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Language Shapes How We See the World
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| | German speakers are likely to imagine where this woman is going and English speakers to focus on her journey, but bilinguals may be able to have it both ways |
An Austrian recently told me she is very goal-oriented and I am all about process. Well, perhaps that's because her native language is German and mine is English!
An article in Science (put out by the American Association for the Advancement of Science) highlights research that shows the following:
- Russian speakers can distinguish shades of blue more quickly than English speakers
- Japanese speakers more often group objects based on their material and not their shape while Koreans focus more on how closely the objects fit together
- Looking at pictures, German speakers tend to imagine where someone is going whereas English speakers focus more on how they get there.
In short, German speakers like my friend focus more on outcomes while we English speakers focus more on the action itself. That said, learning a second language, the research shows, can also affect our perceptions.
This is provocative research. Enjoy!
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Latino Defendants Without Interpreters May Lose More Trials
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 Last week, Mexican Ángel González got out of U.S. prison after 20 years. He always maintained his innocence.
He had no interpreter when he was tried.
Furthermore, he says that in prison there are many more Latinos like him, unjustly sentenced because they had no interpreters. At the age of 20, he was sentenced to 40 years. He only got out himself thanks to the Innocence Project, a nonprofit legal clinic that uses post-conviction DNA tests to help innocent people regain their freedom.
It's a sad story, despite the happy ending for González.
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Address:
Cross-Cultural Communications
10015 Old Columbia Road
Suite B-215
Columbia, MD 21046
Phone: 410.312.5599
Email: Click here |
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 The Bilingual Courtroom: Court Interpreters in the Judicial ProcessSusan Berk-SeligsonThe University of Chicago Press, 2012Based on more than 100 hours of taped recordings of Spanish/English court proceedings in U.S. federal, state, and municipal courts, this seminal book raises some alarming questions. Berk-Seligson finds that interpreters can make the difference between a defendant being found guilty or innocent. Anecdotal observations around the world support that view. |
 Take a Look at What's Coming!
So much to do, so little time...
May 6-9, 2015 Association of Language Companies (ALC) ALC 2015 Annual Conference Nashville, TN March 28-29, 2015 Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey 4th Monterey Forum
Educating Translators, Interpreters and Localizers in an Evolving World Monterey, CA April 23-25, 2015 Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) ITI Conference 2015 New Castle-Gateshead, UK May 8-10, 2015
Swedish Association of Professional Translators (SFÖ) SFÖ 2015 Anniversary Conference (#sfoe15) Reach for the Stars Eskilstuna, Sweden |
Next Time, Try an Interpreter?
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 On Wednesday, Head of State, Irish Prsident Michael D Higgins wanted to send a St. Patrick's Day message. YouTube didn't help.
President Higgins sent a video message in Gaelige and relied on YouTube English subtitles for translation. His initial greeting came out suggesting that Tina Fey (a famous U.S. comedian) was being "particular with me head."
The President's admiration for Irish emigrants abroad mentioned he "just couldn't put the new iPhone" down. A phrase about people's sympathetic hearts came out as his having been on a show "that will bar a gift card."
His staff had to translate the translation. They issued an official message in both languages.
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Participants at our Fall 2014 session of the TCI
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Take a Peek into the Inner Life of CCC
Tomorrow comes spring. And spring always brings new adventures at CCC. What are we up to?
- Madly preparing the first edition of The Community Interpreter®: An International Textbook. Proofreading, design, last minute rewrites. The excitement builds! Coming out this summer!
- Preparing the amazing workbook of exercises and role plays as a companion for that textbook.
- Revising the curriculum, textbook and workbook of Breaking Silence: Interpreting for Victim Services, which in its final version will be four days and will be PUBLIC DOMAIN, probably later this year, thanks to funding from the District of Columbia Office of Victim Services and the amazing work of Ayuda, a nonprofit in DC.
- Planning for other exciting publications.
We're also getting last-minute bugs out of our special licensed-trainer website.
Time Is Running Out...
Don't forget to register for The Community Interpreter®, our certificate program. The deadline is April 3rd! It's the most prestigious program in the United States for community interpreting. Don't miss it! April 17, 18, 24, 25 and May 2, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Columbia, Maryland.
For details click here.
For the spring training calendar, click here.
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For a LOOK INSIDE all our publications visit our sister website: thecommunityinterpreter.com and go to Books and Products.
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Sincerely,
Marjory A. Bancroft
Marjory A. Bancroft, Director
Cross-Cultural Communications, LLC
10015 Old Columbia Road, Suite B-215
Columbia, MD 21046
Phone: 410.312.5599, Fax: 410.750.0332
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