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If you’ve already cast an eye over this year’s Woordfees guide – as has many a Woordfees follower – you may well have come across the Language Centre’s advertisement and tips on how to ask the way in Xhosa. The page concludes with the motto “Great things happen when you work with us”. And the Woordfees is indeed working with us again this year – to make sure that simultaneous interpretation is at the ready for the hubbub that is the discourse series.
The Woordfees kicks off on 5 March this year and, other than events for theatre, writers and music, various sessions will also be held where the speakers will be encouraging the audience to join in the discussions. And to enrich these opportunities for communication, Language Centre interpreters will be at several of these sessions to interpret – free of charge – (mainly) into English or Afrikaans.
Eduard de Kock, one of the Language Centre’s interpreters, remembers when this initiative was started in 2018: “It was such a fascinating and exciting request. There was a series of discussions that took place every day in a tent in front of Wilgenhof. We had to find a picnic bench, hand out interpreting equipment and then interpret all that interesting and quite emotional testimony – and resist the urge not to become involved ourselves! Interpreting for the Woordfees has become an opportunity that I really look forward to.”
Interpreting won’t be happening at all the discourse sessions because of logistical reasons, but chances are that you’ll come across an interpreter somewhere sometime. Look out for people with a toolbox, usually close to the stage, and typically with a huge grin. Come and say hi – and do make use of this free service. Happy Woordfees!
To many, the festive season and family gatherings go hand in hand. At the same time, it’s an unwritten rule that you are bound to disagree with some distant relative or – even worse – just run out of things to say. Awkward silence ensues…
In 2010, researchers at the University of Groningen looking into the lull in a conversation found that it takes around four seconds for a silence to become unbearable. Now what?
Scouring the internet for solutions to avoiding awkward silences yields tons of results, but the answers tend to focus on conversations with strangers or colleagues, not your own family members. The awkwardness could only intensify if you ask Cousin Lee “Where do you come from?” or, heaven forbid, “Why are you here?”
There are however a few nice ideas in some of the articles, like communication expert Victor Sander’s suggestion of using ’you-questions’. The idea is basically to ask questions that have the word ’you’ in them, for example “What do you do in your free time?” Sanders says by doing this you allude to an interest in the person you’re talking to, which tends to make them more invested in the conversation.
Melissa Dahl, author of Cringeworthy: A Theory of Awkwardness, suggests that silence actually isn’t something to be feared. Dahl found that the main reason a silence feels awkward is because there’s a high level of uncertainty. People tend to dislike not knowing what to say or do next. Knowing that, it’s just a question of finding something to be certain of…
So, be certain that your family loves you, be sure that it’s not your turn to do the dishes, and know that after another glass of wine Aunt Rachel is going to start talking about her dachshund.
An experiential interpreting workshop – that’s what the research team of the Language Centre’s Interpreting Service came up with this year for the University’s annual Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Conference on 29 and 30 October. Ever wondered about the life and times of an educational interpreter? University staff who attended this workshop signed up to be thrown in at the deep end to interpret in various simulated classroom scenarios. The deep-end scenario had a specific purpose – to give participants an authentic personal experience (with a limited introductory overview) of the demands, emotions and cognitive processes during simultaneous educational interpreting.
Even though participants were supported by experienced SU interpreting buddies, the tension was palpable when Eduard de Kock, the first presenter, fired away in English (at a very reasonable delivery pace) with a history ‘lecture’ to be interpreted to Afrikaans. They gave it their all – the words rolled off their tongues, together with rolling eyes, deep breaths and sighs, the odd nervous giggle and some “whatever” thrown in under the breath when they could not find those elusive equivalents at the speed of light. The lively feedback following the first lecture session included words and phrases like “missing one word made me lose the entire thread”, “the terminology derailed me”, “never realised how difficult it is” and “where do you get the vocabulary from?!”.
Although fun bubbled below the surface throughout the workshop, it was a serious affair. Participants gained a better understanding of the challenges and joys of educational interpreting, the professionalism of the Language Centre’s interpreting team and the importance of interpreting at SU. Interpreting serves as a form of language support, embedded in the SU Language Policy, to assist students who battle to adequately understand the language of delivery in class. By using interpreting they could gain full access to the field of study’s content, capitalise on comprehensive knowledge transfer and benefit from layered meaning creation.
