“Excuse me, speaking as the interpreter, could you please move the phone closer to the patient? The interpreter is struggling to hear everybody.” That was me, a week ago, attempting to provide telephonic medical interpreting services. The nurse complied, and the quality of the call improved…a...
The Couch is a learning place, not only for its contributors but also for our readers who engage in the ensuing discussions. Our colleague is curious about what is expected of her as a medical interpreter due to a conflicting situation she heard about. Are...
By Gio Lester ©2017 On October 13, I had the honor of representing NAJIT at the second Finding the Parallels – Legal and Medical Interpreter Summit, organized by De La Mora Interpreter Training, in Orlando, FL. The first event happened in 2013. I was part of...
-by Gio Lester ©2016 We often hear the argument that foreigners need to learn English and that interpreting services are a drain in our justice and health care systems. Most of us who work in those fields understand the importance of language services and that...
“We need more pay for the work we do.” “Nobody respects us interpreters.” “Can we please stop having intruders in this profession?”[1] “When will people understand that being bilingual doesn’t mean you can interpret?” “We should boycott if they try to bring in video interpreting.” “Maybe conference interpreters can demand...