Here’s a concise piece on one of the subtle aspects of interpretation — What does compassion mean for medical interpreters? — offered by Yuliya Speroff on the Medical Interpreter Blog. In her piece, Speroff has tips on communicating a greater sense … Continue reading →
In his recent essay, The Dehumanization of the Healthcare Interpreter, Or How I Learned to Love Natural Intelligence, Fleuncy Inc. President Bill Glasser seemingly accepts that medical interpretation, driven by artificial intelligence, will inevitably dominate in the healthcare environment. His … Continue reading →
Do you have questions about your organization’s legal requirements to guarantee language access for patients and clients with limited English? Then check out this issue brief from the National Health Law Program on Title VI of the Civil Rights Act … Continue reading →
It’s not news to observe that children often end up serving as interpreters and translators for family members with limited command of English. But recently University of California researchers delved into a largely unexplored area regarding the complicated intersection of … Continue reading →
Like most everyone else involved in language service, you’re probably hearing footsteps from artificial intelligence interpretation and translation tools and wonder how they may alter your work. For a look at the current state of AI in translation, and related … Continue reading →
Fall down a rabbit hole of videos on practice and training for medical interpreters at this YouTube channel, Interpret Your World. You’ll find dozens of short videos on subjects such as allergies, ashtma, chest pain, COPD and much more, plus … Continue reading →
Time to update your organization’s language access plan to serve clients better, and to meet the dictates of state and federal law? Here’s help from Multilingual, which has drafted a concise summary — How to Create a Realistic Language Access … Continue reading →
Should you ever think it’s okay to use a child as a medical interpreter for other family members, consider this essay on Multilingual by Onelia Navarro. In it, Navarro recalls a pair of shocking incidents. In one, Navarro was called … Continue reading →
Wondering how artificial intelligence apps and machine translation will change the landscape for language access? Here’s a free webinar offered by Cross Cultural Communications, set for Wed., Nov. 8, 2023, 10:30 AM. What Role do AI and MT have in … Continue reading →
What’s does job security look like for interpreters in the face of recent advances in artificial intelligence? Get the low down from Middlebury Institute of International Studies associate professor Barry Olson, a conference interpreter with 25 years of experience. Olson … Continue reading →
Here’s a dose of bad news from the Hastings Center on the failures of medical interpretation and the resulting harm to patients. In this recent essay, Medical Interpretation in the U.S. is Inadequate and Harming Patients, a team of writers observe that … Continue reading →
What is a problem all too common for medical interpreters? When Kelly Henriquez asked that question at a panel on interpreter self-care at a national conference, the answer she got was, Loneliness. Henriquez, a dual-certified Spanish medical/healthcare interpreter working in … Continue reading →
It’s one thing to interpret with pauses allowed in the exchange between speakers. But as this amusing and instructive video explains, simultaneous interpretation is a more daunting and sophisticated task that requires years of preparation. The instance depicted by the … Continue reading →
Usually we’re here concerned with the utilitarian aspects of translation. How does a Hmong patient, for example, best learn more about foot care with diabetes, post-op care or child immunization schedules? This week let’s take a step off the path … Continue reading →
Take a look at this video that compares the efforts of two human interpreters against interpretation provided by the AI app, Kudo. The results? Less weighted against AI than you might think. The human interpreters found some of the language … Continue reading →
Get a look at a version of the future — here’s an AI-powered robot that switches with alacrity from English to German to Chinese to Japanese in a Q&A with an off-screen interviewer. A video of the conversation appears in … Continue reading →
Good news if you happen to be an athlete, bus mechanic, or short order cook. Those professions are judged to be least affected as artificial intelligence becomes, well, more intelligent, according to a paper published in March by University of … Continue reading →
How to interpret musical performance for the deaf? That’s the question taken up by the video above, where ASL interpreters transform a song for the hard of hearing. The nuts and bolts of rendering music in ways that will be … Continue reading →
Among the challenges for medical interpreters: how to convey bad news from providers to patients and their families. This hour-and-a-half webinar, presented by InterpretAmerica, takes on the sensitive issues involved. The recorded webinar is geared toward providing interpreters with tools … Continue reading →
Just about everybody knows there’s a disparity in health outcomes between LEP patients and native English speakers. From Harvard researchers, here’s a partial explantation. In a recently published study in JAMA Pediatrics, the study team established that LEP patients are … Continue reading →
When are medical interpreters simply conduits for information shared between providers and patients — and when do they have an obligation to intervene and advocate on the behalf of patients? The U.S. National Council on Interpreting in Healthcare (NCIHC) came … Continue reading →
If you’ve spent time studying Old Testament iconography (and who hasn’t?), you may have wondered why Moses is often depicted with horns after having talked with God on Mount Sinai and descended with the ten commandments. Why the horns? It’s … Continue reading →
Thinking about saving money by having your Aunt Betty translate a few simple words for your organization? Really, what could go wrong? Plenty, needless to say. Check out 40 hilarious translation fails from different languages, published on The Language Nerds … Continue reading →