As many in our office at Monterey Language Services—including our director—are alumni of the Middlebury Institute, we join the career fair every year to speak to promising students and other alumni who attend the event. Those involved ranged from conference interpreters to patent translators or localization project managers, and each one spoke with lots of enthusiasm and eagerness about their experiences and hopes for the future.

The career fair takes months of planning to invite and coordinate the attending companies. When the doors initially opened at 8:00AM for preparation, we were there to set up. As in years past when the event was live, we prioritized mobility with our booth—with our information placed on the table, we were free to walk around the booth and meet attendees at eye-level. One attendee mentioned that it made them feel much more at ease to speak with company employees while we were all standing, rather than speaking with company employees who were sitting.

Our booth was a roaring success. Between the official hours of the fair, 9:00AM-12:00PM, a never-ending multitude of people came to inquire about our positions. It was a treat to meet such friendly faces and discover talent from across the globe. We hope and know that regardless of the positions these students and alumni earn, they will achieve great careers.

We would like to thank not only the attendees, but also the staff at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies for making this event such a success. We know that many, including ourselves, were eager to come to the career fair in-person after such a long time away, and we think that it could not have been better. Thank you.

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?

It was quite interesting and enlightening to hear students’ stories. They come from all over the world and have incredibly diverse backgrounds, both personally and professionally. Many students have come to MIIS to begin their careers in the language industry, and show clear excitement for their current course of study and potential career paths. Other students already have years of experience in translation or interpretation, and have come to MIIS to hone their skills in a certain specialty or even to change their career trajectory entirely, for example by moving from a linguist to a project manager. Whatever the case may be, we were happy to connect with these talented people.

Students at MIIS, whether they are studying Conference Interpretation, Translation and Interpretation, or Translation and Localization Management all share a passion for languages and a keen desire to put what they are learning at school to work. We are glad to see that so many of these young professionals share our goal of bridging the world’s languages and cultures.

We are always looking for talented freelance translators and interpreters. We are also looking for Office and Project Assistants. During the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus, Monterey Language Services is poised for action – we have years of experience working remotely. For us, every challenge, downturn, or recession is an opportunity to reflect on what we can do to improve and move up to the next level. While most people and companies are focusing on the tasks at hand or cost cutting, we are thinking about what our contributions to the future would be and if we will be ready when our clients need us. Now is indeed a good time to think about all of this, and try to figure out how we can make better contributions to the environment we are in and to the people who we care about. We don’t lose faith in a crisis, and we believe those who survive the crisis will stand out when the crisis is over. To us, our career is a long journey. What’s most important is that we are ready to help when our help is needed, and staying connected to help each other out in a time like now.

Our interpreters are professionally qualified. They have studied translation and interpretation at the graduate or undergraduate level, or are professionally certified, or have received training in medical, legal and technical subject areas. They are experienced medical interpreters, legal interpreters and technical interpreters. Furthermore, they pursue continuing on-the-job training and education.

Our interpreters are not only local, able to come to our headquarters or to our client sites to perform services, but also distant, working remotely through a range of technology options such as video remote.

Our interpreters work consecutively, but also at conference, offering simultaneous interpretation.

Monterey Language Services has been providing language support to hospitals for years. A short list includes Spanish, ASL, Vietnamese, Arabic, Mandarin and Cantonese, Korean, Tagalog, Russian, French, Portuguese, German, Japanese, Punjabi, Gujarati, and indigenous languages such as Triqui, Mixteco, Zapotec. Even when a rare language is needed, we can vet and bring interpreters to our customers in a matter of hours.

We stand by ready 24-7, either work with a regular schedule of interpreting appointments, or provide last minute on-demand interpretation, for example for a hospital’s emergency needs.

It is our goal at Monterey Language Services to provide a full line of interpretation services. And it is to that end that we maintain our huge pool of professional interpreters to serve you whenever or wherever you need them.

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

A Passion for Languages

Born and raised in California, David showed a great interest in language learning since young age.  While studying Spanish literature and culture in San Jose State, he has spent time abroad in Madrid, Spain. In his junior year in college, he picked up Mandarin as a minor and went to Beijing University to sharpen his Chinese. These life experiences have given him different perspectives on international issues, which eventually led him to study policy with the focus in trade between the United States and China. David mentioned that “being able to speak another language not only introduces me to a new culture, but also teaches me how people think and behave in that specific culture.” He also joked about how being able to speak both Spanish and Mandarin allowed to “survive” in Spain, Mexico, and China during many unexpected situations.

David feels very fortunate to possess multiple language skills in both academic and professional fields. His academic specialty in trade inevitably requires him to gather both countries’ situations and argument in order to draft a strong analysis. As a result, his ability to read research journals and articles in Chinese has benefited him greatly. David mentioned that a paper can never be “well-rounded” unless both sides of the arguments have been touched upon. In the professional area, David’s academic experience and language skills have helped him land an internship with the U.S. Department of Commerce in Shanghai, and he will continue the internship in San Jose this coming semester.

Benefits of Leaning a Foreign Language

There are many benefits to learning a foreign language. Potential career paths not only include translation and interpretation, but countless others in business and in policy, like David’s. In addition, learning a foreign language can lead to a magnificent journey in a foreign country, the ability to watch foreign movies without the aid of subtitles, and the opportunity to make friends all over the world.

Fact: Based on the 2010 data, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics also project 58,400 translation and interpretation jobs available to translators and interpreters.

Question: How many professional translators and interpreters are out there to take the translation and interpretation jobs? Is being bilingual or multilingual enough to warrant a successful translation and interpretation project?

