Some notes stay with us forever—they are real, heartfelt, and mean a lot to us. One such note from Central Coast Community Energy inspired us to create a short piano piece, celebrating the genuine connection we share with our clients.

Read full story

Major Testimonials

★ Government

California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) — Corinne Chavez, Health Program Manager II

“Monterey Language Services’ collaboration and insights improved care for Medi-Cal members with Limited English Proficiency. Thank you for participating in the Medical Interpreter Pilot Project (MIPP)!”

Full Story

★ Healthcare

Natividad Medical Center — Victor Sosa, M.Ed., CMI

“Monterey Language Services provides interpreters with subject expertise for all our language needs. They’ve done an excellent job for us!”

★ Education

Monterey Peninsula College — Jeannie Kim-McPherson, Dean of Instruction

“Thank you for the quick turnaround. Working with your team has been seamless and positive.”

★ Community

Central Coast Community Energy — Peter Berridge, Manager of Communications

“We’ve truly enjoyed working with Monterey Language Services. Their professionalism and warmth make our collaboration meaningful.”

Client Voices — Moments That Stay with Us

• “I love it when good people come together to do great things!”
• “We are thankful for your help in untangling the mess—it made a difference.”
• “Your team is the most professional interpreter staff we’ve ever worked with.”
• “Some notes stay with us forever—they mean a lot to us.”
• “We are grateful for the expertise and care your team provides every day.”
• “Your service and team are outstanding.”
• “Thank you for your quick turnaround and thoughtful attention to detail.”

Recently, Monterey Language Services provided simultaneous Spanish interpretation at a school board meeting. The parents of many students at this school are Mexican Spanish-speaking with a wide range of English proficiency, and the staff had become concerned that these parents were missing out on crucial information regarding school policies.

As a language service provider, we understand the importance of and advocate for information distribution. We jumped at the opportunity and immediately set to locating the most qualified interpreters in the community.

The Search

We have a vast network of interpreters, which allows us to choose the best interpreters for the job. In this case, we ended up picking two interpreters who were local to the area and subject matter experts.

You might be wondering why we assigned two interpreters. For a simultaneous event, it is standard practice to have team interpreters. Given the mental taxation for simultaneous interpretation, one interpreter will speak for a given amount of time (generally twenty to thirty minutes), then take turns with the other interpreter. This way interpreters can take a break, help with another matter at the event if need be, or provide notes or backup to each other.

We thought it was appropriate to assign interpreters from the area, as the interpreters have a closer association with local events and therefore have more enthusiasm in giving back to the community.

The fact that our two interpreters for this assignment are subject matter experts concerning education is another boon, because they know about the ins and outs of the education system.

The Preparation

Our office carries a plethora of equipment for interpretation events, including microphone headsets, transmitters, receivers, and receiver headsets. As a brief rundown, the interpreter usually whispers their interpretation into a microphone headset, which goes through a transmitter to the receivers; the interpreter’s words then are delivered right to the listeners’ ears through the receiver headsets.

We count out the number of headsets, transmitters, and receivers needed, then test each one to ensure that they work. Once all equipment is checked and accounted for, we wipe them with alcohol swabs to assure cleanliness before packing them into foam-lined cases to make sure nothing accidentally gets damaged.

Setup and Execution

Since this was the first interpretation event performed at this school, our office manager arrived an hour before the event. Preparation on-site began with introduction of the equipment to our client, in which we included written instructions for reference.

We also made sure to give the interpreters a place to be where they could see and hear the speakers, as well as see any supplementary material that the speakers put on a television screen. This setup allowed the interpreters to take in all available information so that their interpretation would be as accurate as possible.

Cleanup

Once all equipment was brought back to our office, we took great care to ensure that everything was still working well. Inspecting the equipment after an event can be a delicate process that includes checking for malfunctions, cracks, broken wires, etc. Given that Covid-19 is still a prevalent concern, we clean the equipment with alcohol swabs yet again before storing it.

