MICATA MONITOR A PUBLICATION OF THE MID-AMERICA CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN TRANSLATORS ASSOCIATION VOLUME 31, ISSUE 1, JUNE 2018 VISIT US AT WWW.MICATA.ORG From the President DEAR FELLOW Regarding upcoming events, please follow this link http://micata.org/ MICATA Members, micata-events/micata-interpreting- workshop to register for the workshop INSIDE THIS ISSUE: “Interpreting for Mexican Defendants and I t is with a heavy Witnesses” offered by Rogelio Camacho, 3 REMEMBERING heart that I share which will take place on September 15- - MERRI with our 16, 2018 at Johnson County Community 6 YULE membership the College (JCCC). Registration fee is news of Meeri $225.00 for MICATA members and Yule’s passing. $240.00 for Non-MICATA members. MICATA 6 Using some of the Here follows a brief description of the ANNUAL words her friends workshop: CONFERENCE at MICATA used Interpreting for Mexican to remember her, I’ll say that she was a Defendants and Witnesses friend and mentor to many. She had an 7 amazing life and lived through many Translating the everyday Mexican Spanish MISCELLANY - spoken in the U.S. and Mexico 13 difficult experiences, yet was always gracious and kind, generous with Workshop description: The goal of professional advice and fun to be around. this highly interactive class is to expand MEMBERSHIP She taught many not only about the court interpreters’ prior knowledge of 14 APPLICATION business of translation and interpreting, the everyday, non-academic Spanish used but also about music, languages, and in Mexico and in the United States. This gastronomy, including cardamom and skill will enhance their ability to provide lingonberries - and lingonberry liqueur. accurate English renditions. Class survey I invite you to read the wonderful words feedback shows that the course’s content Doris Ganser wrote about Meeri. is quite useful and pertinent; and the tools acquired from the class are On another note, the MICATA election immediately applicable to day-to-day will happen soon and I encourage you to work. Testimonials from previous contact Nominating Committee member participants are available Rosario Garriga at [email protected] at www.rogelio.net to verify the if you are interested in becoming part of relevance of this subject matter. the MICATA Board. VISIT M I CA TA ON THE W EB AT WWW. MICATA . ORG FOR ALL THE LATEST INFORMATION ON UPCOMING EVENTS AND MORE ! VOLUME 31, ISSUE 1, JUNE 2018 PAGE 2 MICATA Providing tools to interpret precise meaning and intent P.O. BOX 144 will enhance court interpreters’ ability to better serve SHAWNEE MISSION, KS 66201 the Spanish speaking community. Www.micata.org And last but not least, mark your calendars and save the Email: [email protected] date! A fun and beloved MICATA event is coming! I 2017 - 2018 MICATA hope to see many of you for the Annual Member OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS Luncheon and Installation of the 2018-2019 Officers and Directors, which will take place on Saturday, September PRESIDENT 22, 2018, 12:00 PM (NOON) at The Cube, Regnier Marcela Renna Center on the campus of Johnson County Community VICE PRESIDENT College. A registration button will soon be uploaded to Janja Pavetic-Dickey our website for you to sign up. SECRETARY Best Regards and Happy Translating & Interpreting, Gabby Doherty TREASURER Marcela Renna Jason Jolley MICATA President 2017-18 DIRECTORS John Matthews Hiromi Morikawa Tingting Qin Frieda Ruppaner-Lind MICATA ELECTIONS Birgit Scherer-Wiedmeyer MONITOR EDITOR COMING UP Kelly Moore MEMBERSHIP CHAIR IN AUGUST! Birgit Scherer-Wiedmeyer YOUR VOTE COUNTS! The MICATA Monitor is published by the Mid-American Chapter of the American Translators Association. Submissions of articles for publication are welcome. Please send submissions in electronic format (if possible) to the Editor Kelly Moore at [email protected]. American translators Submissions will be printed on a space-available basis. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not Association Mission necessarily represent the views of the Editor, the Chapter, STATEMENT or its Board. For more information on ATA contact: The mission of ATA is to benefit translators ATA Headquarters and interpreters by promoting recognition of 225 Reinekers Lane, Suite 590 Alexandria, VA 22314 their societal and commercial value, Phone: 703.683.6100 facilitating communication among all its Fax:703.683.6122 members, establishing standards of competence Email: [email protected] (general information) ATA website: atanet.org and ethics, and educating both its members and the public. VOLUME 31, ISSUE 1, JUNE 2018 PAGE 3 In Memoriam: Meeri Yule, a True Professional and a Great Friend By Doris Ganser When Meeri telephoned me, I immediately knew that I M eeri was born in Helsinki, Finland, on July 20, was talking to a REAL translator, and what had begun as a 1931, and grew up in a bilingual family