L.A.METRO
DECEMBER 2007
ISSUE NO 42
TIS THE SEASON…
No matter what, where or how
you celebrate the holidays, December is all about bringing the
year to a festive and joyful end.
From all of us at Metropolitan,
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa and Season’s Greetings to you!
SPEND THE
HOLIDAYS IN
SANTA BARBARA
Need a quick holiday break? Visit
Santa Barbara to soak up holiday
cheer and take advantage of stellar
shopping without big-city crowds.
Get a head start on your shopping
at the Santa Barbara Museum of
Natural History’s Annual Folks and
BECAUSE ANOTHER
REINDEER SWEATER
JUST WON’T DO…..
Are you stuck not knowing what
to give your friend or relative for a
present? A greatly appreciated
idea is chipping in for their cell
phone bill. Contact your loved
one's provider and pay whichever
amount you would spend on their
gift. The provider even gives you a
receipt printed on a Holiday card!!
it is a gift that will bring relief,
doesn't have to be wrapped (killing
more trees), and is truly useful.
Sofia Moshkov
For the holidays, how about donating livestock to needy families
around the world? For $20 you
can donate a flock of chicks or for
$10 you can donate a share of
rabbits. Please visit
www.heifer.org to find out how.
Cat Lopez
Tribal Arts
Marketplace November 30—December 2. Hit the season Yes Store for unique gifts created by local artisans and craftspeople (late November—December
24). The 53rd annual Downtown
Holiday Parade will light up State
Street on December 7.
The
holiday spirit takes to the sea
December 9 for the 20th annual
Harbor Parade of Lights. Casa del
Herrero, a beautifully preserved
Montecito Architectural Heritage
site, offers holiday-infused Flora &
Fauna and Twilight Tours.
In
Santa Barabara’s wine country,
Solvang’s
Annual
Winterfest
Celebration runs
November 1—
December 24 and features a multitude of special events and activities. Visit their website at
www.santabarbaraCA.com/
calendar for more information.
Can’t stand waiting in line for a
Wii system or a Tickle Me Elmo
doll that may already be sold out
by the time you’re at the counter?
How about giving kids the gift of
knowledge? Music lessons,
sports camps, and language or
dance classes are all great ways to
enrich a child’s life. Neighborhood
parks also offer a lot of options
and extra-curricular activities.
Kids may not initially enjoy it as
much as a new toy, but it’ll be a
gift that they will thank you for
over time.
Ronald Perez
LAS POSADAS AT
BOWERS MUSEUM
Witness the traditional Mexican
festival that re-enacts Mary and
Joseph seeking refuge in Bethlehem. Enjoy singers, dancers, musicians, a piñata and Santa Claus
plus traditional tamales and hot
chocolate. Co-sponsored by the
Hispanic Arts Council. The event
will be held on Dec. 9 at 5:00 at
Bowers Museum in Santa Ana.
Admission is free.
2007 HOLIDAY
PARTY
VOLUNTEER
OPPORTUNITIES
As I have mentioned before, it
is as important to give as it is
to receive.
Below are some
volunteer opportunities for this
upcoming
holiday
season.
Send us news on any volunteer work that you have done
or any organizations that you
care about.
LOS ANGELES
The countdown has begun.
Invitations have been sent
out for Metropolitan’s annual holiday extravaganza at
Café Tu Tu Tango at Universal CityWalk on Sunday,
Dec. 9, from 6:30 PM -11:00
PM.
RSVP is required, so
please contact (310) 8822133 or email Cat Lopez at
[email protected] if you
still have not done so. If you
have any photos that you
would like for me to post on
the January issue, please
send to me by email at
[email protected].
I’ll
see you all there!
LET IT SNOW
Southern California hasn't
had much rain or snow this
fall, but that hasn't stopped
some local ski resorts from
making their own snow and
opening. Snow Valley resort
in Running Springs has
opened one downhill run,
operating daily from 9AM to
4PM.
For die-hard skiers
and boarders, there are over
92 acres of groomed terrain
open at Mammoth Mountain
further north. As we move
deeper into the winter season, additional resorts will
be fully operational.
Let’s
hope that the season will
bring some rain on the
ground and snow on the
mountains!
Love & Respect's Annual
Winter Wonderland
Dec. 22, 2007
10:00 AM—4:00 PM
L.A. County DPSS Volunteer
Sevices
Love & Respect Youth Foundation's Annual Winter Wonderland is an event that is open to
the public which features free
toys for the children, free rides,
games, snow and entertainment. Volunteers are needed to
help set-up, work at the
booths, give out the goodies,
clean-up and crowd control.
This event will take place at
Ted Watkins Park - 1335 E.
103rd
Street
Los
Angeles
90002 from 10am - 4pm.
Please contact Deborah Holt at
(323) 731-3437 for more information.
ORANGE COUNTY
Survivors Gift Drive and Elf’s
Holly Day
Nov. 22, 2007-Dec. 16, 2007
Boomers Irvine
Volunteers are needed to assist
on the day of event. Donation
of gifts are needed, as they will
be provided to victims and
families who are affected by
crime. The event is located at
3405 Michelson Drive, Irvine,
CA 92612.
