Interpreting Insults from Spanish into Your Target Language

Learn how to handle expletives during an interpreting encounter to convey the message more accurately.

Even seasoned interpreters have a hard time making the right choice when dealing with big words and colloquial expressions when content is more emotional than technical. In some cultures, expletives might be used as a form of flattery and expressions of closeness, even if authoritative dictionaries list those big words as taboo.

When you do not know how to interpret insults, you may use a different register than the speaker used originally. A colloquial expression could become a formal one or—even worse—a word that is key to the message could be omitted.

Having a strategy to delve into the cultural meaning will help you detach from the awful feeling of uttering insults you don’t mean but have to say in the first person. You will make confident choices and be assured that you did not compromise the speaker’s agency or your client’s trust.

In this webinar, you will learn how to not take words at face value, how to perform a comprehensive analysis of the message, and how to convey the speaker’s message accurately.

Special Notes

• This webinar is presented in Spanish.

What will you learn?

1. A typology of insults and swear words
2. A 5-step systematic approach to find functional equivalents to expletives
3. How to use corpora to confirm your choices
4. How to operationalize the 5-step technique with real-life examples
5. Practical advice for keeping up to speed on this aspect of the Spanish language and its variants.

This webinar was organized in collaboration with ATA’s Spanish Language Division.

About the Presenter

Darinka Mangino is a conference and court interpreter for Spanish, English, and French with over 20 years of professional experience. She served as a personal interpreter for three presidents of Mexico and provides her professional services for several international organizations, NGOs, and private companies. She is a member of the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC) and the Mexican Translator’s Association (OMT).

Darinka holds a master’s degree in Advanced Studies for Interpreting Trainers from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, a post-graduate certificate in Forensic Linguistics from Aston University, United Kingdom, and a university degree in Conference Interpreting from Instituto Superior de Interpretes y Traductores, Mexico City. She is an adjunct professor for Interpreting at ENALLT-UNAM and founder of Lexica Aula Virtual para Interpretes and Proyecto Cenzontle. She has taught at undergraduate and graduate levels for over a decade and coaches interpreters on how to future-proof their careers and develop skills needed for the 21st century in-person and virtual interpreting.

Register for this webinar and Practical Strategies to Capture Notes Virtually When Providing Remote Interpreting and save $15. If you can’t attend both live webinars, register now and you will also have access to watch both webinars at your convenience.