Over the past year, I have often come across comments such as: \u201cYou\u2019re in trouble\u2014it won\u2019t \nbe long before artificial intelligence replaces you.\u201d \nAnd it is true\u2014part of office-based work has changed, and part of it has diminished. \nAt the same time, in practice, the situation is quite different. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
An increasing number of foreigners are living in Croatia. English has become the lingua \nfranca\u2014a language through which I communicate not only with native speakers, but also \nwith a Nepalese, an Indian, a Dutch person, or a French person. Over time, I have become \nspecialised in understanding so-called \u201cbroken English\u201d and English spoken with a wide \nrange of accents\u2014often in stressful, legally sensitive situations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
In court corridors and in the institutions where I work, the role of a sworn court interpreter \noften goes beyond the mere transfer of meaning. I frequently find myself acting as a mediator, \na conciliator, and even a kind of \u201ctranslator of emotions\u201d. In situations where people are \nencountering another country's legal system for the first time, the interpreter is sometimes the \nonly person who understands them\u2014and the only one they can turn to. It is not uncommon \nfor people, in such moments, to share parts of their life stories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In discussions about technology, the idea of a \u201cuniversal translator\u201d is often mentioned. \nInterestingly, such a device existed in the science fiction series Star Trek, a symbol of a \ntechnologically advanced society. \nAnd yet, despite the universal translator, every ship in the fleet had a communications officer. \nSomeone had to understand context, relationships, intention, and the consequences of what \nwas said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That fiction describes today\u2019s reality with striking precision: technology can assist with cross-\nlanguage communication, but responsibility for true understanding still rests with the human \ninterpreter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Give me a chisel, a hammer, and a piece of the finest marble in the world, and I still will not \nsculpt David\u2014nor anything particularly meaningful. \nA good tool in the hands of a master is worth its weight in gold. \nThe same tool in the wrong hands\u2014not necessarily. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the work of a sworn court interpreter, it is not only knowledge of languages or the speed of \nthe transfer of meaning that matters. What matters are experience, responsibility, judgement, \n \nand a human presence in the room. \nThat is why a sworn court interpreter brings more than just language proficiency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The interpreter brings themselves.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The interpreter brings not only knowledge of languages or the transfer of meaning. \nThe interpreter brings themselves. <\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tamarazeba.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tamarazeba.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tamarazeba.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamarazeba.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamarazeba.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tamarazeba.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamarazeba.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tamarazeba.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamarazeba.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tamarazeba.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}