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Off topic: What\'s the most unusual interpreting/translation job you\'ve done?
Thread poster: Libero_Lang_Lab
Hardy Moreno
Hardy Moreno  Identity Verified
Local time: 08:37
English to Spanish
+ ...
Here's mine Mar 6, 2003

When I worked as the District Interpreter/Translator for a local school district, the school registrar, who only spoke English, and I had an arrangement in which she would call me at my office (within the same building) whenever she needed an interpreter.



One day two Hispanic-looking ladies walked in to enroll a child in school.



The registrar called me and told me to ask them something.



When I asked them that in Spanish, one of the
... See more
When I worked as the District Interpreter/Translator for a local school district, the school registrar, who only spoke English, and I had an arrangement in which she would call me at my office (within the same building) whenever she needed an interpreter.



One day two Hispanic-looking ladies walked in to enroll a child in school.



The registrar called me and told me to ask them something.



When I asked them that in Spanish, one of the ladies turned to other one and spoke another language to that lady.



The registrar then asked me what was happening. Then I said that the lady who understood Spanish was speaking in another language to the other lady.



It turned out that the other lady spoke a Mayan Indian tongue. So the interpretation was English>Spanish>Mayan tongue>Spanish>English.



It was very interesting and enjoyable.
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Egmont
Egmont
Spain
Local time: 14:37
Afrikaans to Spanish
+ ...
BIJORCA, Paris, 1981 May 24, 2003

Working as simultaneous interpreter 8 hours each day and sleeping in a car during one week... the boss, a friend of mine, had not enough money...
[addsig]


 
Jean-Luc Dumont
Jean-Luc Dumont  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 14:37
English to French
+ ...
Splitting head-ache - East Coast (USA) a few years ago May 24, 2003

At the close of 4 days of tense negotiations for a big contract, my clients decided to go downtown XXXX (on the East-Coast) for dinner and to celebrate the signing of the contract. After dinner, one of the American partners (who in a previous life had \"close ties\" in the Italian/restaurant/entertainment community) suggested we went to \"this\" place for more \"libations\". \"We\" included 1 company vice-president, 4 project managers, a rather stuck-up French executive - leader of the French te... See more
At the close of 4 days of tense negotiations for a big contract, my clients decided to go downtown XXXX (on the East-Coast) for dinner and to celebrate the signing of the contract. After dinner, one of the American partners (who in a previous life had \"close ties\" in the Italian/restaurant/entertainment community) suggested we went to \"this\" place for more \"libations\". \"We\" included 1 company vice-president, 4 project managers, a rather stuck-up French executive - leader of the French team and myself.

This place ended up being a \"strip\" joint and I concluded my long interpreting day by translating to the French executive that his neighbor (the Vice-President) suggested that 1 dollar-bills -were more than enough- since he insisted in sliding bills in the G-string of the girl who was doing a split - 2 feet away....from our very... tip-sy party.



JL

[Edited at 2003-05-24 20:17]
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Lorenzo Lilli
Lorenzo Lilli  Identity Verified
Local time: 14:37
German to Italian
+ ...
as a translator... May 25, 2003

... I work at home, and unfortunately I don't have funny or unusual jobs to describe. But I was told that a colleague of mine once worked as an interpreter for the police, and had to do simultaneous interpreting in a police car. This must have been soooo scaring!

 
Yamato (X)
Yamato (X)
Bulgaria
Local time: 15:37
Russian to Spanish
+ ...
Drunk babbling > Spanish May 25, 2003

About a week ago I was enjoying the company of three friends of mine.

Two girls who are twins and have even the same name (don't ask, you don't want to know)
and the boyfriend from one of these girls.

One of the twins,the boyfriendless one
Let's call her Anna) only speaks Catalan.
The boyfriend, a southern Spanish, only speaks Spanish.

Anna, somehow, managed to drink two liters of Kalimocho (wine + coke) in 20 minutes, and she was not drun
... See more
About a week ago I was enjoying the company of three friends of mine.

Two girls who are twins and have even the same name (don't ask, you don't want to know)
and the boyfriend from one of these girls.

One of the twins,the boyfriendless one
Let's call her Anna) only speaks Catalan.
The boyfriend, a southern Spanish, only speaks Spanish.

Anna, somehow, managed to drink two liters of Kalimocho (wine + coke) in 20 minutes, and she was not drunk, she was legless.
Then she crouched in a corner and began to cry and explain all the terrible experiences of her life, and all her problems.

Logically, the boyfriend from the other girl couldn't understand anything, so I had to interpret from a Broad-accented, alcoholicly pronounced Catalan to Spanish.

A Fascinating new experience! xD
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Edwal Rospigliosi
Edwal Rospigliosi  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 14:37
English to Spanish
+ ...
Mail-order brides Jul 1, 2003

I translated once for an American guy who came to Peru to meet several girls he met in the Internet.

Girl 1: Drop-dead gorgeous, took us to a really expensive restaurant and to a mall.(Of course, the American paid). During dinner, another beautiful girl joined us. The new girl asked her: "so, this is your gringo trick?"(in Spanish, obviously). The beauty looked at me pleadingly and said "don't translate that, please". Well, I didn't. Scratch number one.

Girl 2: Not so
... See more
I translated once for an American guy who came to Peru to meet several girls he met in the Internet.

Girl 1: Drop-dead gorgeous, took us to a really expensive restaurant and to a mall.(Of course, the American paid). During dinner, another beautiful girl joined us. The new girl asked her: "so, this is your gringo trick?"(in Spanish, obviously). The beauty looked at me pleadingly and said "don't translate that, please". Well, I didn't. Scratch number one.

Girl 2: Not so beautiful girl, we went to a not-so-expensive place, and she insisted in paying her own food. While we were eating, suddenly I felt her foot caressing my tigh. I didn't say anything, but my translation went downhill from there on. Scratch number two.

Girl 3: Beautiful girl, looked like the right one. After we left the guy at his hotel, I had to take her home. She made a pass on me (bravely rejected, of course. I'm married). Scratch number three.

The last day, he asked me for my opinion. What girl should he choose? Boy, that was hard! I told him none of them, and that he should learn some Spanish before coming again. Yes, I'm a translator, but he was my fellow man. And men should stick together, you know
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Lorenzo Lilli
Lorenzo Lilli  Identity Verified
Local time: 14:37
German to Italian
+ ...
Thanks Edwal Jul 6, 2003

Your story was so funny! I think that while on holiday we all helped our friends who tried to pick up foreign girls, didn't we? my friends never succeeded when I was the interpreter, but I had fun all the same. Of course I blamed it on being a translator, not an interpreter, but there was no difference for them

 
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What\'s the most unusual interpreting/translation job you\'ve done?






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