In September, one of the biggest triennial events on the global translation studies calendar took place in Stellenbosch: the ninth Congress of the European Society for Translation Studies (EST). The Language Centre was a platinum sponsor of the event, and the University’s Department of Afrikaans and Dutch did a sterling job of hosting this coming together of translation scholars from all over the world. Two Language Centre staff members presented papers at the Congress, the theme of which was ‘Living Translation: People, Processes, Products’.
Susan van Zyl-Bekker, an educational interpreter at the Language Centre, delivered a paper entitled ‘Reflective practice in educational interpreting: Clarifying role and improving ethical decision-making skills of the educational interpreter’. In her presentation she explained that ethical decision-making during the process of educational interpreting aims to facilitate communication to establish teaching and learning in the classroom. If an interpreter cannot hear the lecturer or a student, or does not understand the relevant terminology, she must act decisively in order to establish communication. In her study investigating the demand control-schema (DC-S) of Dean and Pollard (2011) and its theoretical application on educational interpreting at SU, Susan has found that interpreters’ ethical decision-making could be impeded by role conflict. If interpreters are able to influence decision-making more in the classroom, this will mitigate the stress and cognitive load of their work. Among other things, Susan suggests that reflective practice between all relevant stakeholders involved in the interpreting programme be implemented.
Dr Kim Wallmach, Director of the Language Centre, and her co-presenter, sign language interpreter Petri du Toit, used a variety of images as a way of offering special insights into the place of South African Sign Language (SASL) interpreters in the history of the Deaf community since South Africa’s democratic transition in 1994. Their pictorial review focused on interpreters who were in the public eye, and therefore shaped public opinion about sign language interpreters working in professional contexts such as parliament, the media and conferences. In their paper, entitled ‘Framing South African Sign Language interpreting: Pictorial representations of SASL interpreters from 1994 to 2019’, they explored a number of events involving sign language interpreters to gain an understanding of how the visual turn is now playing out in social media in South Africa. They asked whether sign language interpreters understand what it means to be literally in the public eye, and reflected on how this increased visibility might affect the public’s expectations of the role of the interpreter.
Delegates seem to have enjoyed the first EST Congress on African soil. For the next one, translation scholars will be heading north once again: It was announced that the 2022 congress will be hosted by the Oslo Metropolitan University in Norway.
We reckon correctional fluid wouldn’t have been invented if people used language perfectly. Now and again, everyone stumbles linguistically – when talking, writing and, increasingly, when texting. Every so often the linguist in us may notice our conversation partner has made a language error. We thought a bit about how one could react to such mistakes, and we came up with four different ways, each sporting a unique set of circumstances and consequences.
1. Correct the person mid-sentence – “So I says to him…”
– “Told him.”
Usually this is the most effective way to draw attention to a mistake, forcing the speaker to deal with the error right there. The drawback is that it disrupts the flow of the conversation and, well, it’s rude. If your conversation partner is someone who’s easily thrown, chances are they’ll forget what they were trying to say. Constantly doing this could make you seem tyrannical and might discourage people from talking to you for fear of making a mistake. This strategy is therefore best saved as a last resort.
2. Correct the person once they’ve finished talking – “… and my cousin is doing good, despite what happened.”
– “That’s great to hear! Just remember it’s ‘doing well,’ not ‘doing good.’”
This type of correction is as direct as the first one, but far less disruptive… and less rude. Unlike the first one, this could also be used during a text conversation. This strategy does become difficult to follow if someone is telling a long story. By the time they finished, pointing out the error could make it seem like you stopped listening and just waited for your turn to tell them they’re wrong.
3. Correct someone by example – “It shows that you shouldn’t take things for granite.”
– “That’s true. I’ve taken things for granted before.”
An elegant solution, but not always an easy one. This kind of correction isn’t direct, which is best if someone is sensitive about being corrected. What makes this difficult is that the onus is on you to think of a sentence in which you can demonstrate the correct grammar or word choice. Because this kind of correction is more subtle than the others, there’s always a chance that the speaker could make the same mistake again.
4. Ignore it – “There’s too much people around here.”
– “I hear you.”
Not everything in life has to be perfect. If you feel your correction won’t add anything to the conversation, why do it? As the Dalai Lama says: “When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.”
Students from abroad who wish to improve their English have the opportunity to enrol in the Language Centre’s Intensive English Programme (IEP). The programme encourages students from different levels or blocks within the IEP to meet on Fridays for a language workshop specifically to interact and speak English.
