There's a lot of stuff I wish could be improved about the World Cup, like the officiating, the constant faking injuries and trying to fool the referees (where's the dodgeball sportsmanship quality of taking your own outs?) and the fact one goal (or one penalty in the penalty box) can determine so much of a team's fate that they've worked so hard for, but there's a lot of stuff to love about the world cup. It's a global gathering of sports enthusiasts and a way for the world to stop and bond over something non-political and non-violent, like wars or political tensions, just athletics. So many fans around the world engage in the 4-year tradition of drinking at bars and rooting for their own country. I also love the crowd reactions of enthusiastic fans, dressed to the teeth in their nation's colors with face paint and colorful accessories, reacting more than the players and coaches to a near-miss on goal or something.
Another World-cup like event this week was the "clash" between President Trump of the US and Kim Jung Un of North Korea, a historic event in Singapore where the two leaders met. What I was more interested in, though, was the interpreter who was tasked with doing the translation between the 2 leaders, as Trump doesn't speak Korean and Kim Jung Un doesn't speak much English. A lot of power (and responsibility) in the translator's hands, especially to get the tone of the conversation right and select the right words to get across the correct meaning of what each leader wants to get across. I've mentioned before, it's not easy to get it perfect, and this translator named Yun Hyang Lee had a pretty tough job. She certainly had the qualifications for it, getting a masters in translation and interpretation and also a PhD from University of Geneva. I didn't even know there were such higher education programs! I wonder what happens for those at those programs, certainly you can become fluent and even native-level without having to go to school, but the degree carries with it more weight I think and suggests a more formal education on getting the translating right.
That'd be one of my dream careers, if the whole A.I. taking over all human jobs thing wasn't happening. Using my ability in multiple languages to work in international affairs at the highest stage. I bet there's a lot of pressure to get it right and say it quickly, especially simultaneous interpretation, but I'd thoroughly enjoy it. I could even do a conference meeting with Chinese, Japanese, and Korean! (Although, I think it's probably best that most interpreters stick with 2 languages that they know the best). It's very very hard to be fully native-level in even 2 languages and catch up with all the evolutions of the language and new words, each language is its own world. But with the translation power I'd wish to help world leaders and citizens (especially in Asian where my language studies are focused) understand each other's culture and not distrust each other so much, understand that there's good people (and bad people) in every country
Alas, as in the World Cup where the referee communicates to both teams in a game in the same language (English), there's probably not that much need for that many translators, and you have to be pretty established with credentials like Ms. Yun Hang Lee to get the very top translation gig in the world (working for President of the United States).
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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