By Rosendo Aguilar
As a newer CAPIT member, attending this year’s General Meeting served as a reminder of the efforts being done to advance language access and improve our profession. The thought-provoking workshop highlighted the dedication, expertise, and collaboration needed to continue strengthening our profession. The tasty hors d’oeuvres for attendees were a nice touch, too!
The Board
While not every board member was present, being able to meet some of them in person was inspiring and made me want to continue engaging with CAPIT. The Board’s commitment reflects a clear understanding that language access is a fundamental component of equity, inclusion, and effective communication, which not only makes CAPIT an entity supporting language professionals, but also boasts a solid community that offers different programs for members and non-members alike.
The attendees
The diversity we saw at the GM was impressive. It was delightful to have speakers Japanese, Spanish, Tagalog, French, and Mam represented (a couple of participants were polyglots, which always fascinates me!). It’s always rewarding to be in the same room with like-minded professionals to exchange ideas and continue developing the skills to meet the needs of our multilingual communities. Every conversation offered a new perspective on culture, history, and identity. While we all share the same goal of facilitating communication, each language carries its own nuances and worldview, making every interpreter’s contribution invaluable.
The workshop
All I can say is: What an amazing presenter! Marianne Pripps’ presentation, Sports Idioms: Beyond the Playing Field, was phenomenal. I particularly enjoyed how Marianne made the experience interactive. She explored the complexity of sports-related idioms and, although they may be woven into everyday English, they can present quite a challenge for interpreters. Beyond their literal meanings, we must come up with the equivalent of the figurative one and find a way to convey that meaning in a fraction of a second. Expressions such as “step up to the plate,” “pull punches,” “across the board,” and “throw a curved ball” are commonly understood by English speakers but can become difficult to interpret accurately when there’s no equivalent in another language. Maybe we don’t even know the expression ourselves! The expression “throw in the towel” was generally discussed, and while it could be difficult to convey in many languages, Spanish offers a perfect example of how some cultures share parallels in meaning – in this case tirar la toalla which refers to giving up or admitting defeat – is also widely used.
As a professional, I have studied idioms and their Spanish equivalent; however, I never once pondered their origins, let alone their connection to sports (except the most obvious few). De-metaphorization was another big take away for me.
Participants worked in groups to analyze idioms, discuss possible interpretations, and compare how different languages express similar concepts; this was insightful and filled with moments of discovery, lots of laughter discussing how funny some idioms would sound if interpreted/translated literally. Marianne encouraged everyone to think critically about the choices we make every day and reinforced that interpretation is more about conveying meaning and cultural context.
It was humbling to see other interpreters also finding idioms challenging as we carefully considered how to convey certain sports idioms into our languages. As a Mam interpreter, this is particularly challenging for me because not only is there very little usage of metaphors in Mam, but there also aren’t any idiomatic expressions used on an everyday basis. The cherry on top? All our linguistic variants! The Mam language has so many dialects that almost all 54 municipalities have their own. Clearly, Marianne will need to come back, as her presentation drew a high level of participation and inspired us to expand our knowledge of idioms as well as their meanings and origins.
While my experience during the presentation focused more on my work as an interpreter, translators also struggle with idiomatic equivalents in their target languages.
In conclusion, I must reiterate my gratitude for the board members whose leadership continues to move our profession forward, and for the many interpreters and translators whose diverse languages, cultures, and experiences enrich our collective knowledge. Events like these remind us that language access is strengthened not only through technical expertise but also through collaboration, curiosity, and sharing knowledge. We must invest in continuing education and create spaces for meaningful dialogue.
Born and raised in a Maya-Mam community in the northwestern highlands of Guatemala, Rosendo Aguilar began interpreting asylum interviews in 2007 and immigration court proceedings in 2008, launching a career dedicated to expanding language access for individuals with limited English proficiency. Over the years, he has earned certification as a Spanish healthcare interpreter, became a Registered Court Interpreter for the Mam language, and completed a degree in Translation and Interpretation. He currently works as an educational interpreter while also providing freelance court and medical interpreting services.