Interpreter strives for right words to capture intent of great leaders
Kevin Lin has been the lead British government interpreter for conversations in Mandarin and English since the 1990s and translated discussions between Queen Elizabeth II and President Xi Jinping when China’s president visited the United Kingdom in 2015.
Professional requirements and protocol mean he will never reveal the details of conversations involving global figures.
He says the art of interpreting is akin to playing a concert solo without rehearsals, and having to get every note right.
“I haven’t made any major mistakes or caused any wars!” he said with a twinkle in his eye and in perfect English. “I always try to do as much preparation as I can but customers don’t always understand that it’s not how much you know, but how fast you recall it.”
He formed his own interpreting consultancy, KL Communications, in 2005. It now has 11 staff members. All were out of the office on interpreting jobs when this interview was conducted; a testament to the company’s success.
Lin has also written several interpreting textbooks that are required reading in China. He said his main message to students is to think about delivering the essence and intent of a speaker, not just the words.
Sometimes, an audience will let you know if the interpretation is correct, he says. He gave the example of a trip he made in 1998 with Tony Blair, who was then the UK prime minister. Blair was in Shanghai, where the stock market had just opened.
“Blair made a joke that I don’t remember now and the few English speakers there laughed.
“When I interpreted the joke into Chinese, 1,000 traders burst out laughing, so I knew I had got it right.”
Lin, 58, was born in what was then the small village of Putian in Fujian province.
“It was very poor. I was one of the few in my class who had shoes, not sandals. My parents were government employees.”
After finishing school, he worked in the paddy fields for two years before applying to attend university after such institutions reopened follow- ing the “cultural revolution” (1966-76). To his surprise, he got a place at a Beijing university to study English. He taught English for a few years and then had the choice of applying for scholarships in either the United States or the UK.
“I was the only one in a group of 20 to pick the UK because I never liked to do what everyone else was doing,” he says. “I often wonder about how I would have been a completely different person if I had gone to the US. I would have been richer but not necessarily a better person.”
He did his PhD in linguistics at the University of Lancaster and to supplement his income, he sold life insurance.
“Then, I got a call from the BBC World Service, which was putting together a team of interpreters.”
He spent seven years at the BBC, also working as a journalist before branching out on his own.
At first, he started a company doing web design. He had done some work interpreting for the British government starting in the 1990s but this only amounted to a few days a year for pocket money. But by 2005, he knew that China was going to become increasingly important on the world stage and he built his interpreting business through his good reputation and by word-ofmouth.
“I became well-known in China-UK related circles at the top and a lot of people referred me for jobs,” he says. “I tried marketing after the financial crisis but that has never generated any business.”
His current big project is working on machine translation software that he hopes to roll out by the start of next year.
“I want to prove that Google is not the only way,” he said.
A highlight of his career was receiving an OBE from the queen in 2011. “I was the first to get such an award from the mainland as before it was given to people from Hong Kong,” he says. “It wasn’t for interpreting but for services to US-China relations and I felt totally humbled.”
When I interpreted the joke into Chinese, 1,000 traders burst out laughing, so I knew I had got it right.” Kevin Lin, lead British government interpreter for conversations in Mandarin and English
“I used to but not since my son, who’s 8, was born. My wife is from Ukraine and she speaks English, Russian and Mandarin.”
“Interpreters still need to travel and it’s a necessary evil otherwise diplomacy would be worse off.”
“No, we are paid far too little. Our rate is on a par with plumbers and builders. I don’ t mean to disrespect them but our interpreters study for at least 15 years and have two degrees.”
“To talk less! My son also talks too much so it’s in the genes.”
“Ideally, I would split my time with most of it spent in the UK and then somewhere warmer. But I do go there at least four or five times a year.”