Monterey Language Services is looking for 3-4 Spanish medical interpreters to provide in-person interpretation services to federally funded productive health care facilities in Richmond and Antioch, CA.

Requirements:

1. Have completed 100 hours of CCHI approved interpreter training
2. Experienced with in-person medical interpretation
3. Have reliable transportation to and from Richmond or Antioch
4. Enjoy working with young children and particularly mothers
5. Familiar with OBGYN or prenatal services
6. Female interpreters preferred; male interpreters welcomed as well
7. Entry-level is welcome
8. Culturally competent
9. Professional in conduct and appearance
10. Authorized to work in the US

What to Expect:

1. We need someone who is living or willing to relocate to the Richmond/Antioch areas in California for in-person interpretation
2. This will be a 2-year contract
3. Part Time (15 hrs or more per week)
4. Be available to stay on-site for blocks of time to be designated every week
5. Able to work on a team and work well with others
6. May need to shadow physicians and nurses and provide interpretation when necessary
7. Occasionally interpret remotely (via phone or video)
8. Willing to undergo a background check and health screening/immunization
9. Willing to undergo some training to ensure that all guidelines will be followed
10. Willing to follow hospital immunization and safety procedures

If you are interested in joining us, as a first step, please go on our website and in particular answer the questions about your medical interpreting experience, so we can follow up with you. Please also feel welcome to refer entry-level colleagues by sharing this email. Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you soon!

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

Some of the most critical languages to interpret for are those that are indigenous, especially given how rare native speakers of these languages are. In today’s post, we will be listing several of Mexican Indigenous languages and where they are from and where they are most commonly spoken in the US.

1. Triqui
There are about 25,000 speakers of Triqui, with most of the speakers being indigenous people of the western part of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. The language is also spoken in Baja California; native speakers are typically ethnically Trique. Somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 Triqui speakers have immigrated to the US, with communities in California, New York, and Washington state. There are four major varieties for Triqui: Triqui Bajo, Triqui Alto, Triqui Media, and Triqui de Copala with Triqui de Copala having the most speakers. There are also Triqui-language radio programs based in San Quintin, Baja California, and XETLA (an indigenous community radio station).

2. Mixteco
This is another Oto-Manguean set of languages, and is spoken by about 530,000 people from Oaxaca, Peubla, and Geurrero, Mexico. Immigrants from these areas can typically be found in New York, Arizona, and throughout California such as Baja, San Diego. Though people might think of Mixteco as a single language, some estimate that there are thirty or fifty variations of the language. Typically when they speak to each other though, they use Spanish, so even if they do not speak the same variation, they can communicate with each other.

3. Zapotec
Zapotec has about 490,000 native speakers with the majority of speakers in the United States based in California and New Jersey. The Mexican government officially recognizes sixty Zapotec dialects, and since there can be so much variance between them, it can be difficult for different dialect speakers to understand each other. However, most Zapotec speakers know Spanish as well, so they are still able to communicate with each other.

4. Purepecha/Tarasco
This is an indigenous language that is centered in the northwestern region of Michoacan, Mexico with a total population of about 141,177. In the United States, you can find most speakers in California, Oregon, and Washington. Purepecha is considered an endangered language due to the rate of speakers becoming bilingual rising with less than 10% of speakers being monolingual. Tarasco is another name for Purepecha, which comes from the fact that Tarasca is an exonym for Purepecha culture.

5. Nahuatl
This is a language where most of the speakers are in Central Mexico, but there are speakers of the language in the United States as well, primarily in California where it is the fourth indigenous language of Mexico, trailing Mixteco, Zapotec, and Triqui. The communities that speak the languages are mostly scattered and in rural areas, but there are over a million speakers, most of whom are Mexican immigrants from indigenous communities and Chicanos. Overall though, the exact number of speakers is unknown.

6. Chatino
Similarly, Chatino is another subset within Oto-Manguean languages, and it also originates from Oaxaca, Mexico. Chatino is at a high risk of disappearance, with between 30,000 and 45,000 native speakers. There are three languages that are a part of Chatino: Zenzontepec, Tataltepec, and Easter Chatino. Overall, the Chatinos have cultural and linguistic ties with Zapotec and is recognized as a national language in Mexico.