The story below is brought to you by Ringo Li, a conference interpretation student at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

I would like to share some insights based on my personal experience. I grew up speaking Mandarin and started learning English since elementary school. Later, I attended high school and college in the United States. I am a proficient bilingual, which opens up many doors for me. Yet, I can tell you that I am far from a qualified translator or interpreter.

Becoming a professional translator and interpreter often requires years of education and training. Experience is also a key element. Moreover, the language specialists’ expertise in specific fields such as medicine, business, technology, law or international relations can also increase success. These are some useful criteria for seeking quality language services. After all, quality work is what matters the most — a highly skilled translator or interpreter can always explain things clearly and accurately in another language.

Today’s world is filled with an overflow of information. When it comes to language services, there are numerous choices — but there are only a few reputable, quality providers. For best results, always look beyond mere bilingualism and multilingualism!

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

Picture source: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VZDVtyDFUtI/T2bRBkvu8YI/AAAAAAAABY8/wdBYOqxADIY/s1600/18GRAY-articleLarge-v2.jpg

Why is it important that a translation service is located in Monterey Bay? Well, some of the finest language institutes are located in Monterey. The Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS) and the Defense Language Institute (DLI) are specialized institutions. The DLI also does research in the Language field and provides linguistic and cultural instruction for the Department of Defense. MIIS provides 15 different fields of study within the umbrella of Language studies. Some of these include Social Change, Terrorism Studies, Environment, Business Studies, and Translation.

Along with these schools, California State University at Monterey Bay (CSUMB) has many students graduating with a degree in Japanese or Spanish. CSUMB also provides classes in American Sign Language (ASL) and introduces students to the deaf culture. Many of the students who graduate with these majors have also studied abroad and have been immersed in the culture with which they study. The same kind of culture can be found at MIIS and the DLI.

Monterey Peninsula College (MPC) also provides language classes that include ASL, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. This concentration of high quality language instruction in the area calls for the inclusion of a high quality translation service.  ~ By Sam Pereira

Monterey Language Services is happy to call this place “home”.

I was representing Monterey Language Services, making a company presentation at a client site.  The name “Monterey Language Services” pleasantly and surprisingly initiated a big discussion.    ~By Mei-Ling Chen

Why are we called “Monterey Language Services”?  The answers from the audience included:

• We are located in Monterey County.
• John Steinbeck wrote a lot about Cannery Row in Monterey.
• Everybody knows Monterey.
• When asked where you live and you say Monterey, everyone knows which city you are referring to.

The answers began to branch out further:

• The Monterey area is famous for languages because of several renowned higher education language institutions, such as Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS) and Defense Language Institute (DLI).
•  Monterey showcases the language history of the area.  Immigrants of almost every ethnicity worked in Cannery Row.
• ·Monterey has the unofficial title of the language capital of the world.

The name “Monterey Language Services” does have its significance to us, just like names such as Oxford, Napa and The Hague have international significance as authorities on academics, wine, and law.

Because of the name, and the fact that many of us are trained and educated here, we are driven to provide high-quality translation and interpretation services. We are committed to keeping high quality as the leading force in the translation and interpretation services industry.

The name “Monterey Language Services” inspires us to serve the community, as well as every other part of the nation and world.  With this commitment in mind, it is no wonder that the name Monterey Language Services attracted so much interest among the audience whom I met locally yesterday.

What a wonderful time to start a new year!  We wish everyone a successful year to come!

Recently quite a few new friends have “liked” us on Facebook. We would like to take this opportunity to welcome our friends from all across the U.S. and let them know a little bit about who we are and what we do!

Our team is made up of graduates and students from the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS) and other translation universities. We are language people and a solid provider of translation and interpretation services. Almost all of us have been in the language industry for our entire lives.

Bridging languages is something we do every single day. We consider ourselves a bridge, connecting two different languages and two different people. We put this idea in our logo, which represents us as the red apex, signifying the spirit which underlies our work.

Imagine: an interpreter is facilitating communication between doctors and patients in a hospital setting (medical interpretation), a translator is working on a PowerPoint presentation from English to French, two colleagues are working in an office to utilize their language skills to compose a blog… you get the picture. These are all happening simultaneously in Monterey Language Services. What a powerful experience this is we are encountering!

Learning foreign languages can open a lot of doors and lead to opportunities you never would have expected. Monterey Language Services is the place where all of these things come together and that is one major reason students love coming to work with us.

We are fulfilling our passion, and most importantly, we have fun doing it! 

Tate Miller, Dean at the Center for Advising and Career Services at Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS), conveyed to us that many students had wonderful conversations with us at the MIIS job fair. This brought back a lot of fond memories. The feeling is mutual; we also had a fantastic time talking to the students. Among the interesting topics we discussed:

– how a translation and interpretation company like Monterey Language Services is operated

– how all of the languages are supported at Monterey Language Services

– how to distinguish yourself from your peers in a competitive job market

– how medical interpretation involves human life and feelings that go beyond technical interpretation

– how instant messaging has changed the way language is processed in our minds

– how something like music is related to language and translation

We consider all of the students our colleagues. They showed us a lot of talent in their conversation and works, enriched us with their different perspectives and strengths, and we were very happy to share our experiences from 12 years working in the translation and interpretation industry. In fact, we enjoyed talking with the students so much that we were the last table at the career fair and at the reception the night before. Like the last table remaining after a busy night in a lively restaurant or at a good party, the one that stays the longest laughs and enjoys themselves the most!

In short, we care about each individual encounter. To us, it is not only a process of submitting and collecting resumes; instead, we always seek to bridge different hearts, minds, and ideas, whether participating in an event like the MIIS Career Fair or connecting at the workplace. As a result of this conviction, students’ passion, energy, fun, and laughter is seen coming out.