Panamanian woman works to cross language barrier

Dr. Etty Arjona Chang spoke about her 35 years as a translator and interpreter.

Growing up in a bilingual community, Panamanian resident Dr. Etty Arjona Chang learned the hard way that "stupid" in Spanish is one of the worst insults to call anyone.

As a child, she made the mistake of calling her cousin "stupid" while he had a brand new pair of boxing gloves in hand, she said.

On Monday evening, Chang, 66, spoke informally to about 20 residents of the Chateau Girardeau about her 35 years as a translator and interpreter. Fluent in English, Spanish and French, she is the director of the Center for the Study of Higher Education at the Catholic University of Panama.

The presentation was titled "T&I: The World's Second Oldest Profession." Chang distinguished translation as for written and interpretation as for oral communication, listed the methods used in the profession, and outlined a brief history in the development of American translation and interpretation.

At one point, the profession was doomed to extinction, she said, because its name alone does not encompass the vast number of fields that it can be used in, such as medical, telephone, court, education, presentation and politics. Recently, more universities are adopting translation and interpretation programs that take about four to six years to complete.

"'Anybody can translate,' that's what they think, but that's not true," Chang said. Just knowing a language falls vastly short of the understanding of the culture, economics and politics it takes to accurately translate and interpret.

The mental and intellectual demand for extreme focus is highly taxing on translators, which is why they only work for 30 minutes at most, then rotate shifts, she said. Consequently, they are silent workers within a body of work.

"You read a translation, but you never think, 'Gee, what a good translator.' You think, 'What a beautiful author,'" Chang said.

She arrived Friday to assist at Southeast Missouri State University in modifying a current scholarship program that is sponsored by 54 Panamanian alumni. A Panamanian exchange program is in the development stages. Provost Dr. Jane Stephens and alumna Trudy Lee of the Southeast Missouri State Alumni Association are heading up the developments. She leaves today for more meetings in St. Louis.

For her international work in advancing the profession, Chang was recently awarded the Pierre Francois Caille Memorial Medal, the highest recognition from the Federation of Translators and Interpreters.

jmetelski@semissourian.com