ambassadors without diplomatic passport Václav Havel, former President of the Czech Republic, George H. W. Bush, former President of the USA, and Alexandra Brabcová
for conference documents is told that the papers are confidential, that they are not yet finished, etc. This is the wrong way of working with interpreters. Professional interpreters are bound by the rules of the ethics of the profession and these include the obligation to keep all information obtained in connection with their work confidential. You have to choose a trustworthy interpreter, and then you have to trust him or her like you trust other members of your team. When a larger volume of material is to be processed an interpreter needs to have enough time to study it – it is much better to provide your collaborator with a paper that is not quite finished well in advance of the event instead of saddling the interpreter with dozens of pages five minutes before a meeting begins. When a written speech is to be interpreted the interpreter should be given the text on paper. Written language is quite different from impromptu spoken language, and interpreting a written statement if you do not see it with your own eyes can be truly difficult. When interpreting is done without headphones, those conducting the talks and the interpreter must be able to hear each other well – bad acoustics can thwart the best effort. The same is true for seating interpreters. When the conversation is expected to include all those seated at the table the interpreter should not be given a chair behind the principal speaker’s back as is often the case – guests seated farther away often have difficulty hearing him or her, and the same is true vice versa. And as regards the lunches and dinners that you mentioned earlier: While an interpreter certainly cannot expect to enjoy a full meal, neither should the organisers expect a top class performance from a person who has had nothing to eat nor drink for the whole day. You presently serve as Executive Director of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic. What are your principal activities now? Don’t you miss interpreting? And can you listen e.g. to a lecture without silently interpreting? My role in the Chamber consists in organising its activities – debates with guest speakers,
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seminars, business mixers, social and sports events. All these events provide opportunities for business networking, and I enjoy bringing together people or companies who have a potential for possibly working together. I also compile texts for the Chamber’s GoCanada magazine, the Membership Directory and announcements for our website, www.gocanada.cz. My work as an interpreter has taught me a great deal, both as regards language skills and otherwise, and the years that I spent interpreting for Václav Havel were truly unforgettable. I treasure these memories but I would not want to go back to interpreting now. The main mason I quit lies in the nature of the profession. An interpreter can never express his or her own opinion; his or her role is limited to conveying somebody else’s thoughts. As the years passed I found it increasingly difficult to cope with this inherent restriction. When I listen to a lecture now I no longer feel any strong inclination to interpret it; I rather focus on the content. When a speech is interpreted, though, I may feel a tendency to judge my colleague’s performance. When I organise seminars about intercultural communication and talk with the participants about countries that are close to Czech people Canada is usually named among the three most favourite countries. Can you explain the reasons for this closeness, and what would you say about Canada-Czech relations at present? One of the reasons why Czechs feel a special affinity for Canada lies clearly in the essential role that has been played by the Czech Canadian community. Without those Czechs who found a home in Canada after they left the Czech lands escaping from Nazi rule, from the rising Communist regime or after the 1968 occupation, the relationship between our two nations would never be what it is now. Active Czech-Canadian business people were the founders of our Chamber of Commerce; one of them – the Chamber’s first President – was Otto Jelinek who is now Canada’s Ambassador to the Czech Republic. Another Czech Canadian, Peter P. Formanek, led the Chamber for 12 years
during which it grew into a highly-respected business networking organisation. A number of major Canadian companies have come to do business in our country and some – such as Magna or Bombardier – have established a longterm presence here, creating job opportunities for Czech people. Canadian owners and managers were the driving force behind the success of Oskar, the mobile operator that was later integrated into the Vodafone group. Canadian brands such as McCain or Barnys, or pet food from Canada, are widely appreciated by Czech consumers. A major Czech-Canadian data management company, Adastra, has successfully operated in both countries. One of Prague’s topclass hotels – Four Seasons – is under Canadian management. The Sunny Canadian International School located near Prague draws on Canadian educational expertise in its teaching programs. Kelly & Associates provide Canadian English language and soft skills expertise to Czech companies. Ixtent imports Canadian software solutions facilitating management of documents. And we must not forget Baťa – one of the finest chapters in the history of Canada-Czech cooperation. Mr. Tomáš J. Baťa was one of the greatest supporters of our Chamber, and we are proud to host every year a sports event bearing his name – Tomáš J. Baťa Memorial. Cooperation has been developing in the fields of science and technology as well as culture; a number of Canadian artists have brought wonderful experiences to Czech audiences. And there is also ice hockey – a permanent feature of the Canada-Czech relationship. Recent months have brought auspicious news for Canada-Czech relations. The visa requirement for Czech citizens travelling to Canada has been lifted. A Canadian airline, Air Transat, has launched direct Prague-Toronto/Montreal flights during this year’s summer season. New Canadian investments have come to the Czech Republic; Borealis Infrastructure has become a co-owner of Net4Gas and the Molson Coors Brewing Company has completed an acquisition that includes Staropramen. Canada and the European Union finalised talks on the content of a Canada-EU free trade agreement that shall open up wider opportunities for trade and investment. Another trend that augurs well for the future of CanadaCzech relations is clearly visible in the area of contacts among young people. Canada offers programs facilitating the travel of young foreigners to Canada, and a growing number of Czechs are becoming interested in advancing their education and professional experience in Canada. Let me finish where we began this interview. The friendships and partnerships that have been developing between Czechs and Canadians contribute to the pursuit of the mission that I see as a crucial task for the human race: sharing and spreading the many good things that humankind is capable of doing. By Linda Štucbartová ■ české znění naleznete na našich stránkách www.leadersmagazine.cz