She, born in the 1980s, chose to become a full-time sign language translator, saying, "Deaf people deserve a better life."
When I saw Tang Wenyan at a coffee shop in Jing'an Temple, she had just finished a sign language training class and was wearing a black short sleeved shirt with her hair tied in a high ponytail. Wearing dark clothes while working is her professional habit because she needs to sign language, and dark clothes can help deaf people see their gestures clearly.
September 23rd is International Sign Language Day. The first professional observation short documentary produced by Bilibili, "What are you busy with today?", was broadcasted on September 20th. Tang Wenyan, a Shanghai native born in the 1980s, is one of the main characters in the film. As a full-time sign language translator, she has been in the industry for nearly 10 years. In her opinion, the significance of the sign language translation profession lies in the fact that "deaf people deserve a better life".
Every translator is an "emoji pack"
When Tang Wenyan speaks, her eyes widen and her rich body language often makes people burst into laughter. This is also an occupational disease. Sign language is not just about gesture expression, but also about expressing emotions in language through facial expressions and the importance and urgency of actions. Once, a deaf friend enthusiastically sent her a photo, praising her for having a "particularly good expression"; She looked and found that Zhang was all "emojis". "I am actually an 'i person'," she said, "but every translator has a fierce face, and when it comes to sign language, one cannot do without an expression."
Tang Wenyan at Work
The path of sign language translation is entirely driven by interest. Tang Wenyan studied psychology in the Department of Special Education at East China Normal University for her undergraduate degree. In her sophomore year, she saw that Shanghai Oriental International Sign Language Education School was recruiting students, so she enrolled. "During the process of learning sign language, I met many deaf friends and found that they have encountered varying degrees of communication barriers in social life, and they deserve to live a better life."
In 2010, Tang Wenyan graduated with a master's degree and originally wanted to find a job as a sign language translator, but found out that even translation companies do not hire sign language translators. Until 2012, a teacher from the Deaf Association told her that a hot pot restaurant and a startup that made hearing aids both hoped to hire a sign language translator. She gave up her previously stable job, convinced her parents, and became the first employee of this hearing aid company.
The founder of the company, Richard Wright, was once the only professor at Garaudet University in the world who specialized in offering undergraduate, master's, and doctoral courses for hearing-impaired and hard of hearing individuals. "He had great ideals and wanted to improve the lives of deaf people in China. Later, we found that the hearing aid market was fiercely competitive and small brands found it difficult to survive. Therefore, since 2014, we have been trying to transform and see if we can survive by doing sign language translation."
Tang Wenyan does sign language translation at the exhibition
According to data from the Shanghai Deaf Association, there are over 80000 certified hearing and speech disabled individuals in Shanghai. In Tang Wenyan's words, she will participate in the life of deaf people. From giving birth to deaf mothers to their children going to school, graduation interviews, internal training at work, going to the hospital for medical treatment, getting married and having drinks, sign language translators are needed at every stage of life. Every day of translation is new.
How difficult is it for deaf people to enter the theater?
For a long time, Tang Wenyan was the only full-time sign language translator in Shanghai. Due to the limited number of listeners specializing in sign language translation, she goes wherever there is a need. Opening my phone schedule, it was full on Monday. I need to arrive at my workplace at 4:30 am on Tuesday, and I have three days a week to go to the TV station to do sign language translation for several news programs in the afternoon and evening. But in Tang Wenyan's social circle, it is rare to see her work scene, and a few scattered pieces of related information are all promoting anti fraud knowledge to deaf friends. She explained, "The privacy of the deaf is the top priority.".
Dongfang Hospital is the earliest hospital in Shanghai to open a "deaf clinic". Whenever the clinic is opened, there are always many deaf companions who come specifically. Tang Wenyan remembers that one year when she accompanied a deaf aunt to see a doctor, she found her daughter crying beside her. "She wasn't worried about her mother's illness, but it used to be very difficult to see a doctor. Young people had jobs and couldn't always take leave. Aunties didn't want to trouble their families, but it was very inconvenient to have no one to accompany them to see a doctor. For us, it was a normal job, but for deaf people, it could be a very important moment."
