Lost in Translation

[Uboat509]

My only contribution to this is the fact that I used to teach soldiers how to use translators, and what was shown broke every rule in the book, then tore up the book, and denied a book ever existed.

Off the top of my head and thinking back 15 years...

a.) The translators needs to be trained, and exercised, like any other military skill. It is not a "pick up game." Translators should not talk, unless they are saying something you said. They should never initiate a conversation.
b.) Only one soldier speaks. The translator stands behind the soldier who is speaking.
c.) The soldier controls the pace of the conversation.- politely, but forcefully. Learn to say, " Excuse me. I don't understand," to cut short rambling and allow the translator to catch up.
d.) The exchange should be kept as simple and short as possible.
e.) The soldier should make extensive use of "check words" - or have another soldier do the same thing.


...remove dark glasses!!! - and helmets if possible.

...don't take my word for any of this. Check this against your CoC.

A lot of that depends on the terps. If the terps are locals then they will have a better understanding of the local culture than I will. It may be better give them a certain amount of leeway. I have had some awesome terps who understood what it was we were after in a given exchange and they could get us there a lot better then simple mechanical translation. I have also had some that were only good for simple mechanical translation (and maybe not even that). As for controling the pace of the conversation, well that depends on who you are talking to. Arabs as a rule seem to be given to rambling. If it is just some random guy I may try to cut him short and keep him on point but if I am talking to a sheik or anyone else who thinks that he is important then it is often better to let him go rather than to offend him.

d.) The exchange should be kept as simple and short as possible.

That depends entirely on what the exchange is about.

SFC W