Re: OT: The Interpreter

> Two questions... this is rather more on-topic than off.  But when I lived
> in Geneva, and had interpreter friends, one of them told me that it is
> actually very rare for an interpreter to be able to interpret both ways
> effortlessly. And that one usually interprets INTO one's native
> language.  Does this square?  Is it common for interpreters to be hired
> for more than two languages?
My understanding is that, during sessions of the General Assembly,
interpreters work translating one of the official languages (English,
French, Arabic, Russian and Spanish, I believe) in to one of the others.
The only time we see Sylvia working in the GA translators' booth, she is
translating French in to English and only French to English.

In one-on-one meetings, such as with the ambassadors of the US and
Motombo, it is very common to use a two way translator. That is because
they are usually "unofficial" and, for whatever reason, be conducted in an
unofficial language such as Japanese, German, Mandarin or, in this case, a
local language spoken by one of the diplomats.

> Second, for those who've seen it, what was the African language they had
> Nicole interpreting both ways in?
Ku (Koo?), which the movie described as being a tribal language of the Ku
people but spoken throughout south-east Africa. I know next to nothing of
African languages, but given the realism that the director tried to get
(this was the very first movie actually filmed inside the UN building;
those weren't sets you saw), I expect that Ku exists and is spoken in the
areas mentioned, even if Motombo is entirely made up. Anyway, I got the
impression that Ku was her native language, or one of them at least. That
she would be called to an unofficial meeting as a two way translator is
not at all surprising.

> Thirdly, why would Philippe, who has up till this point spoken to her
> exclusively in French, be writing her a letter in English?  That the
> romantic Sean Penn could read to her?
He was translating "on the fly" for the benefit of an English speaking
audience? Actually, the conversation with Philippe in the park was in
English and she left a message on his answering machine in English, so it
is not entirely unreasonable that the letter would be in English, too.

> Fourthly, isn't it "an autobiography BY" and not "an autobiography OF"?
> Just another English Usage question, but I suspect somebody got biography
> mixed up with autobiography.
It might have been a deliberate error -- the book was written as an
idealistic tract, after all, and not a work of journalism. It might have
been ghostwritten (when the book is really written by someone who does not
get authorship credit.) It might be that, in the dialect of English spoken
in that part of the world, "autobiography by" is perfectly acceptable. Or,
it could be that the properties department messed up and no one noticed
:-)

Gregg Gadow

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