with a Finnish professional contact soon became a lasting friendship mother and a Swedish father. Part of her broadminded between our families. Meeri and Jim had another character and her diplomatic skill probably originated daughter, Joy, and a son, Geoffrey, both just a little older from being old enough during the Second World War in than my son. Finland to consciously experience life in a country that I was already in the process of testing whether efforts remained democratic, while walking a fine line in its within the framework of a workshop of the American alliances with different countries as well as the deprivation Translators Association (ATA) could better educate local suffered by the Finnish people due to its dependence on translators and interpreters. At that time, the Midwest Germany for food and other essentials. and beyond, and particularly Kansas City, were a no- Her linguistic curiosity began as a small child - listening to man's land as far as the ATA was concerned. broadcasts in French that she could not even understand, The ATA president who had informed me that money in school, an early desire to learn about other countries, from the ATA for such an endeavor should not be particularly excelling in foreign languages (and everything expected, eventually advised me that none of the ATA else!) and reading, reading, reading. workshops anywhere had been successful and suggested to She furthered her education at the Universities of Helsinki not even try in the Midwest. Instead, I begged a few local and Stockholm, taking summer courses at the Universities client companies for seed money in $50-increments, of Vienna and Strasbourg and obtaining a certificate in convinced Avila College (today Avila University) to let us translation English <-> Finnish from the University of have rooms free of charge, and began organizing the Cambridge, England. workshop on my own. After completing her studies, Meeri worked for ten years In doing so, I soon found enthusiastic support from Meeri, as an in‑house translator in various industries in Helsinki who, together with a handful of others, helped plan, and Stockholm. She married and her daughter Tina was address, stuff envelopes and lick stamps. When we had an born in Finland, but her first marriage did not last. With excellent program with all presenters, authorities in their the strength she later displayed in all she did, she cared fields of expertise, free of charge and close to a hundred well for her child on her own until she met her wonderful reservations, the ATA became interested. Half the ATA American husband, Jim Yule, who, in addition to being an board showed up unannounced for the workshop that engineer, became a great translation supporter and a actually made money. We could not keep these proceeds, friend of MICATA after the family arrived in Kansas City of course, and donated $300 to the newly built Avila via a number of assignments with NASA world-wide. Library and the other half to the ATA. Sometime in the seventies, it was Jim who first called me To be able to retain and use such money in the future, we at Transimpex, my translation business, offering me his decided to form a chapter of the ATA - without much wife as a translator for Finnish and Swedish. I showed only knowledge of ATA rules. We called it MICATA, the Mid mild interest because prior to MICATA, most callers -America Chapter of the ATA. Then we discovered that a were bilinguals with little or no experience. And I had chapter needed 20 active ATA members but there were hardly ever needed Swedish translations and never any only two of us in Kansas City, one, Susan Fershee, who Finnish, so I told Jim that I could perhaps help her with became and remained Meeri's lifelong friend, so great a advice for marketing herself to translation companies friend in fact that she spent much time with her during around the country. Meeri’s last years and especially her very last weeks of life VOLUME 31, ISSUE 1, JUNE 2018 PAGE 4 In Memoriam: Meeri Yule and assisted her in many an ATA Conference, although ways. Meeri and I had only been to a ATA accepted a few more single ATA Conference. No local translators as active one told us that the ATA members, so that eventually office administrator and the we arrived at a total of 10, ATA Vice President were among them Meeri. I responsible for much of the succeeded in getting on the conference organization and ATA, board where I mailings, and by the time we persuaded my fellow board found out, we had established members to grant us a bank account, had picked a provisional-chapter status hotel, had mailings and with those 10. After holding program ideas ready, and ATA accreditation (today more. Once again, much certification) exams, we bagging and stamp licking reached the 20 active followed, with Meeri and Jim members required for among those around my permanent-chapter status a dining room table laboring.