Metaglossia: The Translation World

Major League Baseball is expected to adopt a rule that will allow a team to send an interpreter to the mound with the manager or the pitching coach to speak to a foreign-born pitcher.

The Law Society has warned of the ‘inherent risk’ in granting a monopoly contract to a single provider of courtroom interpreting, but said it lacks sufficient evidence to judge whether the contract awarded to Applied Language Solutions caused a ‘major structural problem’.

Responding to the justice committee’s call for written evidence on the controversial deal between the Ministry of Justice and the company contracted to provide court interpreters, the Law Society said it had received submissions from only four solicitors.

The Society said: ‘It is clear that there have been some problems which have caused individual distress, unnecessary adjournments and inconvenience, and which suggests that there may be a wider difficulty.’

Chancery Lane also highlighted the importance of the efficient delivery of translation services to the smooth running of the justice system and warned of the ‘significant risk of miscarriages of justice’ occurring where the standard of interpretation is inadequate.

The contract with Oldham-based ALS was intended by the MoJ to save £18m a year, cutting translation costs by nearly a third. The ministry described the initial difficulties as ‘teething problems’ but said the situation has now improved.

PRINCETON, N.J., Sept. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — New Jersey is one of the most racially and ethnically diverse states in the country. About 1 million residents are unable to speak English well, and more than 165,000 do not speak English at all. For hospitals and their patients, clear communication is essential for ensuring quality healthcare and successful outcomes.

With more than 100 languages spoken in the Garden State, the New Jersey Hospital Association offers a statewide training program to help hospitals bridge the language barrier. The program, offered through a nonprofit NJHA affiliate called the Health Research and Educational Trust, trains bilingual hospital staff to serve as medical interpreters. These staffers are uniquely suited for this very important role since they reflect the diversity of their communities and possess a background in healthcare.

Since the program’s launch in 2007, more than 400 bilingual staff from 32 healthcare facilities have been successfully trained to serve as medical interpreters. The next round of training sessions will be offered this fall; all sessions are from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.:

Sept. 7, Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, 1199 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange
Oct. 5, New Jersey Hospital Association, 760 Alexander Road, Princeton
Nov. 20, Cumberland County College, 3322 College Drive, Vineland
“New Jersey hospitals continue to strive to meet the unique healthcare, social and welfare needs of their communities. Having bilingual staff to serve as medical interpreters can help prevent unnecessary testing and misdiagnosis. And clear, culturally sensitive communication can help produce greater patient compliance, satisfaction and improved health outcomes,” said Firoozeh Vali, PhD, NJHA’s vice president of research.

redOrbit (http://s.tt/1mt48)

Medical interpreters are an essential component of effective communication between LEP patients and healthcare providers. A recent study compared the errors and consequences among encounters involving professional interpreters, ad hoc interpreters, and no interpreters.
According to recent United States Census estimates, more than 25 million Americans have limited English proficiency (LEP), and many of these individuals are school-age children. Language barriers affect multiple aspects of healthcare for LEP patients, including access to care, health status, use of health services, and patient safety. LEP patients often defer needed medical care, have higher risks of leaving hospitals against medical advice, and are less likely to have a regular healthcare provider. They’re also more likely to miss follow-up appointments and to be non-adherent with medications.

How the shooting of two suspected CIA employees in Mexico reveals the U.S. government's shocking deficit of critical language skills.

In re: this strange incident in which two U.S. government employees, suspected to be working for the CIA, were shot in Mexico, this note, buried deep in The Washington Post's coverage of the incident, struck me as odd:
The two U.S. employees and a Mexican navy captain serving as an interpreter were heading Friday to a navy training camp south of Mexico City when, the U.S. Embassy says, they were ambushed.
They needed an interpreter? Really? Assuming these two employees were, in fact, CIA, what does it suggest about our intelligence agencies that they don't have adequate numbers of Spanish speakers to deploy to Mexico? A dearth of Arabic and Farsi and Pashto speakers, I understand -- it's only been, you know, more than a decade since 9/11. You can't expect the government to rush its employees into hard-language courses. After all, these hard languages are... hard. But Spanish?

I'm trying to find out more about this. But it is consistently astonishing to me, after years of traveling in odd, and not-so-odd places, how few American government employees are fully fluent, or even partially fluent, in the languages of the countries to which they are deployed.

A language barrier between Hispanic residents in Paragould and public services makes interpreters beneficial at the police department and court system.

PARAGOULD, AR (KAIT) - The last U.S. Census Bureau reported that Hispanics make up 2.4% of Greene County residents.

"I think there's a growing population of Hispanics in this area, I really do, and I think language is a barrier sometimes," interpreter Simon Ramirez told Region 8 News.

