wfn.org | Que pasa? Translation at General Conference

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Feb. 26, 2004	News media contact: Linda Bloom7(646) 369-37597New
York7E-mail:newsdesk@umcom.org 7ALL-AF-HIS-KOR-I {078}

NOTE: Photographs and audio interviews are available at http://umns.umc.org.

By Linda Bloom*

NEW YORK (UMNS) - For Don Reasoner, the task of providing translation
services for non-English speaking delegates to the United Methodist General
Conference is more than just a matter of logistics.

Proper communication with church members outside the United States, in his
opinion, is essential to the spiritual growth of the denomination. "There's
much that they can share and we can learn from," he explained. "It helps
enrich our experience together as a church."

When General Conference, the denomination's top legislative body, meets April
27-May 7 in Pittsburgh, a cadre of translators will be on hand to help
delegates with everything from hotel check-in to registering a vote on the
conference floor. Of the 998 delegates who will be attending, about 178 will
be from "central conferences" - regional units of the church in Africa, Asia
and Europe. 

Reasoner, a staff member of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries,
said he is able to hire four professional translators for each of the
meeting's five official languages, besides English, and is looking for
volunteers to fill in the gaps, particularly during the first week's
legislative committee sessions.

The five other languages are Spanish, Portuguese, French, German and Swahili.
Portuguese covers Brazil, Angola and Mozambique, and Swahili primarily
applies to delegates from the Congo, he explained. Korean and Russian
translation will be offered on a more informal basis.

Printed translation is more limited. The conference's Advance Daily Christian
Advocate - a compilation of the legislation going to the assembly - will be
offered in English, French and Portuguese only. During the two-week meeting,
the Daily Christian Advocate publication will be in English only. 

"It's not just a matter of linguistic abilities, it's the church language,"
Reasoner said about the search for translators who have knowledge of United
Methodist lingo and church structure.

Translation will be used in different ways. While consecutive translation
will do for luggage mishaps at the airport, simultaneous translation is
essential for conference plenary sessions, where translation equipment will
be in use. "That requires a different level of skills," Reasoner added.

The professional translators will staff those plenary sessions and monitor
the 11 legislative committees to provide quality control. In addition,
volunteers will be needed to sit in on the committees and committee
subgroups, sometimes conducting one-on-one translation. "We're trying to find
out from the various delegations which committees the (non-English speaking)
delegates will be in," Reasoner said.

An appeal for translators has been issued through missionary networks and
other organizations. Because of costs, "we're looking for volunteers who are
in the United States or very close by," he noted. Travel and hotel expenses
will be covered for the selected volunteer translators, who will receive the
same per diem for meals as other church staff.

Reasoner hopes to have 20 volunteers per legislative committee, in addition
to spreading the professionals around. The host committee in Pittsburgh also
is coordinating some services for international delegates and "will try to
deal with all reasonable requests."

But translators probably won't be available often for guests and observers.
"The priority has been given to the delegates to ensure the delegates have
full participation and their votes will be counted," he explained.

The translation equipment for General Conference, based on an infrared
system, is provided for and owned by the Board of Global Ministries. Reasoner
does not expect to use all the 220 units, but "we can get additional
(equipment) if we see there's a need for it."

He can be reached via e-mail at dreasone@gbgm-umc.org.

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*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

 
 

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United Methodist News Service
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