Technology can make remote interpretation as easy as 1-2-3, but at the same time, there can be any number of technical problems that can interfere with an interpretation assignment. Even though problems do happen, it’s our responsibility to minimize them. Having the prudency to keep an eye out for any problems and their solutions is a key skill for interpreters and everyone to have in modern days. In today’s blog, we will be highlighting some common connection issues and what to do in those circumstances.

Interpretation Links

Occasionally, the link you use to log into the meeting may be incorrect. The most common scenario is probably due to a separate meeting being created, causing you to wait in an empty room. If you as an interpreter find yourself in this case, it is best to get in contact with the language service provider you are working with as quickly as possible to ensure that you receive the correct link.

Interpretation Times

The appointment time may be mistakenly written by any party involved in the scheduling, causing the interpreter to be either early or late. To prevent this from happening, it is best to set a reminder that’s sent 24 hours before an interpretation event starts, so all parties including the client and interpreter can double-check on the proper start time and the right link.

Updates

Many of us have experienced this situation. As soon as logging into a conferencing application, you were notified that the application requires an update. This can cause you to be nervous about being late to the meeting. Testing your application at least 30 minutes before logging into the appointment to make sure everything is up to date is a good way to ensure that you aren’t affected by any sudden updates.

Sudden Change of Interpretation Methods

For various reasons, there may be a sudden change in the method for remote interpreting, such as resorting to the telephone or another type of video conferencing service. In such circumstances, make sure to keep your email and phone ready and handy to see if any notification of changes come to you.

Power or Internet Fluctuations

Fluctuations in power or internet can be unavoidable and unpredictable. You may be able to circumvent power outages or battery shortage by planning ahead as much as possible. Charge your phone, laptop, and computer fully. Always think of a backup plan. If occasionally, things just can’t be helped. In these cases, be apologetic and contact your language service provider or the meeting host for contingency.

The Printing Press

It is a little-known fact among the Western world that Johannes Gutenberg was not in fact the first to create a printing press. Borrowing from wood-block printing in many Asian cultures, Korean Choe Yun-ui created the first printing press with moveable block characters in the 1200s. However, due to many factors, such as invasion into Korea and the fact that organizing the Chinese characters to print took quite a while, this printing press did not become widespread.

Gutenberg’s printing press, on the other hand, often printed works written in Latin, which is written with far, far fewer letters than there are characters in Chinese. Arranging the type pieces and going through the printing process was markedly easier than in Korea two hundred years earlier, and Gutenberg’s printing press was essential for the increase in literacy in the following century. In our last blog, we mentioned that Martin Luther’s German translation of the Bible was a major turning point in the history of translation; without the printing press, his translation would not have reached even half the people that it did.

The Rosetta Stone

The Rosetta Stone, first discovered in 1799, held a passage that was written three times—twice in two versions of ancient Egyptian, and once in ancient Greek. The passage, written in 196 BC, was key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics, despite so much of the Rosetta Stone being broken and incomplete.

The Nuremberg Trials

The infamous Nuremberg Trials were held to take Nazis to court and to try them for war crimes that took place during World War II. Remarkably, the trials only took ten months to complete, despite the need to translate and interpret the proceedings into numerous languages. This was accomplished by implementing the world’s first simultaneous interpretation program, which likely saved years off of the Trials’ time. Simultaneous interpretation is difficult to learn the skills for, but is commonly used for conferences, such as for the United Nations.

The Internet

With the advent of the internet, the world became even more global than ever. While learning languages and speaking or writing to a language partner regardless of distance was possible with phone calls and letters, the internet sped up those processes to be nearly immediate.

With this, however, came increasing demands for translation and interpretation for global businesses. Translators and interpreters now had to learn how to not only navigate linguistic landscapes, but also digital ones.

Machine Translation

Very recently in the history of translation and interpretation has been the rise in machine translation. Essentially, putting one string from language A into a machine, which would produce that string in language B. This method vastly improves the speed at which translators can do their jobs, but as machines can’t understand language in the way that humans do, translators and proofreaders are necessary to ensure that the final product doesn’t sound unnatural.

Now

While looking back at history, we also look towards the future. In the past, human history has had lots of events that have influenced today’s translators and interpreters. Many events even had an impact on the world as a whole, such as the printing press and the internet. In the future, there will only be even more AI inventions and events that will shape the translation and interpretation sphere. However, one thing we have seen clearly is that language has been highly varied and shaped by human thought and action; in that vein, we in the translation and interpretation industry are still far, far away from being replaced by machines or robots.