Ramirez is one of a few interpreters in Greene County that the Paragould Police and Greene County court system turn to if language barriers arise. Ramirez has lived in Greene County since the 1990's and said he's worked as an interpreter for the past eight years.

"Well, like this morning I got called here at a quarter after 8 to be here at 1:30," Ramirez said. "I helped out with an individual with a DWI and explained all of his rights and what he can do and all the classes he has to take."

Ramirez said the language barriers can sometimes create big problems for Spanish-speaking residents.

"They might be in jail three days extra...of course they get credit for that, but sometimes they could've been out in 24 hours," Ramirez explained.

To alleviate that problem, Paragould Police can turn to interpreters like Ramirez to assist them when language barriers come up.

"We do have a few officers that speak Spanish. Not fluently but they can communicate," Paragould Police Captain Phillip Faulkner told Region 8 News. He said if a position came up it would be helpful, but they don't have that option right now.

"We'd have to have a position first," Faulkner said. "Unfortunately, we don't get that many bilingual people to apply."

Faulkner said certain apps for smart phones can make do in some situations but the interpreters often prove more beneficial for their department and the courts system.

"It's very nice to have because there is a language barrier," Faulkner said. "It always helps to have an interpreter."

Ramirez said he'll continue being an interpreter in Greene County because he enjoys it.

The communities we serve are currently experiencing an extremely high need for interpreters in the medical industry. Pacific Interpreters is hiring over-the-phone interpreters, preferably with at least one year of medical interpreting experience. The languages with the highest need include:
Kayah/Karenni
Jarai
Dinka
Ewe
Kunama
Hungarian
Soninke
Cambodian
Thai
Vietnamese
Kaba
Kibembe
Sango
Nuer
Anuak
Gio
Cantonese
Ewe
Kurdish
Zulu
Fur
Tswana
Edo
Ibo
Danish
Turkish

A medical interpreter provides translation services for healthcare patients who do not speak the native language well. they interpret oral communication between patient and medical personnel and translate documents into the patient’s native language. Interpreters must have a strong understanding of medical terminology in both languages as well as familiarity with the patient’s culture.

This job will normally require a bachelor’s degree. The major can be a foreign language, a medical field, or a major in one area and minor in the other. Colleges often have formal programs in interpreting. many positions that require conference level interpreting or subject matter expertise need a Master’s degree. Medical interpreters need to be fluent in a minimum of two languages. with English as the universal language, you should be able to converse and write in English as well as other languages. Cultural differences affect many translations; take the time to travel to other countries and regions to get a better understand of your target cultures. for example, if you were to specialize in Chinese, there are hundreds of dialects and cultures within that one country. Mandarin, the state language, will help you get by but many poorer peoples are still only fluent in their native dialect.

Allen Turner, who joined the Mariners in 2000 and has served as the interpreter for Kazuhiro Sasaki and Ichiro Suzuki, has decided to leave the organization, even as the club welcomes the major leagues' first Japanese catcher.

Liverpool Chamber member Express Language Solutions has taken on the role of guest host for this blog story, which focuses on some of the top tips for healthcare professionals and interpreters working together.

By Rick Wills — So many immigrants and refugees have come to Western Pennsylvania from Nepal and Bhutan that two charitable agencies say they are creating a translation service to help them navigate doctor appointments and hospital stays.

A crown court judge has hit out at interpreting services after an interpreter cancelled a booking just hours before a hearing was due to start.

A MURDER trial had to be halted temporarily when a man translating vital evidence revealed he was only there because his wife – the real interpreter – was too busy.

TWIN FALLS • Erica De La Rosa is in court nearly every day, but she never speaks for

herself.

“We’re not supposed to exist,” she said.

De La Rosa is a court certified Spanish interpreter for Twin Falls County 5th District Court. Interpreters are not lawyers or advocates and don’t give legal advice or even explain to defendants possible outcomes in their case.

“You say what they say,” she said, no matter how shocking or strange it might be.

Idaho law requires that courts ensure access to all people, including those with limited English proficiency or those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. The courts meet these requirements by developing programs that improve the quality of interpretation and increase the number of qualified interpreters in the courts, according to the Idaho Supreme Court

website.

Interpreters are under oath to completely and accurately translate what is said in court to the best of their ability, said Mary Jo Palma, the coordinator for translators in Twin Falls County, and a certified Spanish interpreter.

“If an interpreter becomes aware they’ve made a mistake they’re under obligation to correct it,” Palma said. “If an interpreter is challenged, the judge will rule accordingly.”

