36 Comments Add your own

• 1. Andrea Muntzel  |  December 17th, 2008 at 10:40 pm

  This post is definitely helpful to read before going to China. I figured there would be a few times on the trip when we would need an interpreter and these are good tips for when we do. I think if I hadn’t read this article I would have been one of those people turning to the interpreter to say “Can you ask him…” I just assumed asking a question in English to somebody that doesn’t speak the language would be returned with a blank stare—not a very encouraging response to a question.

  I’m planning on putting together a few articles and lists I thought were helpful from this blog to either take with me (space permitting) or look over before leaving for the trip this summer. There’s just so much to learn in such a short period of time. I figure it will be like my own MBA “survival guide” to China and India. Having tips like these in one place will also be useful if I ever find myself doing business in these countries later on. We live in a global economy and learning how to effectively communicate by use of an interpreter is a reality of business today. Mastering such a minor skill as this will also show, to some degree, that we realize not everyone does—or needs to—speak English.

  I never thought about the difficulty of interpreting jargon. Yikes.

• 2. Morgan O'Hara  |  December 20th, 2008 at 8:28 pm

  Great advice. And being that I’m a cinephile, I’d like to recommend an Italian movie which is on topic. It’s called “La stella che non c’e.” English translation, “The Missing Star.” The movie is about an Italian engineer whose company goes under and sells their machinery to China. The engineer realizes that some of the blast furnaces sold are defective – not just defective, they risk exploding. Luckily, he knows how to fix the problem. The engineer contacts the Chinese company that bought the machinery, and through a young lady translator tries to explain. The meeting proceeds poorly, the translator doesn’t understand what he’s saying, he starts screaming, things go up in smoke. She is dismissed, as is he. So begins an epic journey the two make through urban and backwater China to find the furnaces and fix them.

  When working with an interpreter for the first time, keep things as simple as possible. Especially in Asia, where interpreters may be hesitant to stop you and admit they don’t understand something.

• 3. Chris Carr  |  December 21st, 2008 at 1:18 pm

  I will have to check out that movie. Thanks for the resource heads up.

• 4. Dan N  |  December 10th, 2010 at 11:35 pm

  I appreciate this post so much because the rules that are introduced in the China Law Blog make perfect sense even though they are not all intuitive. You just can’t be thoughtful or contentious enough to avoid some of these gaffes. If someone with experience doesn’t tell you that sarcasm or affection don’t translate, how are you going to know?

  I have personally experienced the challenge of knowing when to pause to allow translators to do their job. As all of my classmates can attest, when I start talking to an audience it’s tough to slow me down! Seriously, I had the rather unique experience of giving refugees swim lessons when we were in Burma in 2004 (it’s a long story). I was working with a translator and he had to keep interrupting me because I wasn’t letting him talk. It took awhile for me to figure out how to use phrases that were not too long and not too short.

  For the record, I’m a terrible swimmer…

• 5. Amanda Podesta  |  December 19th, 2010 at 6:19 pm

  An extension of interpreters, the WSJ was reporting about a month back about western companies hiring third-party factory monitors to look after and confirm levels of productivity at factories.
  From interpreters to factory sourcers [sic], there seems to be a whole host of niche—but necessary– jobs for the purpose of facilitating business in China.

• 6. Cassie Bettencourt  |  December 21st, 2010 at 5:13 pm

  I found the tips for using an interpreter both interesting and practical. I have had zero experience with interpreters aside from a crazy mess in Berlin where I was forced to translate Spanish to English for Germans who only spoke German and very little English. I also haven’t taken any Spanish since high school. Needless to say, a lot got lost in translation and the “daisy chain” experience was frustrating. As stated in the blog, I would agree that using a professional interpreter would be the best choice for professional interactions. I also found the distinction between consecutive and simultaneous translations relevant to many aspects of life, from watching political speeches to preparing for casual interactions in foreign countries. It’s nice to know there actually is a rational method to the madness.

