One of the most prominent interpretation in the industry is medical interpretation. It’s also one of the more difficult ones. Whether you’re starting out as a medical interpreter or a veteran in the field, there are a lot of things taking effort to learn and be effective at.

Medical terminology comes on top. Medical interpretation requires a strong understanding of medical terminology in both the source and target languages. It is important to know the meaning of medical terms and jargon in order to accurately convey information. If an interpreter doesn’t understand a word, he or she should ask for a simpler explanation, so that the conversation between the doctor and the patient is flawless.

In addition, it’s best to always use clear and concise language when interpreting medical information. Using straightforward, easy to understand language will help ensure that the patient understands the information being provided. Do your best to avoid medical jargon or technical terms that the patient may not be familiar with. But if you do end up having to use it, be sure you understand what it means so you can explain it if necessary.

That being said, be sure to be in the know-how of how the medical field works. Whether it’s of internal medicine, neurology, radiology, pediatrics, cardiology, outpatient surgery, gastroenterology, urology, intensive care, orthopedics, physical therapy, community health, emergency, gynecology and more, an interpreter should be prepared and understand each specialty. This can help you as an interpreter to better understand the medical information being provided and to accurately convey it to the patient.

There are a lot of cultures out there that deal with medical visits differently. You may have  mastered the source and target languages in the medical field, but you also need to be culturally sensitive and can bridge the gap between the two cultures you are interpreting in. Something important beyond what is being said, the interpreter should serve as an advocate to bring that underlining meaning out to all parties involved. This can help the doctor and the patient understand each other better. Medical interpretation is unique in this sense. To communicate fully in order to provide and receive the best treatment.

As an interpreter, you should always keep whatever occurs in the appointment confidential. Medical interpreters should always respect the confidentiality of the patient and not share any personal or medical information without the patient’s consent or unless required by law. A medical interpreter should always remain impartial and avoid giving personal opinions or advice to the patient regarding make their own decisions and conclusions.

Medical interpretation is a valuable service to the community. It’s a very rewarding experience for us at Monterey Language Services. We have a great sense of helping others by providing medical interpretation to LEP (Limited English Proficiency) patients. Our goal is to put their mind at ease that their words are being understood, and they are understanding the words being said to them as well. This is what we call the essence of medical interpretation.

Monterey Language Services is looking for Spanish medical interpreters to provide in-person interpretation services to federally funded productive health care facilities in Antioch, CA.

We need someone who is living or willing to relocate to Antioch in California for in-person interpretation. Part time, full time, or contract employment are available for six months with possible extension.

If you are available and meet the below requirements, could you share with us your experience, rate, and how far you are from CA 94509, so we can follow up with you? You will find our contact information at the end of this post.

If you are looking to relocate, please also let us know. Please also feel welcome to refer colleagues by sharing this post.

Requirements:

1. Have completed 100 hours of CCHI approved interpreter training
2. Experienced with patients who typically have below sixth grade literacy and may also have limited vocabularies
3. Enjoy working with young children and pregnant women/mothers
4. Female interpreters preferred
5. Reliable and committed
6. Work well with others and in a team
7. Professional in conduct and appearance
8. Entry-level is welcome
9. Authorized to work in the US
10. Willing to undergo livescan background check
11. Willing to undergo some training to ensure that all guidelines will be followed
12. Willing to follow hospital immunization and safety procedures

If you are interested, please go to our website and answer the questions about your medical interpreting experience and rate, so we can follow up with you.

https://www.montereylanguages.com/send-a-resume.html

Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you soon!

An interpreter must be prepared for all kinds of interpretation assignments. One of the types is Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings.

The biggest difference between interpretation for IEP meetings versus other types of interpretation is that you have to be understanding of the student, teacher, and parent. You must understand their situation because no child is the same. This will lead to a more engaging meeting as well as a more successful interpretation event.

IEP meetings are very important for students, parents, and teachers in the United States, so being able to conduct one without issue is a very valuable skill that interpreters should do their best to work at. Some skills that you’ve learned from other interpretation work might be applicable to IEP interpretation, yet it’s important that interpreters learn the other aspects of IEP interpretation to ensure that the meeting goes without a hitch.

