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Since most Mennonite Brethren attending the ICOMB consultation could speak only one language, communicating with another delegate meant finding a third party to act as a translator or resorting to lots of gestures and smiles. While that worked OK for meals and breaks, something more was required for the seven general sessions.
Several options were considered, but each had a downside. Translating from the stage would automatically double the length of presentations. Grouping people who spoke the same language around translators would work for the afternoon workshops but would make for noisy worship services. Radio-transmitted, simultaneous translation was the solution suggested by Mike Yutzy, youth pastor of the host Buhler MB Church.
Given that 50 languages are spoken by MBs around the world, translating the consultation proceedings into only five languages Spanish, English, Japanese, German and French may at first have appeared to be a simple assignment. But as Yutzy began researching translation systems, he realized just how complicated the process would be. Translating from English into the other languages was the easy part. But what would the German and Spanish translators do when the speaker spoke Japanese?
Yutzy located only two companies in the United States that rent out translation equipment. Of the two, only Showworks of Atlanta, Ga. Was willing to adapt its equipment to accommodate five languages. Given Yutzy's previous experience as an audio technician, Showworks was also willing to allow Yutzy to serve as the on-site technician, which cut the projected cost by almost 75%.
Participants wore an over-the-ear headphone and carried a six-channel receiver which they could tune to the language of their choice. These little devices worth $60 US apiece allowed participants to hear what was said in the sanctuary from almost any location in the building.
A three-sided translation booth positioned to the side of the sanctuary was constructed by Alvin Schroeder of Buhler featuring Plexiglass windows and four compartments for the translators. The booth was made entirely of damaged and cast-off materials and "didn't cost us a penny," said Buhler senior pastor Brent Warkentin.
Each compartment was outfitted with a small control box. For example, when the speaker was using Japanese, the Japanese translator could switch his listeners to the stage feed. But when the speaker was using Spanish, the Japanese translator could switch to hear the Spanish-to-English translation over his headset and then translate from English
into Japanese over his microphone.
"It was sometimes very stressful for the translators," said Yutzy. "The speakers kept going at full speed, and the translators didn't always have time to think about how to translate what was said."
Was the translation service worth the $3,600 rental fee? "The cost was worth it for the ICOMB business session alone," said Harold Ens, MBMS International general director. "We had a translation system that made it possible to actually talk to each other." CF
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