• 7. robbin forsyth  |  December 27th, 2010 at 8:00 am

  I have done a fair amount of business meeting with continuous translation in Asia and Europe. The biggest issues that I stumbled through and now keep in mind are:
  1- Use of clear, concise speech. I have a very “California” dialect to my speech and have caused considerable confusion with local colloquialisms in China and Vietnam unintentionally. This a good area to remember Zinzer and strip out any extra words from what your saying. The best way to do this is to have a clear of dialogue for all meetings. The worst thing you do is to “wing” a translated meeting and try to make it conversational.
  2- Use of active listening tools. I have found it important to confirm and reconfirm that the translation is accurate and effective, (in both directions). The easiest and most polite way to do this is to reconfirm specific items with direct questions about specific issues from different angles; “What I understand you are saying is that delivery takes eight weeks?” and “The if orders are placed on 3/1 the container will be ready on 5/1 for shipment.” By asking the same question in different ways you can compare answers and make sure that you are communicating effectively.
  Some of the best ideas in the articles to take away are:
  - Giving the interpretor time to review industry specific materials. Dialogue between industry pros can get very specific and interpretation by a non techie can add to confusion.
  - Always plan for extra meeting time.
  - If possible the interpretor should be a neutral party. This is not always possible and if you are using an interpretor that is employed or hired by the other party you must understand that they are holding an advantage over you.

• 8. Tara Millard  |  December 29th, 2010 at 10:14 pm

  I find the idea of working with interpreters to be very foreign and yet a thrilling idea. The idea of speaking towards the person you’re talking to seems obvious but I can absolutely see myself ignoring the target of my conversation in order to speak directly to the translator, so I think that is great advice.

  This Blog also brought to mind other essential aspects of utilizing a translator. I would like to believe that I am a strong public speaker. I enjoy speaking unrehearsed in order to sound fresh to my audience and remain excited about the topic. As a result, much unnecessary fluff is used in my presentations. Although this may work in America where I have mastered the language, this may lead me into looking like a fool in a foreign country. I can only imagine all of my unnecessary “fluff” words being translated. I for one have no idea what my statements would translate to in Chinese, but I’m sure it wouldn’t be pleasant to listen to.

  I will make it a personal goal, prior to and whilst in China, to carefully prepare and rehearse what I am going to say. I will focus on using simple English similar to that which Professor Whitaker emphasized throughout our summer session. I will ensure that my message is crystal clear in English before presenting it to a translator or a civilian.

• 9. David Hart  |  January 4th, 2011 at 5:00 pm

  These tips will be very helpful for our trip to China. This is a very useful post. In my experiences with interpreters, these tips are important. One of the biggest problems I have noticed when seeing someone give a speech with a translator is the speaker talking in long sentences without pausing. It is useful to use short sentences with long pauses. Another thing I have noticed is the speaker sometimes will not let the translator finish–he or she goes right on with talking before the translator has had a chance to complete the sentence!

  I have had the opportunity on a couple of occasions to translate from German to English. As I read through the tips, they reminded me of certain steps we will need to take in China to help the interpreters. I really like the advice of speaking directly to the person (not the interpreter), slowing down your speech, and keeping it simple.

• 10. Jessica Shayler  |  January 4th, 2011 at 10:38 pm

  Aside from the more obvious “avoid using idioms and slang” advice, below are the tips that stood out the most for me out of the two posts.

  1. “An interpreter will often require a few sentences for context in order to provide an accurate translation.”
  This makes a lot of sense to me as a math person (and having studied a little Latin grammer…). It seems like translating would be similar to manipulating an algebraic equation - you’re saying the same thing, just in a different format. Using the context of a sentence to translate the essence of the message would be like using substitution in an equation - you are no longer using the same variables, but the new equation is still equivalent to the original.

  2. “Have a local staff member vet your English speech or presentation for cultural appropriateness beforehand, and don’t assume an interpreter will correct problems.”
  3. ” DON’T say have fun.”
  These two are kind of related for me as I feel that any culturally inappropriate speech on my part would be unintentional. Like saying “Have fun.” It’s such a common phrase in America (my old roommates use it multiple times a day when interacting with each other), that it is almost unconsciously used. Having someone else listen to your speech with the purpose of catching those unconscious, yet inappropriate, phrases is a good fail-safe.

