Interpreters and Translators
Transfer spoken and signed language and source text into another language.
A meeting at the housing office
You are a professional interpreter booked to help at a meeting between a housing officer and a family who speak a language other than English. It is 10am at the council housing office. The meeting is about a tenancy matter and the family is anxious. You arrive and realise you know the father, because your children go to the same school.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
Oh, it is you! What luck. I feel so much better already. Please, after this meeting you can tell me what the officer really means, you know how these offices speak. You will help us, yes?
Tell the officer you know the family, ask whether she is happy for you to continue, and explain your role to Mr Haddad
The officer is happy to proceed, and Mr Haddad understands. It takes a few minutes and feels awkward. It is the honest start the meeting needs, though the extra explanation unsettles him slightly.
Say nothing about knowing him, since it will only complicate things
Mr Haddad treats you as an ally. When he later asks your opinion in front of the officer, the meeting becomes confusing and trust breaks down. A hidden connection becomes a bigger problem than a stated one.
Disclose the connection to both sides, and offer to step aside so a different interpreter can attend
The officer says it is fine to continue, and Mr Haddad is told clearly what you can and cannot do. Everyone knows where they stand before the first word.
Can you just tell him to sign here? We are running behind. He says he does not understand but I am sure he does. Just say it is a standard form and he needs to sign it today.
Say exactly what she said, including that it is standard, and ask him to sign
Mr Haddad signs, not sure what he has agreed to. A few weeks later there is a dispute about it. You passed the words along, and the meaning of the form was never explained.
Interpret what she says accurately, including that he is unsure, so she can decide how to respond
Ms Carter pauses, sighs, then explains the form properly and gives him time. Mr Haddad signs after he understands it. Your job was to carry the meaning in both directions, including the doubt.
Tell Mr Haddad privately that he should not sign anything he does not understand
You were trying to protect him, and the instinct is kind. But advising a client crosses your role, and Ms Carter notices you speaking without her. You have damaged trust on one side to help on the other.
I need to use the word 'arrears' and he needs to know exactly what it means. There must be a direct word. Can you just give it to him, and make sure it is exactly the same as ours?
Use the closest word you know and explain it briefly, then ask Mr Haddad to confirm his understanding
The word is close but not exact, and you say so. Mr Haddad repeats it back in his own words. Ms Carter sees the extra step working and adds a written summary for him.
Give the single closest word without comment, since the officer asked for a direct equivalent
The word is understood roughly, but Mr Haddad thinks it refers to a different type of debt. The mix-up is caught only at the next meeting. A close word is not always a clear one.
Tell the officer that no direct word exists, and that she will have to find another way to explain it to him herself
You are right that the word is hard, but you leave the meeting stuck and the family anxious. Pointing out a gap without offering a way across it is not much help to anybody.
How it went
The meeting ended with a clear plan, a written summary in two languages and a family who understood the next step. Interpreting means being exact, neutral and open about your limits while people under pressure depend on you. Does being a trusted channel, not an adviser, appeal to you?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The word that meant something else
A fictional case set in a local council housing office and a community health clinic that book interpreters for clients.
The situation
Linh was a translator working on a leaflet about a local health program. The English text said that a free screening would be available to everyone, and the draft translation used a Vietnamese word for screening that most readers would take to mean someone is already ill. The leaflet was due at the printer on Friday, and the commissioning officer was happy with the draft because she had checked it with an online tool.
What they did
Linh told the officer that the word could put off the people the program was meant to reach. She offered two alternative wordings, and said she would test them with three members of the community before choosing. It added two days to the job. She also explained that the online tool had given a word-for-word answer but could not tell how the word would feel to a reader.
How it turned out
The printed leaflet went out a few days later than planned with the new wording. The officer said more people than usual rang the clinic to book, and she asked Linh to review the other translated materials too. Linh noted that she could not be certain the wording was the reason.
What would you do?
- Why might a correct translation still be the wrong one?
- How would you explain to a busy client that a job will take longer?
- What do you think a machine tool can and cannot do in this work?