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WBZ Water Cooler: The Mandela Memorial Interpreter
In these combination of pictures taken on December 10, 2013 US President Barack Obama delivers a speech next to sign language interpreter Thamsanqa Jantjie (R) during the memorial service for late South African President Nelson Mandela(Photo: ALEXANDER JOE/AFP/Getty Images)
Rod Fritz
BOSTON (CBS) — At The WBZ Water Cooler: Every day that goes by it seems we learn more about the bogus interpreter at Nelson Mandela’s Memorial, but we wanted to look at the signing itself.
People in the sign language field must have known right away the guy was a fake right? Was the guy making any sense? Is sign language the same all around the world?
For these answers we talked with Cindy Ramos, a certified sign language interpreter.
She has interpreted for President Barack Obama, VP Joe Biden and MA Governor Deval Patrick. Ramos told us that sign language is not universal, and she said yes, it was obvious the interpreter at Mandela’s funeral had no idea what he was doing.
WBZ’S Rod Fritz Reports.
You can hear the WBZ Water Cooler on Saturday at 10:25 AM and 5:55 PM, and Sunday at 5:55 PM, on WBZ NewsRadio 1030