  4. “Do tell light hearted anecdotes of human experiences which transcends both cultures.”
  I recognize that stories are a great uniter, but this seems like it might be a little awkward if you do not transition smoothly into the actual point of your speech. Unless it is expected to have some small talk? Will they tell you a story in return?

• 11. Chris Bruns  |  January 4th, 2011 at 11:27 pm

  My personal experiences with translators are limited to my family interactions. My mother would translate to other family member or friends what I was saying into Ilocano, a Filipino dialect. Thinking back to how I act in those situations I did several of the things the article recommended not to do. I would often not talk to the person I was speaking to, but rather speak to my mother. I also would speak quickly and in bursts and wait to see that my mother was visible ready, instead of speaking normally and without ‘slang’ terms.

  I took a lot from this article and I believe it is very practical for those of us that plan on pursuing international business. I believe that speaking with an interpreter is a skill similar to public speaking, something that needs to be trained and improved upon through experience. There is a lot for me to use and learn from this blog and linked articles. There are several pieces of information that I will use next time I am speaking with a translator. The first piece is how to position myself in relationship to the interpreter and the person I am talking too. The second piece is to mind my pacing and to keep a solid train of thought. I think that by isolating areas that I can improve, then working out kinks, I can better hone the skill of using translators.

• 12. Brady Haug  |  January 7th, 2011 at 9:16 pm

  Learning to work with interpreters is a crucial skill to have in business or travel. The main point that I took from Moss’s article is to be mindful of the translator. Make sure that they are as prepared as possible and have adequate circumstances (tone, time, etc.) to interpret as best as possible. One other important comment that Professor Carr made, was to talk to person, not the interpreter. Make sure to show your interest in the person you are talking to.

  When I was playing water polo in Hungary it was quite difficult to have conversations with the local players. We were in a rural city called Eger, where English was not commonly known. Students were able to have slow conversations with us, but words were commonly misstated when we were talking. One member of the Eger team stayed at my home prior to our visit and he returned the favor by inviting my father and I to his home while we were there. He acted as a translator for us, so that we could talk with his parents and brother. From that experience, I found that it is important to speak very slow and clearly. Don’t talk down to the translator but bear with them and rephrase sentences that are giving them issues. Another issue for me was dealing with long awkward pauses. When translations were taking long, there was nothing I could do but just be polite and smile. I would say as a rule of thumb, try your best to not show disappointment in your translator.

• 13. Katie Moeller  |  January 8th, 2011 at 10:32 am

  Both of these articles provided some great advice and insight. The one that stuck out to me the most was budgeting time for consecutive interpretation. Like the article mentioned, most of these seem common sense but you don’t necessarily think about them. Of course you need to budget more time but I never thought about that because I’ve never had to use an interpreter. I would think there are so many people that fail to recognize this simple idea. The other tip that stuck out for me was about needing to speak in complete sentences. The Chinese have to flip flop some sentences in order for them to make sense. It seems like being an interpreter would be a challenging job. There are so many skills required to be good at it and to please your customers.

  I believe it would be hard to hire an interpreter you can trust. I would think that there are a lot of people who get taken advantage of in these scenarios. It makes me think of Peter from the “To Catch the Cubs You Must Enter the Tiger’s Lair” blog. Peter had to trust that Cecil Pih would not steal his product. Another trust issue could be the interpreter offers different product and price offerings than what you stated. I guess the only way around these issues is to get interpreter recommendations and do your research.

• 14. Jessie Wilkie  |  January 9th, 2011 at 5:54 pm

  I thought the blog entitled “How to work with Interpreters” was broadly applicable to business interpreters. Though the focus did remain on Chinese interpreters. There were some good points, but I felt like I could have figured them out on my own. I had never heard of simultaneous versus consecutive interpretation, however, so the points associated with these were a little less common sense. I also thought the daisy-chaining interpreters was interesting. I know that I’ve definitely done that with a friends abroad. Note to self: my message might be scrambled like one in telephone.

