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 →