As a provider of medical translation and interpretation services, Monterey Language Services is always interested in learning about new developments and useful information in the world of health and happiness.

We’d like to share an interesting video lecture we’ve found. Taking care of our bodies is an important part of living a happy, healthy life, but are there other keys to being our best future selves?
VIDEO – Robert Waldinger: What Makes a Good Life? Lessons from the Longest Study on Happiness

Here are some of highlights of the video:

Since 1938, the Harvard Study of Adult Development has tracked the lives of 724 men in an effort to learn what makes people happy. Their simple conclusion: social connection is really good for us, and good relationships lead to longer, healthier, and happier lives. Participants of the study who had more and better relationships with friends, family, and community were physically healthier, happier, and lived longer than participants who were more isolated, or had bad relationships.

At Monterey Language Services we are fortunate, because our work involves frequent interaction with communities; whether locally, nationally, or around the world, we are connected. The uniqueness of our profession as a translation and interpretation provider has brought us a great sense of fulfillment and happiness, and we hope we can convey that same feeling to people we work with. Our work is no longer limited to the mechanical and technical – it’s about human interaction, having something to contribute, and connecting with the world.

Monterey Language Services is committed to bridging the world’s languages by providing quality, professional and efficient translation & interpretation services in over 175 languages. Please feel free to request a quote from us.

As a translation and interpretation service provider for hospitals, health centers, and clinics, Monterey Language Services is always interested in learning about new developments and useful information in the world of health.

We would like to share a video that we found. The science of health is always developing and changing, and the video below is only one example out of many.

As a commitment to raise awareness of health and wellness, we encourage everyone to continue your own search for a healthy living style that suits you, and we wish everyone good health and happiness.

Here are some of the video’s key points:

From 1935-2005, people believed that the major source of nutrients should be meat, eggs, and other animal products, but this idea has changed. People have begun to realize that plant-based foods contain thousands of the most important nutrients, so fresh fruit, vegetables, berries, nuts, and seeds should actually be the main part of a healthy diet, not animal products.

Science now teaches us that the best way to live longer, function better, and protect ourselves from disease is to make low-calorie, nutrient-rich foods the basis of our daily diet, such as green vegetables, broccoli, kale, tomatoes, sprouts, lentils, sunflower seeds, almonds, fruits and many more!

Monterey Language Services is committed to bridging the world’s languages by providing quality, professional and efficient translation & interpretation services in over 175 languages. Please feel free to request a quote from us.

Translation and interpretation activities are a vibrant part of our daily lives. In addition to diplomatic encounters and international business & conferences, everyday people in our own community need them all the time.

What moves Monterey Language Services forward every day is exactly this: providing translation and interpretation services to serve local, national, and global communities.

Community interpreting in a very basic sense already involves a lot of different settings, including public hearings, community workshops, doctors’ visits, parent school meetings, legal communications between lawyers, the court, and witnesses, and so on. Monterey Language Services serves Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito Counties and beyond.

Monterey Languages Services also covers all of California, including major cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose, and San Diego. We also often provide services in smaller communities, like West Goshen, Alpaugh, Allensworth, Le Grand, El Centro, and many others.

Our service areas continue across the country as well, to Idaho, Texas, Michigan, Washington, D.C., New York and more. When we receive translation and interpretation requests from around the globe, for example from Italy, Japan, Korea, Latin and South America, it’s a real thrill and creates a great sense of contributing to global communication! Our role and mission in this profession have been completely fulfilled.

At Monterey Language Services, translation and interpretation services are offered in all languages, so we can always help make sure communication happens between people who need it. When we serve communities, we believe it’s our responsibility to send the best interpreters possible, based on their skill, experience, credentials, professionalism, and passion to serve.

It’s human nature that people are community-minded, and we all want to cooperate and serve to work towards a better world. That’s why we treasure each and every opportunity to serve communities, and it’s an honor to do what we are doing as a service provider of translation and interpretation!

Monterey Language Services is committed to bridging the world’s languages by providing quality, professional and efficient translation & interpretation services in over 175 languages. Please feel free to request a quote from us.