  The second blog piqued my interest by discussing the fact that you have to be culturally sensitive to languages when working with interpretation. I thought of Farsi in particular and how that language has so many idioms to express meaning. Like instead of saying “You are missed.” You would say “Your seat is empty.” I thought the 10 points about Chinese interpretation practices were more interesting than the first blog.

• 15. Randy Camat  |  January 16th, 2011 at 12:12 am

  I found that both blogs were very helpful. The interesting part from the first blog was the tip on having the interpreter study the material. Although it makes perfect sense to have the interpreter familiarize, I would have never thought of doing this. I also didn’t know that there were two types of interpreting (consecutive and simultaneous). I was only exposed to the consecutive type when attending bilingual meetings back home (English and Spanish). I also agree that the amount of time can be doubled when using an interpreter. I would often get antsy and want the meetings to move faster. The interesting parts from the second blog were the DON’Ts. More specifically, don’t say “have/ having/ had fun” and “use affectionate words too much.” What I want to know is since you’re not suppose to say those, how would you say things like, “hope you have a good time.” And what about using affectionate words with China as the topic? I wonder if the interpreter would have the same squirmish feeling.

• 16. Kyle Rowland  |  January 16th, 2011 at 10:37 pm

  I personally have never worked with an interpreter, but can recall a family member, who is an elementary school teacher, complaining about an interpreter mishap. During conference time she had various interpreters for families who spoke Spanish and Mandarin. In one instance, her translator made a joke to the family about the child losing soccer and possibly dinner if he did not behave himself and get homework done….the boy was quickly in tears leaving the teacher confused and shocked, as what she had said had not been properly translated. The miscommunication between she and the interpreter proved problematic and was a direct result in the translator not understanding the classroom etiquette. The section about cultural issues and interpretations not being exact reminded me of this situation. The confusion she had was one thing, but you have to trust that the person translating is not ad-libbing for their own amusement. Thus, I know how important it is to find an interpreter who sticks to the facts when necessary.

  I think it is very important that a person do their research beforehand in regard to cultural appropriateness. If you want to do business with a foreign company, the least you could do is learn what is culturally acceptable when conversing with them. Likewise, it was not the interpreters fault in this case, it was just miscommunication on what she expected of her. Had they discussed it in the beginning it would have not been an issue. If you need success in an interpretation, you must meet before and after to discuss facts.

• 17. Tim Easton  |  January 17th, 2011 at 7:09 pm

  I thought the second article, “How to Speak Through a Chinese Interpreter” was interesting, and that the 10 tips were very useful. Some of the tips were common sense while others were things that you would probably never think about when using an interpreter. The two I found most interesting were 1) Don’t say have fun, and 3) Don’t use names/places that require capitalization unless you are certain they are well known across both cultures.

  I have very limited experience using an interpreter, or acting as an interpreter. My few experiences came while traveling through Europe with a friend from Switzerland. He spoke six languages, including English, so he was the translator for many of the countries we visited. I often found myself speaking to my friend, instead of the person that I was actually communicating with. I also relied on my friend to do more of the communicating than he should have, since he was fluent in these languages. This took place a couple years back and I have grown and learned a lot since then, but it will still be interesting to see how I handle these situations in China.

• 18. Ashley Ogden  |  January 24th, 2011 at 11:18 pm

  It is a hard enough task to get your message across (in the way you intended it) when talking to someone in your own language. Then add in the language barrier and it seems impossible. It is good to know some of these tips before trying to take on this complicated task. Before reading this article, it is likely that I would have done some of the things that are discouraged in this article, like looking at the interpreter instead of the person you are conversing with.

  One thing was not mentioned specifically was the use of body language and non-verbal communication to help get your message across when using an interpreter. The author did mention that you need to face the person you are talking to. Making eye contact and facial expressions to the person that is the end-receiver of the message seems like the most important tip. Although I am sure that their non-verbal communication cues are a lot different than ours. Isn’t it something like over 50% of a message is communicated non-verbally?

  I am very excited about using interpreters for my first time and I hope I am able to communicate effectively. This article definitely helped to prepare me.

