Yaoza! And the occasional world leader who REALLY neads a kindergaden teacher

Look up! It’s a bird! It’s a plan! It’s Yao and his interpreter! Although this review considers him to be a translator, we all know the truth. The movie, The Year of the Yao tells the story of the first China-born athlete to make the NBA. And since he can’t speak English, guess who enjoys a star position? You’re right, a good ol’ fashioned interpreter, that’s who. The story of Colin Pine – and Yao Ming, of course – makes interpreting history, I believe. I hope my local library picks up a copy.

Looking for tips on how not to do your job? BBC’s Gavin Ensler has a clue. Faced with a world leader who wouldn’t stop talking, and an interpreter who filled in all the rest of the time, Ensler stumbled across the difficult issue of client education. Interpreters have to tell their clients the rules: first you talk, then I talk, then he talks, then I talk. Take turns. You’d think World Leaders would have learned that in kindergarten! I know for sure that Julie Ann taught my little Rose all about that before switching careers and going into real estate sales. Rose is now definitely ready to be a world leader. Maybe when she’s done selling, she’ll give a Manners for Monarchs course?

Over in the Dominican Republic, they seem to have an interpreter shortage and had to rely on the services of Dominican councilman in New York, Miguel Martinez, to make heads or tails of a donation service. Psst! Check out your local covered market for interpreters. No scabbing by politicians!

Whatever you do, don’t work with the creeps in translators clothing described in this tale of U.S. torture in Iraq. I don’t care how bad the person is, if we use torture, we’ve lost our own ethics, morals, integrity, and raison d’être. No, raison d'état does not fly here. We’re bigger than that.

That’s what I’d like to think, anyhow. Of course, I may be too literalist when I interpret the constitution and those amendments it’s got tacked onto it. But then, I come from a long line of literalist interpreters...

Catch y’all tomorrow. Be good!