Congratulations! You’re bilingual! Maybe you’ve spoken two languages all your life, or maybe you picked one up in school. Or maybe you’re one of those rare creatures we call a polyglot: a person who knows and can use multiple languages (usually more than two).

No matter how you acquired your language(s), you now face a decision. Do you want to keep this language, or forget it?

If you do end up forgetting a language that you wanted to keep, you’ve essentially lost everything you invested into learning that language: tuition, time, relationships, effort, etc.

Even your native language can suffer…

By Katty Kauffman

A few days ago a former student reached out for guidance. She had been hired to interpret at a trial, but when she arrived she discovered that she was in fact there to serve as a check interpreter. Her question was simple: what should I do?

Unfortunately, the answer is not that straightforward. While there is plenty of guidance out there for court interpreters in general, when it comes to check interpreting, there is precious little to go by.

But first, what is “check interpreting?” When might we be asked to serve as a monitor or “check”…

Whenever one starts learning a new language, all kinds of questions come up immediately: “Which language should I choose? What’s the best way to go about learning a language? What should I learn first? How can I get over the embarrassment of making mistakes?” These are all perfectly valid questions, but there is one that people often forget about: Why?

The what and how questions are what we seem to focus on first above any others. These give us structure and substance, but in the context of language learning they only get us so far. More importantly, they don’t…

Interpreters work in all sorts of places… from hospitals to court rooms to conferences, and they can make pretty good money. Becoming specialized or certified in a certain area (like legal or medical interpreting) can almost guarantee this.

Choosing a specialization isn’t quite as simple as picking one out of a hat. The area(s) you choose will alter your professional mindset and may change your life. There are many different specializations in interpreting, but we’ll discuss the three most common here.

Medical Interpreting:

You, the patient, and the doctor all have one goal: get the patient healed. This…