• 19. j hurley  |  January 25th, 2011 at 3:30 pm

  Possibly the most important point is to talk slowly and clearly enough that the interpreter can understand what you are saying. On my travels, it has been important not only to talk the person that you would like to communicate with but also talk directly to the interpreter so they can clearly understand you. This has been important for me due to the fact that many of the interpreters that I have dealt with were not fluent in English and needed all the help they could get to help them understand and pass on the information.

• 20. Will Moeller  |  January 26th, 2011 at 6:30 pm

  Speak slowly, speak plainly and look directly at the person you’re speaking to. That seems to be good advice. I’ve never worked with an interpreter before. Fortunately, to this point, my Spanish and Latin have gotten me by in my foreign travels (Brazil, Guatemala, Mexico, Europe). That obviously won’t help me in China.

  It seems like many of these other tips, however, fall under the common sense umbrella. I’m generally a very cautious (you might even say paranoid) tourist. The rule I try to follow is to not make any assumptions and be polite. Realize that if you’re in need of something the best thing to win over the locals is to treat them with respect. Also, by asking a series of short and simple questions and stating your wants/needs, the other party may begin to deduce what you are asking for. This, in my experience, works much better than simply droning on with slang and an American “attitude.”

  It certainly helps to be reminded of these rules. I’m looking forward to learning these communication rules of etiquette in China.

• 21. Kristine Spencer  |  January 29th, 2011 at 2:27 pm

  Like many others, I have little to no experience with interpreters. Even when I studied abroad in Denmark, practically everyone spoke English, especially in my business classes, which made it easy for me. I had a previous understanding that finding a good interpreter, and keeping them around, was very important for conducting business in foreign countries. But I never had even given any thought to the different kinds of interpretation and their different requirements/needs, the technicalities of time and breaking points, the resources and material that should be given to the interpreter in advance, etc. I thought a particularly helpful suggestion was to review the interpretation of an event to see what problems need to be fixed for future events. Researching common phrases and sayings in the other culture is a great idea; I had no idea that Russians appreciated hunting phrases so much, and I’m sure I would be surprised about sayings and detail (or non detail) orientation in other cultures. I can see how it would be an easy excuse for a company to blame interpreters for PR mistakes or blunders. Being a translator seems like a very frustrating job, but crucial considering the international nature of business these days. All of these tips will come in handy during the trip to China, as well as future business trips.

• 22. Jason Jay Sharma  |  February 1st, 2011 at 3:47 am

  Playing “Telephone” with interpreters–that could be fun!

  I have yet to work with a real interpreter during my travels, but am looking forward to my first experience. Most of the advice given in the article seems to be commonsense at first read it, but suggestions such as speaking slowly and making sure your lips are visible to the interpreter may require more of a conscious effort than someone may expect. I’m fully aware that I tend to speak quickly, so I should start working on speaking at a slower pace, I suppose.

  Fortunately, English is the language of business around the world. So in most instances of travel, as an American tourist we don’t encounter many difficulties in communicating. That being said, my travels have been heavily concentrated in Westernized nations, so I look forward make my first real effort in communicating and most likely needed an interpreter.

  As for using interpreters, I think the key is trust. When I say that, I am referring to working with an interpreter that will translate your voice in the most accurate and true interpretation. I hope we encounter this while in China because, as stated in the article, it’s a fairly bad PR move to blame an interpreter.

• 23. Matt Streiter  |  February 7th, 2011 at 1:27 pm

  This article is interesting being that I never have really put much thought into how to work with an interpreter. The tips were informative, making eye contact with the person to whom you are speaking with while making you lips clearly visible to the translator seems like it could be an awkward task. I like how the article points out that even though many people in your audience may not speak English they still may be able to piece together what you are saying. This is definitely applicable to me being that I can understand quite a bit of spanish when it is being spoken to me but if I had to speak it back it would come out awful.

  Using an interpreter would definitely make me skeptical. Leaving trust in someone else who is representing you and what you are saying leaves them a lot of power. The day I look for one I will definitely be putting time into researching a reputable company or individual to reduce the risk of any unwanted events occurring. Additionally, supplying an interpreter with study materials is a great point that I have not ever thought about. In past jobs, especially in banking, I know there is a lot of jargon being thrown around that would leave an “outsider” lost in the conversation.