From time to time, an interpreter may get a voiceover assignment, such as providing the voice track for a new exhibit at a museum in an audio guide. Being able to record this new audio in a professional studio is of course the best option, but modern technology has progressed to the point where it is completely possible to produce studio level recordings from the comfort of your own home. It’s possible that one day, producing recordings remotely may even become the standard. Additionally, in a pinch, you might have to use your own computer and microphone. In that case, how do you get the best out of your on-hand equipment? We’ll give you a few tips.

1. Stay about 6 inches away from the microphone.

Speaking too close to your microphone or too loudly can increase the audio gain too much–you can see this when your audio capture goes up into the red. However, speaking too far away from the microphone will prevent the microphone from picking up your voice clearly. A good estimate is to stay about 6 inches away from your microphone, although your microphone might have a nice “sweet spot.” One good practice is to make sure that you use a standing microphone, and make sure that it is not touching anything that would cause any unintentional noise. So for example, if you have a microphone that touches the floor, make sure it is on a carpeted surface to prevent any loud scraping or knocking noises.

2. Try equipping a pop filter

Pop filters help to dampen the sound produced when saying words with P and T. If you do not have one, then you can try making one with the materials available to you.

3. Limit background noises.

Spinning fans, beeps, vibrations, key clacking, and the like can be picked up by the microphone. Try to turn all distracting noises off, or move to a room where these distracting noises are not.

4. Dampen the echo of your voice.

Hard surfaces around you, like tables, walls, desks, and so on, reflect the sound of your voice when you speak. You might not always be able to hear the echo normally as our brains can filter out those faint echoes, but your microphone will certainly pick it up. To avoid this, you can cover these surfaces with cloth, or hang up curtains or clothes in a pinch.

5. Post-edit

If you are not too pressed for time, taking the time to edit your sound clip can result in a completely different sounding recording. It may take some learning, but there are a wealth of programs out there that have the potential to make your recordings sound on-par with professionals. For instance, Adobe Audition has various functions that can eliminate background sound, fine tune your voice, and even eliminate certain sounds from your voice completely.

In the end, it’s understandable that many people have reservations about home recordings, but with the current state of technology, it is not impossible to deliver professional, or near-professional level work to your clients. We hope these tips will help you record to the level that you want without having to use a professional studio. Good luck recording!

Happy New Year to everyone from Monterey Language Services! We wish you good health, happiness and success in the coming year!

2022 will be a new, fresh start for all of us to accomplish even more than we were able to in 2021. We wish that all your dreams come true in the new year!

Please join us in greeting the year 2022 wholeheartedly with all our colleagues, friends, and loved ones! Happy New Year!

In 2016, the California Legislature approved a bill that would help improve the amount and quality of medical interpretation services in the state.

In accordance with Assembly Bill (AB) 635 (Atkins, Chapter 600, Statutes of 2016) which was passed with little objection, and Senate Bill (SB) 165 (Atkins, Chapter 365, Statutes of 2019) which passed unanimously:

On August 31, 2021, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) announced that Medi-Cal beneficiaries will be receiving increased interpreter support in several regions in California, including Contra Costa County. The aim of this was to ensure that all patients, no matter what language they speak, are able to receive the care that they deserve without having to worry about communication.

The project is called Medical Interpretation Pilot Project. Through the legislatively mandated project, medical interpreters in the following languages are needed or will be called upon. This is to cover Medi-Cal assignments in the area either on-site or remotely, either via phone or video conferencing.

Arabic
Armenian
Cambodian
Cantonese
Dari
Farsi
Hindi
Hmong
Japanese
Korean
Laotian
Mam
Mandarin
Mien
Mixteco
Pashto
Punjabi
Russian
Spanish
Tagalog
Thai
Vietnamese

Monterey Language Services is proud to be part of the MIPP team, providing interpretation services in Richmond/Antioch area.

Monterey Language Services is looking for medical interpreters in Richmond/Martinez area in the following languages. This is to cover our assignments in the area on a regular basis.