LAS VEGAS
Magical Forest Volunteers
Nov. 22, 2007—Dec. 30, 2007
5:00 PM—10:00 PM
Opportunity Village
All proceeds go to the intellectually
challenged
community. The event include different kinds of rides suchs as the
express
train,
carousels,
etc. They need volunteers to
help operate the rides, greet or
assist with different events
lined up throughout the night.
The event will take place at
6300 W Oakey Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89146.
L.A.METRO
ISSUE 42
HOW TO: PRODUCE A GOOD QUALITY TRANSCRIPT
I recently interviewed Patricia
Cordero, California Court Certified Interpreter in Spanish,
who offered some pointers on
producing good quality transcripts. Ms. Cordero certifies
and transcribes Spanish projects for Metropolitan for the
LA and Orange County District
Attorney’s Offices.
What are the common mistakes that translators make in
producing a transcript?
You cannot omit any of the
repetitions, utterances or summarize in the translation what
the person is trying to say just
to make it short and to the
point. Everything that is being
said should be in that transcript.
I KNOW WHAT
YOU DID LAST
HALLOWEEN
Employees at LA Field Division
had a wickedly good time scaring up tricks and treats this
past Halloween.
Below are
some photos submitted by
Angel
Chacon,
a
Spanish
monitor at LAFD.
From left to right: Myriam Calderon,
Lucy Chacon, Maria Peters, Angel
Chacon, Lorenzo Irrizarry
From left to right: Angel Chacon, Suzanna Vierheller, Lucy Chacon, Lorenzo
Irrizarry
What should the translator
concentrate on when listening and transcribing audio or
video recordings?
cording may be played to the
jury and should be as accurate
as possible, nothing should be
missing.
Make sure you listen very,
very carefully to the speaker,
the way he/she uses certain
words to express something,
which sometimes could be
the wrong term but the way
he/she is using it can change
the meaning of that sentence
and when in doubt about a
term research it with your
coworkers or fellow translators.
Do you have any resources
that you find to be useful in
your work (manuals, dictionaries, etc)?
How should a translator include instances where
background conversation on a
recording occurs into a transcript?
If you can understand the
background conversation all
of it needs to be transcribed
with some kind of notation to
let the reader know this is
what is happening. Always
keep in mind that this re-
IN MEMORIAM—
ROSA CODINA
ON LANGUAGE
This month’s ON LANGUAGE was
submitted to us by Raquel Rodriguez, a Spanish monitor at LAFD.
Ms. Rodriguez provides a few examples of Spanish words that are commonly confused and misused:
A VER / HABER
I have three dictionaries in my
computer: 2 Spanish/English
dictionaries and 1 Spanish
dictionary plus a variety of
dictionaries and glossaries
around my desk. I love the
dictionaries in my computer
and I use them quite often,
even to check spellings, and if I
don't like the translation that
they give me I will look up the
word manually in another one,
and the one thing that I like the
most is my colleagues, I call
them very often because sometimes they are the best dictionaries because they really know
how to use a certain word in a
very particular case and that
for sure is the best translation.
a ver = to see
i.e. : The guy said: "We’ll see what
happens" - El tipo dijo: "A ver que
pasa"
haber = to have/to be
i.e.: "There is going to be plenty of
food and drink" - "Va a haber mucho
de comer y beber".
"After having conquered, they left". "Después de haber conquistado, se
fueron".
¡AY! / HAY / AHÍ
¡Ay! = Exclamation
NEWFACES
i.e.: ¡Ay!, se me perdió el reloj - Oh! I
lost my watch
CARLO HENRIQUEZ / OFFICE
ASSISTANT/COURIER
Many linguists and fellow
employees
have
conveyed
their sympathy on the passing of Ms. Rosa Codina.
I
have received several emails
and messages wishing Ms.
Codina’s friends and family
their deepest condolences.
The monitors at LA Field Division have expressed the following sentiment:
"Hay" = To have
i.e.: No hay nada para comer - There
is nothing to eat
"Ahí" = Indicative "over there"
i.e.: Ahí está el reloj que había perdido - The watch I had lost is over
there.
CA STATE WIRETAP
CERTIFICATION
COURSE
"With great shock and sadness
we found out about Ms. Rosa
Codina's passing. She was a kind,
hard-working and friendly lady.
We all share our condolences and
hope the family rejoices in the
DATE: JAN 10, 2008
fact she is now born into Eternity
and her suffering has ended. We
TIME: 8:00—17:00
remain thankful for her thorough As the newest member to the LOCATION: LA CLEAR
training and dedication."
I would like to thank everyone
for their kind words.
Ms.
Codina had always spoken
very highly of the monitors
here in the West Coast.
Metropolitan family, Carlo assists the Glendale office with
clerical and messenger duties.
He is currently studying to become a law enforcement officer.
5801 E Slauson Ave.,
Commerce, CA 90040
To register for this and any other
future dates, please contact Cat Lopez at (213) 673-4710 or at
[email protected]
L.A.METRO IS A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY METROPOLITAN INTERPRETERS AND TRANSLATORS,INC.
EDITOR: RONALD PEREZ [email protected] I (310) 882-2132