I just want to share something as interpreter, especially doing OPI.

Sometimes, clients talk very fast. Very very fast. One sentence become very long, with many information, numbers, names, medical terms, everything all together.

We try our best to listen.

But then when we say,
“Sorry can repeat last part?”
or
“Can you speak slower a bit?”

They suddenly become impatient. Some even sound angry. I don’t really understand why. We are not a recorder. We are human!

We cannot record everything inside our brain like machines. We need to listen, understand, remember, then change into another language. All this happen in few seconds. If you speak too fast and too much in one go, it is very easy to miss something.

Then what you want us to do? Just guess? Just summarise everything? If we don’t clarify, maybe wrong meaning will go to patient. Especially medical call, small mistake also can become big problem.

When we ask to repeat, it is not because we are not good. It is because we want to be accurate!

Actually, if you slow down a bit, speak shorter sentence, give small pause, everything will go smoother. You also don’t need to repeat again and again. We are same team.

Interpreter is not here to make things slow. We are here to make sure message is correct, clear, and safe. So next time, if interpreter ask you to repeat, don’t be angry. We are just trying to do our job properly.

And we also tired, you know?