[OSList] Tips for working with Translators during Open Space event

Tue Feb 23 17:42:01 PST 2016

Andrew

In Shepparton east I worked with a translator with newly arrived people fro Italy - told less jokes and allowed more space.

In India it was completely different when working in the villages as English was not common.  I had translators translating into Hindi and then re translating into the local dialect.  It was so much fun once I settled into the fact that I needed to allow three times the time if I talked.  Consequently I reduced my talking time by a factor of three and it worked like a charm,  the news sessions were interesting as the jokes were lie a ripple effect with me being the last person to hear the joke.  Again more time and it was amazing how the other ways of communicating became so much more evident especially smiles and an easy stance.  

By the way the outcome of the main session was a complete change in how they propagated their trees for revegetation projects from tube trees they had to carry in for miles to open rooted stock that was grown next to the school (students involved) using almost the same system they had been using for germinating rice - a system that is thousands of years old.  They could do it cheaper and more productively their way! 

Regards
Rob

> On 24 Feb 2016, at 11:31 am, Andrew Rixon via OSList <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
> 
> Sounds great Michael.
> 
> And totally agree.
> 
> Will pop it into the database!
> 
> And maybe a few other Aussies lurking could do the same :-)
> 
> Warm regards
> Andrew 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On 24 Feb 2016, at 10:00 AM, Michael M Pannwitz <mmpannwitz at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> My pleasure, Andrew.
>> 
>> Its no secret that a lot of os-work is happening all over the planet. And its also no secret in general that we os-practitioners are a shy crowd, hiding most of the tremendous stuff we are doing. I keep wondering why only a tiny fraction of our work is documented... seems to me that documenting more of what we do is a simple way of spreading the word. The 793 events recorded by some 60 of us in the worldscape represent probably only 0,001% of what is actually taking place.
>> 
>> Greetings from Berlin
>> mmp
>> 
>>> On 23.02.2016 22:02, Andrew Rixon wrote:
>>> Thanks Michael.
>>> 
>>> And thanks also for sharing the openspaceworldscape link.
>>> 
>>> Australia looks a bit scarce on the map - but there is plenty happening
>>> here. ;-)
>>> 
>>> Warm regards,
>>> Andrew
>>> 
>>> On Tue, Feb 23, 2016 at 10:24 PM, Michael M Pannwitz
>>> <mmpannwitz at gmail.com <mailto:mmpannwitz at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>> 
>>>   Dear Andrew, Lisa, Birgitt and you others,
>>> 
>>>   a few years ago I was asked to facilitate an event in the northeastern
>>>   corner of Poland with folks across the border from Lithuania also
>>>   attending. The sponsor asked two translators to translate my US-American
>>>   introduction into Polish and Lithuanian. They walked the circle behind
>>>   me as Lisa also described. One effect was that I constantly had little
>>>   breaks to focus on the next thing to say and the participants had
>>>   various inputs they could understand in different languages (my
>>>   assumption: all understood their mother tongue, of course and most had
>>>   at least some rudimentary language skills in the other languages
>>>   spoken).
>>>   All posters were in the three languages and issues were written on
>>>   sheets that had been folded into three spaces, so that translations
>>>   could be added by other participants.
>>>   I was wondering how they would manage in the breakout sessions. To my
>>>   surprise, a number of the breakout sessions used Russian... so there was
>>>   a common language? On inquiry, I was told that it would never do to use
>>>   Russian in an event like this, at least not in the "official" parts.
>>>   Ok, be prepared to be surprised.
>>> 
>>>   Here is a short summary of some aspects of this event back in 2002 as
>>>   recorded in the Open Space worldscape
>>> 
>>>       http://openspace-landschaft.de/an_veran.asp?veranstaltungId=1041&sprache=en&von_seite=ue_veranstaltung.asp&ds=10&branche=&begleiterId=9&anzeigeOrtId=0
>>> 
>>> 
>>>   Reading through this report I noticed that I did not include the
>>>   part about Russian in my note... hmmm? Political correctness?
>>> 
