Word to the wise

Much thought and effort goes into the preparation of a speech that the President makes on his arrival in a foreign country. It sets the tone for the entire visit. Cyril Muromcew '55, senior linguist at the State Department, was recently in Warsaw providing language support for the Presidential visit to Poland, and accompanying him was Steven Seymour, the interpreter who made the much-publicized translation of Carter's speech.

Ideally, Muromcew says, a translator is given a copy of a speech far enough in advance to allow him to become familiar with the text, polish phrases, prepare a written translation, and rehearse the presentation. Seymour had no such luck.

According to Muromcew, he and Seymour couldn't even get an outline of the speech before they left Washington. None was available at the embassy in Warsaw, and when they drove to meet the President at the airport they still had no text.

After standing in the freezing rain for two hours waiting for the President's plane to arrive, Seymour was finally given the text of Carter's remarks. He studied while a Polish linguist read from a prepared text an English version of the speech delivered by the Secretary of the Polish Workers' Party. Ten minutes later, Seymour stepped to the podium and, without faltering, delivered the translation of Carter's speech.

According to Muromcew, who has listened to as many translated speeches as anyone, the syntax was awkward at times and the choice of some words was unfortunate, but the performance was not half as bad as the press subsequently made it out to be.

An Associated Press report later said that Carter was sending Seymour a handwritten thank-you note which read, in part, "Those who analyzed your translation say the errors were minor."