Interpreter understands importance of language, regional and cultural skills
Posted 1/24/2012
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by Karen Harrison
Language, Region and Culture Program Office
1/24/2012 - WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- (This feature is part of the "Through Airmen's Eyes" series on AF.mil. These stories and commentaries focus on a single Airman, highlighting their Air Force story.)
Today's Airmen find themselves at the forefront of bridging cultural gaps which connect many U.S. allies and coalition partners in a joint environment.
Airmen possessing language, regional and cultural skills are an essential part of international partnerships because one misinterpreted word could spell the difference between mission success and failure.
Sometimes the translation between languages and across cultural divides can explain the most common misunderstanding and provide a different perspective to any situation.
"I was translating for a horse-loving Texan in Kazakhstan," said Tech. Sgt. Daniel Pena, a Russian Arms Control interpreter. "The Texan was commenting on the beautiful horses to a Kazakhstani, and they both began to discuss their admiration for the animal. However, the Kazakhstani was admiring the horse for its meat, not the animal itself (as was the Texan's perspective). My cultural knowledge assisted me in recognizing the miscommunication."
Pena trained as a cryptologic linguist at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, Calif., for 47 weeks. Following training, Pena has not only used his translating skills for the individuals he supports, but also to greet and perform in diverse social situations. He thinks the most helpful preparation for being an interpreter was total immersion language instruction.
"Spending all day every day with native Russian instructors was the best training I could have asked for," Pena said.
"(But) it is not just the linguistic skills that have assisted me in my job," he said. "Nothing translates perfectly. Having cultural awareness allows me to bridge that gap and determine a phrase or situation's equivalent by understanding the culture significance associated with each word."
Besides Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center's language training, he used other resources that are available to Airmen to build language, regional and cultural understanding and skills. For example, the Air Force Culture and Language Center provides tiered training across the Air Force to Airmen interested in expanding their language, regional and cultural knowledge.
"(Language, regional and cultural) capabilities are of critical strategic value to meeting current and future Air Force requirements," said Barbara Barger, the senior language authority for the Air Force. "(Cross-culturally aware) Airmen enhance the effectiveness of every mission abroad,"
In 2010, Pena received the Linguistic Director's Award, a highly prestigious award given only to a very limited number of Airmen. He also received two Navy and Marine Corps medals for his interpreting expertise demonstrated during the annual training exercise "Sea Breeze."
"My training opened up opportunities (for me) that I never thought possible," Pena said. "Cultural and linguistic knowledge are absolutely essential to my career." |
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