>>>   A few years later, Harrison came to Berlin and did his three day
>>>   Practice of Peace event. Every day starts with a lecture followed by
>>>   an open space on the theme of the lecture. On the first day,
>>>   Harrison introduced the process, on the second day a colleague from
>>>   Russia did it in Russian and on the third day I did it without using
>>>   spoken words.
>>>   To me, the most memorable moment was during the Russian introduction
>>>   (not being translated) when pretty much at the beginning a
>>>   participant ran to the Russian colleague, kneeled in front of her
>>>   pleading, in English, to please translate her introduction. At that
>>>   moment, his friend that he sat next to in the circle called out:
>>>   "Hey, come back here, I know Russian and can translate for you if
>>>   you like!"
>>>   This was a hilarious intervention that not only stopped the space
>>>   invader but also demonstrated how hidden the ressources in the group
>>>   are even for people in the know (friends).
>>> 
>>>    From all this and other situations I learned to ask questions when
>>>   the issue of translation arose (especially when the sponsor of the
>>>   event does not come from the local context). This often leads to
>>>   "one less thing to do" and to make more space for the forces of
>>>   selforganisation to do its thing.
>>> 
>>>   Yes, lets hear how things went and I invite you to deposit a note
>>>   about this event in the Open Space worldscape, a data base with
>>>   presently 793 events recorded, here is the link, its in English and
>>>   German
>>> 
>>>       http://openspaceworldscape.org/
>>> 
>>> 
>>>   cheers
>>>   mmp
>>> 
>>> 
>>>   22.02.2016 22 <tel:22.02.2016%2022>:18, Andrew Rixon via OSList wrote:
>>> 
>>>       Hi All,
>>> 
>>>       I'm helping a client prepare for an Open Space event - 400 people,
>>>       and within the audience there will be a group of 10-20 koreans who
>>>       will require a translator.
>>> 
>>>       I'd love to hear stories and tips on what people have found to work
>>>       well...
>>> 
>>>       Warm regards, Andrew
>>> 
>>>       -- Andrew Rixon PhD Director Babel Fish Group W:
>>>       http://www.babelfishgroup.com E: andrew at babelfishgroup.com
>>>       <mailto:andrew at babelfishgroup.com>
>>>       <mailto:andrew at babelfishgroup.com
>>>       <mailto:andrew at babelfishgroup.com>> M: +61400 352 809
>>>       <tel:%2B61400%20352%20809> F: +61(0)3 8610
>>>       0162
>>> 
>>>       *Come join Bob Dick and I on April 12th and 13th in Melbourne for:*
>>>       "Kickstarting Change that Lasts: How to flatten hierarchies, build
>>>       relationships and get work done!
>>>       <http://kickstartingchangemelbourne2016.eventbrite.com.au>"
>>>       <http://kickstartingchangemelbourne2016.eventbrite.com.au> An
>>>       innovative program on applying Open Space Technology and Action
>>>       Learning
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
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>>> 
>>>   --
>>>   Michael M Pannwitz
>>>   Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany
>>>   ++49 - 30-772 8000 <tel:%2B%2B49%20-%2030-772%208000>
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>   Check out the Open Space World Map presently showing 402 resident Open
>>>   Space Workers in 67 countries working in a total of 143 countries
>>>   worldwide: www.openspaceworldmap.org <http://www.openspaceworldmap.org>
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> --
>>> Andrew Rixon PhD
>>> Director
>>> Babel Fish Group
>>> W: http://www.babelfishgroup.com
>>> E: andrew at babelfishgroup.com <mailto:andrew at babelfishgroup.com>
>>> M: +61400 352 809
>>> F: +61(0)3 8610 0162
>>> 
>>> *Come join Bob Dick and I on April 12th and 13th in Melbourne for:*
>>> "Kickstarting Change that Lasts: How to flatten hierarchies, build
>>> relationships and get work done!
>>> <http://kickstartingchangemelbourne2016.eventbrite.com.au>"
>>> <http://kickstartingchangemelbourne2016.eventbrite.com.au>
>>> An innovative program on applying Open Space Technology and Action Learning
>> 
>> -- 
>> Michael M Pannwitz
>> Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany
>> ++49 - 30-772 8000
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Check out the Open Space World Map presently showing 402 resident Open Space Workers in 67 countries working in a total of 143 countries worldwide: www.openspaceworldmap.org
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