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by isafmedia

Historical Translators and Interpreters: Malinche – Not as bad as she seemed?

Regardless of how the diverse plethora of languages that currently populate the earth came into existence, the job of translators and interpreters has always been of great importance.

Initially, in the conquest of North and South America by the Europeans, the Spanish, English, and French languages were the three main languages that came to be known in the areas where mostly indigenous languages were once spoken. Translators and interpreters during those times were mainly used to communicate amongst the parties for various topics usually consisting of religion and political debate. For many of the translators and interpreters then, medical and legal interpreting that are so common today were unheard of.

Among the most widely known translators and interpreters that worked with the indigenous populations and the Europeans were people who were not only able to communicate on a linguistic level, but also had an incredibly deep knowledge of the two communicating cultures.. Many of these translators usually were raised in either a culturally diverse home, or in a home where the target language was constantly spoken.

Among the first of these people who translated and interpreted during those times was named Malinche. Malinche worked with the Spanish interpreter, Jeronimo de Aguilar during the Spanish conquest to communicate with the Aztec Indians who inhabited what is known now as Mexico. Malinche spoke Mayan and Nahuatl (the Aztec language) and Jeronimo de Aguilar spoke Spanish and Mayan, so Malinche interpreted what was said in Nahuatl into Mayan, Jeronimo de Aguilar would interpret that message into Spanish and vice versa for Cortez and his troops. Eventually Malinche was able to learn Spanish and no longer needed to work with Jeronimo de Aguilar.

To this day, to people familiar with the Mexican culture, the name “Malinche” tends to conjure up feelings of negativity and betrayal which, unfortunately, were the result of her misuse of the trust granted to her as the language translation services provider. However, aside from her betrayal and deception, Malinche did have several good qualities that translators and interpreters today aspire to. The most important of these traits was the use of advanced cultural and linguistic knowledge in her work. She was given the task of communicating a lot of ideas that, at the time, were very controversial to the people there, but through her cultural and linguistic knowledge, she was able to gain the trust of both communicating parties.

Even though Malinche had less than pure motives, her knowledge on language and culture, as well as being seen as trustworthy through the eyes of both audiences was what made her a good translator and interpreter. It is these traits that language professionals today work for years to master.

by Lawrence OP

Legal Translation and Interpretation: Why it is essential in a fair legal proceeding?

Legal translation and interpretation is one of the most complex jobs in the United States Legal System. It requires a strong grasp of English and another language including a varying array of registers or tones that are used within each language by different groups of people. Legal interpreters and translators must be familiar with the proceedings and vocabulary that are typical for a United States Court System. In addition to being familiar with typical court proceedings and vocabulary, legal interpreters must be familiar with the street slang and everyday language that could potentially be spoken by someone outside of the court system.

Accurate and reliable legal interpretation is important for a fair legal proceeding because each side of the case has the right to a fair trial. Webster’s Dictionary defines a trial as “the formal examination before a competent tribunal of the matter in issue in a civil or criminal cause in order to determine such issue”. Using this definition, the importance of the role of a legal translator and/or interpreter becomes obvious. Witnesses, evidence, defendants, and prosecutors are all part of what makes a legal hearing legitimate, and all of these people must be completely understood by the judge, jury, and everyone else involved in the decision making process at the end of the trial.

In a “formal examination” all speakers within the court who speak a language other than English must have both their written and verbal statements translated by an impartial party, in this case, a legal translation services, so that the message does not become distorted for the benefit of either the defendant or the prosecutor.

The second part of Webster’s definition requires all information to be presented to a “competent tribunal”, or a group of people who are wholly capable of absorbing information that is accurately presented by both sides of the trial and later deciding the verdict based on the information given in the trial. Again, this requires that all communication be accurately depicted in English. In order for the tribunal to make a fair decision, they must have received an exact representation of any information that originated in a different language.

The final part of the definition of trial is “to determine such issue”, or in other words, it is the responsibility of the legal interpreter to ensure that all non-English evidence and communication presented in the trial was accurately depicted to the tribunal in a way that they can understand. According to the U.S. Constitution, all persons within the United States have the right to a “fair and speedy trial” and certified legal translation and interpretation is part of a fair trial when one or both parties do not speak English.

Legal Interpreters at Work

In our third of a series about different types of language interpreting, we will explain the tasks carried out by a legal interpreter, as well as his or her important role in US courts today.

Legal or judiciary interpreters help people who are unable to communicate in English to receive fair treatment in the court system. Legal interpreters must remain emotionally detached from their work and not modify the meaning or tone of what is said, so a high standard of ethics and a keen sense of objectivity are extremely important in this field.

Legal interpreters also need to be thoroughly familiar with the language and functions of the U.S. judicial system, and sometimes with other countries’ legal systems as well. Court interpreters work in a variety of legal settings, such as attorney-client meetings, preliminary hearings, depositions, trials, and arraignments. Success as a judiciary interpreter requires an understanding of both legal terminology and colloquial language.

Since the stakes are extremely high in this field of language interpreting, legal interpreters must be perfectly qualified for their job. For example, despite a shortage of legal interpreters, some states, including California, are seeking to raise court interpreters’ qualification standards in the interest of justice for all.

Right now, court interpreters can be certified in the following 13 languages:

•    American Sign Language
•    Arabic
•    Armenian (Eastern)
•    Armenian (Western)
•    Cantonese
•    Japanese
•    Korean
•    Mandarin
•    Portuguese
•    Russian
•    Spanish
•    Tagalog
•    Vietnamese

Court interpreting is a very demanding job. Spoken language court interpreters must be completely fluent in both English and the second language, while court interpreters of American Sign Language must be completely fluent in both English and American Sign Language. The level of expertise required for this profession is far greater than that required for everyday bilingual conversation. The interpreter must be able to handle the widest range of language terms that may be presented in the courts—from specialized legal and technical terminology to street slang. Most people do not have a full command of all registers of both English and the foreign language and, therefore, require special training to acquire it.

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