Head Understands but not Heart

Sachiko, a friend of mine, used to work as an interpreter for an American company and interpreted for the management which mainly consisted of non-Japanese speakers. As an in-house interpreter, she was generally requested to translate communications between native and non-native English speakers using the so-called "whispering" technique. This skill is the same as simultaneous translation, but one aspect, i.e., no script is given to the interpreter. (Yes, simultaneous interpreters are usually given transcripts beforehand.) That is why this technique is often used for business which usually can't have scripts, but has to deal with things on the spot, such as project or management meetings. Speed is so important that "whispering" interpreters have to translate like a machine as if they were not there.

At that time, Sachiko was engaged in a project and a man was invited from the U.S. for the project. He was an American, but originally a Cuban, with one problem. He used dirty words, i.e., sxxx and fxxx. They were not supposed to be used even back then, but were used much more casually than now. Sachiko didn't interpret these words first, but Japanese staff, although being unable to understand other parts, caught these words and asked her to interpret them. They were not offended. They knew the meaning and enjoyed having the first-hand experience of hearing these words. The speaker and the listeners were both non-English speakers. Sachiko always says that understanding something in the head and in the heart is different.