I used to know a number of Russians who were simultaneous translators at the UN, including the man who eventually became Gorbachev's main translator.
I was wondering what the term was for this "simultaneous translation." Very cool to know.
Copernicus said:
Simultaneous translation is an extremely difficult skill to master, especially since idioms and metaphors add an extra layer of complexity.
I am sure you are 100% correct. Do note though that in this particular case, there weren't any idioms. Also the English was fairly simple.
Copernicus said:
It is far more difficult than written translations. Putin does himself no favors by adding to the stress of translators. In this particular case, Putin was fumbling with his earpiece as the question was being asked, so he could conceivably have missed the last part of the question.
If he were fumbling with the earpiece, he may have done it intentionally. If not, he may have "missed" (I use quotes because he would still hear things outside the earphones) the first part of the question instead and only heard the last part. Either way he would know there was another part and would be able to hear it from outside the earpiece.
Note that "Yes. I wanted him to win," works as an answer to part B by itself.
Copernicus said:
However, he apparently has excellent understanding of English, and I suspect he simply did not want to address the part of the question that asked about ordering people to meddle in our election.
Or maybe since the question isn't as nefarious as people seem to think, maybe he was answering the question (i.e. both parts) with his answer:
"Yes. I wanted him to win." Note that it works as an answer to part A and B simultaneously which if there is no good evidence he could hear a part, one might think is the answer.
It's like this:
Questioner: "Do you like cheese and do you buy cheese at the store?"
Answerer: "Yes. I love cheese." It answers part A and B simultaneously.
Also, regarding this part "...I suspect he simply did not want to address the part of the question that asked about ordering people to meddle in our election."
Surely, being a long-time politician and person who understands public perception both in dictatorship and outside as well as propaganda, he would understand how this would play out if he only answered the first part? Which might explain why he removed the earpiece [intentionally] and pretended to only hear first part?
Copernicus said:
Generally speaking, Western politicians are used to answering loaded questions from the press and have learned the technique of the "pivot"--i.e. rephrasing the question to one that they wished the reporter to have asked and then answering the rephrased question. Putin seldom faces hostile reporters and is more used to softball questions from Russian reporters, so he tends to give direct answers. I don't think that he handled this reporter's question very well.
Putin knows the difference and has been in the spotlight in non-dictatorships answering questions etc for a long time. At home things may be a little different but still...so perhaps upon hearing in English the second part of the question and knowing what his translator would say he removed earpiece before the translator said it in Russian and then answered the first part, knowing his Russian propaganda news outlets would defend him and then as a logical consequence, that propaganda would feed into the Republican machine as well. Who knows.
Let's analyze this another way. I have not watched the video. How many times prior to this tough question did Putin remove/fumble with his earpiece? If none, then it's an extreme coincidence of fumbling at the same time as the most difficult question.
Copernicus said:
Apparently, the White House has re-edited their transcript after Maddows' report on the matter. They have not yet corrected the audio. I don't think that the Russian side has bothered to restore the censored portion of the press conference.
Birds of a feather --