Interpretation: Where Are We Going? Where Do We Want To Go?
Translation: Kristin Addis
Abstract
In this article, Joseba Urkia, an interpreter for the Official Translators' Service of the Basque Government, explains the primary strengths and weaknesses that he sees in the interpretation of Basque into Spanish, using the interpreter's manual published by the Service in 2008 as a point of departure. The article is not a summary of the manual, but rather focuses on both the positive aspects and the problems faced by the Basque interpreter when carrying out his work, difficulties that have to do more with the lack of a policy of interpretation and with the status of the language, than with issues having to do specifically with translation (training of interpreters, language typology, types of discourse, etc.). The author stresses that, although the training of interpreters is generally conducted correctly, the same cannot be said of the use of the Basque language as it occurs in most forums, in which it continues to be largely symbolic.
