Interpreting Translation

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Many people say that they will have someone there to translate the meeting. Translation is written and Interpreting is spoken. There are different types of Interpreting such as simultaneous where the interpreter speaks at the same time. A good example of this is when you are in court and the Judge says something and the interpreter does not wait for him or her to finish but simply speaks the words as they are being spoken. This also occurs when you are doing this for a group of people with an audio set up. It does not work well when both languages are spoken out loud together.

The other method of Interpreting is delayed Interpreting which gives the person speaking a chance to finish their sentence and then the Interpreter will repeat exactly what was said not adding anything and not taking away anything either. If the Interpreter is unsure about something or feels that further explanation is needed he or she should say "The Interpreter has a question or the Interpreter would like to clarify that. Medical Interpreting is a good example of this. The Doctor or Nurse should direct their questions and statement to the patient not to the interpreter. The Interpreter should stand slightly off to the side and use the first person when speaking as if they were the other person. The Interpreter should not say to the patient "The Doctor said.....Nor should he or she say to the doctor "The Patient feels pain in his chest but rather "I feel pain in my chest" repeating exactly what the patient says.

Often exact translation and interpretation does not work well so you need to get the best fit possible without loosing anything in the process. A good example of this would be "Soul Mate" The best interpretation in Spanish is "Soul Twin" not "Soul Mate". This type of knowledge comes from experience and study. Many exact translations or Interpretations will just confuse the person that you are interpreting for especially if you try to use idioms etc....There are several online programs and videos in order to gain a better knowledge of this. Another example of information that is often left out is specific culture information and if a patient says something about their culture or a natural remedy you need to tell the doctor exactly what they said rather than making the decision for the doctor and leaving that information out. What is said in these sessions is always confidential and you do not repeat it to anyone without their specific permission.

An example that actually occurred in a Hospital was given to us in our training to emphasize how important confidentiality can be. A woman was brought in and the Interpreter was with the doctor and the woman in the exam room and when they came out the Husband asked the Interpreter how his wife was and the reply seemed harmless enough "She will fine, she just pregnant there is nothing else wrong with her." Well this seemed like no big deal to the Interpreter but after they got home the husband beat the wife severely because he was out of the country when she got pregnant. Confidentiality is paramount.