On February 25th, the UW Translation Studies Hub and the Northwest Translators & Interpreters Society (NOTIS) hosted the 3rd annual roundtable, "The Lives and Labors of Professional Translators and Interpreters". We welcomed five Seattle-area translators and interpreters:
Elizabeth Adams, certified Russian-English legal translator
Kenneth Barger, Spanish and French interpreter and translator
Shelley Fairweather-Vega, freelance Russian-English literary translator and past president of NOTIS
Brianna Salinas, translator of Latin-American poetry and director of communications & marketing for NOTIS
Yuliya Speroff, Russian-English certified medical and social services interpreter
During this event, panelists discussed a variety of topics including their translation or interpreting journey, opinions on machine translation, and how their work has changed during COVID-19. Many fell into translation by accident, often thanks to prior language studies, and while their specialties range from court interpreting to literary translation, what they all have in common is an interest in people and their stories.
One of the first topics addressed was machine translation. When asked if machine translation tools play a role in their work, the panelists had similar responses. For medical interpreter Yuliya Speroff, machine translation is not allowed in her field because of potential inaccuracies. Certainly, in healthcare mistranslation could result in dire consequences. Elizabeth Adams, who translates from Russian to English, does not use machine translation in her work either. For her, one challenge is how machine translation tools segment texts, which can result in loss of meaning and is counterintuitive to how she works.
Speroff also discussed the challenges of remote interpreting, a practice that has become more common during the pandemic. One of these challenges is, naturally, distance. Over phone or video chat, an interpreter cannot move closer to a patient who is hard of hearing, or even easily communicate sense of direction. Kenneth Barger, whose work as a court interpreter has also been forced online due to COVID-19, agreed with these challenges. However, Barger stated that he is becoming increasingly comfortable with this new mode.
Nonstandard language was also addressed. Speroff spoke about the importance of translating idioms in medical interpreting, because even idioms can contain important medical information (for example, the expression “to hit it out of the park” in reference to a patient’s test results). Shelley Fairweather-Vega added that in translation, as opposed to interpreting, translators have the luxury of time and (in some cases) the ability to clarify phrases or words with the author. Brianna Salinas added that she faced difficulties translating nonstandard language in a text from English into Mexican Spanish, a dialect she was less familiar with, and how members of the community were a valuable resource. Translation is not an exact science, and our panelists agreed that translating or interpreting nonstandard language is difficult, but extremely important.
Fairweather-Vega, a Russian to English literary translator, shared the difficulties of working from home and maintaining a work-life balance. She likened the experience of translation to "being possessed by the creative genius of the author", which makes it easy to lose oneself in the work. She also stated that for translators and interpreters, it is important to engage in activities outside of their professional work so as to maintain their individual voice. Other panelists chimed in, sharing how they engage with their languages in other ways. Barger, for example, volunteered at a blood bank, helping both English and Spanish speakers, and Speroff volunteers for a victim support hotline.
It was an honor to host these five panelists for a conversation on the lives of translators and interpreters. Their passion for their work is evident and inspiring for both seasoned and emerging professionals in the field.