This is the VOA Special English Health Report, from http://voaspecialenglish.com | http://facebook.com/voalearningenglish
Translators
Without Borders is an American nonprofit group. It provides language services to
nongovernmental organizations such as, yes, Doctors Without Borders. The group
recently trained some new translators in Nairobi in how to put health
information into local languages for Kenyans. For health translators, finding
the right words is not just about language, but also culture. Muthoni Gichohi is
a manager for Family Health Options Kenya, the group that organized the
training. She says she has no problem expressing the names of body parts in
English. But as a Kikuyu she says there are some words in her first language
that may be "provocative" if she said them in public. She says she often has to
change the wording of the information. Trainer Paul Warambo says the same issue
arises with Kenya's national language. He says people are sometimes force to use
euphemisms -- speaking in a language that is more acceptable to the listener.
The culture of a community will largely decide how words and expressions are
translated into socially acceptable language.In some cases, the way people in a
culture think about an activity or object becomes the translated name for that
activity or object. For example, Paul Warambo says that, in Ki'Swahili, the
common translation for the term "sexual intercourse" is to do something bad.
Whether or not a community will accept or even listen to a message is especially
important in health care. Lori Thicke co-founded Translators Without Borders in
nineteen ninety-three. She says, in general, a lot of development organizations
have often overlooked the importance of language in changing health behavior.
Lori Thicke says people generally do not think of translation. But she says it
is important when sharing information, whether it is how to take medicine or
where to find supplies in a crisis situation. Muthoni Gichohi and her team
recently opened a health information center in a Maasai community. She learned
that young Maasai cannot say some things in the presence of their leaders. Also,
men are usually the ones who speak at public gatherings, so people might not
accept a message given by a woman. For VOA Special English, I'm Alex Villarreal.
You can find more stories about health at voapsecialenglish.com. (Adapted from a
radio program broadcast 02May2012)
원문출처 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2ywOWhD_N8&feature=youtube_gdata
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