Interpreters are professionals and should be there to seamlessly facilitate communication. The better an interpreter is, the less their presence is felt. Clients can also facilitate the quality of the interaction by following a few tips.
Don’t say “Tell him/her…”
The interpreter will assume that you are talking to the client, unless you specify that you are talking directly to the interpreter. Just speak as if you were speaking directly to the person. Also, be careful of what messages you direct only to the interpreter. In some instances, the interpreters (especially among American Sign Language interpreters for the Deaf) are trained to give the client full access to whatever is being said in the room. So just don’t say anything that you wouldn’t want the client to hear. Even if you say something off-putting and message isn’t passed along, it makes the interpreter uncomfortable.
Make eye contact with the client
Also, even though it may seem natural to make eye contact with the interpreter, you are actually speaking to the client “through” the interpreter, so look at the person receiving the message and not the interpreter. The interpreter won’t be offended and may actually feel uncomfortable if you keep looking at them instead of the client, since it creates a feeling of distance between the clients that arises from the presence of the interpreter.
Interpreters are human.
This may seem absurd to have to put into words, but I have been in many situations where after working hard for the clients, they disappear without so much as a “Goodbye.” Assuming that all goes well, it’s just human to acknowledge that someone has been working hard for you and your client. At the least I would expect a simple “Thank you” at the end of it. Just because we aim to be as “invisible” as possible during communication, doesn’t mean that we actually are. If you find someone you especially liked working with, then it would be good to get their name and ask for them the next time you book with the agency. It also helps the interpreter if you mention to the agency that you enjoyed working with them. The agency will be more likely to use them for other assignments if they receive positive feedback about their work.
You need to acknowledge keeping an interpreter past the scheduled time.
There are several reasons for this. First, the interpreter may have another appointment scheduled and you may be causing them to run late to the next one. Another reason depends on your agreement with the agency. Some agencies may not have contingencies for interpreters staying over, or may need your explicit authorization before allowing the interpreters to stay beyond the appointed time. So first ask the interpreter if they can stay later and inform the agency at least after the assignment is completed that you authorized the interpreter to stay later and that you will pay for the additional time.
Send prep materials
You are an expert in your area, but the interpreters are not. Qualified interpreters do great under ordinary circumstances, however a presentation on the “Neural Underpinnings of the Olfactory System in Mice Under the Influence of Methamphetamines” is not an ordinary circumstance. If you want your presentation, trial, deposition, or any technical matter to go smoothly, then you should present the interpreter with prep materials at least a day in advance. This is also true for sight translation jobs where the interpreter is asked to read a text and immediately translate it into the target language on the spot. Obviously the more material you have, the more time they will need to prepare. Prep material, even if it’s an idea of a general subject of the planned conversation, links, .PDFs, or anything of the sort, will be greatly appreciated by the interpreter and will improve the quality of the entire interaction.
There is more than one way to say something.
This primarily deals with legal situations, where the specific wording of a question may be intentional or when one of the people involved speaks both languages and attempts to monitor how the interpreter is interpreting. If you have an important question that needs to be asked in a highly specific way, this would be good to bring up with the interpreter beforehand. Or if you receive an answer from the client that seems somewhat strange, you can ask the interpreter to ask it in a different way. Finally, if you speak the language and think that the interpreter didn’t say something the way you would have said it, you can ask for clarification or ask them to say it in the way your were thinking if it makes sense after the explanation. Just remember that simply because this happens, doesn’t mean that the interpreter is doing a poor job. The interpreter’s main responsibility is to convey the meaning of the message, not the exact words. Also, the brain only works so fast so choosing the absolute best way each time is rarely possible especially as the appointment goes on.
Give breaks.
Fatigue starts to take effect after about 30 minutes of non-stop interpreting, so breaks will help to ensure a better quality of interpretation. This is especially true for American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters. They suffer physical in addition to mental fatigue, so to avoid repetitive motion injuries, they need breaks roughly every 20-30 minutes. For this reason, teams of interpreters are required more often for ASL interpreters than spoken language interpreters. Along a similar vein, pace is important. Sometimes it can take longer to say something in another language, so try your best to keep an eye/ear on the interpreter to see if they are struggling to keep up with the source language.
Give the interpreter the logistical information needed to find the right place.
Sometimes people forget to put themselves in the other person’s shoes when giving assignment information. I have been dispatched with just a time and an address to a hospital complex with several buildings. Naturally when I arrive, I am completely lost. Interpreters assume the information they receive is complete and sufficient to find the right place and contact person, so we don’t question it until we arrive onsite. We typically arrive 15 minutes early as a courtesy to the client to allow enough time to find the clients and get ready to interpret. However if we have to call the agency and the agency has to call the client in order to get more information, then that can take more than 15 minutes. Especially since clients are notoriously hard to get a hold of on the day of the assignment. Also, if its a larger complex or requires going through a heavy layer of security or parking issues then you’d be better off booking the interpreter an extra 15 minutes early to give them time to navigate the obstacles that are particular to your site. You should give the address, suite/room number, contact name and cell number, and any additional information that may be particular to your location that will assist the interpreter with the logistics of arrive at your location with ease.
I hope this information helps you the next time you work with an interpreter whether it be for Spanish, Sign Language, Vietnamese, Chinese, or any other language. Contact us at 855-562-7768 if you have any additional questions or would like to book an interpreter in the SoCal area (including Los Angeles, Long Beach, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Irvine…etc).
www.spotoninterpreting.com