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.

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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)!”

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★ 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.”

The making of our Thanksgiving video was a journey that reminded us of the unique value human creativity brings to our work.

In a world where AI tools are rapidly evolving, we see AI not as competition but as an opportunity to reflect on the qualities that set us apart.

Our process—rooted in collaboration, thoughtfulness, and emotional nuance—is a testament to the irreplaceable role of the human touch in crafting meaningful connections.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we decided to create a heartfelt greeting video to thank everyone—our clients, coworkers, and friends. Through our combined team efforts, we were able to make a video that sets us apart from AI. Here’s our process on how we made this year’s video special.

We gathered photos of our team members in action—focused, collaborating, and working wisely. These images were the perfect way to showcase the dedication and effort we put into every project. Each picture highlighted a different aspect of our work, whether in the office, in meetings, or working remotely.

We also gathered photos of our team celebrating Thanksgiving together. Whether we were sharing a toast, giving thanks, or simply enjoying each other’s company. These images added a joyful, festival touch to the video. It was important for us to show not only our professional side but also the warmth we share as a team.

To step it up a notch, we reached out to Layla and asked her to write a poem that would capture the team, dedication, and the spirit of Thanksgiving. Layla’s words were both thoughtful and inspiring. The poem beautifully expressed our gratitude and teamwork.

In praise of work partners

Integrity, merit, jubilation
Honorably, you display

Collaborative endeavors and dynamic talents
Significant affiliation creates

Vigorous diligence and wise resolutions
Remarkable admiration cultivates

Our heartfelt gratitude we proclaim to you
A bountiful Thanksgiving we wish for you

We carefully selected the best visuals to match each part of the poem, ensuring the transitions felt seamless and natural. We also added more Thanksgiving elements to make the video warmer and more festive.  We show Layla’s poem in its entirety at the end, but have stanzas of her poem alternate with our wishes and pictures of our staff. The result is a very interesting video that will make the viewer feel the warm greetings from Monterey Language Services while making sure that our thanks are conveyed.

One important thing we did in this video was feature our clients. It’s important to show that we’re all more than just a faceless company, but a team of people who are all working toward a common goal. It helps to show harmony, joy, and peace. This is something that we did last year as well, and something that we will continue to do each year.

We made sure that the transitions were consistent across the entire video and had a method where we would have the text fly in, and then when the next slide had pictures, we’d do a door opening effect. The door opening effect was used for all the pictures, but for text-to-text transitions, we had a slide effect. This was all very intentionally engineered to make a very smooth and comforting feel for the viewer as they watched the video.

From start to finish, we made sure every element of the video reflected the gratitude we feel for our clients, coworkers, and friends. It’s not just about the work we do; it’s about the connections we build and the community we’re part of.

Once completed, we were proud to share the final product—a video that not only conveyed our thanks but also celebrated teamwork, dedication, and joy. It was a reminder that the work we do is about more than just business; it’s about the people we collaborate with, and the relationships we build along the way. It has truly been a joy to work with all our clients and we look forward to our continued collaboration!

When people ask us if Chat GPT or AI is a threat to us, we will proudly answer no. We take a higher road that involves beauty, nuances, and uniqueness that only humans work together as a team can create!  AI produced work is plain and predictable. In our opinion, AI in fact has a long way to go in the language industry!

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.

A Real Life Example

The book “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down,” written by Anne Fadiman, describes the cultural and medical misunderstandings that occurred between a Hmong refugee family and the American healthcare system.  Lia suffered severe epilepsy, which causes frequent seizures. Hmong people believe that seizures happen because a spirit catches the person, whereas American doctors identified the imbalance of chemicals as the cause of seizures. Without any medical interpreters, the family could only rely on the help of relatives for informal interpretation. While American doctors prescribed appropriate medicine for Lia, the family never gave Lia the right dosage because they did not understand the doctors’ instructions. Moreover, the Hmong community felt skeptical of modern medicine. As the cultural misunderstanding and confusion continued, Lia’s condition worsened.

Lessons Learned

Imagine how differently Lia’s life would turn out if a qualified medical interpreter was in place. Language skills are the basic expertise a medical interpreter should possess, but a professional interpreter should also have a rich understanding of both cultures. In addition, the interpreter should be respectful and sensible towards cultural behaviors, which can easily lead to misunderstanding between the medical providers and the families. When such occasion rises, the interpreter should react quickly and notify each party (usually with: “interpreter explanation”) and then explain the behavior as a result of cultural practices. For instance, doctors may not able to understand why family member cannot make important decisions on the spot. The interpreter should explain to the doctors that in some cultures, family members need to get together in order to make important decisions.

In the complex environment of healthcare settings, medical interpreters should be not only the communicator of different parties but also the bridge of different cultures.

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