looking to improve your conference interp skills?

There is a new resource book out: Conference Interpreting: A Student’s Practice Book (Routledge, 2013) by Andrew Gillies.  

Check out this *glowing* review of it, which I was pointed to by the fabulous intersect newsletter.

batidas (Col): arbitrary military street round-ups

In Colombia young men are required to do military service.  Batidas are military raids in poor neighborhoods that target youth who have avoided doing that service.   They look for young men without the card that proves that they have done, or somehow gotten out of, their military service.  Those who do not have a card on them are whisked away, not to be seen again my family or friends for months.  The city government of Bogota recently signed an agreement with the local batallion that they would stop doing these in the city - but it turns out that batallions from other areas have been coming in to the city to do this sort of forced recruitment. 

I'm not sure about this rendition in English for the term, but it's the one used by Emily Schmitz in this great article about batidas and the conscientious objectors who struggle against them.

The article begins:

Villavicencio, Colombia — Juan Carlos waits anxiously outside the army base, gazing beyond the chaos of the newly recruited soldiers surrounding him. In black jeans and a loose-fitting t-shirt, he stands quietly apart from them; he is one of the few without military fatigues. Recruited in an illegal street round-up and held for 45 days without seeing his family, today he will finally go home.
Dusk settles slowly, covering the soldiers in a soft purple light as they get in formation, lining up together side-by-side. Tomorrow they will leave the training base to begin their two-year military service. Conscription is mandatory in Colombia, with the exception of a few cases: victims of displacement, sole children and heads of households, physically or mentally disabled, indigenous people. And sometimes, even people like Juan Carlos – self-declared conscientious objectors – are released.

Colombian conscientious objectors uphold the right to refuse mandatory conscription through a constitutional provision (pdf) that details freedom of conscience, guaranteeing that: no one will be importuned on account of his or her convictions or beliefs […] or obligated to act against his or her conscience. But without legal parameters to regulate the law, cases of conscientious objection are confusing and time consuming. With the exception of one officially recognized case, the majority remains unrecognized. There are instead far easier, albeit illegal, ways out of military service: under the guise of mental instability, physical limitations, or simply by paying their way out, defiant youth successfully avoid conscription. But conscientious objectors, fighting to pave a legal path toward military exemption, see the difficulties of navigating the legal system as a means of silencing a public criticism of a practice that has helped perpetuate more than half a century of civil war.

read more ...

Basta Ya!: Enough Already!

Yesterday the Colombian National Centre of Historical Memory issued a major report on the Colombian conflict, entitled in Spanish, Basta Ya! This Guardian article in English about the report rendered it as Enough Already.  Not sure if the Center offered that as the official English translation, but I like it more than the more literal Stop now.  

(photo is from the report of the cover, taken by the fabulous Jesus Abad Colorado)

amparo: amparo

I have blogged before about the term tutela, which is the Colombian version of what is more often
throughout Latin America called amparo.  I have been rendering tutela as writ for protection of constitutional rights, but I was surprised to see that the author chose to keep the term in Spanish in the book

Constitutional Protection of Human Rights in Latin America: A Comparative Study of Amparo Proceedings

I suppose the logic is that 'amparo' proceedings as such don't exist in the US, UK, or Canada.  Ojo, amparo cases generally don't establish precedent.

finca variations

beware of the different connotations of words! 
in Guate this implies a plantation
in Col it can often mean a vacation home, with a little bit of ranch around it, or maybe just some gardens

Spanish camp for activists

if you're anywhere near Ithaca check this out! and if not, maybe you'll be inspired to set up something like this in your area next summer?

this one is sliding scale registration fee: $120-200.

Spanish for Activists Camp features Spanish and ESL English classes, workshops and panels on current social and political issues in U.S.-Latin American relations, as well as music, overnight camping and great food.

Learn songs in Spanish in a workshop with singer-songwriter Colleen Kattau on the "Nueva cancion" genre of social justice songs.

Panel on the Direction of Latin America Solidarity with:
Carol Delgado - Consul General of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in New York
Michael Fox - Former Editor of "NACLA Report on the Americas"
Gregory Wilpert - Author and Editor of venezuelanalysis.com

Panel on U.S. Immigration Reform with: Kathleen Sexsmith - Ph.D. student at Cornell University
Gonzalo Martinez de Vedia - Worker Justice Center of New York

chanta

chanta (Argentina): bullshitter

no comment on my week.  really.  

el derecho a la vida

If you interpreted this as the right to life, would your listeners think you meant an anti-abortion movement?

If the context doesn´t make it super clear, one option is to render it as the right to not be killed - not exact, but avoids cultural confusion since the phrase right-to-life has been coopted in the US and Canada at least. 

ollas (Colombia): street drug market

there has been a lot of coverage of these in the media here lately because the government has been squeezing the water balloon and moving them around (see photos).

Insight Crime just put out an English language article about them that used the rendition "street level drug sale points".  as they put it "Drugs are mostly sold in ollas, which literally means saucepan. The olla, in this instance, can be a building, but also a locally known location such as a park or a street corner."

