Wearing translator's hat a big role

Sitting among three deputies wearing hats from three different ethnic groups, Nurgul Kerim scribbled on a notepad, and in a low voice translated every sentence into the Uygur language during a group discussion by the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region delegation of the National People's Congress on Thursday morning.

The 42-year old has been the delegation's translator since 2003 and may have more experience of the NPC than some deputies in the delegation. This year, her job is to help five deputies from Xinjiang understand what other deputies are saying so they can air their points of view. A colleague working alongside her ensures all five deputies are taken care of.

"Language should not be a barrier for deputies to perform their duties," the 42-year-old said. Deputies who need her translation service are from the Uygur, Kazak and Tajik ethnic groups, each of which has its own language. She said the Kazak and Tajik languages share about 70 percent similarity with the Uygur language and all of those deputies speak the language fluently, so her service covers all the deputies.

Nurgul also has to help deputies translate their proposals into Chinese so they can be forwarded to responsible departments.

"Being a good interpreter for an NPC delegation is not easy. I need to be familiar with technical and political terms, especially new terms used in the annual work report, so I could translate them accurately," she said. Nurgul has to sit in every group session and she carries a copy of this year's work report in the Uygur language at all times.

Besides being a translator, she always comforts those who feel a bit nervous about coming to the session and don't know how to join the discussions.

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