Saturday 7 February 2015

Choosing The Best Spanish Interpreting Service

By Beryl Dalton


With globalization, there will be times when you need to communicate with people who don't speak any English at all or whose English is not good enough for them to express complicated ideas. Especially people from the Latin American countries don't often speak English since their language is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world too. This is why it's important to choose the best Spanish interpreting service for your communication needs.

In certain parts of the USA you'll even need to be able to communicate in Spanish with local communities. The country's Hispanic population is huge and especially new immigrants often know only very basic English at most. In Miami FL, for instance, Spanish is fast becoming the most widely spoken language and in some parts of the city you need to be bilingual or you need an interpreter simply to do the shopping.

An interpreter is not the same as a translator. A translator changes a text from one language to another, using resources such as dictionaries to provide a detailed translation. An interpreter doesn't have the time to consult dictionaries but needs to change the text into the target language immediately. Instead of providing a faithful translation, he or she focuses on the ideas or concepts to convey.

There are many different reasons why you might need an interpreter to help you. In a city with a large Hispanic population, government services often have interpreters on their payroll to help with new immigrants or with law enforcement. In the private sector, everyone from doctors to shopkeepers may need to communicate with clients who cannot speak English very well. If you do business with companies from Latin America, you'll need an interpreter for day-to-day transactions but also for meetings and conferences.

When you want to employ an interpreter, the first thing you need to do is to check that the person is suitably qualified. Interpreters who work in courts or hospitals usually need specific formal certificates. For more general interpreting jobs, you can choose someone who doesn't necessarily have a formal qualification but who has experience in the field and good references from other clients.

There are different kinds of interpreting and you need to choose someone with the relevant skills for your purposes. For business, the interpreter should know the jargon, for example marketing terms. For a conference, you need someone who can get up in front of a large crowd and isn't afraid of public speaking, or who has experience working with the technology that you use. When you have a visiting delegation, you need someone who has a friendly disposition and can accompany your guests wherever they go.

It's a good idea to match the interpreter's own cultural background with that of the people you need to communicate with. Spanish has many different dialects and someone from El Salvador may not easily understand the accent of someone from Argentina, for instance. If you're dealing with people from Cuba, an interpreter who has a Cuban background will also understand the aspects unique to that country.

There are different places where you can look for the services of an interpreter. Many language agencies can be found online. Most are also listed in the Yellow Pages. If you're unsure, contact a professional organization such as the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Florida for advice.




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