Aziz: No, I don’t speak Mcquish. What are you doing?

 

　　Francine: Jim gave me this letter and this document to translate into Mcquish because I speak a little of it, but even with a dictionary and thesaurus, it’s slow going.

 

　　Aziz: Didn’t you tell Jim that?

 

　　Francine: I did, but he still wants me to try because it’s so hard to find a Mcquish-English bilingual.

 

　　Aziz: I’m not surprised. Other than you, I don’t know anyone who speaks Mcquish.

 

　　Francine: Yeah, well, I’m doing my best to translate these documents idiomatically because the literal translation won’t make any sense, but it’s a tough job. I simply don’t know enough business Mcquish to know the equivalent words and phrases.

 

　　Aziz: Can’t you just paraphrase and convey the general meaning by using a lot of loan words and cognates?

 

　　Francine: I’m trying, but I don’t think it’s turning out the way it’s supposed to.

 

　　Aziz: At least he didn’t ask you to interpret. You’d really be in the hot seat trying to interpret in a meeting or over the phone.

 

　　Francine: Yeah, at least I was spared that experience, at least for now.

 

　　Aziz: I wish I could help you, but the only language I speak, other than English, is gibberish!

 

　　Script by Dr. Lucy Tse