A total of 63 people responded to our question, and these 63 responses amount to a total of 4,708 words. Of these 4,708 words, 192 relate to machine/technology/automation/social media/internet, while only 133 relate to humans/people/individuals^[1]. Two thirds (42) were in favor of technology. No one was against technology or had a completely negative outlook on the effects of technological automation^[2].

Some concerns or reservations with technology and automation had to do with humans losing jobs to machines and losing face-to-face interaction. However, 48 respondents (76%) mentioned humans having a role in the automated workplace. Of these 48 respondents, 7 elaborated that automation may replace jobs involving repetitive tasks, but will free up humans to do more important work: customer follow-ups, creative and critical thinking, and research and innovation. On the other hand, nine respondents did not mention humans/people/individuals in their responses, whereas all respondents mentioned technology or automation in one form or another. Moreover, only 19 respondents (30%) mentioned a need for human-to-human interaction.

Five respondents expressed their concerns with automating translation and interpretation services. Four of these five respondents believed that humans should still have a role in providing these services. For example, people will still need to correct the mistakes made by machine translation. Specialized translations and reviews of culturally-related work will require human intervention due to the complexity of human language, thought, and emotion. The overall sentiment was that translators and interpreters will not be replaced by technology, but by translators and interpreters who utilize technology to the best of its capabilities. One of the five respondents expressed concern that pay rates for human translators may decrease, since speed and ease of review may increase significantly through the use of technology.

Overall, more than three fourths of respondents mentioned humans having a role in automated workplaces, including in the translation and interpretation industry. In general, respondents had a positive outlook on the effects of technological automation^[3].

Monterey Language Services is committed to bridging the world’s languages by providing quality, professional and efficient translation & interpretation services in over 175 languages. Please feel free to request a quote from us.

^[1] These statistics were determined through word searches for human*/people/person/individual, and for machine/technolog*/automat*/social media/internet and related words.

^[2] These statistics were determined by categorizing whether a response was generally in favor of technology, and whether it had a positive or negative outlook on the effects of technological automation.

^[3] All other statistics were derived from statements made in the responses.

We had a large interpretation event for a group coming from all over Latin America.  This brings up interest in the discussion about the varieties of Spanish.

Is a pato a duck?  Or is it a Puerto Rican derogatory term for a gay man?  Or is it a bedpan?  In Puebla, Mexico, the word is used to mean bedpan, while in the Baja Peninsula, silleta means bedpan.  No matter how you use any of these words, they give you a glimpse into the diversity that is the Spanish language. 

Spanish is the native language of over 300 million people worldwide, making it the second-most widely spoken language in the world.  It is the official language of twenty-one countries, and practically each one has its own version of the language.

There is US Spanish, Mexican Spanish, Latin American Spanish, Caribbean Spanish, and European Spanish.  European Spanish is the most basic form of the language.  Caribbean, Mexican and Latin American Spanish are essentially mixtures of the original language with indigenous words, and people often drop final S and intervocalic D in some of the countries.  US Spanish is more influenced by US English, and has led to informal versions of Spanish like Spanglish and Tex-Mex.

Spanish is of course a Romance Language, meaning that it is based in Latin.  Still, it has acquired words from other language groups.  Arabic gave the language aceite (oil) and Frankish gave the language guante (glove).  Numerous words of course entered the language from American Indian languages: huarache (slipper) and aguacate (avocado) are examples.  More recently, English has contributed words like modem and Internet to Spanish.

It should come as no surprise that certain letters have different pronunciations in different countries.  In Spain, LL is pronounced as L followed by Y; in Mexico it is simply pronounced as Y, and in Argentina it is pronounced ZH.  Another example is the letters Z and C: Z and C preceding E or I are lisped in Spain; in other countries Z and C preceding E and I are pronounced like S (in Spanish, this is called seseo).  Andalusian explorers influenced the Latin American pronunciations of the language.

Spanish, like other languages, has changed over the centuries, especially as it has travelled around the world.  One of the most significant changes that the language has undergone can be seen in the use of the second-person plural.  For second-person plural familiar, Spain has the word vosotros, meaning “you all”.  However, outside of Spain, this conjugation only appears in common speech in Argentina, Chile, Equatorial Guinea and the Philippines.  In most of the Hispanophone world, people use ustedes for second person plural, both for familiar and formal, while vosotros sometimes appears in older writings.

This begs the question: why do certain words have different meanings in different countries?  It is possible that the specific mixture of people in a given region creates a new interpretation of a word.  As a result, what is a neutral-sounding word in one country might be an impolite word in another country.  But even without an answer, that topic is another indicator of the richness of language, and should give anyone a strong appreciation of language.