A Spanish/English interpreter translates conversations between two or more people, speaking Spanish and English or another language.
Translation is referred/used for written translations. For example, when you translate a document from English to Spanish or vice versa. The interpreter uses her/his voice to establish communication between 2 or more people translating both English>Spanish and Spanish>English.
There are several areas that language interpreters can help, business, legal, industrial and others. The medical field is a sector where they are needed. USA today published in 2006 an article that is a good example of how important can be a language interpreter.
"Spanish interpreters in high demand at hospitals, clinics
Updated 6/25/2006 8:10 PM ET E-mail | Save | Print |
DALLAS (AP) — Interpreting a doctor's information for her Spanish-speaking husband was the last thing Barbara Rayes wanted to do as she held her dying newborn daughter.
"It wasn't my job to interpret; that was taking away the few moments of her life that I had with her," said Rayes. "It was an unfair burden at a time of true crisis in our lives."
Nearly 15 years later, Rayes is trying to eliminate that burden for others by training interpreters and translators at the Phoenix Children's Hospital.
Interpreters trained in medical terminology, especially those speaking Spanish, are in high demand as the country's population becomes more and more diverse, said Cindy Roat of the American Translators Association. The boom in Hispanic population has led to the Spanish demand, but there's short supply of speakers of other languages as well.
In Albuquerque, Navajo and Vietnamese are in high demand, while in Seattle, Russian, Vietnamese, Cantonese and Cambodian are needed. Boston has more of a use for Portuguese, while parts of Florida get requests for Haitian Creole interpreters.
"Certainly in a medical setting understanding is a matter of life and death," said Leni Kirkman, a spokeswoman at University Hospital in San Antonio, where interpreters in Asian languages are needed.
Some hospitals are taking extra stups to attract bilingual employees.
At Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, workers are eligible for incentive pay if they speak another language, said hospital spokeswoman Lynsey Purl. Parkland and the public health system in Houston both offer in-house Spanish medical terminology classes.
But high demand for interpreters remains."