They are your voice in a foreign land. They enable you to cross cultural and linguistic barriers to communicate with others. They are the translators who work with short term ministry teams as they travel abroad. In our last blog post, we discussed how group leaders can find translators and how to best utilize them for their teams. Today, we want to give eight tips for actually working with an interpreter.
Spend some time with your translator to get to know him or her. This allows them to understand your speaking style and patterns. It also gives you the opportunity to assess their skill level and ensure they clearly understand what you are saying.
When speaking through an interpreter, always speak in complete thoughts and then pause for the translation. You need to give the interpreter enough information to be able to grasp what you are saying, but you don’t want to give so much that they forget what you said. Usually the equivalent of about a paragraph at a time is appropriate.
Avoid the use of slang and jargon. Even if the interpreter speaks excellent English, he or she may get stumped by these. Plus, they can be difficult to accurately translate.
If you are speaking to an audience and plan to share stories to illustrate your points, be sure to discuss these in advance with your translator. One American preacher speaking in Haiti preached a whole sermon using the illustration of being deep in a cave with no light. The problem was that Haiti is on an island and there are no caves there! The audience was not familiar with the concept. So the first time the speaker used the word “cave” it caused a lengthy explanation by the translator.
Speak at a normal pace, not too fast or slow. Also, be sure to clearly pronounce and articulate your words. Pay special attention to this if you speak with an accent.
Check in with your translator to see how they feel it is going. After they have translated some conversations or talks for you, ask them if they are comfortable with the pace and if there is anything you need to do to make their job easier.
Remember that translating is mentally exhausting. Give your translators frequent breaks! This also means not keeping them engaged in constant conversation with you.
When you speak to someone through a translator, look at the person you are speaking to, not the translator. Remember, you are carrying on a conversation with them, not the translator. The translator is a “tool” to make that happen. Also, don’t talk louder. (You would be surprised how many people instinctively raise their voice when talking to a non-English speaker). If they don’t understand English, talking louder won’t help anything!
Hopefully these tips will enable you to better use your translators to effectively communicate your message cross-culturally. Do you have any suggestions or stories? Share them on the discussion tab on the Facebook.com/MinistryTravel page or on the Ministry Travel group page on LinkedIn.