Questions to ask Julia #2

It’s an easy question to ask. Don’t I simply say the same things, just with different words, from the other language?

Well, yes - and no. So maybe?

Word for word

There are times I use equivalents, words that are always the same, and all you would have to do is learn them. “Yes” would be that kind of word. As would “no,” “maybe,” “vodka,” “book,” etc.

But then there are times that those words actually might not coincide in meaning exactly. So while the word “book” is most likely an object that consists of bound pages, concentrating on one topic (a story, a theory), in Russian that word is also the one we use to replace for the word “paper” in the term “white paper” - a government or official report. So in Russian we would call that a “white book.”

That’s not too difficult, and you could probably figure out what people are speaking about if they say “white book” and you are in the type of meeting that talks about “white papers.” That would require a little effort from you, but you may feel that effort is justified so you wouldn’t have to pay me for my services.

Foreign words

What about when someone uses the foreign word because they just don’t know the word in your language? What if they say something like “and the economy is so bad that everyone is carrying around their avoska again.”

You could analyze it, and figure out that it’s something that people physically carry around with them when things are bad or possibly precarious. But unless you stop and ask what that foreign-sounding word means, you will never know that it is a string bag carried around in everyone’s pocket just in case you spotted something for sale that had disappeared from the shelves.

But, you might say, all this is just a matter of knowing what the word is in the other language, and then you’ll be fine. It’s just a little more effort than the last example, and is something you’re willing to do.

Deeper layers

But there are even deeper layers of what I needs to transmit.

Re-speaking at those depths can then lead you into complete confusion. It can be incomprehensible, like hearing Russian but with English words.

Let me give you an example from a business meeting.

Let’s say you got together with your Russian counterpart, and the two of you are discussing a possible business project you thought up.

After explaining your idea to your counterpart, you ask, “Should we go ahead with this project?”

Your interpreter then answers: "Yes no, maybe."

What?

What answer did you just get to your question?

What do you think? Was it yes? No? Possibly?

And was it firm?

Do you think you should go ahead with your project with this answer?

You could ask a lot of questions, to try and determine what the counterpart means, but this would take up a lot of time.

It would also require a lot of understanding on your part, because your counterpart is hard wired culturally NOT to say certain things.

Now it’s clear

With this answer, you should not even think of continuing with the project.

The “yes” is just an interjection, to get your attention. The “no” will have been emphasized a bit in the Russian intonation, but then softened by the “maybe” with a dropping tone, because it is culturally difficult for Russians to give you a firm no.

Which means that, if you think that your counterpart could still be convinced, you would be wasting your time.

Do you want a parrot?

So would you like your business and its future to hang on the secretary’s son’s superficial understanding of the language?

Do you want someone who can parrot the other language, leaving you confused and wondering which way to go?

Or even worse, leaving you certain that you should go in one direction but really, you should be doing something else?

Or would you rather hire me, who will let you know everything that is going on immediately, the first time that your counterpart says something?

Someone who can explain the thinking behind the words, and save you from wasting extra time, effort, and money on a project that will never get off the ground.

After all, anything you can say needs to be said well - and anything you hear needs to be both comprehensible and let you know what to do next!

If you liked this article, please connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliapoger/ - and we can continue the conversation!