Take a look at this amazing video with Disney’s impressive cast singing the localized versions of “Let it Go” from Frozen in English, French, German, Dutch, Mandarin, Swedish, Japanese, Latin American Spanish, Polish, Hungarian, Castilian Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Korean, Serbian, Cantonese, Portuguese, Bahasa Malaysian, Russian, Danish, Bulgarian, Norwegian, Thai, Canadian French, and Flemish.

Watching the Disney multi-language video reminds us of the exciting times that our professional voice actors have brought to a variety of media. Monterey Language Services had quite a few opportunities to work on projects of this caliber. In one case, we formed a large team of voice-over talents to bring voices to multiple roles in an environmental preservation video. We were overdubbing the video from English to Mandarin Chinese. The dialogue and stories were told by various characters. village elders, youth, village leaders, national corporate executives, and local businessmen spoke about preserving their environment and the movement towards modernization.

The story was rich and compelling, so having the same actor voice multiple parts would not have given the characters as much depth. In light of this, a large team of Mandarin voice-over talents was brought in to a local recording studio to voice more than a dozen roles. The array of voices one after another was similar to the relay of different singers in the Disney multilingual video – very exciting and interesting!

We made sure that the entire production process, which required writing up a transcript, translation, voice selection, recording, and post recording engineering, was of a professional quality and thus the final product was a proud presentation that both our client and the end audience could enjoy!

Monterey Language Services provides subtitles, voiceovers, and audio recordings as well as translation and interpretation services. Please feel free to contact us to request a quote.

Monterey Language Services has decided to look at interpreting as a profession as seen in movies. In doing so, we have found perfect examples of two opposite sides of the interpreter spectrum:  a professional interpreter in The Interpreter, and the opposite in Lost in Translation.

Although the latter was played off for laughs, by comparing these two portrayals, we can see the differences between the two interpreters and what separates a professional interpreter from others.

The Interpreter 2005, Political thriller
Starring Nicole Kidman, this movie is about a UN interpreter who overhears people planning an assassination from her interpretation booth after hours. The producers did extensive research on conference interpreting as a profession, and in this movie you can see her portraying the work of a conference interpreter simultaneously interpreting both in the booths and in a meeting between dignitaries. According to IMDB, the movie is the first to have been filmed at the actual UN headquarters.

We see her portraying a professional interpreter with a great sense of responsibility in communication shown in her paying careful attention to the smallest nuances of language. She interpreted accurately despite a personal difference in opinion while at the same time protecting confidentiality.

Lost in Translation 2003, Comedy-drama
Everyone who has seen this movie probably remembers the Suntory commercial scene, where Bill Murray’s character struggles to understand the instructions of a passionate, machine-gun talking director despite having Japanese interpreter present. This scene is possibly the most humorous rendition of an unprofessional interpreter.

We noticed a few qualities lacking in this interpreter that are holding her back from doing a professional job. First, she appeared to have a lack of language ability that left huge gaps in the message she was trying to convey, and showed a lack of sensitivity to the frustration in the client when he was unable to understand her interpretation. The client shows a great deal of discomfort and confusion, there is still a language barrier that needs to be broken down.

Interpreters in Real Life at Monterey Language Services
Monterey Language Services understands what a significance a professional interpreter can make in bridging language gaps. Every day, we successfully fulfill our mission to serve by sending professional interpreters to hospitals, clinics, community public hearing events, and high-tech customer conferences in Silicon Valley. Our customers are always happy to see the power of communication take place in everyday life!

Here is a recent encounter that required the skills of a professional interpreter — a Cantonese medical interpretation at a children’s clinic in Capitola, CA.
– The Interpreter was a certified medical interpreter, CMI and CCHI precisely: Thanks to her professional mindset, the client was fully taken care of.
– Thorough communication between the doctor and patient was facilitated: The interpreter showed her dedication and ensured all messages were fully conveyed. The assignment was originally scheduled for two hours while the actual time spent interpreting was three hours.
–A willingness to serve: although the location was a bit far, the interpreter was willing to drive all the way to the hospital to make sure that someone was there to cover the assignment.

Monterey Language Services strives to provide the highest quality of translation and interpretation services. Please feel free to contact us for a quote.