On Friday, 23 August, our current IEP international students toured the SU Botanical Garden with a very knowledgeable and interesting guide, Sandiswa Kula. She provided students with anecdotes and information about the various plant species, insects, animals and birds that can be found at the gardens. Students visited the various glass houses, the lily pond, the Bonsai forest, the Protea bushes and herb garden, asked questions and compared the flora and fauna they saw with those in their home countries.
An IEP block entails 20 hours of English language instruction from 9:00 to 13:00, Monday to Friday, for 8 weeks. Instructors who are qualified to teach English as a foreign language teach from a variety of course books and modified resources to develop students’ reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. In addition there is a focus on grammar, pronunciation and building vocabulary. New applicants write a placement test, which helps to place them in the appropriate level.
The dates of the next blocks are as follows:
2019: 14 October to 6 December
2020: 3 February to 27 March, 6 April to 29 May, 8 June to 31 July, 11 August to 2 October, 12 October to 4 December.
If you are interested or would like more information, contact the Language Centre’s IEP coordinator, Shannon Bishop.
Sanet de Jager, a Language Centre interpreter, took part in the University’s mobility project, through which SU students and staff can participate in exchange programmes for international exposure. Sanet spent three months at the University of Bologna in Italy, and we recently caught up with her and asked her to tell us a bit more.
How did it all happen? “I first heard about the exchange from our director, Dr Kim Wallmach, at an Interpreting Service research portfolio meeting. I applied for the Erasmus+ exchange with the International Office and a month later, in May 2019, I found myself in a country steeped in history, where a wealth of research has been done, and where one-euro espressos abound. My role in the exchange was two-fold: I went in my capacity as interpreter at the Language Centre (LC) to make valuable connections and exchange knowledge on best practice, and I went in my capacity as student to do research for my master’s in translation. My research involves a case study on the differences in intonation between interpreted and normal speech.”
Where were you based? “The Department of Interpreting and Translation (DIT) of the University of Bologna is located in the Romanesque town of Forlì about an hour’s train ride from Bologna. That was the place I called home. Chatting to my coordinator Prof Mariachiara Russo, it became clear that ‘language politics’ is not a phenomenon unique to South Africa. The University often receives exchange students and as a result teaches some of its classes in English – a cause for raised eyebrows in a country that encourages mother-tongue access to education for its citizens.”
What did you do there? “Dr Wallmach and I had the privilege of sharing with them in a presentation on how Stellenbosch University (SU) tackles the issue of multilingualism and how the LC offers multidimensional solutions to language challenges, with one such solution being educational interpreting. I spoke about the day-to-day activities of an educational interpreter, sharing our quality assessment measures, our training, scheduling, and up-to-date research on the role of the interpreter. The DIT seemed particularly interested in our Interpreting Service, so much so that Prof Russo visited SU at the end of July to experience educational interpreting at first-hand and to investigate the potential of starting an interpreting pilot project at the University of Bologna from within the DIT.”
And your studies? Are you happy with your progress? “Prof Russo is a professor at the DIT and has published extensively on aptitude testing for interpreting, among other things. I enjoyed speaking to her and Prof Motoko Ueyama, a researcher on second-language intonation, about my MA research, investigating the implications of intonation on the quality of the interpreting product and how sentence-level intonation affects comprehension and information structuring. I have already completed my data collection in the form of recordings among my own colleagues, and I have recorded and incorporated the contributions of Profs Russo and Ueyama. Coupled with my three months’ hands-on experience of drinking coffee like an Italian, I believe I’m well on my way to finding answers to my research questions and establishing new universals in interpreting.”
“This year, only half a box of books was left over after the Book Tsunami,” says Dr Vernita Beukes, Language Centre lecturer and organiser of the Centre’s annual Book Tsunami, held on Friday 6 September this year.
The Book Tsunami is a nod in the direction of British actress Emma Watson’s Book Fairy project, which encourages people to leave books in public places for others to find, read and return the favour later on. This year marks the third year that Vernita and other Language Centre colleagues have taken over the Neelsie Student Centre with books. “We unpack the books early, to surprise everyone coming for their first cup of coffee with a book.” Each year the Book Tsunami is held as close as possible to 8 September, International Literacy Day. This year’s theme was literacy and multilingualism.
“In this way, we’re giving back to the community and we’re celebrating a significant international day,” Vernita explains. Language Centre staff members are also involved in the community by International Literacy Day at pre-schools in Stellenbosch, Cloetesville, Ida’s Valley, Jamestown, Kylemore and Pniel. “We’re not sure who enjoys it most: the readers or the kids!”
