Congrats christine...that is a lot of work. I know what it's like when a sponsor insists that everyone must know everything equally, and yet that this actually never the case. This was a highly complex situation and it sounds like you handled it really well. And thank you so much for sharing the story. That helps us all grow in practice.
Chris On Wed, Aug 10, 2022 at 11:30 AM Thomas Herrmann < [email protected]> wrote: > Wow Christine thanks for sharing. I had some events with translation but > this was quite something. > It sounds like it went well. > Congratulations! > Thomas > > Hämta Outlook för iOS <https://aka.ms/o0ukef> > ------------------------------ > *Från:* christine koehler <[email protected]> > *Skickat:* Wednesday, August 10, 2022 4:50:04 PM > *Till:* [email protected] <[email protected]> > *Ämne:* [OSList] 5 days OST in 3 langages. Practical and general > considerations > > > Dear all > > I recently facilitated an OS gathering with translation & interpretation > in 3 langages : French, Spanish and English. I learned a lot and thought it > might be interesting to share it with you. > > Context : > This NGO contacted me a few months ago. They were considering OST for a > special gathering of 80 people for 5 days, had tested it the year before > with 2 small groups, and it worked well, but they still had questions. > > It was a very important gathering for them : they wanted to envision the > future of the way they work, with the people who make it and will take > responsibilities in the future. Their willingness was to enable any people > from any country in the world to be able to contribute and understand > everything. > Historically the NGO was started in France, in the 60’s, and then > developed almost all over the world, especially in South America, Africa > and North America. Today its headquarters are still in France, where they > have a conference room with interpreting booths. Leadership team is also > mostly French is this is something they hoped to change in the future. > The 5 days OST event was due to follow a 4 days gathering were they met in > small groups (same group for the 4 days) to talk about personal experiences > during their work and life. > > > At first I was surprised of their demand of everything in 3 langages. > Reg conversation, I explained them than in OS event, people help each > other and I didn’t see how it would be possible to orient the interpreters > as people would follow law of 2 feet. But they insisted. Same for reports : > each report had to be translated in the 3 langages as soon as it was > finished. > > So we organized it as follows : > We had opening circle, with the 3 langages in the opening : Spanish for > the organizing committee, French for the facilitation, English for a Q & A > at the end of the opening. Interpreters were there in the booths, and > everyone had an helmet for understanding the langage(s) he/she didn’t speak. > > Then we build the agenda. With the help of interpreters , usual way of > announcements was supposed to run smoothly. > The only special requirement was to write on top of page so that the > translating team could translate it in the 2 other langages. > As soon as the person had chosen a day, a time and a place and sticked > his/her theme on the wall, the translating team would translate the title > into the 2 other langages. > We tried to used a different color for each langage so that it would be > easy to see the change of langage. > > While opening the market place, we had asked everyone to write one’s name > with a felt pen. Even if they could then change their mind. > > Then the coordinator of the interpreters, a lady form the NGO who knew > everyone well and who could speak the 3 langages, would assign each > interpreter a « room » (we worked a lot in the garden), depending on who > was supposed to go where. > > For the book of proceeding, we worked with Google Drive, in which a folder > had been created with one sub folder for each langage. > One person from the team of translators registered all topics and another > would create the document in the original langage. > The reporter had to find the folder of the langage of the title, open it, > find his/her title and type in one langage only. When completed, he/she > would add the word FINISH at the top of the document . > Then the team would use Google translate to translate into required > langages and put the translation in the required folder. > > > This was how it should have worked. > Of course it did not happen exactly as expected > > For instance at the opening, the mic from the interpreters booths did not > work, although it worked the week before. > So we had a bit of a danse, with only one microphone and the interpreters > standing behind the circle and handing the microphone to one another > depending on who with language was spoken. Finally the tech team discovered > a few hours later that a cable was disconnected.. > > Quickly for the evening and morning news, we took the habit when holding > the microphone to say first our first name then the langage we speak. > However, the group still felt inequality regarding langages, (so much > easier for the French speaking group, who was also the largest). We tried > to encourage speaking in a foreign language when another langage was known. > For instance I spoke in English and my poor English was translated into > French. But we quickly dropped it, as it made the life of the interpreters > more difficult. > > During the day, it was incredibly interesting to see how they worked > together : some groups had conversation in 3 langages, with 3 interpreter > each at one corner of the room or sitting next to a person who needed it. > Notes were sometimes taken on the paperboard in 2 langages by 2 different > people. Other groups could have 2 langages or one only, or begin with one > and end with 2 or 3, welcoming the bees that started to fly after day 2. > What amazed me was the quality of focus and attention of this group. > Incredibly focussed ! I never witnessed side conversations. They were > always caring and paying attention to each other. But this is probably > related to the nature of their work and this is another story. > > > The translation of reports took about one day to find its cruising speed. > Reports had to be read before translated so that organizational jargon was > removed (as Google translate does not understand jargon). Then translation > needed to be read again by the translation team (one lady was working from > South America for the translation into Spanish). > It meant that it took more time than usual to get the reports displayed on > the walls and we had to add deadline each day that the group did not follow. > > Written comments on reports were conditioned to « if you want to add one > comment, pls add a post to note, and take the responsibility to have it in > the 3 langages ». Very discouraging, but it worked : there were 3 comments, > that were added in the book of proceeding as a picture, all in 3 langages. > > The book of proceeding was discussed during evening news, as the group was > eager to inform of their work as quickly as possible, the others who could > not attend. Finally they agreed that the original version would be kept for > them, and a second version, where everyone could make some corrections if > he/she was uneasy with some sentences, would be send a few weeks later. > > The book of proceedings was made available either printed for those who > had no laptop or digital for those who had one. And in each one favorite > langage. That was also amazing. > > It was a very interesting experience for me : > The fact that everyone must have a perfect understanding of everything has > a consequence on facilitation, especially for the last 2 days were we went > to action planning. Some designs were not possible because of the > translation. More structured, it required more coordination with the > interpreters team and more thinking ahead of time with the planning team : > they were those who were the gardians of the langage equality , I noticed > that I repeatedly forgot about it. > And it was also a personal lesson : I was not aware that, speaking 2 > dominant langages, I have a privileged access to communication with always > the same people. I can see how this leads to subtil power domination, even > if I don’t do it on purpose. > And I bet I will quickly forget it, if I am not reminded frequently. > > I will probably reminder for a while something I heard already years ago > and that someone said in the closing circle : « when you tell jokes », as > jokes don’t translate easily or even don’t translate at all in other > cultures, « I don’t get it. It makes me feel separated from you ». In this > group, with this level of care for each other which really I never > witnessed before, this comment had a huge impact of my understanding of > what makes a community, how strong it might be and how fragile it might > also be. Something to cherish and nurture day by day.. > > > Christine Koehler > > > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > -- ____ CHRIS CORRIGAN Blog and resources: http://www.chriscorrigan.com Harvest Moon Consultants: https://www.harvestmoonconsultants.com Registration now open: Complexity Inside and Out online program Fall 2022 <https://www.harvestmoonconsultants.com/complexity-inside-out.html> Register now for the Art of Hosting September 26-28, 2022, Vancouver BC, Canada <http://aohbowenisland.weebly.com/>
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