it's about making access to public services easier by accurately interpreting between those who do not share the same language culture or knowledge however community interpreting is a lot more than simply transferring the meaning of words this video will look at some of the essential skills which a community interpreter must be proficient in in order to fulfill their role there are many different models of interpreting in public services let's look at one of them in this example a mother and daughter visit the homeless persons unit i came here today i've got nowhere [Music] she told me that i can't stay with her anymore you know she's got one room she's overcrowded nobody in this country have come out family in this country well i've got a lot of people but i'll see if they'll see you george it's john yeah i've got a lady here who says she's homeless with a child can you see her oh okay yeah it is okay right i'll tell her all right bye i'm afraid as you can see we've got a lot of people to see today so you can't see it today come back tomorrow i'm sorry she doesn't know the interpreter's role was limited to the transfer of meaning from one language into another a community interpreter needs to be aware of other issues apart from the linguistic ones that could hinder communication i'm afraid you can't see it today we've got far too many people already i'll have to come back to my shop i can't come back tomorrow i've got nowhere to week she would like leave ask you if she can see another officer please another office yes please well i'll see all right i see it she's free hello vera yeah i've got a homeless person here he's got a daughter so she's got nowhere to go oh okay right okay i'll send her through bye yes she can see you so much go through that door if you sit down there she's with someone at the moment and when she's finished then she can't see it thank you thank you okay next in that example the community interpreter dealt not only with the linguistic issue but also with the other communication barriers between the client and the receptionist now let's look at the different interpreting modes or interpreting techniques which a community interpreter could use in an interpreting session we begin at a client's home so how are you feeling though [Music] is i feel much better thank you very much but i still have got a slight cold but i think i'm going to get better soon okay okay has a health visitor been to see you recently america [Music] [Music] she came a couple of uh weeks ago and my sister also comes around uh to help me and also the neighbors popping on them to help me with the child and how are you finding getting in and out of the bath as you will see it's impossible for me now um but my sister comes and she helps me uh to get into the bathroom and to have a bath okay well what we can do is get an occupation okay well the occupational therapist will need to like write a letter she's fine she doesn't need to to discuss anything else and she's very grateful that we came here to help highlighted there were a few interpreting techniques appropriate to the situation they were consecutive simultaneous liaison first and third person interpreting techniques it is important for a community interpreter to use professional judgment about the appropriateness of interpreting techniques for the situation if they are not used appropriately they could have an impact on accuracy and clarity too so how have you been feeling recently mrs sanchez um [Music] she says that i'm constipated um i asked how she was you're constipated i asked how she was feeling oh no sorry um i meant that she is constipated i see now a health visitor been to visit her recently um she says that my sister came uh to visit her your sister why is your sister visiting her are you related oh no no no sorry um i mean her sister came to visit her i see okay well i'm concerned that the health visitor hasn't been and to speak to the clinic about it um and and then the occupational therapist is okay all these interpreting techniques require a lot of practice therefore a community interpreter needs to be able to make the right judgment about which techniques are appropriate for the situation otherwise the kind of misunderstanding that we have just seen may occur the following is an example of when summary technique can be used to good effect so do you go to school or college they mean do you go to a special school or university yes i'm studying english at the college okay and uh how many hours a week do you spend learning there uh [Music] does this include the time that i spend in the library doing my homework that's a good question i don't know let me go and share just been asked a question about the form do we include homework hours on that uh summary foreign incorrectly so do you go to school or college they mean do you go to a special school or university without okay so what subject do you study a college a community interpreter shouldn't use summary just because they are unable to catch up with the pace of the speaker it's better to ask the speaker to slow down than fall back on using summary in the wrong places another important technique required for a successful community interpreter is the ability to site translate a document or whispered technique which is used to get the message across to a wider number of clients without disrupting others for whom interpreting is unnecessary there are times when it is important to convey the client's feelings or emotions for the purposes of diagnosis or judgment a community interpreter could use the verbatim technique for example to convey a client's state of mind in order for a health professional to make the correct diagnosis my name is elizabeth fitzfoy and i'm here to help you i understand that you've not been feeling well recently however i wonder if i can tell you everything