Watch: Japanese Interpreters Scurry To Translate Presidential Debate On Live TV
Video screenshot via Donald J. Trump
If you thought the first presidential debate this year was a bucket full of chaos, imagine being a non-native speaker.
Viewers in Japan who tuned in to watch the debate on national television network NHK were forced to sift through the voices of three Japanese translators on top of three grown American men talking over one another.
Things were certainly much more stressful for the translators, who had to prick up their ears and understand what was being said in order to deliver their translations quickly and accurately.
According to BuzzFeed Japan reporter Saori Ibuki, who shared a snippet of all six voices shouting over each other, local media outlets have also translated “s**tshow” as “a show that is like s**t.”
You could say the whole affair was the opposite of listening to lo-fi beats. Someone needs to give those translators a raise.
Also, would it be possible to mute all other microphones when it’s someone’s turn to speak at the next debate?
People in Japan who watched it on NHK (our public broadcaster) had to watch three men shout over each other while three interpreters interpreted over each other simultaneously soooo yes but not really?🤔 pic.twitter.com/1gItayw55f https://t.co/vWV8Top38J
— 伊吹早織 Saori Ibuki (@ciaolivia) September 30, 2020
Found a great TikTok for this pic.twitter.com/Gt3Hy3nBzq
— Fired up, ready to go. Let’s roll! 🇺🇸 (@lpkoch) October 1, 2020
Some people asked how “shitshow” was translated into Japanese. Asahi Shimbun, one of our major national newspapers, translated as くそみたいなショー (Kuso mitai na shō): “a show that is like shit”. https://t.co/zvWh8RXQEJ
— 伊吹早織 Saori Ibuki (@ciaolivia) September 30, 2020
[via Boing Boing, cover image via Donald J. Trump]
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