Familiarize yourself with the IEP process. It’s important for the interpreter to understand what the IEP process entails, including the purpose of the meeting, the roles of each participant, and the importance of confidentiality.

The interpreter should also be sure to gather information about the student, such as the student’s academic and behavioral history, previous IEPs, and any assessments or evaluations. You should also review the current IEP draft and any supporting documentation. If you are working with an LSP (Language Service Provider), you should ask them to provide this information for you.

A successful interpreter should learn about the student’s strengths, weaknesses, and needs to be able to effectively interpret the discussion about the student’s goals and accommodations.

An IEP interpreter should be familiar with the relevant vocabulary and terminology used in special education and ensure they understand the acronyms and terms used in the meeting. If there is anything you don’t understand, try to look more into it and maybe even jot them down as notes to take with you to the meeting.

As the interpreter, you should be mindful of your role as a neutral interpreter and should adhere to the professional standards and ethical considerations. Be sure that you do not provide any advice, opinions or contribute to the content of the meeting.

Monterey Language Services will be at the annual Middlebury Institute of International Studies Translation and Localization Management Career Fair, which starts at 9:00 AM on Friday, March 3^rd and finishes up at 12:00 PM.

We’re very excited to return to the career fair for the first time in person since the start of the pandemic, and we’re even more excited to be able to see all of you!

Ahead of the career fair, we’d like to ask that any interested students sign up using our online form https://forms.gle/hoFssswUREPEHZUw7. This will help us to get to know you better ahead of the event, and will help make our meeting more productive.

We’ll also be collecting resumes, getting to know you, and describing our exciting positions for interpreters or as a Project/Office Assistant.

Stop by our booth, meet our wonderful team, and tell us more about yourself! Don’t forget to sign up ahead of time using the link https://forms.gle/hoFssswUREPEHZUw7. And don’t forget to ask your friends and fellow classmates: Have you signed up yet?

As we start to emerge at the other end of the pandemic, many people are starting to go back to their offices, leaving behind remote work for hybrid or full-time away from home. Many people struggled in making home offices a pure work environment, and some are looking especially forward to the full separation of home life and work life.

That being said, an office environment takes effort and dedication to set up and maintain in order to reflect a warm, comfortable, and connected place to work.

Change of Scenery

Shifting our minds from relaxation mode to work mode takes time, so it helps to change our environment. That’s why many people benefit so much from having their entertainment spaces and items separate from their work environments.

What some people might fail to realize is that office spaces don’t have to be full of things that make us happy. Bright unobtrusive spaces, art, and other meaningful decorations can make us happier. Our production levels can increase right along with our moods.

Keeping Organized

Keeping supplies, items, desks, and other equipment in their proper places also adds to the pleasantness of an office space. Of course, keeping organized makes it easier to remember where things are, to note when you’re out of certain supplies, and where to find important documents. Letting items clutter up interferes with work, makes people frustrated, and negatively affects production levels and how we might interact with coworkers and clients.

It Works

Recently, at our own office we decided to majorly dust off equipment, toss away items that are not in line with our post-pandemic spirit, reorganize, and decorate. After moving our office location several years ago, the sudden onset of the pandemic had halted our original plans to set up our new office exactly as we wanted it. But returning to the office is another story.

Since undertaking a major cleaning up and reorganizing operation, our office has never been better. Now, our office is warm, welcoming, and organized so well that it affects our whole operation, even making those who still can’t make it to the office feel excited and inspired. Art lines the walls, brightening the rooms, and cards from our colleagues all over the world have been hung up to remind us of our cross-cultural connections, and our commitment to our clients.

Working with interpreters is crucial in a multilingual environment. Knowledge and experience on how to work with an interpreter can be a highly effective tool for you as a client. By taking an active role to facilitate the interpretation process and make the interpreter feel comfortable can help you achieve the goal of communication. Therefore, it is important to maximize the effectiveness of hired interpreters. Here are some thoughts.

