So, you want to be an Interpreter?

There is a big difference between being bilingual and being an interpreter. For many years bilingual employees or bilingual souls have been requested to be interpreters of family and friends to communicate and understand situations faced on daily basis like at a Dr’s office or when at the bank opening a bank account or even at the dealer store.

So, you are Bilingual

You can understand two languages, order at a restaurant and help tourists or your grandma with her general appointments, or even helping mom over the phone with her credit card. You are aware of certain sentence structures and vocabulary. In other words, you can understand and be understood.
Being bilingual sets you apart from most people, allowing you to express in other languages across cultures. Either because you immersed into the language or grew in a household where both languages were taught, either way, it is a valuable ability.

Like all skills there are levels of proficiency and becoming an interpreter is definitely a high proficient linguistic discipline to acquire. It takes work, practice, extensive language knowledge, and cultural awareness to be able to provide an accurate interpretation of the Limited English Speakers(LEP).
As the immigrant population increases in our countries, the need for bilingual staff grows, but the need for skilled interpreters are rising in demand as well.
In the Legal and Healthcare area, it has become a requirement to be a certified interpreter to ensure language competency and that the message will be delivered accurately since these are important subject matters.

Where does this come from?

You can find its legal foundation in Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which states:
No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.
For interpreting Title VI, the Supreme Court has treated discrimination based on being a Limited English Speaker as the equivalent to national origin discrimination.
So in other words, there is a legal responsibility to provide language access to LEP patients.

Becoming an Interpreter and developing skills

The skills of a professional interpreter, go beyond being bilingual. You need to have in-depth knowledge and understanding of the working language and identify the required range of language registers. You need to have special training and practice. The interpreter will also have to demonstrate a high degree of cultural understanding and relevant terminology, just to name a few aspects of it.

A certification shows that an individual has been tested by an approved institution or government to demonstrate the minimum levels of competency in the area. So before going into taking the exam you must do the following:

• Self-assess yourself in how confident you feel in your native language and in the target language.
• Decide what field of expertise you would like to specialize in.
• Once you have decided on the field, research requirements, and certifications needed to see what you need to do.
• Study, study, study. Read and watch real-life clips on Youtube or look for resources where you can learn vocabulary and practice as if you were the interpreter, pause, rewind, and revise.
• Practice, practice, practice, as previously stated, watch videos and understand the cultural interpretation behind it, practice note-taking, and practice accuracy.
• Take a course and learn about the protocols needed, learn about the principles and ethics.
• Take the test and keep yourself updated.

Becoming an interpreter is not an easy path, language mixed with cultural background makes translations and interpretations become a challenge, but certainly, it is a very rewarding career path when done right.