Fake interpreter at Mandela funeral

Amel Abdullah wrote:

The interpreter at the Mandela event has said that he experienced a schizophrenic episode while interpreting:

http://news.yahoo.com/mandela-memorial-sign-language-interpreter-39-fraud-39-004855924.html

"This illness (schizophrenia) is unfair," he said. "Anyone who doesn't understand this illness will think that I'm just making this up."

Medical experts poured scorn on that claim too.

"There were many features of Mr (Jantjie's) signing that do not chime with the typical presentation of disordered signing caused by a psychotic episode," said Jo Atkinson, an clinical psychologist at University College London.

Kaspars Melkis wrote:
Unbelievable but they never learn.

Jantjie, whose first language is Xhosa -- the same as Mandela’s -- was paid 800 rand ($77) for the full-day event, Bogopane-Zulu said. That compares with the as much as 1,700 rand an hour typical fee for a sign language interpreter, she said.

hanan-gh wrote:

couple of weeks ago I had a chat with a lady who works as a sign teacher , I was surprised when she tolled me that the sign language varies even in one part of country, I thought it is the same every where but it seems to be as a multi dialects in some countries! the man looks like he is confidant of what he does.

Kaspars Melkis wrote:
[Bloomberg News reports the following]:
Jantjie, whose first language is Xhosa -- the same as Mandela’s -- was paid 800 rand ... for the full-day event, Bogopane-Zulu said. That compares with the as much as 1,700 rand an hour typical fee for a sign language interpreter, [Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, South Africa's deputy minister of Women, Children and People With Disabilities] said.

hanan-gh wrote:

couple of weeks ago I had a chat with a lady who works as a sign teacher , I was surprised when she tolled me that the sign language varies even in one part of country, I thought it is the same every where but it seems to be as a multi dialects in some countries! the man looks like he is confidant of what he does.

hanan-gh wrote:
the man looks like he is confidant [sic] of what he does.

Ty Kendall wrote:



Yes, he's a very confident liar.

Look closely at his hand signals, you don't need to understand sign language to realise that his movements are practically identical with only the slightest variation and also extremely repetitive.

Surely you have seen the Catherine Tate "fake interpreter" clip? (it's done the rounds many times). She plays an extremely confident interpreter, without speaking a word of the languages she interprets into.

Same thing here.

See here:
http://imgur.com/Wv4GTI9

Edited for humorous link.

Yes, the Catherine Tate interpreter sketch is hilarious - not only for her outrageous faking of the various languages but also for the increasingly bewildered expressions on the faces of her listeners. I especially like her version of Swedish - "hurdy-gurdy-hurdy-gurdy".
In the real world, how extraordinary it is that fakers such as the Mandela sign-language man have such apparent confidence in what they're doing. I think I'd be visibly trembling with fear of being found out.
Fascinating.



[Edited at 2013-12-13 10:55 GMT]

Ty Kendall wrote:

Surely you have seen the Catherine Tate "fake interpreter" clip?

Tom in London wrote:

She tolled you?

"What happened that day, I see angels come to the stadium ... I start realizing that the problem is here. And the problem, I don't know the attack of this problem, how will it comes. Sometimes I react violent on that place. Sometimes I will see things that chase me," Jantjie said.

Asked how often he had become violent, he said "a lot" while declining to provide details.