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Sometimes 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 n
by schoen 9y ago
Sometimes 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.
- smnrchrds 9y agoI wouldn't pretend I don't speak the language. I would simply request to have an interpreter present similar to how I would request a lawyer. I would check with my lawyer to see if I have the right to an interpreter. If I do, I would absolutely use it. I'm more concerned that the persecution, understanding how stressful the situation is for me and how not being a native speaker I wouldn't necessarily be familiar with legalese or very formal lexicon, uses it against me to extract a confession due to my confusion, than I am that the nuances would be lost through an interpreter.
- 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.