Preparing a Translator
Launch library · evergreen read
A translator brought into an interview benefits enormously from the same preparation as the interviewer: a sense of the topic, the subject's background, and any particular terminology likely to come up, so they are not translating unfamiliar material for the first time in the middle of the sitting.
Briefing a translator also means agreeing on style: whether to translate in short segments after each sentence or in longer passages after a fuller answer, and how closely to preserve tone and emphasis rather than only literal meaning as the conversation unfolds. Agreeing on style in advance avoids an awkward negotiation about pacing once the conversation is already underway.
Treating the translator as a genuine collaborator, rather than a neutral conduit to be worked around, tends to produce a smoother sitting and a more faithful record of what the subject actually intended to convey. That collaboration tends to produce a record that respects both the subject's meaning and the translator's own careful judgement.