Interpreters & translators │ Sheila Wilkin │ Fiona Evans Wilkin
By this we don’t mean that we all work as interpreters, but that we’re constantly interpreting what other people say. We interpret the meaning of the words we hear and the speaker’s intention; we listen to the tone of voice; we decide how the circumstances surrounding an exchange affect our understanding of the words; we detect any hidden meaning as a result of our relationship, our knowledge of the person and his or her cultural background and expectations. Let us give you an example.
A mother is giving her baby a bath when the doorbell rings. Her husband is in the living room watching television, but doesn’t answer the door. It rings again and she shouts: “I’m giving the baby a bath.” The factual message that she is bathing the baby is quite clear to anyone with even a minimal understanding of the language.
What about the intended message though? Could it be: “I’m busy so could you please answer the door?” Is there an underlying emotional appeal or complaint too, such as: “I think it’s reasonable to expect that since I’m busy with our baby, the least you could do instead of watching television is answer the door!” It may depend on the tone of voice used, past experience in the relationship or the fact that the mother may be feeling tired. There are probably many other clues that we draw on to understand what people are really saying. So the husband will not only understand the facts, but also get the message that his wife would like him to open the door and, furthermore, that she is probably not too happy that he didn’t do so the first time the doorbell rang.
So without realizing it, we all interpret personal exchanges every day. As professional interpreters we’re not usually dealing with personal exchanges like in the example, but we are always reading between the lines of different levels of inter-personal communication, sometimes between professionals, or between subsistence farmers and politicians or diplomats.
The common denominator in these exchanges from one language to another is that the participants will have different cultural backgrounds so the assumptions that a farmer from Scandinavia will make will be very different from the assumptions made by a subsistence farmer from Guatemala. Somehow, the interpreter must bridge that gap. It’s challenging, of course, but it gives you a fascinating insight into language, human nature and cultural differences.