You had to mention Louis…

In one, a speaker quoting Shakespeare was interpreted into French by a quotation from Moliere.

On the other occasion the interpreter from Japanese was lost for words, so he told his listeners that the speaker had said a joke which he could not translate, so he asked them to be kind enough to laugh.

During my experience in the CSCE I established a rapport with interpreters which came in useful in learning what was going on behind the scene.

Translation is different; more distant; less spontaneous and sometimes, unfortunately, manipulated.

Louis Galea has just been appointed audit dean by the European court of auditors last March.

Helen D’Amato’s current role is anything but a cushy job.

How’s the recodification going?

Delegates are handed a sheet of paper at the beginning of the meeting listing the languages available for ‘interpretation’ rather than translation. Furthermore the EU Institutions refer to the careers of interpreter and translator respectively for the speaker and writer from one language to another.

I guess in a city (Brussels) where the vast majority are non-native English speakers it’s one of those words lost in translation.

A translation can be a literal one as the word for word or else which translates also the meaning of the text in a way compatible with the languge being translated into. Interpetation also involves translating, what a person is saying. It can be a word for word interpretation or one which conveys the meaning of what is being said.

Confusion may arise as interpretation is often called in English simultaneous translation. In fact interpretation involves translation so the two terms are not mutually exclusive. However it is right to keep them distinct for the sake of clarity.

[Daphne – David, give it a rest. I know what I’m talking about.]

What about Louis Grech? Had he not got a golden handshake of some sort, too, or am I mistaken?

[Daphne – David, try to follow what I’m about to tell you. The difference between translating and interpreting is NOT that the one is in writing and the other is spoken. Interpreting means listening to what the other person says and then synthesising it down to the gist. Translation is word for word. You are speaking, here, to somebody who knows this language far, far better than you do, and certainly far, far better than the people dispatched to Brussels to translate and interpret do, too.]

At this rate, parliament will meet at the Yellow Garage.