Thank you Peggy
I am so glad to have this opportunity to meet you again. See you there

Christine
+ 33 6 13 28 71 38
Sent from my mobile phone. Please forgive brevity.

> Le 13 août 2022 à 18:01, Peggy Holman <[email protected]> a écrit :
> 
> Congratulations, Christine, on your groundbreaking work. Thank you for 
> sharing what you did and what you learned from it.
> 
> Lucas, what interesting reflections and questions on the role translation can 
> play in fostering connection. Perhaps someone will be intrigued enough to 
> pursue the inquiry.
> 
> We’ll get a chance to practice with an in-person multi-lingual Open Space at 
> WOSonOS in a couple months!
> 
> See you there Christine.
> 
> Warmly,
> Peggy
> 
> 
> 
> _________________________________
> Peggy Holman
> [email protected]
> Twitter: @peggyholman
> 
> Bellevue, WA  98006
> 206-948-0432
> www.peggyholman.com
> www.journalismthatmatters.org
> 
> Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity
> 
>  
> "An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get burnt, 
> is to become 
> the fire".
>   -- Drew Dellinger
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> On Aug 13, 2022, at 5:24 AM, Lucas Cioffi <[email protected]> wrote:
>> 
>> Thank you for sharing these insights, Christine.  I especially like how 
>> participants at your event figured out different ways to make the 
>> conversations happen.
>> 
>> I don't have any data on what I am about to write, but I believe that in 
>> online events where a translator is necessary, the participants become more 
>> empathetic and there seems to be a deeper human connection between 
>> participants.  The result is that having translation actually changes what 
>> is said.  I don't know why this is, but I think this is because when people 
>> have to listen to a language that they don't understand, they are reminded 
>> that there are many more things that they do not know compared to things 
>> they do know.  I think that when participants are made to feel humble 
>> (coming naturally by the design of the event not by anyone telling them to 
>> be humble) then they have more empathy for others.
>> 
>> Another reason that this might be true is that if translation is available, 
>> then the organizers were thoughtful in their design and that the meeting has 
>> a lot of resources to succeed.  It is possible that participants see that 
>> the meeting has a great organizer or sufficient resources and become more 
>> empathetic or thoughtful or caring -- maybe it is not because they are 
>> humbled.
>> 
>> All my events in the past few years have been online.  Online it is possible 
>> to design an event with translation in at least two ways:
>> One way is for everyone to hear the event in just their preferred language, 
>> with the translator (or captions created by a person or computer) talking at 
>> the same time as the speaker (this doesn't happen at in-person events unless 
>> participants are listening through headphones).
>> Another way is for everyone to hear the original speaker and then have to 
>> wait a few seconds for the translation.  This slows the conversation down, 
>> but this is the way that builds more empathy, I believe.  
>> It would be a fascinating research topic to see how translation affects the 
>> human connection between people.
>> 
>> I wish a good day to all,
>> Lucas Cioffi
>> 
>> 
>> On Wed, Aug 10, 2022 at 10:50 AM christine koehler 
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> 
>>> 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
>>> 
>>> 
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