Article Review Of 'Freedom Nearly Lost In Translation'

When people do not have a language in common, an interpreter is used to convert information from one language to another. However, information can be misinterpreted due to the ability of the interpreter. If she or he is not qualified as a professional interpreter, it is most likely he or she will make mistakes that can change the message. The article, “Freedom nearly lost in translation” is about an innocent man who was sentenced to 30 years of prison due to misinterpretation by his court interpreter. In this article, the author uses logos, pathos, and ethos; logos by good formatting and clear understanding of the information; pathos by an emotion appeal to Alfonzo’s case; ethos by the research and court transcript provided by the author. Patricio Balona is the author of “Freedom nearly lost in translation,” an article about Juan Alfonzo, a man who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for stealing a dump truck valued at $125,000 because his court-interpreter, Marianne Verruno, did not interpret efficiently between the two parties. Alfonzo was unable to communicate in English and was uneducated in his native language of Spanish. Alfonzo pleaded

He researched the capacity of the interpreter; in this case the interpreter was not qualified. The author uses the court transcript as a way of convincing the audience of the damage caused by an untrained interpreter. For instance, the author listed in headings, “The Translations, What was said, How Verruno interpreted into Spanish what was said, and What the defendant heard” (Balona, 2006). These headings very clearly show what each party involved in the case (the judge, the interpreter, and the defendant) said and how the misinterpretation occurred. Having the facts of the case from all sides stated in the article makes the piece more credible. The author is trustworthy because it is actually something that changed Alfonzo’s