On April 16 three OSTI interpreters interpreted for Dr. Rigoberta Menchu at Portland Public Schools. What was so cool about this? I had been in Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador back in 1987, one year after the Civil War officially ended in Guatemala. I remembered the trucks running around with military weapons in “democratic” El [...]
National Council on Interpreting in Health Care, Standards of Practice 20 and 21: The Interpreter is prepared for all assignments The interpreter discloses skill limitations with respect to particular assignments What information do interpreters need? How is it possible disclose skill limitations to decline an appointment, for example, without knowing the nature of an assignment [...]
As interpreters, we are constantly learning. We learn from every encounter we have every day. However, it is so easy to get carried away and discuss things in a subjective way! As interpreters, we interpret messages delivered from one person to another, and the interpersonal issues sometimes… Our ASL (American Sign Language) colleagues have developed [...]
When an interpreter arrives at an appointment and interprets, that is the visible part of the process. However, the work of the interpreter starts before the appointment, and ends after the appointment. How can a requester of interpreter services work with an interpreter and ensure the best possible result? How can someone who works with [...]
CLAS Standard 7: Competence of interpreters – Use of untrained individuals and/or minors as interpreters should be avoided According to CLAS 7: Untrained family, friends, minors, and staff often do not possess the necessary skills to provide meaningful language services. Moreover, given their relationship to the patient, the use of friends, family members, and minors [...]
CLAS Standard 7: Competence of interpreters – Use of untrained individuals and/or minors as interpreters should be avoided The use of clinical and nonclinical staff who speak a non-English language but who are untrained in medical interpretation can pose potential safety risks (Regenstein et al., in press). Research has shown that when clinicians speak a [...]
Working with an interpreter involves clear, direct communication. The Washington State Health Care Authority Interpreter Services Program has developed this checklist for working with an interpreter. Some items on the checklist: Look and speak directly to the patient, not the interpreter. Please wait for the interpreter you requested before starting the appointment. Always speak in [...]
CLAS Standard 7: Competence of interpreters – Ability to communicate in all registers and at varying levels of formality What is a “register”? The “register” is the variety of the language we use in a particular social setting or for a particular purpose. For example, we speak differently at a doctor’s office, our friends’ living [...]
I was talking with a colleague about Title VI. Interpreters are supposed to uphold Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and I was checking what, exactly, that meant. Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in any program or activity that receives Federal funds or other Federal financial [...]
The Minnesota Department of Health gives these recommendations for working with a healthcare interpreter. As professional interpreters, we often introduce ourselves telling the provider… “and please speak directly to each other. I am simply here to be your voice in the other person’s language, saying exactly what you say.” Often, doctors inadvertently lapse into this [...]
