Navigating Multicultural Communication with Erika Gonzalez

Erika: Being open to different aspects of culture or language, different aspects that different people bring to the society, you can communicate much easier. I think it is that opening your mind and soul and your heart. I know it sounds very hippie, but to other people and their way to see the world. We see something as weird or done in a completely different way than we do, but it doesn't mean it is the wrong way. It is just a different way. Understanding that is very important.

Brian: Today we are talking with Erika Gonzalez from RMIT University and the Australian Institute of Interpreters and Translators, AUSIT. She is an associate professor and programme manager of the higher education translating and interpreting degrees. Erika is the immediate past president of AUSIT. Under her leadership, the Institute developed the national protocols for community translations in partnership with the Federation of Ethnic Communities of Australia and the Department of Health and Ageing. She is a NAATI certified translator and a senior fellow of Advance Higher Education. Erika, welcome to The Native Experience.

Erika: Thank you so much for having me, Brian. Great pleasure.

Brian: Tell us about yourself and what you are currently doing.

Erika: I am originally from the north of Spain and migrated to Australia about 15 years ago. I am an associate professor in translating and interpreting at RMIT University. I am also a freelance conference interpreter and translator. On top of that, I have two children aged 14 and 10, and I am the immediate past president of our professional association. I keep myself quite entertained.

Brian: I love that. Most people say busy, but you said entertained.

Erika: Unless you do things with passion and because you enjoy them, what is the point? I tend to get busier than I should, but that is my nature. And the other thing, this came from my mother: if you have to do things, do them well. What is the point of being mediocre?

Brian: If you could only speak one language for the rest of your life, which would you choose?

Erika: That is a difficult one. I am a native speaker of two languages. I grew up at home speaking Spanish, but from a very young age I did my entire schooling in Basque, which is the language spoken in the north of Spain. It is a very ancient language, a pre-Indo-European language that does not resemble any other languages in the region or in the world. So could I say 50-50? Half the time in one, half in the other?

Brian: I will allow that.

Erika: Basque is spoken by a reduced number of people, while Spanish is spoken in many countries and is the official language of many international organisations. But Basque has fascinated linguists from around the world. I grew up in a little village where there was a boarding school for adults to learn the language, because many public servants and government officials need to be fluent in both. Linguists from Japan, Australia, all over the world would come to learn Basque. I remember a Japanese lady who became famous because she was the only Japanese person living in town speaking quite fluent Basque.

Brian: If you could live in any country, what would it be?

Erika: I would go somewhere where my tribe is. What is the point of being in the most beautiful place in the world if you are on your own with no one to share it with? When I started my PhD research in Canada, those first few weeks in Ottawa were beautiful. Autumn in full swing, gorgeous maple trees. But I had that emptiness, that blues of missing home and my crew. It doesn't matter where you are, as long as you have your people and some sense of belonging.

Brian: Have you ever encountered a word or phrase that does not directly translate?

Erika: There are many. The way we see the world, the way we experience things are determined by our surroundings, our culture, our religion, our education. Even words that have a direct translation might not mean the same. The concept of cold might not be the same for me as for a Canadian. We were teaching students a medical tool called the wheel of feelings, used in mental health settings. The Chinese students said they don't have that. But they had another feeling that literally meant a sour, tangy feeling to describe melancholy, which we don't quite have in the West. That is why I am passionate about translation and cross-cultural communication.

Brian: Do you have a favourite foreign language film or book?

Erika: The House of the Spirits by Chilean author Isabel Allende. I like it because it mixes a bit of magic with the political situation in Chile and Argentina decades back. It is a very interesting family saga with all the political background informing readers about what went on in those countries.

Brian: What are you currently nerding out on?

Erika: In a month I am travelling to Europe for a couple of months. I am going to be interpreting at a big international conference. There is a lot of studying and glossary preparation going on. And I am taking my daughter with me, so it will be a big family reunion. I have not seen some of my loved ones since 2018 or 2019.

Brian: Tell us more about your cultural background and how it has influenced your life.

Erika: I was born in 1979 and Spain had just emerged from a dictatorship. My grandparents on both sides were from rural areas. With the industrial revolution in the Basque region, they moved to factory work. My parents migrated as children to the Basque country during Franco's dictatorship. They were children of Spanish migrants, so they never spoke Basque at home. My dad went to clandestine night school as an adult because he was not allowed to speak or learn Basque. But growing up in an area where another language existed, he thought it was important.

