Do you remember in 2014 when they televised Mandela’s funeral worldwide? They showed Obama speaking with a sign interpreter standing right next to him “interpreting” what he was saying at the same time. His name was Thamsanqa Jantjie, and he grabbed the headlines and caused an uproar after standing for hours next to Obama and other global leaders making “childish hand gestures” in a bizarre attempt to sign their tributes to Mandela. It was so very funny because he looked so serious and professional, like he really knew what he was doing. Apparently, deaf groups responded immediately saying he made no sense in ANY language. If you want to see the video, click this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn81s7BhunM
Stay tuned for more funny mistranslation stories in my next blogs. And if you can’t get enough, sign up for our bi-monthly newsletter to see what Charlie Croc (our company Ambassador) has in store in each issue: https://welanguages.com/contact-us