In my very first year of Law School it came to one of my professor’s attention that I’m a professional translator. I never knew exactly how he found out, or why he thought it would be appropriate to bring up my professional background in a Civil Law class in front of all my other classmates who probably couldn’t care less what I do when I’m not in class, but he did. Not only did he feel compelled to bring up the subject, but he also thought his class would be an appropriate setting for exploring why someone in the translation industry would be interested in the Law. At the time, I was too inexperienced and knew too little about the law to be able to answer that question myself. All I knew was that I had two passions: Law and Language. Certain personal circumstances lead me to explore Language first and it was only in my late twenties that I had the opportunity to explore the latter. Now that I’m a fourth year Law student in a four and a half year program, I have gained enough experience and knowledge about the Law to be able to answer my professor’s question: The Law is Language. What is the law if not society’s written expression of the rules by which it will be governed?

In the book 1984, George Orwell, explores what happens in a society that lacks certain words: for instance, when there is no word for liberty, there is no concept of liberty. A society that lacks such concept cannot aspire to benefitting from the concept itself either. From there he creates a captivating world that is not much different from the world some of us seem to live in today. Without entering too deeply into a philosophical analysis as to whether or not George Orwell’s 1984 in any way reflects today’s world, I will say this: translators, particularly legal translators like myself, translate words that express concepts, ideals, and values reflected under and protected by the Law. As Language, the Law is what each society makes of it. Law and Language are just two different sides of the same coin.

When my professor inquired as to whether, as a translator, I like studying Law, the first thing that went through my head sounded something like, “Hello! I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.” The words that actually came out of my mouth were no more eloquent than those running through my mind. Fortunately, I managed to repress all my somewhat sarcastic thoughts and shyly mumble something about Law and Language being fascinating. If my old professor were to ask me the same questions today, I could ramble on for hours about the intricate relationship between Law and Language. However, instead of rambling on for hours I decided to focus and organize my thoughts and share them with other legal and language professionals in this blog.

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