Word of Mouth

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Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Series exploring the world of words and the ways in which we use them

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Word of Mouth: Interpreting Presidents Putin and Zelensky

Interpreting Presidents Putin and Zelensky

BBC Radio 4 - Word of Mouth, Interpreting Presidents Putin and Zelensky

An insight into the world of a simultaneous interpreter.

Irina Morgan is a high level interpreter. Being bi-lingual in Russian and Ukrainian means she's in demand whenever Vladimir Putin or President Zelensky give a press conference requiring simultaneous interpretation. Irina talks to Michael about the language do's and don'ts of live translation, and about how she puts herself into the mindset of someone like President Putin in order to give an accurate representation of his distinct man-of-the-people hard man linguistic style.  By contrast Volodymyr Zelensky is a linguistic free-styler - like following jazz, Irina says.
A fascinating look at the life of a language specialist.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

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Interpreting Presidents Putin and Zelensky

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