About 2020: UN interpreters' new work modes, medical interpreting industry and Burger Queen

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Information remains a powerful weapon, even more, in the circumstances around the world these days.

First up, Burger Queen

Burger King are to sponsor Stevenage FC Women on the same terms as the club's men's side - but with an added twist. The amateur team play in the women's fourth division and will have "Burger Queen" on their shirts, with the Stevenage branch of the fast food outlet also adapting its name.

Stevenage's men's side became popular on last season's Fifa computer game because of a campaign by the sponsors. "It's crazy for all the right reasons," said Stevenage Women chair Joe Goude.

They are bottom of the National League Division One South East, with six defeats from six, so will hope their new high-profile sponsors can spark a turnaround of fortunes on the field.

The medical interpreting industry

The medical interpreting industry was already headed toward more video and audio meetings even before COVID-19. But the pandemic has dramatically accelerated that transformation. Now, several interpreters say they’re worried that the changes could leave some patients behind.

Santiago Morgan, one of those interpreters, has been translating for patients for the past 23 years.

As an example, Morgan recalled recently interpreting over the phone for a COVID-19 patient whose doctor was asking him whether he wanted to be put on a ventilator.

“The patient was struggling to breathe, and the doctor was having, it seemed, an end-of-life discussion with him,” Morgan said.

He worried that the human element of such an important conversation could have been getting lost over the phone. The change in work can also be hard on interpreters.

Telehealth and video interpretation

The pandemic has brought an even larger amount of LEP patients in contact with virtual interpretation services. Since the onset of the pandemic, the Yale New Haven Hospital has only used remote interpretation services, often in the form of video, to communicate with COVID-19-positive patients.

One such patient, Wanda Roman, a New Haven resident originally from Puerto Rico, was admitted to YNHH as COVID-19-positive in April. During her week stay at the hospital, Roman interacted with providers exclusively using video interpretation services. While Roman felt that she understood everything her providers shared with her, she told the News she felt less confident asking for information on the status of her health and treatment beyond what she was told. When the screen on the iPole - portable carts with screens as heads used to display video interpreting services - went off, Roman felt that her time to ask questions was over. In the past, Roman said she asked passing interpreters for help.

UN interpreters adapt to new work modes during COVID-19

When the coronavirus pandemic brought New York City to a halt, United Nations interpreters ran into big trouble: their booths and equipment were no longer accessible. However, they are rising to the challenge, exploring new ways to service multilateral meetings, including from their homes.

This story, with portraits produced remotely by UN Photo, documents how these professionals have been responding to new challenges COVID-19 added to their already daunting job of providing simultaneous interpretation in six UN official languages – Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

Despite all these challenges, the six language teams have developed ways to communicate with each other, for instance, by using group chats or apps to determine the order of turns – who goes first, second and third on the mic – and how to replace a colleague in the event of sudden disconnection.

Remote simultaneous interpretation is one of the answers

Simultaneous interpretation services have been around for a long time now, and it doesn’t look like they are going anywhere. On the contrary – with the ever-growing globalization and international expansion of numerous companies, all interpreters and translators remain in high demand.

But what about the current state of the world? The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many of us to stay at home and work remotely, but it didn’t put a halt to business life. Companies needed to adapt, and so did language services.

Remote simultaneous interpretation is one of the answers to the problem. So, what is it exactly, how does it work, and why should you consider it?

This text was not written by a native English speaker, but by a language lover. However, all our language services are always provided by native speakers.

Last but not least

An article recommended by Mário Júnior, CEO of AP | PORTUGAL Tech Language Solutions >> John le Carré, who forged thrillers from equal parts of adventure, moral courage and literary flair, has died aged 89.

Which other writer could have produced novels of such consistent quality over a career spanning almost 60 years, since Call for the Dead in 1961, to his latest, Agent Running in the Field?

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