Happy Holidays from the team at Monterey Language Services! As a medical translation and interpretation provider, we are always exploring tips on how to stay healthy, especially during this busy time of year, when we all face the temptation of overeating.

Here is some food for thought: The following are some health tips from a small Chinese article found on the internet, which shares a few Chinese principles on how to live a healthy life.

Monterey Language Services has translated and summarized parts of it and hopes that this can become a thought-provoking little tidbit for everyone as we reflect on how to stay healthy, especially during the holiday season.

Chew Carefully

Diabetes is a systemic metabolic disorder. One main cause is a pancreas that’s working too hard. One way to avoid overworking your pancreas is to reduce the burden on it by chewing your food slowly!

The “One Less, Three More” Rule

One Less: Less eating
Three More: More rest, More water, More sweat

Sweat Is Your Friend

Sweat can be a powerful ally because when your body is sweating, it helps protect you from all kinds of diseases!

Eat Until You Are Only Half Full

The more you eat, the more oxygen your body uses up. This creates a lack of oxygen in the cells, leading to more pressure on your heart and thus, higher blood pressure. So, eating until you’re only half-full is actually a good idea, since your body will use less oxygen. When your body signals hunger, it’s the best time for it to detoxify and increase the functioning of your immune system.

An empty stomach and a warm, sweating body are an effective way to stimulate your body’s metabolism, to cleanse/detoxify the blood and to activate the regeneration of cells! When your digestive system is in action, it slows down your body’s natural method of detoxifying itself.

Oxygen Is a Panacea

Oxygen is a panacea that helps the body cure diseases. It strengthens the body’s immune system and the ability of the glands responsible for regulating it. It also controls the ability of cancer patients to fight the disease!
Chinese article source: https://www.fun01.cc/post/489843/

Monterey Language Services strives to provide the highest quality of translation and interpretation services. Please feel free to request a quote from us.

Around this time of year, colleagues at Monterey Language Services come together to create an original holiday greeting, taking photos of the environment around us, developing a new theme fitting for the year ahead — all of it to bring our most heartfelt wishes to the people we care about.

We are grateful to have become a part of so many people’s lives in our profession as translators and interpreters. In 2018, we hope to reach greater heights, connecting even more people within our vibrant community locally and globally. Together, we can make our wishes come true and make the new year unforgettable!

Happy holidays from the Monterey Language Services team; may 2018 bring you joy, fulfillment and new achievements!

You may not think twice about seeing a sign language interpreter in a classroom, meeting, conference, or training session, but what about onstage at a musical or concert? What does it look like? Performance in sign language gives interpreters a chance to sing with their hands, mind, body, and heart which takes artistry and creativity. It’s an art to enjoy!

Here are just a few examples of sign language performances taken from Tiffany Hill and Bjorn Storm’s channels on YouTube. Check them out and see how talented interpreters can combine signing, acting, and rhythm to capture the meaning and feeling of any song.

Firework performed by Tiffany Hill

Crazy performed by Bjorn Storm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYcSAMWIcAE

Yesterday evening Monterey Language Services had the unique opportunity to help spread some holiday cheer by providing ASL interpretation in a performance setting. When a local children’s theater group reached out wanting to include the deaf community in their upcoming Christmas musical, one of our interpreters happily joined the cast to teach them the lyrics of the show’s finale in ASL.

Even with no sign language experience, the 35 kids learned quickly and had a blast. Now when they take the stage they’ll be able to share the song’s message of happiness, warmth, and joy with their friends in the deaf community. Everyone deserves that on the holidays, and we were thrilled and grateful to the theater for allowing us to be a part of their wonderful idea.

Monterey Language Services is committed to bridging the world’s languages by providing quality, professional and efficient translation & interpretation services in over 175 languages. When it comes to American Sign Language, we specialize in highly technical meetings and trainings, for example: JAVA training sessions for engineers, CPR first aid training for firefighters, brain injury medical seminars, along with doctor’s visits and performance events. Please feel free to request a quote from us.

