Michael Derrer is fluent in German and Swiss-German, French, English, Russian and Romanian at a mother tongue level and also speaks Polish, Italian and Spanish very well.

He also has good passive knowledge of Ukrainian, Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian, Belarusian, Portuguese and Dutch, reads texts and documents in these languages and translates them into German, English and French.

• Certificate of Advanced Business Russian at Moscow State University
• Certificatian of the Swiss Association of Interpreters and Translators ASTTI
• Member of the court interpreters’ association juslingua.ch and VBGD

The representatives of a German company sent to Russia had carefully prepared their list of questions. In an hour’s conversation with the Russian businessman, the company intended to learn about the key parameters about the business sector and the company, in order to make an investment decision in this region. Last but not least, the decision about a cooperation with the interlocutor would be based on the responsiveness of his answers. But after twenty minutes, he asks exasperatedly, “whether this is a Gestapo interrogation and whether the Germans believe that he will disclose all of his knowledge free of charge.”

In order not to unnecessarily strain the sensitivities, as an interpreter I preferred not to translate the historical comparison. Instead, I recommended the Germans to proceed more cautiously and also to show personal interest in the other person, to tell something about themselves (not only about the company they represented), to praise the beauty and advantages of the region and to bring in some humor. The conversation could be saved to some extent, and later appointments with other discussion partners were more successful. From then on, the German side took more time and tried to meet the expectations of the Russian side before asking the important questions.

A Swiss businessman asks the receptionist of the hotel in Nizhnyj Novgorod whether the telephone network can also be used for his Internet connection. The answer appears unambiguously: “nyet!”. The Swiss turns away sadly – how would he now be able to communicate with his headquarters?

But the knowledge that “nyet” can mean different things, e.g. “I do not know”, “I am not responsible for this question”, “I have more urgent tasks to be solved” or “I do not want to deal with this question”, allowed me as an interpreter to unblock the situation. An ingenuous hangdog look and the question, whether she really cannot assist us, since this was really very important, and the lady started trying hard to find the competent person.

The Romanian businessman sends a long email with a lot of information about himself, his company and his project. He wants to show that he is a trustworthy person. However, a literal translation of the text would certainly mean that none of the Swiss he contacted would be interested in a cooperation – the information he provided was too arbitrary, the systematics in the presentation were not recognizable, and the key moments that are decisive for the Swiss side would not be addressed. On my own initiative, I collect additional information and compile a dossier that can meet Swiss expectations. Because the art of presenting yourself in writing, without lying, but still presenting the facts in the best possible light, is little developed in Romania.

The three examples show that a literal translation would create additional obstacles. The work of an interpreter and translator does not consist only in reproducing the words and sentences in the other language. The linguistic aspect is only one part of the task, and often not the most important one. Above all, interpretation is about aligning communicative intentions and expectations, taking into account the values and the cultural background of the interlocutors.

I therefore see the role of a translator primarily in enabling the correct interpretation of the intentions of the speaker by the listener.