Garden CIty Interview need Chinese interpreter

[Beerhunter 0]

Hi,

I have an interview at the Garden City, NY location in mid-October and I need a Chinese-English for my wife. Does anyone have any suggestions? I received a quote from Ubiqus but it was too high so I am wondering if someone has a relative or friend available. I am willing to pay for their services.

I am capable of translating myself but unfortunately, I am an interested party. If anyone else needs a translater in Garden City for English/Chinese, contact me and I will see if I am available.

Thanks!

[YuAndDan 153]

Join "A Candle for Love" and ask question there, that site specializes in Chinese immigrations and relations issues. http://candleforlove.com

In our case, we have made friends with many Chinese people that work many of the local restaurants and stores, in our case we could have the help of any one of our friends.

The interpreter only needs to be fluent in both languages, they do not need to be a professional, they can be a friend or associate.

[vivienne 0]

Have you found an interpreter? I am a Chinese-English Interpreter by profession and have my green card processed in Garden City, therefore, I am quite familiar with that place. If you are still looking, maybe I can help. Just let me know the time and date of the appointment and the rate you are offering. Also, let me know if you are refering to Cantonese or Mandarin. Thanks! Vivienne

[lord chen 0]

Have you found an interpreter? I am a Chinese-English Interpreter by profession and have my green card processed in Garden City, therefore, I am quite familiar with that place. If you are still looking, maybe I can help. Just let me know the time and date of the appointment and the rate you are offering. Also, let me know if you are refering to Cantonese or Mandarin. Thanks! Vivienne

Found this on the web:

http://fufor.twoday.net/stories/4546181/

Mystery Mandarin expert is one of a kind

Mystery Mandarin expert is one of a kind

Posted: Tuesday, December 18, 2007 9:46 AM

Filed Under: Beijing, China

By Adrienne Mong, NBC News Producer

EPOCH CITY, Xianghe, China –

Let’s be frank. Covering the prepared remarks of senior officials on the closing day of trade talks isn’t exactly the most scintillating of assignments.

So as China’s top trade negotiator Vice Premier Wu Yi and U.S. Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson read their statements to a room full of Chinese and western journalists at the end of the China-U.S. Strategic Economic Dialogue, I amused myself by comparing the original comments to the translations that followed.

The English translation of Wu’s Chinese-language speech was more or less on the mark. But as I jotted notes down in my pad, listening to the Chinese translation of Paulson’s remarks, the inflection of a phrase caught my ear and I glanced up to take a look at the interpreter.

Somewhat to my surprise, it was a westerner who was translating Paulson’s speech into fluent Mandarin.

I racked my brain, trying to remember whether I’d ever seen a Caucasian interpret Mandarin at a high-level Chinese diplomatic function.

Now I’m not suggesting fluent Mandarin-speaking westerners are rare. Far from it, I’m repeatedly shamed by all the non-Chinese around me whose Mandarin is so good they can mimic regional accents. But normally interpreters at high-level official events are ethnic Chinese.

Mandarin, after all, is a tough language to master. For one, it’s tonal, not phonetic. (Mandarin – considered China’s national language – has four tones. So each character has four ways to pronounce it and thus at least four different meanings. The popular southern dialect, Cantonese, has nine tones!)

It’s character-based, using ideographs instead of an alphabet. (To be able to read a newspaper you need a command of at least 3,000-4,000 characters.) And the grammar, which appears deceptively simple at first, can actually be quite tricky.

The mystery interpreter

My curiosity piqued, I wondered who the fellow was? Where did he learn his Mandarin? Did he think in Chinese? Was he a part of Paulson’s staff? (Wow, I thought, Paulson really does want to build trust with the Chinese and clarify perceptions and increase understanding.) What did the Chinese officials think of him and his language skills? Was he used to getting, well, the kind of reaction I was having to seeing him translate?

A few days later, after a round robin of e-mails to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and several State Department bureaus in Washington, I was nowhere closer to answering any of those questions. But I did learn a few things.

The interpreter’s name is Jim Brown.

Apparently Jim is quite shy.

And apparently there aren’t many like him.

There are three levels of expertise for translators, Brenda Sprague, the Director of the Office of Language Services for the Department of State, patiently explained to me over the phone in the early hours of my morning. (The Office of Language Services and its staff, said Sprague, "support the President, the White House, the State Dept, and provide assistance to rest of federal government – just the very highest level of work.")

The first level of skill is "simple consecutive" translation. "Although it’s not that simple," explained Sprague. Interpreters have to be able to translate on the spot after each remark or statement.

The second level of expertise is "simultaneous seminar-level," which, as its name suggests, is simultaneous translation in a less formal environment like lower level meetings or training courses. "And in theory, you can stop to catch up or take notes," said Sprague.

And the third level is "full-blown consecutive" translation, in which interpreters can work in both simple consecutive and simultaneous translation, but at very senior-level meetings or diplomatic functions.