The joy of reading is contagious. If you’d like to try it, you can contact Vernita to sign up to read to children, or perhaps you could benefit from collaborating with our Reading Lab. The Language Centre’s Reading Lab helps adult readers to read faster and smarter – it doesn’t matter whether the reading material is business reports, academic articles or text books. E-mail Marisca Coetzee for more information on the Reading Lab.
It is seldom that we get a request from someone who wants to come to South Africa for three months to learn Afrikaans.
But this did happen recently. Wietse Hilverda, a Dutch businessman living in Aix, France, for the past decade, visited Stellenbosch in 2018 precisely for this reason: he wanted to discuss the possibility of a customised course with two colleagues from the Language Centre, Helga Sykstus and Arné Binneman. The result was the creation of the short course ‘Afrikaans language and culture for Dutch speakers’, which Wietse has been following at the Language Centre’s Language Learning Hub since the end of March this year. Helga spoke with Wietse to find out how he feels about his sixth language.
Why Stellenbosch?
In my opinion, Stellenbosch is still regarded as the centre of Afrikaans and the best place to learn it. My visit in 2018 was precisely to decide, finally, if this were the most suitable place.
How do your expectations compare with your ultimate experience?
My experience has been much better than my expectations could ever be! The reasons for this are the flexibility of the programme, the themes used as stimuli for discussion and meeting other South Africans, which has given me a varied and rich picture of the country and its people. And the golden thread, of course, the language. Afrikaans.
What are your impressions of Afrikaans speakers?
Afrikaans speakers are less European than I thought. Rather truly South African. I base this on their love for the language, the country and the people. This type of bond is difficult to find in Europe. South Africans, in general, are also inclined to be much more sensory and their experience of what happens around them seems to me to be much more intense.
Is there anything about which you are completely surprised?
Yes: how much people love Afrikaans. How much people want to talk with me. How receptive and open-hearted people are and how appreciative they are that I’d like to learn to speak Afrikaans so much.
Do you have any favourite words in Afrikaans?
Oh yes! Lekker. Snaaks. Padkos. Goed gaan. Vinnig. Kosmandjie. [Approximate translations: Lekker… well, it just stays lekker. Funny. Provisions for a journey. Well wishes/Go well. Quick. Food basket.]
I’m particularly interested in false friends – words that occur both in Afrikaans and in Dutch but that have different meanings.
The course that Wietse is following is offered by the Language Learning Hub, a new initiative from the Language Centre, which provides clients with a space to learn Afrikaans and keep on improving. The course focuses on the rich history shared by Dutch and Afrikaans but also on the differences in the culture of the Afrikaans language and community.
Other short courses offered by the Language Learning Hub are aimed at members of the public interested in learning basic Afrikaans or isiXhosa for use socially. E-mail Helga or Arné for more information.
In April of this year, the comprehensive, multi-volume Afrikaans dictionary the Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal (the WAT) released its fifteenth volume, representing the second instalment for the letter S. It covers Afrikaans words from ‘skool’ (school) all the way to ‘Sri Lankaans’ (Sri Lankan). It also contains an addendum with new words from A to S – a much needed inclusion, since Volume I of the WAT (words from A to C) appeared in 1951. At the time, ‘amabokoboko’ (the South African national rugby team), ‘beurtkrag’ (load shedding) and ‘google’ were probably unthinkable. Work on the WAT officially began in 1926 and in 1929 Stellenbosch University assumed responsibility for the dictionary.
As of January, the WAT’s editorial team has been working on the third and last volume to cover S – work which should be concluded within the next two years if everything goes according to plan. More team members were appointed last year to enable the WAT to reach Z by 2029.
The WAT contains many more words and much more information than, for example, the HAT (Handwoordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal – a one-volume dictionary). In fact, its purpose is to document Afrikaans vocabulary to the broadest extent possible. Consequently the WAT is an authoritative reference work for anyone who wants to be absolutely sure or for those researching Afrikaans words. It is also available electronically – even on mobile platforms. The Language Centre would like to congratulate the WAT on completing Volume XV (obviously we are enthusiastic WAT users).
Not everyone knows what language resources are available or where to find them. The Language Service has created a resource page for its language practitioners. This page is accessible to anyone and contains links to a large variety of e-dictionaries, word lists and terminology lists. The latest version of the Language Service’s own Afr/Eng Translation Equivalent List is also to be found there. The Language Service provides a professional editing and translation service for clients anywhere in the world. E-mail your request to Marguerite – we can help you in at least 15 languages!
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