What's new at the UCC? Simultaneous translation! (11/08/98)

What's new at the UCC? Simultaneous translation!

by Yuriy Diakunchak

WINNIPEG - Mixers, infrared beams, sound booths. These are not typical elements at a Ukrainian convention. Usually a microphone, a couple of speakers and plenty of feedback will do. But much like the United Nations and the Canadian Parliament before them, the leadership of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress introduced simultaneous translation of most of the proceedings at its 19th congress held here on October 9-12.

The innovation came about in accordance with a resolution of the previous congress which aimed to draw younger generations into participating in the proceedings.

"The idea started three years ago at the end of the last congress," said UCC Winnipeg Branch President Lesia Szwaluk. "A few youths from Saskatchewan said they would like to participate, but because of a lack of fluent Ukrainian found it difficult." Thirty-one delegates between the ages of 16 and 25 were registered at this congress - a record for the UCC.

The simultaneous translations, both Ukrainian to English and vice-versa, did not come cheap. Ms. Szwaluk estimated the total cost at $10,000, which includes the cost of equipment and the technician. "Response has been positive, especially with the youth, but also with some old people who don't have a good grasp of English," said Ms. Szwaluk. A smattering of people at each seminar sported the tell-tale gray headphones that indicated a translation unit in action.

Translations were provided by Iryna Konstatiuk and Vasyl Skrypnyk, both from Winnipeg. Ms. Konstatiuk, who has been in Canada since 1996, performed similar work for the U.S. Agency for International Development in Kyiv, mostly translating for businesspeople and government officials. She now works for the Carpathia Credit Union.

Mr. Skrypnyk, who has been in Canada for eight years, works as a self-employed graphic designer and computer programmer. He studied at the Translation Department at Kyiv University for three years.

"The experiment was quite successful," declared Ms. Konstatiuk.

All new experiments have their bugs, however. At first, the units were not receiving the infrared signals properly, leaving some users with spotty service. Though the units were not very complex, delegates complained that better instructions should be given in the future. For example: it took this reporter some time to realize that one had to periodically press the start button on the receiving unit, otherwise the reception would fade.

The translations were inconsistent, particularly in the early going of the congress when panel members spoke quickly. However, as the congress progressed, the level of accuracy increased.

More negative comments than positive ones were heard from the audience. "She is translating so poorly. She can't keep up," said one elderly participant on her way out of a conference room. Another group of ladies spent 10 minutes arguing among themselves about whether the translation was accurate or not. Their verdict: "not."

A positive, even enthusiastic, response was given by one of the younger delegates, for whom the translation service was intended. Lisa McDonald, the lone delegate from the Ukrainian Canadian Students' Union (SUSK) said "guests from Ukraine could use it, mainstream media could follow along, and those of us who understand 'half na piv' could follow along without missing a beat. I was quite impressed with the whole set-up and would recommend other organizations to follow suit."

The SUSK delegate added: "I noticed a number of youths using the translation service, as well as some (obvious) immigrants or visitors to Canada from Ukraine. Another aspect of the translation sets were that they blocked out any background noise. I noticed that one fellow who wore a hearing aid was making use of the head sets."

Will the service be provided in future years? "I think so," said Ms. Szwaluk. "We have to wait for a decision by the congress [organizing] committee."

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