15 December

Translation is usually thought of as something you do between different languages. But actually all meaning is translated, even within the same language. What we think we’re communicating to others is always translated by them into a meaning that is not the same. Teachers know this, politicians know this, marketing people know this. And why is this important? I think because it forces us to see communication as not about messages, but as about encounters between people. The shift from communication to conversation, having to to relate to another person from within their framework, not yours.