Sign language translator Tang Wenyan
In Tang Wenyan's eyes, sign language, like Chinese and English, is a language of communication; Deaf people, like listeners, have a rich spiritual world, interesting personalities, and diverse hobbies, but due to hearing impairment, they are unable to enter various social fields without barriers.
"What leisure activities do deaf friends have? Young people like to run and watch exhibitions, but they usually have visual exhibitions, or make plans to eat or travel. Last time, a friend said they like to play" King of Glory "." She sighed, for deaf people, it is almost difficult to have the experience of going to theaters to watch performances or musicals. "; And doing sign language translation for musicals is also one of the most interesting experiences in her career.
In 2018, under the guidance of deaf director Zheng Xiaosan, the musical "Empress in the Boots" received a special sign language performance, and Tang Wenyan was one of the sign language translators. This was her first time working as a sign language translator in a musical. Due to lack of experience, Zheng Xiaosan hired a British sign language translation team to provide remote training for everyone. From dismantling the script, familiarizing himself with the lines to formal rehearsals, he prepared for three months in succession.
"Just like actors, we also need to read and memorize scripts, conduct psychological assessments of the characters, and use what kind of emotions, tone, expressions, intensity, and frequency to express ourselves." Tang Wenyan said that the most challenging part was that she and her deaf friends completed the hand language translation of the musical together. "Empress Boots allows for teleprompter, and we will have a tablet downstairs. When two people cooperate, I will 'feed' him the speed of their speech. When the performance starts singing, I will take the beat on him and give him rhythm prompts."
After the first performance, a deaf friend couldn't wait to ask when there would be a second one. However, such opportunities are not many. After more than 10 years of work, Tang Wenyan has had less than ten opportunities to do sign language translation for theater performances. In addition to "Empress in Boots", there are also stage plays "Frankenstein" and the original play "Where is the nearest accessible restroom?" recently performed at the Shanghai Grand Theatre. "Deaf people have no barriers to entering the theater, and there is still a long way to go."
Enable deaf people to walk without barriers in society
Determined to work in the sign language translation industry, Tang Wenyan once had a long-standing dispute with her parents. Like many parents of Shanghai girls, they expect her to have a relaxed and stable job. "Why are young people so idle?" she retorted.
Sign language translation is not a high paying job. "The Disabled Persons' Federation has standards, with a half day fee of 300 yuan and a day fee of 600 yuan." Tang Wenyan revealed that the salary of sign language translators is difficult to compete with other types of translators, and there is no particularly fixed source of income, which usually depends on the needs of the deaf population. "The deaf community is not a particularly affluent group and does not have a strong willingness to consume. In terms of business operations, multinational corporations are more willing to purchase this service. Therefore, the survival of sign language translators still faces great problems. However, she believes that she can persist because this group does have many urgent needs, such as filing a lawsuit, reporting to the police, seeking medical treatment, starting a business, negotiating projects, and providing accessible services. These needs are objective and only a question of who will pay."
Tang Wenyan at Work
Learning sign language itself has also brought her a lot of fun. Sign language also has dialects, and there are significant differences in expression between different regions. For example, in the south and north, when expressing the word "story", the hand shape and direction are different. "This is a young language. There used to be no videos, so many materials couldn't be saved. Fortunately, the situation is different now."
In the past month, Tang Wenyan has only rested for two or three days. In her opinion, as a sign language translator, she has good physical strength. In the longest translation, she stood for 7 hours in a row.
When she was not working, she looked a different way. Just like opening her wardrobe, half is black and navy blue, and the other half is all colorful. She also signed up for Shanghai Citizen Art Night School to study dough sculpture, looking forward to achieving success in a few months.
"Sign language translation does not necessarily have to live like an ascetic monk. I look forward to it becoming a standardized profession that can attract young people to work. At the same time, there are also professional requirements for sign language translators, and there are standards in terms of translation content and professional ethics." In her vision for the future, deaf people can walk freely in society and become specialized talents in various fields. "Sign language itself will also become increasingly rich."
"How big can we do it, how long can we do it?" Tang Wenyan hopes that in society, people can spend several months mastering some simple sign language, "such as hello, thank you, etc., which is a friendly expression for deaf people."