Language List:

Arabic, Armenian, Cambodian, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Farsi, Hindi, Hmong, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Mien, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai, and Vietnamese

If you are interested, could you briefly let us know your language, experience, rate, and how far you are from CA 94553, so we can follow up with you. Please also feel welcome to refer colleagues.

Emails can be sent to Director of Translation, Mei-Ling Chen at the following address.
mei-ling@montereylanguages.com

Thank you!

Oftentimes, we at Monterey Language Services receive requests to have personal documents such as birth certificates or marriage licenses translated into other languages. Translating these kinds of documents is very important and should be handled with the utmost care since they are legal documents and can have a great effect on the specific functions that the customer plans to use these translated documents for. As a translator, there are several things that we will need to be careful of while doing so.

First, not every translator is able to translate these documents. By that, we do not particularly mean skill barrier that would prevent one from completing the translation, but there are certain certifications that are required to ensure that the translation can be used. For instance, in California, county clerks require court-certified or ATA certified translators to sign most translation certifications.

If you are a translator and are looking to expand your field of expertise, having these kinds of certifications will make you more attractive to potential clients. Monterey Language Services has an extensive network of court certified and ATA-certified interpreters as well as translators in many different languages whom we work with to ensure that we are always able to meet our clients’ needs.

One more thing to be careful of is the project’s timeline. Clients have different needs regarding timelines, and some might need urgent certified translations. While translating these kinds of documents in a short time might not be too difficult, the more concerning part is certifying the translation.

Most states or counties have their own forms that need to be filled out and notarized then submitted with the translation, but these forms need to be signed in-person, and the originals need to be given to the client. The client may expect to get everything in their hands in 24 hours. Unless we are 100% confident, otherwise we should give ourselves at least one extra day to ensure that any problems that come up do not affect the delivery of the files.

Being entrusted to help someone with the translation of their legal documents is an honor, but what’s what needs to be done and whether there is enough time to do it are important things to consider, so that we can avoid unexpected situations and deliver the project to the client on time.

As a translator, have you thought about changing your specialty? For translators, one of the most important things is to have a strong mastery of the language you are translating from as well as the language you are translating into. But it is also important to have your own specialty area that you are well familiar with—such as technical, medical, or legal fields.

Being a well-rounded translator is not a bad idea, but many translators have their own specialty that they have developed and focused on for their entire career. Sometimes though, translators and interpreters might want a change of pace, and break into different fields. While this isn’t easy, it’s also not impossible to start fresh in a new specialty field. So long as you have the determination and patience necessary to change your specialization, you can do it.

Depending on the field that you are switching to, what you will need to do will change. For example, if you want to go into a technical field such as information technology, you should focus on gaining knowledge of the field to be able to adequately translate or interpret the materials given to you. The best way to do this is to go back to school, or perhaps take a course at a community college. The latter choice would be a relatively inexpensive and an easy way to get the necessary knowledge of information technology. If there are any gaps in your expertise that need to be filled, you can try to contact experts and ask them to give you advice and answer any questions that you might have.

For everything else, there is the internet. For example, if you are trying to learn about the finance, there are many online resources such as investopedia that highlight the intricacies of financial documents. Other fields such as technology—especially more specific fields that deal with things such as data centers, contact centers, cloud services, and cyber security—have very specific terminology that translators who do not specialize in the field might have trouble translating correctly. For these, it might take you some time to read and research online.

For legal and medical matters, it is not as easy as just going back to school. You also need to take required training and have enough experience to satisfactorily translate or interpret matters of the law or medical fields. Experience is tricky to gain without having prior knowledge or specialization, but you can try working as an interpreter in training and begin trying to get your knowledge and experience that way. Try to expose yourself to opportunities and learn on the job, or go back to school and try to learn more about legal or medical terminology. Furthermore, do your best to build a portfolio of your work so that you can quickly show employers what you can bring to the table. Sometimes some work that you’ve done has elements that stand out in other work. With a portfolio, you can easily point to the work you’ve done and prove that you are capable of working in the field.