1. Choose the right interpreter: Effective interpretation starts by choosing the right interpreter. Ensure that the interpreter has the necessary skills and experience to interpret accurately between the languages involved. Consider their expertise in the subject matter and their cultural sensitivity as well, as these factors can greatly impact the accuracy of the interpretation.
2. Provide background information: Background information such as subject matter, names and titles of participants, context and purpose of the event can greatly help with the accuracy of the interpretation. The more information interpreters have before the event, the better their performance will be. To provide and gather background information is considered a necessity in the interpretation process. To be exact, the interpretation process starts before the event itself.
3. Create favorable environment: Ensure that the interpreter has a clear line of sight and sound to all participants in the conversation. Experienced clients usually treat interpreters with courtesy and thoughtfulness in order to provide a favorable environment for the interpreter to work in. The goal is to help the interpreter enhance their performance and ensure that the interpretation is as accurate as possible.
4. Speak clearly and at a moderate pace: Interpreters must be able to understand the language they are interpreting. Speaking clearly and at a moderate pace can help the interpreter accurately convey the intended message. Avoid using overly complex language, because it can reduce the processing time in interpreter’s brain, help the interpreter render interpretation in an easy and smooth way.
5. Avoid distractions: Interpreters must concentrate to accurately convey both the content and tone of a conversation. Any distractions or interruptions can disrupt the flow of the interpretation process and impact interpretation in a negative way. For instance, if video interferes with audio output, then refrain from asking interpreters to appear on video. Asking interpreters to be on video usually is more distracting than not to be on video. Also avoid any activities that may be distracting, such as talking on the phone or texting.
6. Provide feedback: If there is any confusion or misunderstanding during the interpretation process, it is important to provide feedback to the interpreter. Collaboration rather than confrontation is more conducive to the outcome you would like to achieve in a communication event.

Artificial Intelligence has been in the spotlight. Let’s start with one of the most famous AIs right now, Chat GPT. Currently, it is open for free use to anyone. It is a very versatile AI that can actually have a sustained conversation with the user. All you need to do is simply enter a query and it’ll answer it accordingly. Teachers have begun banning chat GPT due to students using it to write entire essays for them. The fact that students are able to pass it off as if a human actually worked is amazing and also perhaps a little frightening.

How does AI apply to the language industry? AI has always been a constant question mark in the back of our minds especially regarding automatic translations. Now that AI can do so much, is it time for translators to become worried?

Today, translators use machine translation programs such as Trados or MemoQ to give them a baseline to work from, so called post-editing machine translation (PEMT). PEMT can greatly improve translation times especially for longer translations. For translators, it has been recognized as a valid strategy and working method. However as we all know, the translations that machine translation programs produce aren’t perfect. They are often more than not flawed. But what happens if you begin using AI such as Chat GPT which is designed to produce fluent and natural sounding language? Would a translator have a more powerful tool? Or would you have a competitor?

Translators will find that the answer is the same as it always has, ever since machine translation was introduced into the world. A machine will most certainly not remove the need for a translator. Language is always so fluid, full of nuance and possibilities that it’s almost impossible for a machine to pick up on every last detail. On the flip side though, translators may find a new ally with AI as it can cut their work time, allowing them to work on more projects. For example, translators can enter questions into Chat GPT, maybe have it check for fluency or suggest different ways of phrasing things, or even come up with new ideas.

If you’re an interpreter, you probably have even less to worry about. Though AIs such as Google Assistant are popular for quick and easy phrases, it still runs into the same problems as it is pulling from Google Translate. Interpretation especially is a field where accuracy and nuance is important and a lot of that is easily lost with AI translations.

Overall, in the language field, whether the advancement of AI would replace the role of human translators and interpreters is nothing to be concerned about, at least not in our life time. If anything, we should be excited about it. As the technology advances, translators and interpreters may find a powerful ally that will help them advance their work efficiently.

Introduction

Our first blog of the new year includes guest writing from one of our past colleagues, who picked two of his favorite movies of 2022 to review for us. These movies are, of course, fun to watch and come to us highly recommended by our guest writer. But also, as a language services provider and a small business, we like to find bits of ourselves and our work in the things we enjoy. For example, in our first movie, we take great interest in the use of social media and videos, and in the second, we were greatly affected by how the same people can have so many different circumstances.