Another concern is that, as our transmitters and receivers are battery-powered, we check for battery corrosion, which can harm the equipment and cause it to stop working. Leaving batteries for too long inside any equipment can lead to leakage of the hydrogen gas inside, so we always make sure to take batteries out when our transmitters and receivers are not being prepped for use or in-use.

The Result

The school office advertised to parents that there would be simultaneous Spanish interpretation at their school board event, and many of the people coming into the meeting were excited, even those who did not need interpretation services themselves. Spanish speakers eagerly took receivers and headsets, thanking our office manager and interpreters for the assistance. A conversation with a Spanish-speaking teacher revealed that there had been lots of anticipation around this event, and that the schoolboard was eager to provide an even better experience at the next one.

Getting to see how the Spanish speakers were excited about receiving information in Spanish at the same time as the English speakers is very inspiring and this is what helping people with communication is all about. It’s a rewarding experience and we look forward to the next one!

What makes an expert translator? Generally, it’s someone with a wealth of experience in a particular field, which they can bring to translation of materials in that field. The expert translator is able to understand difficult or obscure concepts, and then convey these concepts in another language clearly and accurately while using proper terminology and discourse.

Subjects that typically require expert translators include IT, Law, Medicine, and Business Management, to name only a few. When launching a translation project in one of these fields, we start by putting together an expert team – but no mixing expertises. For example, we will assign legal projects to translators who used to be lawyers, but not IT projects. As another example, we recently translated a large tech company’s presentation into Turkish. Since the subject matter was highly technical, we limited our selection process to translators very familiar with the IT field, and also had an industry expert to go over the translation. This is because we take quality assurance very seriously, and we want to be absolutely sure that the translations we produce are completely accurate. We also take a similar approach when we work with a large volume of medical documents. We put together a team of translators who are experienced at translating such documents, and some translators even have actual medical training.

Expert translators can really shine when it comes to cutting-edge technologies that are quickly becoming the trends of the future, like artificial intelligence (AI), block chain technology, and more. These topics are constantly developing, and expert translators have to keep their knowledge and understanding up-to-date. Imagine being able to understand and express these complex, ever-evolving ideas in not one but two (or more) languages! That is the skill level of some expert translators. In fact, since some of these technologies are so new, there are no equivalent words or phrases in languages other than the one it was developed in. This means that expert translators can sometimes even be the ones to create appropriate terminology in their native language. Working on cutting edge technology provides an exciting opportunity for expert translators, who give tech companies the ability to expand and grow internationally.

For us, working with expert translators is such a dynamic and positive process! It’s a breath of fresh air which always gives us a lot of energy and momentum to keep going and provide the best possible translation and interpretation services to our clients!

For translation and interpretation projects, why do customers prefer to hire a translation company like Monterey Language Services instead of an individual translator or interpreter?

The short answer is a company like ours has a system and resources in place to guarantee quality and availability.  In other words, we provide professional translation and interpretation services.

We make sure all our customers are confident that their projects are being handled by experts and their requests will be met with the highest possible quality. We are our customers’ external team, helping them move forward to the growth of their core business.

Whether it is a request for a Chinese interpreter for two hour or a couple of Spanish interpreters and Portuguese interpreters for two days; a one-page press release to be translated in eighteen languages, or a thirty page manual to be translated into Spanish, French, German, and Japanese, we take care of them all.  That is our everyday life.

First, we recruit highly skilled translators and interpreters every single day – find the best translators and interpreters with the right language pair and expert background knowledge, and test them. Then, we train them according to the customer’s guidelines. We coordinate them and brief them with all the necessary information, so they become a part of the company we serve.  

We also decide on how many linguists to deploy to assure quality in every aspect and provide backup translators and interpreters if one becomes unavailable. We provide all languages assistance in order to meet our customers’ needs for comprehensive and full line services.  Once a customer finds Monterey Language Services, they don’t need to go anywhere else.  We tailor solutions to our customers’ specific needs.

Last but not least, often times, a translation project, a conference interpretation event, or a voiceover/subtitling project requires a team effort.  Projects are usually supported by a group of professionals rather than a single-handed individual effort.   It could involve so many aspects that only an experienced and professional company like Monterey Language Services can excel in it.

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