From time to time somebody asks me when I think non-Professional translators (by which they mean non-Expert in my terminology) should not be used. (I was asked it on the Translation Advisor blog last year.) I usually start by answering: When the translation may have legal implications or consequences. It's not just a question of quality. A translation by an Advanced Native Translator may be just as good per se. It's also a matter of authority. If the translation is ever used as evidence or called into question in legal proceedings, then it won't be necessary to go through some procedure to establish the translator's ability if that has already been tested and sanctioned by some recognised body. One obvious area where the translating should carry such authority is court interpreting. But notice I say "should carry" . The observable reality is that the precept can't always be followed. There are many reasons, but one of the most common is that adequately qualified interpreters aren't available at the right place at the right time, and this is often due to the languages involved. Another reason which arises these days is that the interpreters have been trained in the traditional mode for court interpreting, which is consecutive interpreting, but the powers-that-be have decided to import modern technology and switch to simultaneous interpreting.

Court interpreting is integral in a court trial or hearing because there are people who are unable to understand English which is the primary language used in courts.

Court interpreters in South Africa play a crucial, everyday role in the judicial system. For obvious historical reasons, the only two official languages in the country for many years were English and Afrikaans. These two languages were therefore also the official languages of the courts. As the majority of the South African population has neither English nor Afrikaans as a first language, court interpreters were, and still are, needed in all courts on an almost continuous basis. Previously, the provision of court interpreters for all of the other languages of South Africa (another nine have been adopted as official languages) was seen as an unfortunate necessity. Since 1994 linguistic rights have been enshrined in the constitution and not only are court interpreters a necessity, but it is now recognised that their provision is a vital means of ensuring the linguistic and legal rights of the whole population.

People with limited English proficiency (LEP), those whose primary language is not English and have difficulty speaking and reading English, face an increased potential for medical errors without an appropriate interpreter to translate to and from the person’s primary language. Are family members, including children of patients, or medical staff members with varying degrees of fluency in the patient’s language adequate interpreters for LEP individuals or is the potential for error significant enough for health care providers to use professional interpreters?

Court interpreting is a vital part in protecting people's rights in a legal system.

One of the most popular topics today is about the flaws that exist in our legal system today, where errors often lead to devastating results. In some cases where the defendant and the court judge don't speak a common language, certified court interpreters play a crucial role in rendering vital messages in order to achieve understanding.

However, the reality is that not all court interpreters are certified or qualified court interpreters, which obviously may lead to injustice and failure if the client seeks help from an unprofessional one. In countries like the U.S.A, where millions of immigrants come from different countries and speak different native tongues, it is definitely vital to hire a qualified court interpreter, who can correctly deliver and interpret messages to both parties.

Today's multilingualism, however, has resulted in misunderstanding between people who do not speak the same language. Instead, it pushes and encourages people to learn and adopt a major language that dominates the entire society. Due to the dominance of the English language, many people are becoming more knowledgeable about the language, both in terms of spoken and written English skills.

Now You're Speaking My Language: Interpreters in ER Limit Medical Errors.

Recently published research shows that the availability of professional interpretation services greatly reduces the incidence of medical mistakes among non-English speaking emergency room patients.

June 03, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Open communication is essential in a doctor-patient relationship. Doctors need to be well-informed in order to make prudent treatment decisions, and patients have to be kept in the loop to remain active and effective participants in their own care.

But what happens when there's a language barrier in a medical situation? According to a new study, effectively bridging a language gap between doctors and patients can significantly reduce emergency room errors.

For Non-English Speaking Patients, Medical Errors Twice As Likely Without Professional Translation

Trained medical interpreters can help improve medical outcomes for non-English-speaking patients. Here is some more information on the importance of medical interpreter training and Affordable Language Service's Bridging the Gap program.

It's been an exciting week for language news: the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that, essentially, translators write and interpreters speak. Of course, it's a bit more complicated than that, and to read up on the details, we'd like to point you to analysis by professor Barry Olsen of the Monterey Institute and co-president of InterpretAmerica, who contributed to the amicus brief that was submitted to the Supreme Court a few months ago. You can read his excellent analysis here.

Washington, DC, United States (KaiserHealth) – A visit to the emergency department or a physician’s office can be confusing and even frightening when you’re trying to digest complicated medical information, perhaps while you’re feeling pain or discomfort. For the 25 million people in the United States with limited English proficiency, the potential for medical mishaps is multiplied.
A trained medical interpreter can make all the difference. Too often, however, interpreter services at hospitals and other medical settings are inadequate. Family members, including children, often step in, or the task falls to medical staff members who speak the required language with varying degrees of fluency.
According to a study published in March, such ad hoc interpreters make nearly twice as many potentially clinically significant interpreting errors as do trained interpreters.

Medical errors and mistakes at hospitals could be reduced by trained interpreters. Hospital mistake lawsuits reviewed nationwide.