But the register of that English rendition is way higher than the Spanish, which is why I suggest street drug market. any other suggestions?

tax loopholes: lagunas legales de la norma tributaria

thanks to Siobhan Ring for asking this one.  

this is for outreach work in the States, so can anyone think of a simpler and easier to understand version for folks with lower literacy? or do you think even low literacy folks will understand norma tributaria? lagunas en la ley de impuestos might be more widely understood but the loopholes are usually in the codes, not the actual laws.  maybe that's putting too fine a point on it. 

commodities: productos basicos

as I've posted before, commodities are often rendered as mercancía, yet in some contexts productos basicos works much better.

I was reminded of it by this fabulous article about the state of coffee in Colombia and the reasons behind the recent coffee growers strike. 

Procurador General vs. Fiscal General (in Colombia)

procurador general: inspector general

There was recently a heated debate about the peace process between these two men, described here, and it reminded me of how tricky it can be to distinguish between the two in English.

(note, this entry is corrected, I had originally mistakenly posted it as solicitor general, but procurador is closest to the US position of Inspector General)

For written translations my friend Andrea Parra suggests a footnote, explaining that the procurador has plenary disciplinary power to sanction any public official and is mandated by the constitution to oversee implementation of judicial orders and the protection human rights. She also makes reference to art. 277 of the Colombian Constitution.

judicializacion: malicious prosecution on trumped up charges

I've posted about this one before, but I was moved to repost this because I saw the cognate (judicialization) used again and want to emphasize that I believe this a FALSE cognate to be avoided - as can be seen by the English definition here and by googling it in English and seeing how it is used.

I am sad to say that these are still rampant in Colombia, the latest victim being human rights defender Sofia Lopez.  WOLA writes:

On April 12, 2013 Corporación Justicia y Dignidad was informed that one of its staff, Sofia Lopez, is currently under investigation by the Attorney General’s office for rebellion along with sixty other persons It is concerning is included in a list that includes persons who have already been arrested and sentenced. It is disturbing that this revelation comes after Lopez was harassed and intimidated in April. On April 4, 2013 a woman approached her calling her a “guerilla lawyer” and saying that “guerilla lawyers die here, they kill them here, so be careful.” The presence of two suspicious men in front of the lawyer’s office is frequent. These men spend three to four hours in the vicinity. Ms. Lopez does highly sensitive work advocating for victims and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has granted her organization several injunctions and security measures.

The Colombian Attorney General’s office should explain and clarify the charges against Lopez. The Protection Unit must provide protection to Lopez and fully enforce the injunctions and security measures recommended by the IACHR.

certification issues

the fabulous newsletter sent out by Cross Cultural Communications (which I highly recommend subscribing to) pointed me this week to the latest issue of the (free) international journal of translation and interpretation research, which is all about certification.  If you're interested in getting certified, or thinking of getting a new one, or are frustrated with the process - check this out!

culture jamming: sabotaje cultural

al estiloAdbusters.

reseña de libro en castellano sobre sabotaje cultural aca.

performance anxiety: miedo escenico

yes, interpreters do get this. 
three deep breaths helps
(in through your nose, out through your mouth twice as long). 
wiggling my toes and feeling my feet also helps me. 

incidencia politica: advocacy

This is a broader term than really exists in English.  It encompasses formal lobbying, to grassroots lobbying, research, media work, to marches, and all other sorts of activism to change public policy.  Advocacy isn't my favorite term, but it does include the lobbying bit in a way that 'political action', or even just 'organizing' don't.  Any other suggestions out there? (Thanks to Fatimah for setting me off chewing on this ages ago - feel free to send your sticky terms my way!)

Wikipedia lo define como:
La incidencia política es un proceso llevado a cabo por un individuo o un grupo, que normalmente tiene como objetivo influir a las políticas públicas y las decisiones de asignación de recursos dentro de los sistemas políticos, económicos y sociales e instituciones, ya que puede ser motivada por principios morales, éticos o de la fe o, simplemente, proteger a un activo de interés. La incidencia política puede incluir muchas actividades que una persona u organización se compromete incluidas las campañas de los medios de comunicación, hablar en público, puesta en marcha y la publicación de la investigación o encuesta, o la "presentación de un amigo de los expedientes judiciales". Cabildeo (a menudo por los grupos de presión) es una forma de incidencia política que se realiza una aproximación directa a los legisladores sobre un tema que juega un papel importante en la política moderna.

green grabs: despojos verdes

I learned this term from the fabulous Diana Ojeda, who recently published this great short article about green grabs in Bogotá.

free online interpreter training

Cross Cultural Communications Seeks Beta Testers for Online Training

CCC is recruiting beta testers for one or more of their 10 6-hour online modules. These modules make up THE COMMUNITY INTERPRETER Online, and each module comes with four 90-minute lessons.

Beta testing will be available in May 2013. They are particularly keen on recruiting testers OUTSIDE THE US. This program is intended for community interpreters around the world.