Erika: When I was born, Franco had died in 1975. There was a transition to democracy. Languages other than Spanish started having prominence. My parents chose the purely Basque school for me. I did my entire schooling in Basque. It was convenient because my brother and I could have conversations our parents didn't fully understand.

Erika: There were not many textbooks in Basque. In high school, our history classes were spent translating Spanish textbooks into Basque. The teacher would sit there while we translated passages about the French Revolution and the Nordic invasion of Britain. I think my passion for translation came from those days, spending so many hours translating because there were no appropriate materials in our language.

Erika: As an adult, I also realise we internalised violence in such a way. As a mother now, it would be horrible if my kids were exposed to that. But it was something we saw every day. Demonstrations, police, Molotov cocktails on one side, rubber bullets on the other. We were kids just saying, there is a demo, let's go back home. It was normal to us. Now I see it as a very sad period. The society was so politically polarised that groups of friends would split based on political views. If you were more pro-Spanish, you would not mix with people who were more pro-Basque. I find that really sad.

Brian: What are some unique features of the Basque language?

Erika: It is a pre-Indo-European language that does not resemble any surrounding languages. There have been different theories linking it to Berber languages in Africa or Georgian in the Caucasus. When DNA testing became possible, those connections were not confirmed. The most convincing theory is that it was born and evolved in that particular mountainous region. When Islam was a big part of Spain and the Moors came, that region was preserved because of the rough terrain. The same with other groups that came later.

Erika: If I say gracias in Spanish, thank you, in Basque it is eskerrik asko. They don't even sound similar. People get fascinated because Basque does not resemble anything nearby. It is spoken by about a million people, maybe less, and it has seven dialects. For such a small number of speakers to have seven dialects is quite fascinating.

Brian: How do language and culture intersect and influence each other?

Erika: Both things are not isolated. Language is culture, culture is also language. They form a massive pillar in someone's identity. The Basque language is spoken by 28.4% of Basques across all territories. Of these, 93% are in the Spanish area and the remaining are in the French portion, because the Basque country is divided between France and Spain.

Brian: How can language bring people together and also create barriers?

Erika: Language is a powerful tool. It can bring people together because people are curious about other languages. But at the same time, when you migrate somewhere and you have left everything behind, language is the only thing you bring with you. Then you arrive in a country and you are trying to enjoy your rights as a citizen. It is really difficult unless you speak the language. Imagine the frustration of going to a doctor and not being able to understand what they are telling you. That is why translators fulfil such a massive role in multilingual societies. According to the latest census, Australia speaks more than 400 languages.

Erika: Some people say these people should learn English. In theory, yes, but some people have had poor schooling in their own countries. My grandmother was the oldest of six kids and was working since she was 14. Her schooling was very basic. If she had migrated here, she would have had to rely on translators. Some people work really hard and don't have time to learn the language, and they are contributing to our economy and society.

Brian: Do you see language creating division where people say, they are not my people?

Erika: In general, here in Australia, we are pretty lucky. In all societies there are people who don't want to know about others. But I think this often comes from a place of ignorance. Regular citizens who never had the opportunity to spend time with people from other backgrounds or to travel. I also think we are very tribal as humans. Among my group of friends, I have people from many nationalities. My daughter's school mum group includes a Turkish lady, someone Welsh and Basque-Spanish, someone English from an Indian background via South Africa, another with Greek heritage, and a proper Aussie who is the only one born and raised in our suburb. The diversity is fascinating.

Erika: But at the same time, I have my Spanish-speaking mum group, and it is wonderful to share humour, background, growing up listening to the same radio programmes. Sometimes speaking your own language is just easy. We are lucky in Australia because we can experience rich diversity while still developing relationships with our own linguistic and ethnic communities.

Brian: Do you have a cultural experience apart from your own that has impacted you?

Erika: When I was a young interpreter in Spain, I was working with asylum seekers from sub-Saharan Africa. Many spoke English as a second or third language. Once we were processing a claim and the person produced a piece of paper. The police asked me to translate it during the lunch break. It was a voodoo contract. People trafficked into Europe through mafia syndicates had to sign these contracts to guarantee they would pay the debt for being brought through Mauritania, Morocco, and into Spain. Translating a voodoo contract was the most distant, bizarre cultural experience I have had. As a translator, you have to be accurate and faithful to the source text. So it was a matter of doing the research and getting it through so the police could assess it properly.