Scream 5

Scream 5 is not just the latest entry in the Scream series, but also a question. How loyal are fans to a franchise? Though there’s a different director at the helm, the same tone as the other entries in the franchise are present, but with a modern twist.

Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and her acquaintances, are still being stalked by someone in a Ghostface outfit. This time though, social media is at the center of everything. There are online videos of people complaining about the recent Stab movies (the in-universe movies about the murders in the previous Scream movies), saying that they don’t follow the “right” path. This movie focuses on the opinionated fans who openly complain about the “wrong” directions that franchises have taken.

Overall, this is a movie that anyone who’s paid attention to social media or YouTube in the past decade will have fun watching. It’s not the best movie in the franchise, but it’s an enjoyable one!

Everything Everywhere All at Once

This is probably the most surprising movie of the year. It starts out with an ordinary situation where a family goes to social services for help with a topic. It’s as surprising for the audience as it is for the main character when everything changes in the next moment. Just like someone snapped their fingers, you’re brought through several different dimensions. The fun part? Each dimension has the same characters, but in different roles. In short, it’s a movie centering around a multiverse.

The protagonist is a Chinese-American woman (Michelle Yeoh) who experiences her life in several ways across the dimensions, all with the same people, but always different. The best part about the movie is how it managed to be original, funny, and surprising all at the same time. Your instinct might make you try to relate the movie to all the superhero movies from the past decade or two, but don’t. This is a unique movie that has no comparison, and you’re bound to love it. Also be sure to check out the movie if you’re fans of Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan (best known for his appearances in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies)!

With travel restrictions loosening up, it has become less complicated to visit other countries whether that is for work or vacation. Entry restrictions vary by country, but generally, it is best to be fully vaccinated and bring proof of that wherever you go.

Overall, traveling to other countries isn’t as simple a process as it used to be pre-pandemic, however, it is still very much doable. For instance, Japan allows travelers to use their website to go through their customs declaration, immigration, and quarantine. It makes things very convenient because when you arrive, all you have to do is scan a QR code instead of having to take time to go through the potentially lengthy process with an immigration officer.

The only con to this process is that they require you to show you the QR code from the website itself. You are not allowed to screenshot and show the QR code, meaning that you need to have an internet connection. However, as some might know, airport WiFi isn’t exactly the most reliable. This can lead to some frustration, but it is overall a small hiccup in an overall very smooth process.

One other thing to be aware of is the masking culture of the country. Countries like the United States have removed their mask mandate, meaning that you do not have to wear a mask unless you want to. While countries like Japan, still require masks indoors. In general, you should always be on the safe side and wear a mask. Even in Japan, though masks aren’t required outdoors, it’s very rare that you see anyone not wearing a mask.

It’s always best practice to be considerate of others and make them feel comfortable. You can also help other fellow foreigners be sure that they are following local safety guidelines and cultural common sense. As translators and interpreters, we have the advantage of being more aware and understanding of the country whose language we know.

Most tourists will not have that same knowledge. For example, in Japan there is no tipping culture, so it may be strange for tourists coming from countries such as the United States. They also provide storage options for bags, coats, and other belongings. There are some restaurants that provide storage in the benches, but it isn’t immediately obvious to anyone who isn’t looking for it. As a translator or interpreter, you’re in a unique position where you can help them, telling them exactly what needs to be done, and by doing that, you help bridge the gap between two cultures.

However, being a language professional doesn’t mean that you have to spend your entire vacation helping others. You should enjoy your visit by fully enjoying the things in that country that you can’t experience where you live. Just be sure to be mindful of any kind of regional language differences and customs. For instance, in Japan, the same food can have different seasoning and tastes depending on where you are in the country.

Traveling to different countries is a very exciting experience, but be sure to stay safe and courteous no matter where you go.

Happy New Year to everyone from Monterey Language Services! We wish you all the greatest in the coming year – Good Health, Happiness, and Success!

May all the challenges and adventures you tackle give you knowledge and wisdom for the next ones! Please join us in greeting the year 2023 wholeheartedly with all our colleagues, friends, and loved ones! Happy New Year!