Canada is, as we know, an officially bilingual country. But alongside English and French, there are many other languages that coexist. There are people whose work is to build bridges between all those languages, and they are multilingual translators.
Being a bilingual translator, I was curious to know more about multilingual translation. So I met with three multilingual translators to ask them what their work is like.
Let me first introduce them to you:
- Frances Urdininea translates from English, French, Italian and Portuguese into Spanish.
- Kelly Akerman translates from French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German and Haitian Creole into English.
- Efraim Klamph translates from French and Chinese into English.
E. L. Marchand: What kind of texts do you translate? And what do your translations bring to people?
Frances Urdininea: My translations into Spanish are used to communicate important government policies and announcements to Spanish speakers who are residents, refugees, immigrants, foreign workers or tourists in Canada. They are also used by the Canadian government to communicate with foreign countries and international organizations. It is very rewarding!
Kelly Akerman: I’m translating a lot of birth certificates or death certificates or marriage certificates from individuals who have applied for a particular benefit or recognition by the Canadian government. I feel that because these are highly individual, the impact of my work is felt directly by that individual. I can see what my work is doing to benefit this individual person.
Efraim Klamph: I get a lot of certificates, as well, and also taxation documents. From what I gather, these individuals are applying for benefits of various sorts, and they need those kinds of documents, which are only available in their native language. And in order to make everything accessible for Canadians, it’s nice to provide that service for people.
E. L. Marchand: What does a day in the work life of a multilingual translator look like?
Frances Urdininea: My normal day is different from that of a translator working with Canada’s two official languages (English and French). I don’t have the opportunity to specialize in a particular client or subject, nor do I have access to Spanish terminology and text databases fed by hundreds of federal translators. I am part of a small Spanish team, and we usually do our own proofreading, editing, etc. However, variety is the spice of my translation work!
Kelly Akerman: I think it would be true to say that in the morning I’m working from French into English and in the afternoon I’m working from Italian into English - or from Spanish or German. I really love the variety. I think this kind of work is very suitable for the different facets of my linguistic identity.
Efraim Klamph: I feel it’s similar to any other translator, really. But what I think is different is the variety of texts I might get. If it’s in Chinese, it will come to me. It could be medical, legal, scientific texts. So I have to be an expert at everything, it feels like at times.
E. L. Marchand: Are there languages that are better or more difficult for some kinds of texts?
Frances Urdininea: Writing with clarity and precision takes effort in any language. However, I find that English is excellent for technical subjects; German is precise for philosophical texts; French is very elegant and beautiful for subjects related to literature, diplomacy and the arts; Spanish (my native language) is ideal for poetry, songwriting and the description of feelings.
Kelly Akerman: I see the immediate relationships across all of the Romance languages because those are the languages that have been the focus of my work. I would not say that one language is more suitable than another for certain kinds of translation. I know that a language such as French or Spanish probably has more international reach than, for example, Romanian or Catalan.
Efraim Klamph: I’ve dealt with texts from mainland China and from overseas communities, from Hong Kong, from Taiwan. The Chinese that they use is all quite different. The characters do look different, but the style of Chinese is also quite different. Taiwanese legal documents are written in a very classical style. It’s just a kind of overly specific, but then also very nuanced, kind of way of writing. It’s very different from what I would see from legal texts in mainland China.
E. L. Marchand: How do you see the role of multilingual translation or multilingualism fitting into multiculturalism?
Frances Urdininea: With the advent of new technologies and the development of artificial intelligence (AI), automatic translation will become even better than it is today. My hope is that by breaking down the barrier of language, we will all have a better chance to see that behind the different sounds and cultural preferences, we are all human beings, with more in common than we think.
Kelly Akerman: I think being a multilingual person allows me, and potentially those around me, to fundamentally change the way we communicate in society, the way we even structure society, because we’re changing the way we pattern our thinking through our multilingualism. But I make a connection more closely between multilingualism and transculturalism or interculturalism, because to me they are much more dynamic.
Efraim Klamph: Canada is a multicultural country. So, it’s part of our approach to accept and celebrate languages as being part of Canadian culture. As a translator, I guess I’m part of the system that aids communication across languages. So I feel like I’m aiding communication and helping bridge cultures.
E. L. Marchand: Thank you, Frances, Kelly and Efraim! I enjoyed learning about the rewards and challenges of multilingual translation. It was inspiring to be left with the thought that this work is all about facilitating communication and bridging cultures. Do you have any more questions for my interviewees about translating in multiple languages? Perhaps I can address them in a future interview!
