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This video reminded me of what can often go wrong in Interpreting.

As a California Workers Compensation Consultant one of the services we provide are Interpreting and Translating, but mostly interpreting.  We are often retained to interpret at medical appointments and depositions.  Interpreting is always interesting as you get to hear many intimate details, medical histories and in the case of depositions how the individual sustain and cope with their industrial injuries.

In California a trend has emerged whereby many of the interpreting assignment are often rendered by non-certified interpreters.  It’s an emerging trend because Insurance Carriers are always looking at ways to cut their costs.  However, Certified Interpreters are mandatory for court proceedings and certain medical exams such as those conducted by Qualified Medical Examiners.

Interpreting is essentially defined as the process of transferring one spoken language into another spoken language, either simultaneously or consecutively.  If you are a boxing fan and a fluent in both Spanish and English you’ve no doubt witnessed how difficult the task of interpreting really is, you’ve probably cringed and reacted and retored “that’s not what he said” as the announcer wrongly interprets what the fighter is saying.

As a Vocational Counselor I’ve witnessed first hand how an Interpreter can sometimes create more harm, than good, even when they are well intentioned.  Another problem with interpreting is that much of the legal and medical terminology used by training facilities to teach interpreters and translators are terms that are unfamiliar to injured workers.  The medical terminology is largely universal, but the terms are unfamiliar to most injured workers.  The legal terminology used for Interpreting in the California legal system is terminology which was decided upon by consultants hired by the State of California to develop the State Certification Exam.  It won’t come as a surprise to many that Spanish speakers from Mexico may often use different terminology that Spanish speakers from Central America and South America.

I was reminded of this once while traveling through Nicaragua, I was in a remote area and stopped at a small convenience store to purchase a soda.  I asked the clerk for, “una soda” which is a very common way to ask for a soda in Mexico.  Although in Mexico that request can be followed up with a, “fria o al tiempo” which loosely translates into “cold or at room temperature”.  My request for a soda was met with a blank stare from the clerk and after some gesturing and further explanation of what I wanted the clerk responded, “oh, voz quieres una gasiosa”!  The clerk as I learned defined soda by it’s gas, therefore a soda was not a soda, but just a “gassy one”.