This week the White House welcomed Mexican President Felipe Calderon. The state visit was a lavish affair that was meant to illustrate the close cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico and allow both presidents to confirm their commitment to addressing immigration reform, drug trafficking and other important issues.

Unfortunately, the arrival ceremony for Mexican President Felipe Calderon was spoiled due to a grammatically incoherent interpretation of the President’s opening comments.

When speaking about the new immigration law in Arizona, President Calderon’s comments were translated as:

“We can do so with a community that will promote a dignified life and an orderly way for both our countries, who are, some of them, still living here in the shadows with such laws as the Arizona law that is placing our people to face discrimination.”

It is important to note that the interpreter was part of the Mexican delegation and apparently, not someone who interprets for President Calderon often.

Once the comments were translated by an experienced and qualified interpreter, they became:

“I know that we share the interest in promoting dignified, legal and orderly living conditions to all migrant workers. Many of them, despite their significant contribution to the economy and to the society of the United States, still live in the shadows and, occasionally, as in Arizona, they even face discrimination.”

Examples like this illustrate the importance of using a qualified, trained and highly skilled interpreter for all foreign language communication needs. Selecting a qualified translation company is a crucial responsibility. One company that can help with multi-lingual global communications is Rapport International. Rapport International is a translation and interpretation company based in metro-west Boston, MA. Rapport can provide quality translation done by experienced translators in over 100 languages.