To accommodate very large audiences in cross-cultural communication, the usual method of simultaneous interpretation with all the necessary equipment may prove too expensive. In its place, Monterey Language Services presents a cost-effective solution that addresses clients’ needs: the Instant Translation method, in which a meeting is presented in one language with an instant translation displayed visually on a screen, or conveniently readable from audience members’ phones, tablets, and other personal devices.

MONTEREY, California – March 29, 2017 – This evening Monterey Language Services (www.montereylanguages.com) provided Instant Translation for a Seaside, California meeting with an expected turnout of over 400 attendees.

The issues surrounding sanctuary cities have recently become a source of major concern for many of us in California and the country. In order to give ordinary people the chance to have their opinions on this important topic heard, the City of Seaside – not far from Monterey Language Services’ base in Monterey – organized a public meeting devoted to sanctuary cities – with an expected turnout of hundreds of people.

Monterey Language Services implemented an Instant Translation solution, in which the meeting was presented in English but instantly translated into Spanish with the translation displayed visually on a screen. Audience members were also able to read the translation on their phones, tablets, and other personal devices. Follow the link to see Instant Translation in action: https://youtu.be/dRP5lQHQ0tM

This real-time display of translation proved to be a success and made the important content of the meeting accessible to everyone. “Tonight’s meeting is a testament to the method’s suitability for large audiences. When it comes to providing cross-cultural communication for very large audiences, Instant Translation is a time- and cost-effective solution,” says Mei-Ling Chen, Director of Monterey Language Services.

When the City of Seaside approached Monterey Language Services with a request for a Spanish language option for tonight’s meeting, Monterey Language Services was happy to take on the challenge: “What sets us apart from the competition,” says Mei-Ling Chen at Monterey Language Services, “is finding solutions that meet our clients’ needs. That’s our strength.”

The usual method of simultaneous interpretation with a sufficient number of headsets, transmitters, and receivers to accommodate such a large audience proved too expensive. Instead, Monterey Language Services presented a cost-effective solution that addresses the City’s needs: a method that can service a full house without adding extra hours to the meeting’s duration because of language interpretation needs.

For more information, please contact Mei-Ling Chen at 831 655 3460 or mei-ling@montereylanguages.com

Monterey Language Services is committed to bridging the world’s languages by providing high quality, professional and efficient translation & interpretation services in over 175 languages.

Contact Information
Mei-Ling Chen
Monterey Language Services
http://www.montereylanguages.com
831-655-3460

Translators often use different techniques to produce a high-quality, natural translation. Experienced translators may even apply them so freely and flexibly that they forget they’re even using a special technique or strategy. This blog breaks down three of the most frequently used translation strategies: detour translation, repetition, and addition.

Detour translation
Because of the differences between two languages, a direct word-for-word translation is not always possible, and translators may have to find another way around – make a translation “detour.” For example, the source language may prefer affirmative statements (like “Staff Only” in English) while in the target language it is much more natural to use a negative statement for the same idea (like闲人免进 or “Non-staff not allowed” in Chinese). This sign could of course be translated literally, but the result would be something that is not idiomatic, natural Chinese. In situations like this, translators would use the detour strategy.

Repetition
To avoid misunderstanding and make the meaning clear, translators frequently use repetition as a technique. In English, pronouns such as “he,” “she,” “it,” etc., avoid repetition by referring to things that have already been mentioned. Chinese, however, does the opposite and usually repeats the original words rather than replace them with pronouns. For example, in translating a sentence like “George put his bag on the table, which is in the middle of the room,” a translator working into Chinese would repeat the word “table” where English replaces it with “which.” Repetition can also be crucial to preserve the style of a source text in which the author repeats specific words to create a certain effect.

Addition
To make a translation acceptable in the target language, translators may need to add more information. For example, when translating “ease the tension between the two countries” into Chinese, translators need to add the word “situation” (i.e. tense situation) to make the translation complete. A proper translation is “缓解两国之间的紧张局势.” Addition is important when translating culture-specific words or expressions because additional explanation is needed to help readers who aren’t familiar with the source culture. In a case like this, a translator may even need to provide a footnote to provide additional information without cluttering up the main text.

The ultimate goal for a translator is to translate the source text’s meaning simply and clearly. The above strategies and techniques can help produce more idiomatic translations, and are a required part of every translator’s toolkit.