The topic areas of the 6-hour modules are as follows:

THE COMMUNITY INTERPRETER Online: the 40-hour program

(designed for community interpreters in general and medical interpreters in particular)

• Overview of Community Interpreting (including an Introduction to Medical Interpreting)
• Ethics
• Protocols
• Skills
• Intervention and Mediation
• Cultural Mediation
• Standards of Practice (this module includes a two-hour final assessment)

The 60-hour program

This longer program, designed especially for medical interpreters, includes all the modules above and three additional modules:

• Medical Terminology for Interpreters (basic)
• Medical Terminology for Interpreters (advanced)
• Introduction to Legal Interpreting for Medical Interpreters

If you are interested in becoming a beta tester for THE COMMUNITY INTERPRETER Online, please contact Michelle Gallagher at +1 410-312-5599or ccc2@cultureandlanguage.net.

carbon sink: sumidero de carbono

As in, pay for your climate sins with a likely to be bogus offset indulgence.  Need I say palm oil plantations? If you don't know what I mean, read carbon sinks 101 over at sinkswatch.

stalemate: punto muerto

lo que tenemos en Colombia, y la razon por la cual hay negociaciones de paz.

Como lo dice IPC: 

"Gobierno e insurgencia estarían llegando al aserto de que con la guerra se está en un punto muerto: la escalada de la seguridad democrática dio sus frutos pero la promesa de la derrota no llegó y la guerrilla sintió, como nunca, no sólo las  importantes derrotas militares sino el profundo desprestigio político, lo cual le podría haber obligado a reconsiderar su estrategia y táctica. Haber firmado el Acuerdo antes aludido, implica para las FARC admitir que su proyecto político se tramita dentro del marco de la lucha política legal y no con las armas."

autonomia alimentaria

autonomia alimentaria: food autonomy

As Arturo Escobar puts it "In Colombia for instance, movements prefer to use autonomia alimentaria (food autonomy) which is somewhat different to food sovereignty.  Food sovereignty tends to put the emphasis on the national level, so a county might say we basically produce food for the population blah blah blah, that’s not good enough. There has to be food autonomy locally, regionally, nationally." (from this great interview with Arturo about alternatives to development)

greenwashing (rightswashing, causewashing ...)

greenwashing: lavado verde (as in, forget the other horrible things we do, we just put a figleaf of environmentalism over it all by saying it´s printed on recycled paper)

pinkwashing: lavado rosa (gay rights figleaf - think Israel)

rightwashing: lavado con derechos (usually refers to human rights, less common)

causewashing: lavado con causa (as in the pampers campaign where you buy one pack of disposable diapers and pampers gives a tiny donation to UNICEF for a vaccine)

el aquelarre

aquelarre: coven

a term being reclaimed by feminists and used in Spanish to describe not just women who call themselves witches but more widely groups of women who get together to conspire for change.  in English listeneers might get the impression that it´s actually a group of neo-pagans who engage in rituals, but since it´s a term being reclaimed, it seems worth keeping the term and perhaps explaining that. or does any reader have a better suggestion?

the wikipedia entry in Spanish has a fascinating etymology - in spanish it can mean both the coven and where the coven meets, but it seems to be more widely just to describe the group. 

yet again thanks to my fabulous friend Andrea for this one.

book on activist translation

There is a book out about translation and social change, Translation, Resistance, Activism.  It came out in 2010 but I just discovered it, and haven't seen it yet, since I'm living in Bogotá at the moment.  I'm looking forward to it - particularly the last chapter, "the space and time of activist translation."  Has anyone out there read it? Any chance any of it is available digitally?

Here is the official blurb:

More than merely linguistic transposition, translation is a vector of power, resistance, rebellion, and even revolution. Exploring these facets of the ideology of translation, the contributors to this volume focus on the agency of translators and their activism. Spanning two centuries and reaching across the globe, the essays examine the varied activist strategies of key translators and translation movements. From silence to radical manipulation of texts, translation strategies are instrumental in significant historical interventions and cultural change. Translation plays a pivotal role in ideological dialogue and struggle, including resistance to oppression and cultural straitjackets of all types, from sexual puritanism to military dictatorships. Situated in their own space, time, history, and political contexts, translators promote ideological agendas by creating new cultural narratives, pragmatically adjusting tactics so as to maximize the social and political impact. The essays in this volume explore ways to read translations as records of cultural contestation and ideological struggle; as means of fighting censorship, physical coercion, cultural repression, and political dominance; and as texts that foster a wide variety of goals from cultural nationalism to armed confrontation. Translations are set in relief as central cultural documents rather than derivative, peripheral, or marginalized productions. They are seen as forms of ethical, political, and ideological activity rather than as mere communicative transactions or creative literary exercises. The contributors demonstrate that engaged and activist translations are performative acts within broader political and ideological contexts. The essays detail the initiative, resourcefulness, and courage of individual translators, whose willingness to put themselves on the line for social change can sometimes move the world. In addition to Maria Tymoczko, contributors include Pua'ala'okalani D. Aiu, Brian James Baer, Mona Baker, Paul F. Bandia, Georges L. Bastin, Nitsa Ben-Ari, angela Campo, Antonia Carcelen-Estrada, alvaro Echeverri, Denise Merkle, John Milton, and Else R.P. Vieira.