Skip to content
Call Us Today! 212-533-4646 | MON-FRI 12PM - 4PM (EST)
DONATE
SUBSCRIBE
Search for:
About Us
UNWLA 100
Publications
FAQ
Annual Report 2023
Annual Report 2022
Annual Report 2021
Initiatives
Advocate
Educate
Cultivate
Care
News
Newsletters
Sign Up For Our Newsletter
Join UNWLA
Become a Member
Volunteer With Us
Donate to UNWLA
Members Portal
Calendar
Shop to Support Ukraine
Search for:
Print
Print Page
Download
Download Page
Download Right Page
Open
1
2-3
4-5
6-7
8-9
10-11
12-13
14-15
16-17
18-19
20-21
22-23
24-25
26-27
28-29
30-31
32-33
34-35
36-37
38-39
40
A N O U N C E O F P E R S P IR A T IO N ... A P O U N D O F IN S P I R A T I O N by MARTA ZIELYK Marta Zielyk holds the position of Diplomatic Interpreter for Ukrainian at the State Department. She is not a political appointee. All views, thoughts and ideas expressed in this article are her own and do not reflect the views of the U.S. Government. How do you say "dry cask storage for spent nuclear fuel" in Ukrainian? How about "long range precision strike guided weapons" or "Rogue states"? Well, these are just some of the phrases that I deal with on a daily basis at the State Department. In fact, my job depends on knowing just such esoteric expres sions. Whether the topic is Ukraine's search for alter native sources of fuel, the acquisition and procurement of smart bombs or relations between Kyiv and Middle- Eastern countries, I need to be able to talk about it knowledgeably and precisely in modem Ukrainian. However, the problem that I sometimes en counter while interpreting during official government talks between Ukrainian and American delegations does not concern such technical terminology at all. Rather, it is words or phrases, which at first glance might seem irrelevant to the subject at hand, that are most challenging. Their very unexpectedness some times leaves me speechless. And being speechless is certainly not a desirable quality in an interpreter. The inspiration that comes to me in these predicaments has many different sources, quite often unusual ones. I remember very distinctly just such a situation arising during the second meeting of the US-Ukrainian Bi-National Commission, better known as the Gore- Kuchma Commission (or the Kuchma-Gore Commis sion as Ukrainians like to call it). During a meeting with the President of Ukraine, which focused on the pace of Ukraine's economic reform, Vice President Gore tried to underscore the idea that what Ukraine does now will matter a great deal in the long run. To better illustrate the point, he said, "After all, you made your bed, and you have to lie in it." Then he turned to me awaiting my interpretation into Ukrainian. For a second, I froze. Our meeting had been full of phrases such as "sectoral reform" and "market liabilities" and "adjustment to exchange band rates" and here I was faced with something seemingly entirely out of con text. Then my brain went into high gear. First, I tried searching for a phrase in Ukrainian which would most closely approximate A1 Gore's words. Ukrainians have a million "prypovidky" and among them, I was quite sure, there was something I could use, even though it eluded me for the moment. All I could come up with was “Ви постелили собі ліжко, тепер в ньому спіть”. Before I even finished the thought, I realized this literal translation sounded terrible. Moreover, in this politically correct world of ours it was better not to throw around words like "bed" and "sleeping" haphaz ardly. They might be misunderstood ... or worse! So on to Plan B. Before I knew it, my brain was flipping back through the years to a time when I was in high school and was taking part in a production of the Ukrainian Dramatic Arts Studio. Lida Krushelnytska, the creative director of this amateur group of young actors, was putting on a montage of several fables written by the famous 19th century Ukrainian writer Leonid Hlibov. I was the narrator of the whole show and so I had the job of introducing the various vi gnettes. So while I was sitting at the table in the ornate reception room of President Kuchma's official resi dence in 1998, my mind's eye brought up a picture of my fourteen year old self in the early 70's on a New York stage. I could see myself pronouncing the name of the fable entitled with the very phrase that I was searching for. Everything clicked into place and 1 smoothly produced the proper interpretation: “Що посієш, то пожнеш” (what you sow, you'll reap) without betraying any of the fluster that I felt. This was not the only time that Lida Krushel nytska saved the day for me. The latest incident hap pened when a high ranking US government official was preparing to host his Ukrainian counterpart. He asked his speechwriter to prepare a few welcoming remarks and was quite adamant that the remarks must contain a well-known quote from a famous Ukrainian poet or writer on the topic of the centuries-old heroic struggle for liberation by the long-suffering Ukrainian people. A tall order for anyone, especially for this particular speechwriter — a very pleasant young Mid- westerner who was not overly familiar with Ukraine, much less with Ukraine's literary history. He got the bright idea of picking my brain for usable quotes. I, on the other hand, am not in the habit of reading Ukrain ian poetry on the job and told the speechwriter I would have to get back to him in a few days. Disappointed, 18 НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ЛИСТОПАД 1999 Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
Page load link
Go to Top
1 
2-3 
4-5 
6-7 
8-9 
10-11 
12-13 
14-15 
16-17 
18-19 
20-21 
22-23 
24-25 
26-27 
28-29 
30-31 
32-33 
34-35 
36-37 
38-39 
40 
