You’re probably right, FP.

punt iehor li nixtieq naghmel huwa li meta l-MEP’s jitkellmu f’dawn l-interventi, jkollhom minuta biss ghad-dispozzizjoni taghhom, allura hija haga naturali li dak li jkun jghaggel biex ilahhaq kollox. Il-parlament Ewropew mhux bhal programm Xarabank, fejn Peppi jghidlek fil-qasir u tibqa ghaddej, imma wara minuta jitfulek il-mikrofonu u jkollok tieqaf!! u jekk nitkellmu fuq l-interpreti u t-translaturi Maltin li hemm barra, kulhad jaf li dawn mhux fost l-aqwa l’hemm zgur. Insejna jaqaw il-fjask li kienu ghamlu meta ttraducew constitution bodies bhala igsma kostituzzjonali!!!

Haga ohra li nixtieq nivverifika hija li min isegwi fuq l-internet is-sezzjonijiet plenarji kemm meta jkunu fi Brussel, kif ukoll fi Strasburgu, tinnutaw li l-parlament dejjem ikun vojt meta l-mep’s jaghmlu l-interventi u l-mistoqsijiet taghhom. L-unika darba li l-kamra tkun mimlija kwazi bl-MEP’s kollha hija meta jittiehdu il-voti!!!

Naghlaq billi nikkumenta fuq dan ir-ritratt li gibt hawn fuq. Nahseb kull bniedem, hux politiku jew le, ghandu dritt ghal hajja privata tieghu!! kieku dan ir-ritratt ittiehed waqt gurnata xoghol fi Brussel kien ikollok ragun, imma ma nahsibx li dan hu l-kaz!! kif jghidu bil-lingwa favorita tieghek – All work and no play makes jack a dull boy!!

P.S – Taghmila li tifhem f’kollox, biss l-etika tesigi lin-nies ma tghajjarhomx kabocci. Min jaghmel hekk ikun qieghed juri x’livell baxx jinsab fih!!

Well, DNA, Daphne, et al, whether the lady heard on the EN channel is called a translator or an interpreter, I put it to you that she was neither translating nor interpreting. She was simply READING.

There’s no way that anyone can catch up on several long seconds of speedy speech and translate or interpret it off the cuff without missing a beat right through to the end.

If you listen carefully, the EN channel lady’s rendition is impeccably faithful to the original from start to finish, and given that with regular on-the-fly translation/interpretation you almost always get the odd missed phrase or even complete sentence, you can easily conclude that this is actually the reading of a prepared translation, and NOT either a live translation or a live interpretation.

Notice also how she never falters, not even for a split second, except for the odd give-away of actually starting to misread words and then correcting herself – the perfect true-to-life recipe of a hasty disinterested read.

What convinces me even more that this is the case is the fact that our EN channel interpreter/translator is heard flipping pages at one point.

Judging from her accent, I’d say she’s Maltese. I’ll bet my bottom dollar that if one were to transcribe both Cuschieri’s address as well as the interpreter’s/translator’s speech on the EN channel and do a side-by-side comparison, we’ll end with irrefutable proof that she was reading a typed translation.

I don’t have the patience to do this, so unless someone is prepared to waste some time and prove me wrong, I don’t think I’m much off the mark.

An anonymous semi-literate coward calls me a groupie lacking brain cells. Should I care? I bet he/she/it voted against EU membership too.

@ Standards do exsts:

Just as I thought. You were quote mining just to win an argument and compensate for your lack of brain cells.

The all important sentence in point 2, that precedes your quote, is “For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply”.

Now, which part of that sentence don’t you understand?

@ Standards do exsts:

Standards, baby, why don’t you provide me with a link, so that I may check whether you are quote mining or simply writing hogwash.

But if that’s beyond the capacity of your limited store of brain cells, don’t bother at all.

And by the way, do standards really “exsts”?

@ Daphne: It’s a cliché, I know, but so true for you: when one has no sensible arguments to use in one’s defence, one throws irrelevant comments instead. That’s OK. We do understand the frustration of being irrelevant and not able to fend off logic…

[Daphne – This sentence shows that you learned English as a foreign language. You sound like somebody who works for Maltastar, not somebody who translates documents and speeches in Brussels. Your way of communicating is also infantile, and I don’t think this is just the result of inadequate knowledge of the language and a very poor vocabulary. I think it is the result of genetically restricted intelligence, an inadequte upbringing and poor schooling. However, with commitment, drive and motivation, you can overcome your considerable disadvantages and achieve much without having to depend on the desperation of your employers.]

Mind you, if this is the Ukrainian presenter you have in mind, I’m all for it!

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UaLWp72nij4/TBqwaptWCbI/AAAAAAAAPaM/KIyqFbfGMdw/s1600/dasha-astafieva.jpg)

@ Kenneth the mindless groupie: I hope to God you never get to the interpreters’ booth or else a string of major diplomatic scandals awaits us! What desperation can do to human dignity is absolutely amazing!

[Daphne – Kenneth, can you believe this person is actually a translator? My God.]