INTERPRETER SAYS WHAT SHE MEANS

INTERPRETER SAYS WHAT SHE MEANS

Part 1

From Siberia to St Petersburg, Elena Kabanova translates for BP people on business in Russia. She helps them to understand a lot more besides the language

By Oliver Broad, Horizon, February 2002

At a construction plant near the town of Raduzhny in west Siberia, I am talking to a Russian manager about techni­cal details related to pipelines. We seem to understand each other well enough but not because I speak the language – far from it. It's thanks to the simultaneous translation skills of Elena Kabanova; an interpreter for BP in Russia.

For 10 years Elena has been helping BP visitors, from exploration in Irkutsk to refining in the Volga region. Her experience covers translating the sensitive arbitration talks related to the recovery of Sidanco assets and equally tricky negotiations with babushkas (grandmothers) to get seats on the next flight out from remotest Siberia. In contract work or potential airport woe, Elena's expertise is indispensable.

Simultaneous translation is no easy feat. "You have to be born with these skills," she explains. "I don't follow each word but try to imagine myself as the speaker to keep up with the flow of the con­versation." This explains her ability to give you the translation a fraction of a second after the talking begins. But isn't this technique prone to error? She replies: "You always have a chance to correct yourself on the next word to get the right meaning."

Much of what an inter­preter does goes beyond mere words, as Elena explains: "Sometimes I feel I'm not a translator but more of an interface between Russian and Western mentalities. A translator should maintain as much as possible of the original speech but there are cultural differences that mean I have to moderate the language."

No doubt Elena's efforts have prevented many embarrassing moments for her clients but she is clear about her role. "I limit myself as much as possible because otherwise I might influence the course of the discussion." She adds: "The clearest indicator of a good simultaneous interpreter is when your clients actual­ly forget they are not speaking the same language."

A graduate of the Moscow Institute of Foreign Languages, Elena was recruited to BP in 1991. She had not been confident of getting the job. "I didn't hear from BP for two months, during which time I was working in Paris as a Russian-French inter­preter," she recalls. "I thought I had failed the interview." In fact, she had beaten about 20 people to the post.

Part 2

One of Elena's first assignments was to accompany a BP manager on a survey of refineries in Ukraine. The flight from Moscow was delayed 10 hours but Elena persuaded ground staff to find them an alternative flight. It happened to be a mil­itary charter going to the same destination. So soon after the Cold War, the officers on board were happy to get a chance to meet a foreign visitor so they spoke together and even shared some vodka. "I never drink vodka as I always have the excuse of translating," Elena explains. "However, I find that when peo­ple drink vodka together they don't need an interpreter!"

In a typical week, Elena has more than enough work to do, including translating written documents from English to Russ­ian. This means a seven-day week and she often fits in the writing while traveling with BP on other assign­ments. With the laptop at hand there never need be an idle moment at the airport when another flight is delayed.

"I don't complain because I enjoy it," she comments. "I never know what I'll be doing from one week to the next. Perhaps it will be a visit to an oil terminal for a health, safety and environment inspection or translating for a safety training course in Moscow. I'm always available to work at short notice."

The work has extended along with BP's presence in Russia. When Elena first worked for the company it was run out of a hotel room. Now it employs about a thousand people. "It's nice to see something to which you contribute develop," she says.

There have been some tense moments along the way – such as BP's negotiations during the Sidanco bankruptcy case – and there have been some more relaxing assignments. One was to survey the local economy of the Samara area in southern Rus­sia as a prospect for future BP investments. This included a vis­it to a Nestle chocolate factory. "Needless to say, we had to sam­ple the products," she jokes.

In the course of this experience, Elena has become familiar with the many technical terms of the oil business (and perhaps, also the confectionery industry). After all, not too many people know how to translate 'ethylene cracker'. No wonder my conversation about thermal-insulated pipelines with the plant manager near Raduzhny seems to be so clearly understood.

Vocabulary:

construction plant	embarrassing
pipeline	interview
talks/negotiations	assignment
to keep up with	fit in
expertise	health, safety and environment/HSE
interface	at short notice
survey	run a company

1. What are skills one needs to perform simultaneous translation?

2. Suggest 3 ways of the headline translation.