[Doors open, leading into the Language Services Office. A translator, Eloy, is sitting at the Computer.

Sara, the Director of Language Services, sits in the office during an interview.]

SARA: Sometimes, um, as I said, an expression is something that you have never used before or haven’t heard before, or it’s a word that is being used in a way that you have never used, or in a context that you don’t know, and you need to re-frame it.

A veces, como dije, la expresión es una que jamás haz usado, o es alguna palabra que está siendo usada en alguna manera nueva, o en algún contexto que tu no conoces, y entonces la tienes que re-formular.

[Sara makes square gestures with her hands as she says, “re-frame it”].

[In the next frame, Carla, an interpreter for the Department of Language Services, sits in the office during her interview, gesturing as she describes her job to Eloy, the Interpreters’ coordinator who is sitting next to Carla].

CARLA: Le dijo el doctor, le dijo en Ingles, “I’m gonna take out your water fountain and like that we’re gonna start getting in labor” [Carla gestures with her hands as she tells her story].

The doctor told her in English, said in English, “le voy a romper su fuente para entonces empezar más pronto con el nacimiento.”

CARLA: Y yo le dije, “le vamos a romper su fuente, para entonces empezar pronto con el nacimiento”

So I translated, “We’re going to break your water, so that we start labor sooner.”

CARLA: Le podía haber dicho “para entrar en labor,” pero muchas personas van a decir “labor?” “laborar” [Carla and Eloy laugh] como de trabajo.

I could have said “to start labor,” [Carla and Eloy laugh] but many people might think “labor” like “laboring.”

[Eloy is now sitting in front of the camera in the language services office, with a green wall as his background].

ELOY: I make sure that I look at the context of what we’ve already been talking about [Eloy makes circles with his hands], of what it is that the person is trying to convey, and I look at that, and then I choose my words accordingly.

Me aseguro de ver el contexto en cual estamos hablando, lo que la persona está tratando de comunicar. Veo a todo eso primero y luego escojo mis palabras en ese sentido.

[Sara is now back on camera during an interview].

SARA: Very often, these tasks will involve more than one skill. You’re translating [Sara makes typing gestures with her hands], but at the same time you’re researching because you’ve never heard this term [Sara laughs] and so you need to ask somebody else, or go outside, or go to Google.

Muchas veces estos trabajos involucran a más que una competencia. Estas traduciendo, pero al mismo tiempo estas investigando, porque nunca habías escuchado esta palabra, y entonces tienes que preguntarle a alguien, o ir afuera, o ir a Google.

[The screen shifts from Sarah to a computer screen where a translator is looking up the word “Champion” on the digital translation tool, Word Reference. Sara continues talking. The sound of typing is in the background].

SARA: Or go to a dictionary, or speak with somebody, or go to one of those Word References

o a un diccionario, o hablar con alguien, o ir alguno de esos Word References

[Sara comes back on screen following the quick depiction of a computer screen on Word Reference].

SARA: online and discuss

en línea y platicar.

[In the next scene, Sara is standing in front of her computer holding a piece of paper. Her face is cut off from the frame. The screen reads “Sara re-reading a translation softly in Spanish].

[The next scene shifts to a computer screen, where Sara (who is not in the shot) is translating a flyer].

SARA: Creo que Word Reference va tener más palabritas por aquí.
I think word reference will have more options here.

[Next, Sara’s fingers move back and forth on the screen as she envisions different sentence structures]

SARA: Voy a empezar en Español, para que la gente que quiera leerlo pueda a empezar a leer en Español porque si empiezo con “Heart of West Michigan United Way” las personas en Español no van a sentirse impulsadas a leer esto en Ingles al principio, entonces voy a empezar con “El fotógrafo Adam Bird.” [Sara continues typing the translation on her screen].

I’m gonna start [the translation] in Spanish, so that Spanish-speakers who want to read this can start reading in Spanish, because if I start with, “Heart of West Michigan United Way,” people who read in Spanish will not feel welcomed to read this, with English at the beginning, and so I’m going to start with, “The photographer Adam Bird.”

[The next scene depicts Sara back at her seat during an interview].