• 24. Anthony Kallioinen  |  February 8th, 2011 at 8:25 pm

  Interpreters are the gateway to China for most ‘English only’ Americans. I went to China once before and there were only four translators in our class. Two of them only spoke Cantonese, so even they were out of place. My point is that, if I was going to do anything in China, I was going to have to rely on the English of the Chinese people in order to come to some sort of an understanding. Most of the time prices were communicated on large calculators with giant faces, and we haggled by punching in one price after another. The point is, if one is to do business in China above punching numbers into a calculator, one must either learn Mandarin or hire an interpreter that they trust.

  I assume the style of interpretation that we will become familiar with on this trip will be consecutive interpretation. (I doubt that we will have headsets and interpreters in sound proof boxes). This makes a lot of the advice that Mr. Moss offers us extremely important. It’s funny because I would have guessed that translating one or two sentences at a time would be the best way to be understood fully. This is such an ‘English only’ American viewpoint. Other languages and cultures express their ideas differently than we do, and translating word for word is not the answer. Sentences are constructed differently in other languages and tone can only be appropriately communicated after the interpreter has had sufficient time to capture the context of the conversation.

  I was also intrigued by the section titled ‘It may not be a good idea to have someone from inside your company interpret.’ Earlier in the article, the author talked about informing the translator ahead of time on the topic of discussion with written materials and other technical information. I understood this to mean that it would be handy to make an interpreter out of an existing employee since they have the existing knowledge and background of the company. With the gravity that business negotiations can have however, it makes sense to choose a professional who will not introduce their own biases in the matter.

  My only experience with translating was simultaneously learning Italian and teaching English in my time abroad. It was fun to work together with Italians to learn the meanings of words and how to express cultural idioms. I can definitely attest to the fact that sarcasm and slang are hard to translate. As Americans, some of our slang is so ingrained in us that we don’t even know we are using it until we are questioned about it.

• 25. Tyler Sereno  |  February 8th, 2011 at 8:43 pm

  I never knew there was such a science to working with interpreters. They make it look so easy in movies.

  The guidelines to working with interpreters that are provided are very helpful. It is good to learn these things before we go to China in order to avoid looking foolish. There is a lot more to interpretation than I thought. It takes much more than just knowing the two languages. I have no experience working with an interpreter, so this was a good way to be introduced to it. Some of the things mentioned in the guidelines are common sense, but they still need to be acknowledged since they are crucial to the success of a business meeting with an interpreter.

• 26. Sarah Weinzapfel  |  February 9th, 2011 at 11:05 am

  I have never had to use an interpreter before. I haven’t really traveled out of the country to where I would even need to consider working with someone to help me simply talk to someone else. I loved the blog posts because there were some points that I never would have thought of. I had no idea “have fun” is something that shouldn’t be mentioned or that I should avoid using phrases of affection because that doesn’t resonate with them. Other points seemed to be common sense only after they had been mentioned like giving your interpreter the time and materials to prepare.

  I think it’s so funny that we all have this naive realism when it comes to foreign culture. Even though we know how different each culture can be from each other, it never dawns on us that a lot of things we do would be weird to another culture.

  While some points did seem to be simply common sense like speaking toward the person you are talking to, not the interpreter, and speaking slowly and concise, I think those are things I could easily forget about in the middle of a conversation and start speaking like I was talking to another American. While using an interpreter in China, my main hope is to have someone that understands both cultures and can help clean up our mistakes. Although, like the article said, the interpreter is not the one to be blamed and we should be able to communicate clearly what we actually want said, that multicultural buffer would be nice.

• 27. Ben Raymond  |  February 25th, 2011 at 2:08 pm

  My only experience with interpreters consists of traveling to Mexico and speaking through Spanish speaking friends or acquaintances. These articles show how much different that was than using a professional interpreter. Some of the tips mentioned in the articles I found pretty obvious while others I’m glad I read before going to China. I’m always pretty cautious about what I say while in a foreign country. Being a tourist, I already feel the need to tread lightly and respect the locals. We are guests in their country and in order to make any meaningful relationships it is important to be on their good side. A couple tips I found not so obvious were that there was no Chinese equivalent for “having fun” or some of our affectionate words and when speaking it is important to speak directly to the person you are trying to communicate with, not the interpreter.