Brian: What do you most enjoy about what you do?

Erika: Making it possible for people to understand each other. At the community level, when someone can follow their doctor's treatment or get a fair outcome in the justice system because they had a proper interpreter, that is a big satisfaction. At international conferences, knowing that people participating in world affairs can understand each other because of interpreters is a massive satisfaction. I take my job very seriously. I study thoroughly before a conference. I feel such a responsibility because I am being someone's voice, enabling someone to be understood, enabling people to negotiate under equal footing.

Brian: Tell us about the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities Health Advisory Group.

Erika: That group is quite unique because it shows a genuine will to get experts with deep knowledge about multilingual, multicultural communities in Australia working together. It is the first time I have seen government, community organisations, academics, and scientists working towards the common goal of providing accurate and quality information to multilingual communities. My involvement was as president of AUSIT. I thought translators have a great role to fulfil and that we should have a seat at the table.

Erika: We set up a working group with the Department of Health and Ageing, the Federation of Ethnic Communities of Australia, and AUSIT. We developed national protocols for the translation of community information and style guides for healthcare materials. This collaboration shows that when there is goodwill, good outcomes can be achieved. Australia is in a leading position regarding how we produce information for people who don't read or understand English. Mistakes were made, but action was taken promptly and effectively. The road is still long, but if we keep working together with expertise from many angles and with knowledge of CALD communities, good outcomes can be achieved.

Brian: How did you learn to communicate effectively with people from different backgrounds?

Erika: You have to be very aware that we are different. A friend asks for something without saying please, and my first reaction is how rude. But then I realise that in Spanish, we don't say please and thank you as many times as the British do. My husband is English, and at the beginning he thought I was rude because I never said thank you or please. In a familiar environment, you don't have to. It is just being aware that we are all different and it doesn't mean the other person is doing something wrong. It is just the way they do things.

Erika: Being open to different aspects of culture and language, being flexible, that is how you communicate easier. It is opening your mind and heart to other people and their way of seeing the world. Something done or said in a completely different way doesn't mean it is the wrong way. It is just a different way.

Brian: As long as there is no harm intended, it is just different.

Erika: Exactly. And our personal journeys also differentiate us from our own cultural group. It doesn't mean because I am Spanish that I am going to have a siesta every day. It is about being open and understanding. As long as it is not done in a malicious manner, let us afford other people the freedom to express themselves the way they feel comfortable. I also think we have become too politically correct. Society is becoming a bit vanilla. Some political correctness is good because you need filters, but sometimes we have gone too extreme to the other side.

Brian: If you can learn to respect the next person, you don't need political correctness.

Erika: The only boundaries that need to be observed are legal ones that protect citizens, especially human rights. But within those frameworks, respecting different ways of doing things is essential.

Brian: How do you think language and technology will continue to evolve?

Erika: People in my industry are scared that machines will take over. Machine translation is evolving rapidly and the results are pretty good. But technology is not going away. The best solution is to embrace it because there will always be the need for a translator to sort out cultural cues. Even with machine translation, you need a human for that final check. I think we are still years away from a complete takeover. There was a saying at a conference: translators won't be replaced by machines, they will be replaced by translators who know how to work with machines.

Brian: How do you strive to provide a truly native experience?

Erika: I think it is being true to yourself. After the Second World War, when people migrated to Australia in massive waves, there was a tendency to assimilate, to blend with the majority culture. Some changed their names and surnames to be more English-sounding so their children's lives would be easier. I think we are moving away from that. I am very proud of having an accent, even if my kids sometimes laugh. I never changed my surname when I got married because it is who I am.

Erika: We see more people keeping their names, their surnames, being proud of who they are without having to assimilate. Providing a native experience means being proud of your roots, your accent, your background. We are a tiny part of a very colourful tapestry of societies forged through centuries of migration. To provide a native experience, you have to be true to yourself and be proud of who you are.

Brian: Not only are you relating to people where they are in their language and culture, but you are not changing who you are. I love that.

Erika: My pleasure, Brian.

Brian: Erika Gonzalez, Associate Professor at RMIT University and immediate past president of AUSIT. Thank you for joining us. Remember, always strive for authenticity and embrace the power of native experiences.

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