1 minute read
Member profile: FRANÇOISE MATTHEWS
NAME: Françoise Matthews
Translator or interpreter (or both): both
Language(s) and direction(s): French–English
Location: Sydney, NSW
Practising as a T/I since: 2000 (interpreting) / 2007 (translating)
Member of AUSIT since: 2008
Main area(s) of practice: interpreting in criminal courts
Q1: How did you come to be a translator and/or interpreter?
A1:
Translating and interpreting came late into my life. I was a teacher for many years, then became a second-hand and antiquarian bookseller. The trigger was the Sydney Olympics,* when preference was given to qualified interpreters over bilingual volunteers. I became more and more interested after I qualified and started my new career (I also became a professional translator). I got hooked on my first trial, and decided to go back to university. These days I spend most of my time working in criminal courts. Of my three careers, this is the one I enjoy most.
Q2: Tell us about a project you have worked on that was especially interesting or challenging (within the bounds of confidentiality of course).
A2:
I interpreted for the defendant in a murder trial in Broome, WA – a Frenchman accused of killing a local man. The crime had taken place on Christmas Eve, and almost everyone (most of the witnesses, the accused and also the victim) had been drunk and involved in various fights on the evening the murder had taken place. Each witness was asked what time they'd started drinking that day, what they'd been drinking, and how much they’d consumed. Most of them couldn’t remember much of the night. When the police had found the Frenchman – sleeping under a bush – on Christmas Day, he'd still been highly intoxicated. Even though he was found guilty, it seemed that he had no memory of fighting with the victim (and maybe still doesn't). For the sentencing there were police everywhere, as they anticipated trouble, and the courthouse – a small heritage building from the 1880s – was a security nightmare. Indeed, the court had to be evacuated when a commotion erupted, with screams and a member of the victim’s family lunging at the Frenchman. Four weeks of trial came to a very abrupt end!
* Read Françoise's article on interpreting at the Sydney 2000 Olympics in our Summer 2020 issue (pages 22–23).
