Turtle Bay, the neighborhood of the United Nations here in Midtown Manhattan, is not exactly a hardship post for our interpreters. The biggest trauma most of them encounter in their work is the lack of ice water in their translation booths. But others in our trade work under much more difficult circumstances, in great discomfort, and at risk of life and limb. I’ve posted in the past on efforts among the translation community to help protect our professional colleagues who work in harm’s way.  These efforts are still taking shape, and to learn more I wanted to talk to linguists on the front line. Roland, one of our commenters, turned me on to Sam-K, former interpreter in Iraq, who writes a killer blog, Interpreters Life in Iraq War.  Sam and I [...]

Libyan tyrant Khadafy’s speech before the U.N.’s General Assembly the other day was notable mainly for its length. And about 75 minutes into it, the translation was interrupted when the “King of Kings’” official interpreter shouted, “I just can’t take it anymore!” into a live microphone. In the simultaneous interpreter trade, that’s what we call a bad hand-off.
This interpreter was brought in from Libya. This never would have happened if the Libyan dictator had used the local Turtle Bay talent, which is hands-down the best in the world. The U.N.’s Arabic section chief, Rash Ajalyaqeen, was the one who stepped into the speech breach to finish up.
We like our own interpreters to switch off every 15 to 20 minutes or so, and we prefer that they do it with a [...]

Libyan tyrant Khadafy’s speech before the U.N.’s General Assembly the other day was notable mainly for its length. And about 75 minutes into it, the translation was interrupted when the “King of Kings’” official interpreter shouted, “I just can’t take it anymore!” into a live microphone. In the simultaneous interpreter trade, that’s what we call a bad hand-off.
This interpreter was brought in from Libya. This never would have happened if the Libyan dictator had used the local Turtle Bay talent, which is hands-down the best in the world. The U.N.’s Arabic section chief, Rash Ajalyaqeen, was the one who stepped into the speech breach to finish up.
We like our own interpreters to switch off every 15 to 20 minutes or so, and we prefer that they do it with a [...]

Remember Secretary Clinton’s gag gift to the Russians? The reset button mistranslated into “overcharge?” Well, some newshound pressed “reset” on the internet news cycle, so now the story is back, and just at the gets to the best part of every “Translation Gone Bad” story, the part when the editor gets thrown under the bus.
State wasn’t involved, according to Ben Smith at Politico http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/20404.html . The whole idea was done by Secretary Clinton’s personal staff under the leadership of Phillippe Reines, a trusted, long-time advisor. At the beginning of the week, fingers were pointed at a guy named “McFaul.,” which is a great name for a fall guy, but despite that, they couldn’t make it stick.
“The day of the event.” people involved said, “Reines showed the finished product to [...]