SARA: Sometimes you can be literal, because there’s an exactly equivalent word in the other language [Sara gestures with her hands as she says “exactly equivalent”]. But, by using this, you’re missing the whole picture [Sara makes circular patterns with her hand as she says “whole picture”].

A veces puedes ser literal y usar la palabra precisa, porque existe una traducción exacta en la otra lengua. Pero, al usar esta palabra precisa, pierdes el contexto totalmente.

[Graciela now comes on screen sitting in the Language Services office during an interview].

GRACIELA: Between the provider and I, we were writing, coloring, trying to get the point across, and we managed, but it was very difficult.

Entre el proveedor y yo, estábamos escribiendo, pintando, tratando de comunicar el mensaje. Y lo logramos, pero fue muy difícil.

[Carla comes on screen, sitting in the Language Services office with a green wall as her background].

CARLA: My name is Carla Sanchez, and I do the interpretation. It’s helping them to understand, to get in la mejor posición, the best position. You almost blend in the communication, and you are not there, but you are the voice [Carla gestures her hands from her mouth out to the camera as she says “voice”].

Mi nombre es Carla Sanchez, y soy una interprete. Es ayudarles a entender, a estar en the best position, la mejor posición. Es como que te desapareces en la comunicación y no estás presente, pero eres la voz.

[In the next scene, Laura is sitting in the Language Services office doing an interpretation on speakerphone. She is speaking into the phone and using a pen and paper to write].

CLIENT ON THE PHONE: La cita a las 2:45

The appointment at 2:45

LAURA: ¿O sea, tiene la cita a las 3:15 pero la quiere cambiar a las 2:45?

So, you have an appointment at 3:15 but you want to change it to 2:45?

CLIENT ON THE PHONE: No, mi otra niña la tiene a las 2:45, y Tito la tiene a las 3:15.

No, my other daughter has an appointment at 2:45, but Tito has his at 3:15.

LAURA: Ok, I was calling because my son Tito has an appointment at 3:15, but my daughter also has an appointment at 2:45.

Ok, estaba llamando porque mi hijo Tito tiene una cita a las 3:15, pero mi hija tiene una cita a las 2:45.

PROVIDER ON THE PHONE: Oh, on Monday?

¿Oh, el lunes?

LAURA: ¿El lunes?

On monday?

CLIENT ON THE PHONE: Si, si lo estoy viendo bien en el calendario es el lunes.

Yes, if I’m reading it right on the calendar it’s on Monday.

[Sara sits at her computer facing away from the camera. She is talking to a client on the phone].

SARA: I don’t know how this works on your end, but I think you should verify who is in charge of paying for this interpreter, because by law, it has to be the court, when it’s for court.

No sé cómo esto funcionara por su lado, pero yo creo que usted debería verificar quien es responsable por pagar al interprete, porque, por ley, tiene que ser el tribunal cuando es un caso relacionado al tribunal.

[Graciela comes back on screen, facing the camera during her interview].

GRACIELA: First of all, you have to be a people person. And, you have to understand that people come in all different shapes and sizes and all different types of cultures, and all different types of cultural backgrounds. So you have to immerse themselves in their culture, and you have to try to understand where they come from, and try to learn the way they speak THEIR Spanish.

Primero que todo tienes que ser una persona sociable, y tienes que tener compasión, y pasión por tu trabajo, y tienes que entender que la gente viene de todos lugares, en todos modos y en todas formas, y de todo tipo de cultura, y de diferentes origines culturales, entonces tienes que sumergirte en sus culturas, y tratar de entender de donde vienen, y tratar de aprender la manera en cual ellos hablan SU español.

[Sara comes back on screen during her interview in the Language Services office].

Sara: If the interpreter doesn’t exist, if the translator doesn’t exist, then the community is not…

Si el intérprete no existe, si la traductora no existe, entonces la comunidad no…

[The screen goes black and then reads: “Thank you to Sara Proaño, Eloy Baez-Fernandez, Carla Sanchez, Graciela Francisco, and the Language Services Department at the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan. Additional thanks to Rebecca Zantjer for her creative assistance”].