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Community Interpreter Nowadays, the united Kingdom along with many other world countries became a multicultural country with many different languages spoken. People from minority groups often speak only a little English or no English at all for various reasons. This results in access to all services being complicated for them. Because the Government in the United Kingdom committed itself to providing access to these services equally for everyone there is a need for community Interpreters.
This assignment discusses upon community Interpreting. It will provide answers to these questions: who Is a immunity Interpreter what is his role where is he working who is he working with what skills and knowledge he needs to have different ways of interpreting code of conduct – what Is It and why Is It needed when he should decline an assignment what not to do Who Is a community interpreter? A community interpreter is very Important person who allows communication between two parties speaking different languages.
He Is a bridge over communication gap between two parties. A community Interpreter Is a qualified person who can pass information from one person to other in way he can understand. Many community interpreters are members of minority groups in the host country, however they are familiar with its institutions. (Rutledge encyclopedia of translation studies, by Mona Baker, Gabriele Slapdash) The community interpreter has a very deferent role and responsibilities from a commercial or conference interpreter.
She Is responsible for enabling professional and client, with very different backgrounds and perceptions and In an unequal relationship of power and knowledge, to communicate to their mutual satisfaction. (Shaman, Jane. The Right o be Understood: A Handbook on Working With, Employing and Training Community Interpreters. 1984, Cambridge, England, National Extension College. ) Professional – person who acts on behalf of organization the client is dealing with. The role of the community interpreter is as vital to successful communication as that of any other type of interpretation.
In addition, involvement in face-Weave interaction emphasizes the community interpreter’s role as both a language and social mediator. Community interpreter have to handle a real-time dialogue – more or less pantones and unpredictable exchanges of talk between individuals speaking different languages – and they also have to Interpret In both direction. (Rutledge works as community interpreter must have knowledge of the ethnic, cultural and social background of client and must be able to explain it to the professional.
A community interpreting is also known as a institutional interpreting and therefore community interpreters are mostly working in a public organizations such as hospitals, doctor surgeries, health visitors surgeries, clients homes (when home visit f a professional is arranged), Soberness, citizen advice bureaus, immigration offices, social security offices, housing organizations, solicitors offices, courts, police stations et cetera.
This implies that community interpreters are used by professionals as for example: doctors, nurses, health visitors, police officers, Judges, lawyers, solicitors, council officers, immigration officers and other public sector representatives who are dealing with non English speaking clients. What skills and knowledge community interpreter needs?
It’s not only a good knowledge of both languages but community interpreter must be ware of dialect client can speak (dialect is a local variation of language in particular area), accent (different pronunciation of the same words), slang (street language), abbreviations (shortening of words or phrase) and acronyms (words made from first letters). Good communication skills are also very important and community interpreter must be able use formal and informal language to make sure he or she will pass the message the client can understand.
In addition to this a community interpreter must be impartial – that means he or she is not taking a side with client or professional. Knowledge of a terminology (set of specific words used in particular field) is essential too. A community interpreter must act professionally, that means good timekeeping, dress code, politeness, self organization, must remain calm in every situation and be confidential (not to pass any information from assignment to third party).
There are three main type of interpreting: Simultaneous, where the interpreter is listening and interpreting at the same time and speakers are not interrupting their speech. (for example conferences, business meetings) Consecutive, where speaker makes pauses for the interpreter to let him ass the message. On site translation, where the interpreter read from a document and translating it in the same time.
The Code of conduct is set of ethical rules and guidelines, which community interpreter is obliged adhere to. It contains rules about confidentiality, professional competency, impartiality, and dress code. Even a fully qualified community interpreter must sometime reject an assignment. This happens when: a conflict of interests is possible he or she knows the client personally, or is emotionally involved What a community interpreter must not do? Legate any work to another interpreter accept any other reward allow the client to be passenger in own vehicle disclose any information, including any criminal record discriminate between the parties A community interpreter is a professional with all above mentioned skills and knowledge. Excellent knowledge of both languages is not sufficient. He or she must hold a relevant qualification in community interpreting. Community interpreters must be carefully selected and well trained to make sure they provide the client with a professional service. In some cases people’s life can depend on them.