not to worry there's no rush we'll go step by step at your pace so how are you feeling at the moment i'm not feeling [Music] how can i go on no more i'm sorry i'm full cat when two months ago i took a few everyone tells me that i should be strong but i can't as you can see the skill lies in the ability to use the correct technique at the correct time and now let's look at the stages of the interpreting session and the considerations that the interpreter needs to take into account foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] um [Music] [Music] uh [Music] [Music] but remember the community interpreter is the intermediary in these scenarios so it's important to check that both sides have fully understood in this case seeing the doctor for a debriefing would be a good idea and thanks for your help i thought that appointment went really well just one thing i wasn't sure about the practice of keeping the baby at home for 40 days after the birth okay i can clarify again if you want me to it's a cultural issue people do keep their babies indoors in bulgaria for about 40 days so this is in order to protect the baby from the outside world for warmth to strengthen its physical potentials that's the reason for it okay i just got the feeling i wasn't sure whether she was actually coming to the postnatal classes or i was a bit worried about i felt a bit strange um you don't think that maybe her husband is forcing her to do this i'm afraid i have to remain partial i can't give me my own opinion and view on the client's location that's fine fair enough and i'll sign your timesheet it is important to consider both parties but equally important to remain impartial at the same time in this example we'll see how crossing the boundaries of impartiality could call the interpreters professionalism into question and could cause real problems in my role as a fraud investigation officer i need to ask you a few questions okay and i live in 35 manor house street okay and i need to find out about your i think yes i am claiming it since last year okay and at any time recently have you worked for more than 16 hours a week but well i have not worked for more than 16 hours in a week okay um so could you possibly tell me what you were doing between 9 00 and 5 30 p.m i was studying in the college that day okay for the whole day yes okay look i'm a little bit suspicious about what she's saying um do you think she's telling the truth well i'm not here to give my own opinion really but i think she's telling the truth so you can see how not remaining impartial can lead you into difficulties explaining your role to both parties can prevent such difficulties okay as a part of my role as a fraud investigation officer i'm sorry to interrupt you officer before we start the interview may i just remind you and miss shah about my role as an interpreter absolutely uh first of all i will ask you to direct all your questions at miss shah and secondly if you can use short sentences please so that uh it makes it easier for me to do the interpreting more accurately okay um foreign so have you recently worked more than 16 hours a week she's not sure how to answer the question this interpreting session has shown us the importance of the interpreter's code of ethics it is important to remember that community interpreters may find themselves in situations in which a client's or service providers lack of understanding of each other's cultural practices may hinder communication for the community interpreter to bridge this gap a knowledge of both cultures would be necessary in this next example is the community interpreter doing a good job sonia how are you feeling today is i'm not eating all day i just want you to explain you know that the client must be fasting as it is the holy month of ramadan and the people do fast from sunrise to sunset okay okay that explains a lot um how much longer is your fast sonja so background information is a good thing but must be used effectively let's look at a better way of clarifying cultural misunderstanding so here's the form uh i just need a few clarifications to start with your name is maria sanchez [Music] yes that's me and i have here that the child you're claiming for is called jesus fernandez uh so are you his stepmother or maybe a guardian jesus no i'm his mother what do you mean i'm just asking because your surnames are different um have you remarried um [Music] the only thing i want here is to get a free school meals for my child and i think there is a misunderstanding here with the surnames do you mind if i try a fight with um [Music] sanchez so then my child's full name is jesus fernandez sanchez oh now i see that's clear so you're jesus's mother so let's move on a community interpreter needs to make sure that everyone in the interpreting session is informed about what is going on at all times a community interpreter may have to use intervention skills to facilitate the conversation and to enable both parties to communicate to their mutual satisfaction thank you very much for coming in today mr and mrs i'm happy we have an interpreter with us so that we can talk properly about how we can help iran overcome his difficulties with we need to talk about two things firstly his bilingual supporting class an ema teacher wanted to review the help ivan is getting now so that we can decide best how to continue support in the future [Music] there's the fact that he's been fighting with other children we've been having real difficulties i'm sorry do you want me to interpret that because people from my community can become really upset when it comes to other people criticizing their children's behavior yes but i think it's important they know what's been going on [Music] um [Music] as i told you quite upset about the situation it's not surprising they really didn't know it was going on