• 28. Chris Fung  |  March 8th, 2011 at 2:35 am

  Growing up in my family, I was exposed to Chinese language through my grandmother. She spoke only a few words of English – the rest was Cantonese. However I never learned it while growing up because my parents spoke English to me and the only Chinese schools in my area taught Mandarin. So I had to rely on my mother, aunt and uncle to translate between me and my grandmother. We used the consecutive method of translation where one of us would say something and then have it translated to us. I was still able to talk to my grandmother but only through an interpreter. Of course it would have been tremendously easier had I known the language.

  Traveling around the world or even traveling to a Japan/China Town, I have benefited from close friends or relatives who spoke the language and could translate for me. I found this blog post helpful in preparing for the China trip as well as any other foreign language interpreter situation. The do’s and don’ts were new for me in that I didn’t know there were some concepts that could not be translated easily (say fun or sarcasm/humor). I think an important lesson from the China Business Success Stories article is to never assume the audience doesn’t speak your language. On my trip to Japan I approached an employee at a store and asked her in Japanese if she knew English because I didn’t know how to speak Japanese that well. I think maybe because I tried to communicate with her language, she was comfortable conversing in English with me. It turns out that even though she said she knew a little English, her pronunciation was spot on and was able to speak more than I could have imagined. Needless to say, never assume anything as you can be quite surprised at what people can actually know. (For a bit of humor: Avoid the Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan language situation from the Rush Hour movies – you can avoid a lot of trouble.)

• 29. JP Salazar  |  March 12th, 2011 at 4:50 pm

  Growing up, I was lucky enough to have experienced working with an interpreter and with people whose first language was not English. When I was twelve, my family was a host for a foreign exchange student from Japan. When he first arrived at our home, he barely spoke any English. During our weekly meetings with his exchange program, the leader of the group would give us a presentation about what they were learning and what they would be focusing on in the next week. These talks were always delivered in Japanese and translated for us.
  In my experience, most of the rules and guidelines for dealing with an interpreter are intuitive. As long as you keep in mind that the person you are working with is trying to understand you as best they can and deliver your message in a totally different language, and that this takes time and effort, you should be alright. Being able to pause your speech to allow the translator to catch up in a natural way is a key skill for working with an interpreter. However, one of the key mistakes that I learned from my time working with people whose native language is not English is allowing too much time for pauses. The article has a good point when it warns not all people you are communicating with through an interpreter do not understand you. Often people can understand what is being said even if they can not speak the language. By pausing too long, it can be viewed as offensive or disrespectful. It is only natural to feel offended when someone “dumbs down” how they are talking to you. It is important to understand that this feeling can still be conveyed through an interpreter. While communication through an interpreter is not as natural as everyday speaking, it can still be effective as long as you remember that you are still communicating with another person.

• 30. J Vail  |  March 14th, 2011 at 12:52 pm

  From my limited experience, I feel like consecutive interpretation is a lot better than simultaneous interpretation and the slower pacing makes everything a lot clearer for both the translator and audience. For a film class a few years ago we met a Russian director who brought his own simultaneous interpreter. The director talked at a quick pace, and we heard the interpreter have to gloss over quite a few things with comments such as ‘uhhhh… yeah. To go along with the theme and everything’, which I’m sure was the most watered-down explanation of what he said possible. Either way, I’m looking forward to meeting informal interpreters and finding out what being one is like.

• 31. Omar Pradhan  |  March 18th, 2011 at 12:57 pm

  This article really helped to clarify some of the tensions I observed in the “To Catch the Cubs…” videos. For example, it seemed that Vance was smart enough (even though he had not read a book since 1992 beside “The Art of War”) to realize the importance of a trusted translator. However, Vance was not always good at making eye contact with the individual to whom he was addressing (many times I recall him locked into conversation with his translator and completely ignoring his Chinese counterparty). Notwithstanding his bad example, each of the recommendations make good sense and will likely help me to facilitate a genuine meeting of the minds once I get a chance to interact with others (English Corner, etc.). On a side note, I had the opportunity to participate in UN proceedings (simultaneous interpretations) and it was interesting to compare the live translation to the prepared speeches of the various ambassadors. Some would go way off script and, even though they (likely) hired the best interpreters, the delay was significant and the interpreted message had a tendency to be much less coherent.

