VOA慢速英语2012 Health Report - Language Has Risks for Health Translators

Health Report - Language Has Risks for Health Translators

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

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 rights 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 "provocative¹" if she said them in public.

MUTHONI GICHOHI: "So I have got to really put it in another way that it is still delivering the same message, but the words will be different."

Trainer Paul Warambo says the same issue arises with Kenya's national language.

PAUL WARAMBO: "Sometimes you are also forced to use euphemisms² -- use a language that is more acceptable to the people. For example, in Swahili, we will not call a body part -- the vagina, for example -- we will not call it by its name. We use kitu chake --- her thing. You do not just mention it by the name, you say 'her thing.'"

Health education translators like Susan Mwangi, right, in Kenya have to choose their words carefully to avoid offending cultural sensitivities 

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.

Paul Warambo explains how the term "sexual intercourse³" is commonly translated from English into Ki'Swahili.

PAUL WARAMBO: "We always say, in Ki'Swahili, 'kutenda kitendo kibaya' -- to do something bad. So, imagine sex was associated with something bad, emanating⁴ from the African cultural context."

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: "It is true that people do not think of translation. It is absolutely not on the radar⁵, but it is so critical if you think about it, for people to get information, whether it is how to take their medication, whether it is 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 certain things in the presence of elders. Also, men are usually the ones who speak at public gatherings⁶, so people might not accept a message given by a woman.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. I'm Faith Lapidus.

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Contributing: Cathy Majtenyi

1 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

2 euphemisms   

n.委婉语，委婉说法( euphemism的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• No point is in mincing words or hiding behind euphemisms. 没有必要闪烁其词或者羞羞答答。 来自辞典例句
• No point in mincing words or hiding behind euphemisms. 没必要闪烁其词或者羞羞答答。 来自辞典例句

3 intercourse   

n.性交；交流，交往，交际

参考例句：

• The magazine becomes a cultural medium of intercourse between the two peoples.该杂志成为两民族间文化交流的媒介。
• There was close intercourse between them.他们过往很密。

4 emanating   

v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的现在分词 )；产生，表现，显示

参考例句：

• Even so, there is a slight odour of potpourri emanating from Longfellow. 纵然如此，也还是可以闻到来自朗费罗的一种轻微的杂烩的味道。 来自辞典例句
• Many surface waters, particularly those emanating from swampy areas, are often colored to the extent. 许多地表水，特别是由沼泽地区流出的地表水常常染上一定程度的颜色。 来自辞典例句

5 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

6 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。