Category Archives: Interpretation
If you’re planning a multilingual event that requires the services of interpreters, you may notice that, for certain languages, your language services provider will ask you who your target audiences are or what accent they may have. You may ask – well technically, it’s the same language, right? So are accents that important for interpretation? Do they matter anyway? Do I even need to hire a native speaker? The answer to all these questions is a resounding YES. …
As the weeks become months in the midst of one of the most severe global health crises in recent history, lockdown measures are easing in parts of the world. However, in others, reopening has been halted or even rolled backed because of new spikes in cases or difficulties in managing the initial Covid-19 outbreak. With…
Everybody has something they wish everybody knew or understood about their job, and translators and interpreters are no different. We asked our colleagues the following question: What do you wish every client knew about translation and interpretation? The following answers might surprise you… Translator Wish List: Do not use your “trilingual” assistant for translating your…
The coronavirus outbreak presents an unprecedented challenge for all professions around the planet. It is no wonder, then, that conference interpreters everywhere have felt the impact of the Covid-19 crisis. As virtually all meetings requiring physical presence have become impossible – and unsafe – to hold, remote conferencing technology has come to the fore, attempting to…
In today’s ever-changing environment, meeting your linguistic needs with excellent services can be challenging. It seems that nowadays, everybody claims to be “fluent” in another language or to even be “bilingual”. When contacting your language services provider of choice, what information should you have on hand and provide them with in order to receive an…
There is no denying that the COVID-19 crisis – also known as the coronavirus crisis – has had a significant impact on many industries. The language industry, like so many others, has not been left unscathed. The current lockdown may not change much for most translators, who for many years have already been working from…
The term “Spanish interpretation” couldn’t be more ambiguous when it comes to facilitating positive outcomes at the US-Mexico border. In a post on NPR’s Fresh Air page, University of California, Berkeley, School of Information linguist Geoff Nunberg writes, “Nobody should need reminding that there’s more to the cultures of the land south of the border…
Words – spoken and written – can be tricky. They can be rephrased or twisted around. The variation between the witness statements, “we saw him Wednesday evening” vs. “we saw him Wednesday night” becomes critical if one person interprets evening as “just around sunset” or “earlier in the night” and another understands that as meaning “after…
International arbitration is an incredibly sensitive and rigorous arena. Contracts, unnecessary litigation, diplomacy and even, at times, human rights are on the line when formal agreements are violated by organizations, individuals, or political institutions. The highest level of language service providers is the only option when individuals or groups prepare for professional arbitration on the…
United States and China: a relationship under extreme duress Earlier this year, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace published an article called “A relationship Under Extreme Duress: U.S.-China Relations at a Crossroads.” This alarming statement is indicative of why companies, NGOs, political organizations and international firms must seek Chinese interpreters and translators who are native speakers…