Behind the scenes at the United Nations, at press conferences for international sport stars and—less glamorously—in court rooms up and down the country, the work of interpreters is frequently seen but not always understood.
Since 2019, Professor Marco Sonzogni and the around 400 graduates of his Master of Intercultural Communication and Applied Translation have been working to change that for all situations where a translator or interpreter might be required.
Earlier this month, Professor Sonzogni spoke at the annual New Zealand Society for Translators and Interpreters conference, which also featured many of his current and former students. Held each year, ahead of International Translation Day on 30 September, presenting at the conference has led to other opportunities for graduates from Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, including Tineke Jannink.
Fluent in French, with “a bit” of Mandarin/Chinese too, Tineke is putting the finishing touches to her PhD focused on court interpreting in New Zealand. Her fascination with the subject was piqued by a previous career in law and subsequent interest in legal translation and interpretation.
So, what’s the difference between translation and interpretation?
Tineke says it boils down to this: Translators put written text into documents, while interpreters respond verbally to help speakers understand in a language that may not be their native tongue. “Interpreters can also use sight translation, where they are given a written document and verbally relay what it says back to an individual”.
“And within the practice of interpreting there are two predominant modes,” Tineke says.
“Consecutive, when you say a sentence, pause, allow for the interpretation, and then say another sentence, pause and allow for the interpretation. And simultaneous when the person starts speaking and the interpretation happens at the same time, so there’s that overlap of speech.”
Rather than try and determine whether one mode is better than the other, her research identified a gap in the available guidelines addressing the practice of court interpreting here.
“I found that there wasn’t a lot of guidance, whereas Australia had developed a big kind of book of guidelines in terms of what interpreters should be doing in the Australian context. So, I could see there was a gap there, it was something I was really interested in and would be worthwhile and of benefit to New Zealand.”
Tineke’s doctoral research saw her complete interviews with judges, lawyers and interpreters, and observe some interpreted trials and hearings, of which there are around 10,000 every year in New Zealand.
She found that in practice a mix of consecutive and simultaneous interpretation, as well as other techniques were being used by interpreters to account for different situations arising in court. This flexibility of mode use to meet the needs of trials is not reflected in official guidance.
“This was a topic I fell into a bit, the perfect topic to do, and the perfect time to do it.”
There are more than 150 languages spoken in New Zealand, Tineke says, with Mandarin, Samoan and Tongan being the languages most frequently requested for criminal court matters, based on Ministry of Justice figures from 2022. Tineke has seen Cantonese, Mandarin, Farsi and Dari [a dialect of Afghanistan], Samoan, and Portuguese all spoken in court.
Tineke’s own introduction to learning foreign languages started at high school, including time in 2012 immersed in the French language during a 12-month stay in her senior year, staying with host families in Brittany and near the Belgian border. Her proficiency in languages also saw her visit China for Mandarin-speaking competitions.
“I was very lucky with Mandarin. At the time I studied at high school in Dunedin there weren’t many schools offering the language. I started at a time where there were a lot of opportunities with studying Mandarin, but a small pool of students taking them up. “
Tineke continued both languages during her university years as an undergraduate. While studying at Te Herenga Waka, Tineke has presented at seminars like those hosted by the New Zealand Society of Translators and Interpreters, which has led to other opportunities such as working at the Department of Internal Affairs where she was a translator within its translation and interpretation service, making use of her proficiency in French.
But it is the intersection of court interpretation and language that has intrigued her the most.
“To me it was something that naturally interested me because I did law and languages together, so it was kind of an interesting combination for me from the start.”
International Translation Day is on Tuesday 30 September, coinciding with the Feast Day of Bible translator St Jerome, the patron saint of translators. Find out more at United Nations: International Translation Day 30 September