September 30, 2020 by Suzanne Franks

This Is an Interpreter

LanguageLine interpretation and translation

There’s a story about the brilliant Renaissance artist Michelangelo. He was asked about the difficulties he must have encountered in sculpting his masterpiece, David. Michelangelo replied with an unassuming description of his creative process:

“It is easy,” he said. “You just chisel away the stone that doesn’t look like David.”

Today is “International Translation/Interpretation Day,” as christened by the United Nations in 1991.

Linguists deserve to be celebrated each day for their heroic work, and especially this day in 2020, a year in which their contributions have meant the difference between life and death.

More than ever, the word “interpreter” is used in our society. The term is often thrown off casually without understanding what a human, professional interpreter actually signifies.

We thought that today would be an opportune time to define “interpreter.”

The Connection Between Interpreter Quality and Cost

We talk a great deal about “interpreter quality” and the fact that LanguageLine searches the globe for the finest linguists.

But why does interpreter quality matter? Isn’t great interpreting just a “nice to have” in the grand scheme of things?

Why Seconds Count When Connecting with a Language Interpreter

We are living in a new normal. Faced with providing essential services from a distance, many organizations are being introduced to professional interpretation and translation for the first time.

In coming weeks, we will be producing articles on how to evaluate potential language-services providers. We also encourage you to download our ebook, Five Critical Criteria for Selecting Your On-Demand Interpreting Partner. An effective language-access program begins with knowing the languages spoken in your region. If you’re curious, we recommend downloading our new infographic, The Most-Spoken Languages Across America.

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There’s a story about the brilliant Renaissance artist Michelangelo. He was asked about the difficulties he must have encountered in sculpting his masterpiece, David. Michelangelo replied with an unassuming description of his creative process:

We talk a great deal about “interpreter quality” and the fact that LanguageLine searches the globe for the finest linguists.

We are living in a new normal. Faced with providing essential services from a distance, many organizations are being introduced to professional interpretation and translation for the first time.