos. Common to most of the Indo-European languages, the formal singular pronoun derives from its plural form. Addressing someone in plural has been a universal symbol of inexorable power and authority. According to some sources, the first record of addressing a superior in plural dates back to the Roman Empire during the 4th century. Later, plural pronouns began to be commonly applied to the European aristocracy—so-called “majestic plural.”

In Old English, second-person pronouns thou and you derived from the plural ye. Originally, thou was simply a singular counterpart to ye. The Norman Conquest of 1066 AD marked the age of the French language influence on English. Thou—just like its French version tu—was used to express familiarity, affection, or even condescendence, while the plural ye was reserved for a superior during a formal address. Starting in the Middle English period (mid 15th century), ye gradually generalized to you, which became a standard in both plural and singular forms with no distinct connotation of familiarity or social distance. Thou, which was losing its prominence in the early 17th century, is still preserved in some regions of England and Scotland; it is also commonly used in religious context.

This can pose a challenge to translators and interpreters. They must be aware of the cultural and social circumstances that require a more formal tone to avoid an insulting statement and, at the same time, to avoid archaic and awkward wording. It is even more difficult to reflect the subtle nuances and shades of meaning that accompany the two forms of pronouns. One way to ameliorate the problem is to reserve to the so-called compensating translation. Using a first name or a nickname instead of honorifics or using some informal phrasing, one can “compensate” for the lost meaning or implication.

A new online resource for legal interpreters and translators has recently become available thanks to Vancouver Community College. A team of language professionals collaborated to compile an online legal dictionary consisting of 5000 Canadian legal and court-related terms in English, as well as six other languages: Chinese, Farsi, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese. This multilingual glossary of legal terms can be found here: Multilingual Legal Glossary

The resource is the result of the collaborative efforts of terminologists, bilingual lawyers, legal translators, and linguists, as well as other qualified and experienced members of the legal and multicultural communities of both Canada and the country of origin of each language included.

A quick search of one commonly used legal term, “defendant,” yielded excellent results in Spanish, providing a thorough definition for the term in both English and Spanish. This is an excellent resource for anyone working within the legal arena, especially legal translators in Canada. While the dictionary aims to “explain Canadian legal terminology and to provide foreign language equivalents for concepts related to Canadian law,” many of the included concepts and terms are universal across the English language.

Add this site to your working list of references and support Vancouver Community College’s efforts! To help spread the word, ALTA is going to add a link on the Free Resources for Translators page. I hope to see more online reference resources of this nature in the coming years.

Students from Longview High School in Texas recently contacted ALTA to ask for advice about a class project. Their project is part of an Engineering Design and Development course where the students try to fix an everyday problem. The problem they chose: “translating languages while traveling.”

Their letter included several questions, and we will be sending them answers to these; but, we thought it might be fun, and helpful to the students, to ask our readers:

What translation or language problems have you run into while traveling, and how did you solve them?

There are many common problems and common solutions, so put some thought into it and share your more interesting stories and solutions!

Interpreter Kenji Nimura speaks four languages: Japanese, English, Spanish, and Baseball.

Baseball is the all-American sport, right? When I think of the game I picture muggy summer nights, hot dogs, and lukewarm beer (served at a premium price, of course). What I don’t usually think about is translation—Japanese translation, to be specific. If you’re a Dodgers fan, however, translation is front and center regarding your team. Hiroki Kuroda, the Japanese pitcher drafted last year, speaks virtually no English and relies completely on his interpreter, Kenji Nimura.

As a sport, baseball possibly evolved from the 14th century bat and ball game called la soule, and over the years it transformed in Britain and eventually North America. By 1856 baseball had become the national craze in America and in 1876 the National League was formed. I’m sure you can figure out the rest of the genealogy without too much imagination.

Japanese baseball, or Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as it’s referred to in Japan, however, is perhaps an even bigger craze than its American counterpart. The first baseball team, Greater Japan Tokyo Baseball Club, formed in 1934 and the NPB was organized in 1950. Currently twelve teams make up the NPB which is structured into two leagues—the Central League and the Pacific League—and fans are intensely loyal to their home teams. Chants and songs constantly evolve for each team depending on star players and game locations and bars often serve drinks on the house when its favorite team wins. NPB fans go all in for each of the 130-140 season games.

With NPB so firmly established in Japanese culture, it’s not surprising that American teams recruit from the country. Communication with Japanese recruits can be tough, especially in the case of Kuroda who speaks very little English. Kenji Nimura, his interpreter, explains that “You speak three languages but you don’t speak baseball until you get this job. Last year I made a dictionary for myself based on a lot of advanced scouting reports, just picking out all the baseball words I wasn’t really familiar with. And I go through it every time before I go to a pitcher’s meeting because it’s a totally different language.”

Only this season did the MLB (Major League Baseball) allow interpreters to sit on the bench, a rule which gives Kuroda open access to Nimura and, in turn, access to the coaches. Although it seems like pitchers don’t use any form of communication other than their fingers, the Dodgers are hopeful that MLB rules will allow an interpreter at the pitchers mound.

So translators and interpreters, keep your eyes peeled for MLB jobs—I bet the pay isn’t bad. Given the $35.3 million contract offered Nimura, I would wager that Kenji Nimura’s paycheck isn’t too shabby when the happiness and communication of the pitcher is at stake.

For the full article, go here.

I recently read a book titled The Origins of Simultaneous Interpretation: The Nuremburg Trial that I thought I would recommend given that the pool of information regarding the history of interpreting can be somewhat limited, or difficult to find.

Written by Fracesca Gaiba, Origins describes how the Nuremburg Trial, conducted from November 1945 to August 1946, was the first international gathering in which simultaneous interpretation was used. Gaiba recreates the events that brought simultaneous interpreting to the court system through a combination of interviews with Nuremburg interpreters and staff, as well as extensive literature and audio review of resources pertaining to the trial. Four languages, English, French, Russian, and German were used throughout the trial. Every listener in the courtroom was equipped with a headset and a selector switch at his or her seat. The listener could then choose one of five “channels” he or she wanted to listen to during the trial: the verbatim speech, English, French, Russian, or German.

In Gaiba’s words:

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The International Medical Interpreters Association (IMIA) was founded in 1986 and is the largest medical interpreting organization in the United States.

The objective of the IMIA Guide on Medical Translation is to provide an easy to use set of translation guidelines for those in the medical field. The guide was written by 18 year veteran medical translator, Rocio Txabarriaga, as an “FAQ” type of document for quick consultation by people who wish to learn the best practices for procuring medical translation services.

You can access the entire IMIA Guide to Medical Translation here.