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> There was one player Sammy Sosa who had for years conducted interviews in English who suddenly could not speak English when questioned by congress. Do you kn
by jdavis703 9y ago
> There was one player Sammy Sosa who had for years conducted interviews in English who suddenly could not speak English when questioned by congress.
Do you know how stressful it is being questioned? I was waiting to pick someone up from a train station in Spain when security approached to tell me the station had closed, and why was I still there. All the Spanish went out my head. I imagine being questioned by congressional investigators is probably even more stressful.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- jldugger 9y agoGood point. Fortunately he had the foresight to bring an attorney along to testify on his behalf. And an artfully worded statement that avoided a perjury charge, as he did not 'inject' anything -- the trainer's drug of choice was available as a tablet after all.
- schoen 9y agoSometimes people's lawyers will also advise them not to accept being questioned in a foreign language even if they're relatively fluent because small language nuances may make a big difference in legal proceedings. I've given lectures and press interviews in Portuguese before, but if I were giving an oral deposition in a Brazilian court case or being questioned by police, I would ask for an interpreter. I was once on a jury in California in a case where several witnesses gave testimony through a Spanish interpreter. It seemed clear that some of the witnesses who testified through the interpreter were fluent in English, and so it seemed a little gratuitous to me at the time. Later on I understood that it made sense both for reducing the stress in the situation and for avoiding any minor linguistic misunderstandings in cross-examination that a lawyer might try to make a big deal out of. It's quite possible that the lawyers encouraged their witnesses to use the interpreter.
- smnrchrds 9y agoI am fluent in English. I have been for many years. But until a couple months ago, I thought throw in throwing a game was similar to throwing a party. One is a fun activity, the other could be a criminal offence. If I were being questioned in a court, I would definitely request an interpreter. I wouldn't want to inadvertently confess to a crime I didn't commit because I didn't quite understand the linguistic nuances of the question.
- jonny_eh 9y agoIf you were a professional baseball player, you'd now what "throwing a game" was.
- smnrchrds 9y agoThe problem is I don't know what I don't know, and I wouldn't want to risk finding it out in a court. I would never take that chance with my freedom. It's one of those cases where what is the worst thing that could happen can be quite bad.
- nnfy 9y agoAren't you worried about your story not quite coming through because you're speaking through someone else?
- milcron 9y agoWell, being fluent/conversational means you can still hear what words the translator chooses, and can verify it means what you meant. It's just that their word choice would be more precise.
- nnfy 9y agoYou would lose so much nuance. And I dont think you are in a position to verify anything since you claim not to speak the language. It sounds like a bad idea all around.
- MandieD 9y agoI'm an American in Germany, and I speak German with the immigration office (want them to see how hard I'm trying). I speak English with the police, even for trivial things where I'm the one requesting service, like when I lost my wallet. That is not a context where I want to get anything wrong, and where there is absolutely nothing to be gained from showing off what I learned in language class.
- chollida1 9y agoYou know what, I actually hadn't' thought about it and I think you make a very good point. Though to be fair, the Sammy Sosa anecdote was more for humor than anything else. Oddly it turned into a comment that got 50 upvotes. I appreciate the response, I think you've flipped my thinking on this:)