• 32. Grant  |  December 16th, 2011 at 12:32 pm

  All are good points. I especially like the point about reviewing the message before the translator gets it, and not expecting the translator to fix any culturally sensitive issues. Another good point that they started to touch on when they said do not expect the language barrier to protect you, so don’t speak about sensitive material. But I would say to go one step farther, and know that, in addition to the other group being able to understand some English, they can understand quite a bit from body language, and your general posture and demeanor.
  I have worked as a consecutive translator between English and Spanish, and the greatest barrier to communication was not because there were two languages, but because there was no cultural understanding, no relevance to the message and a false presumption about the other person’s worldview. To me, these are farther reaching issues than simply the translation of a message.

• 33. Charles Dornbush  |  December 21st, 2011 at 11:08 am

  This post was very practical and useful. I thought the ten tips listed in the China Law Blog were the most helpful. That post also helped me realize that having an expert interpreter is very important to doing business abroad. The expert interpreter not only understands and speaks both languages, but also knows both cultures and knows how to convey meaning between parties. Having an expert like this can drastically reduce the chances of miscommunication and hurt feelings.

  One surprising part of the tips was #1 Don’t say “have fun”. I’m not sure why this doesn’t translate in Chinese culture and what would be a way to express this idea that Chinese would understand. I agree that it is an important tip since the normal American would not think of it. The other tips were ones that I would expect, use complete sentences, avoid slang and sarcasm, etc. I also agree on the importance of communicating with the person you are addressing and not the interpreter. Speaking directly to an interpreter can cause distrust between parties.

• 34. Kevin K.  |  December 22nd, 2011 at 1:53 pm

  I know a bit about the relationship one has with an interpreter through, of all places, my time spent on sidelines as a sports writer. I have had to use interpreters to interview several coaches and athletes and it is a unique experience to say the least. Patience is something I have found to be key.

  Like the Imagethief blog post said, I found that finding a good translator and building a relationship with that person is critical in getting the best and efficient translation done. Often times great friendships are formed because of the translator-translatee relationship. Imagethief is also correct in describing how much longer it takes to have a conversation when everything is being repeated. That is something to be prepared for.

• 35. Vladimir  |  December 23rd, 2011 at 12:09 am

  I’m glad this was brought up. I have never used an interpreter before, and rarely thought about it. Both posts have some useful advice. The one piece of advice that contradicts what I assumed is to stop for translation every few sentences. I believed that interpretation is a sentence by sentence process and that the shorter the line, the easier it would be to translate. Grouping sentences together to provide a context for the interpreter makes good sense and I underestimated an interpreter’s ability to handle a greater volume of dialog at once. I haven’t thought about the cultural element of interpretation, but I can now see how the ability to Interpret culturally as well as linguistically is an asset to any interpreter. One concern I had about using an interpreter is that my voice tone and body language will be lost in the interpretation, but I thought about interpretation as word-for-word translation rather than a carrying of facts and tone of a speaker’s message. Most of the tips for working with and speaking through a Chinese interpreter do sound like common sense, but I can see beginners, including myself, making these mistakes. These tips won’t sink in simply by reading them, so I plan to practice my technique to prepare for my trip to China.

• 36. Daniel Fleek  |  December 28th, 2011 at 5:40 pm

  Sounds easy when its written out like this, but even though I have never worked with an interpreter, I can imagine it to be much more difficult and awkward in real life. I would be worried that whatever I said would be translated differently therefore, conveying the wrong message to the other party. I thought that preparing before the actual event would probably be the best strategy to a successful interpretation event. Personally, I would like my interpreter to be someone i know pretty well so that they understand my demeanor and the way i speak. That way, they would be able to interpret with the correct words matching the formality that I intended.

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