Translation & Interpretation

Learning a language–and mastering it!–allows for countless job opportunities and possibilities when entering the workforce. An obvious career is language teacher, but there is so much more available if teaching doesn’t suit or excite you. Translation and interpretation–[and translations gone wrong]–have always fascinated me, but they are oftentimes confused and very different careers: translation is written; interpretation is spoken.

In class, I like to give a demonstration with a regular classroom teacher of what interpretation looks like. We choose a mini lesson beforehand, and then s/he stops after each sentence or phrase so that I can repeat it in Spanish (not simultaneous). I remember one year being distracted when a student sneezed and I missed the sentence I was supposed to interpret (a math lesson on long division); so I stopped and pointed out how crucial 100% focus and concentration are for this profession and that I had #failed in that moment!

This simple exercise ignites a meaningful discussion among students–and there tend to be a lot of questions afterwards. The regular classroom teacher and I even memorized a page-long goat story to retell for second graders one year (video), which included small gestures, is a lesson on compromise, and was great fun! Students all wanted to learn it after we performed and interpreted it!

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