In our last post, we talked about Zoom’s useful interpretation function and how to use it. Other major video conferencing programs such as Microsoft Teams, Skype, and Google Meet have their own unique functions, but none that are integrated and allow for simultaneous interpretation. For the moment, Zoom is an option for using simultaneous remote interpretation. In this post, we will explore a little more about what features are available on Zoom as well as some entry-level lessons for Zoom use.

Let’s start with the basics. To connect to a Zoom meeting, you will first need to have Zoom downloaded to your computer or device and installed. Then, you will need the host to send you one of two things— either a link to the meeting or the meeting ID and the password. Some meetings do not have passwords though, but it’s good practice to ask for a password regardless when agreeing to the meeting. Meeting IDs typically follow this format, 000 0000 0000, with a total of eleven numbers. If the client sends you a meeting ID that does not consist of eleven numbers, you should check with them to confirm. Alternatively, if you do not want to connect through the computer or just want audio only, most Zoom meetings come with a phone number with which you can call into as well.

When you connect, there are several things that might happen depending on both your settings and how the host set up the meeting. If it is a large meeting with many people, then it’s possible that the host will have the meeting set up so that they will have to manually let participants into the meeting. This means that when you connect, you will not go directly into the call. Instead, you will see a screen that says that the host will let you into the meeting. When you get into the meeting, depending on your settings, you might join with your camera on and microphone on, or maybe both of them off, or a combination of the two. Be wary of that if you need a minute or two to get settled and do not want to have your microphone or video on when you connect. You can change this before you connect in the settings of Zoom.

When you are in the meeting, you will notice that there are different buttons at the bottom. As an interpreter you most likely will only need to use the buttons to toggle your microphone and video, the interpretation button if the client has it enabled, and of course the end call button when the meeting ends. Moreover, Zoom has a recording function and a function where the program can transcribe what was said during a recording in the target language. This will only work for the target language, which is English by default depending on what language the host has their program in. The transcription is fairly accurate and can be useful if you want to review what was said or translate the questions into a different language.

For an interpreter working remotely through this pandemic, you more than likely have used Zoom to provide your services. Like Google Meet, Zoom is one of the most used video conferencing tools. It is easy to use and comes with many features that make video conferencing more convenient. One of these features is its interpretation feature. This post will help you learn more about this feature and how to best use it.

First, the host should not be using a free account. The free account comes with many features, but it does not come with the interpretation feature enabled. The easiest way to do this is to upgrade to a business account. Along with a variety of features, the interpretation function is enabled on student and business accounts. Also, be sure to have Zoom updated to its latest version. The interpretation function did not come to the program until later versions, so older versions will not be able to use it. There are many clients who do not realize this and are confused as to why they cannot use interpretation despite perfectly following the instructions.

The next step is to make sure that the interpretation function is enabled. To do this, the host will need to go into the web portal for Zoom and sign into their account. From there, they will need to go into Settings and then go to In Meeting (Advanced). If there is no option for this, you will need to contact Zoom support to have it enabled. After you go into In Meeting (Advanced), all you need to do is scroll down to Language Interpretation and add the languages you need. Just note that you can add as many languages you want to the list of languages, but in a meeting, you can only set up a maximum of five at once.

After enabling the interpreter function and adding the desired languages, it is time to add the interpreters. While still in the web portal, navigate to Schedule a Meeting, and after setting up the meeting as you like, then scroll down to Interpretation and check the box for Enable Language Interpretation. In that same section, there should be a box where you can add an interpreter by their email address, and you can add what language they will be speaking. When you do this, be sure that the interpreter is using a Zoom account that is linked to the email that you put in. If they use a different account, then be sure to ask them for that email address so that you can add them.

Finally, you can launch the meeting. After the meeting is launched, have the interpreter(s) join, and then in the meeting controls, you should see Interpretation. Click on that and you will be able to add and remove interpreters as necessary. If the interpreters are not appearing, make sure that they are properly added, on the right account, and that you have the latest version of Zoom. If you follow all these instructions, then you will be on the way to a successful Zoom interpretation session!