because we wrote to you a couple of weeks ago and the other day i was in detention at lunch time [Music] um as you'll no doubt be aware that was not an example of good community interpreting not only were there multiple examples of bad transferal of meaning but also examples of mismanagement of communication let's use the same example but this time see how easily it could be improved thank you very much for coming in mr mrs slatter i'm happy we have an interpreter here uh so that we can talk properly about how to help adam with his difficulties [Music] [Music] uh we've been looking forward to this meeting we've been aware that uh ireland's got problems at school and that's why we're here we need to talk about two things firstly his bilingual supporting class an ema teacher wanted to review the help he's getting now so they can decide how best to continue supporting him in the future i'm sorry can you clarify ema stands for please oh that's our member of staff who coordinates help for children for whom english is an additional language [Music] [Music] um [Music] um [Music] and secondly it's ivan's fighting with other children we've been having um [Music] [Music] [Music] i just ask the clients to speak one at a time in order to enable us to communicate properly okay i'm surprised mr slatter wasn't so i'm sorry can you address the clients directly please uh i'm surprising the sata that you weren't aware of this we did write to you a couple of weeks ago and uh the other day um ivan was in detention at lunchtime [Music] that's unacceptable [Music] [Music] i just asked the client to use appropriate language uh and reminded him of my role as an interpreter that i will interpret everything at all times uh he's apologizing sincerely and explains that he's he's really shocked that's the reason for this behavior and language in that short exchange we saw many intervention techniques apart from intervening in order to help a client or service provider clarify cultural misunderstanding an interpreter can also use intervention for the following reasons intervening in order to get clarification it's important that an interpreter interprets everything accurately and asks for clarification when needed community interpreters can use body language to gently remind somebody that they need to pause to let you interpret community interpreters can always intervene when people are talking over each other to remind them to speak one at a time always make sure the client and service provider are talking to each other through the community interpreter not to the community interpreter lastly we explore the different roles played by community interpreters and bilingual advocates we begin with an example of a bilingual advocates pre-interview so that you can see the differences with our earlier example of a community interpreter's pre-interview foreign special [Music] um [Music] [Music] i'm the bilingual advocate for mrs said hello if i could help her express her needs so i will keep both of you in form of what's going on throughout the interview since mrs said doesn't speak english okay that's fine um do you like to take a seat let's see okay so how can i help okay uh mr said is uh very depressed and anxious she suffers from insomnia and she would like your gp to know about it okay or make a note of that okay um apart from that she complains of being lonely and not speaking english so wondering if you knew about esau classes in the area okay well i'll make some inquiries while you're here and i'll make sure i'll give you some leaflets before you leave okay a bilingual advocate always works to get the best outcome for the client they work on behalf of another person who may be unable to speak for themselves a bilingual advocate is partial to their clients needs whereas as we have already seen a community interpreter must remain impartial the following is the same scenario but with a community interpreter instead of a bilingual advocate we join the interpreter towards the end of their pre-interview hello hello my name is mark and this is mr said and i'm the interpreter i've been booked by social services for today hello hello mrs my name is helena clark i'm your approved social worker a few times yes can i ask you something can i move my chair so i'm not going to block the communication then you can speak directly towards the side yes of course and something else is could you speak slightly slower and in short sentences so i can actually interpret everything you say okay yes of course um so how can i help it is i would like you to ask doctor that i feel depressed and i cannot see very well at night right okay i'll make a note of that so there you can see the important differences between how a community interpreter would approach a situation and how an advocate might act while they may appear similar the emphasis on interpreting is far greater with a community interpreter while an advocate has to strive to achieve the best for his or her client advocates do not necessarily speak the same language as their client and may have established the needs of the client through an interpreter advocates may also have to take into account the views of others concerned with the welfare of the client such as family especially when dealing with the young and have in-depth specialist knowledge of the client's situation it is also important to note that unlike the examples we have used a client does not need to be present while their case is being put forward a community interpreter is not an advocate the community interpreter's role is to interpret accurately between those who do not share the same language culture or knowledge the many interpreting techniques shown throughout this film are regularly used by community interpreters learning to use those techniques successfully is the best way to become a great community interpreter