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Using an Interpreter Effectively
Most people understand what an interpreter does, but surprisingly few understand how to work with one effectively.
An interpreter is not simply someone who speaks two or more languages fluently. We are communication professionals. Our role is to become the bridge between two people who cannot communicate because of a language barrier. The goal is simple: both parties should receive the same message, with the same meaning, as accurately as possible.
What many people don't realize is that interpreters are bound by strict professional ethics. We are not allowed to omit information, add our own explanations, paraphrase, summarize, or change what either party says simply because it sounds better or would save time.
Think about it this way.
Imagine you have a page of important instructions and you paste it into Google Translate. You expect it to translate every sentence, not decide which parts are important enough to keep. Google Translate doesn't summarize your document before translating it, because doing so would change the original message.
With today's AI tools such as ChatGPT, you can ask it to summarize something first, then translate the summary. You can even translate it back into English afterwards to verify whether anything important was lost.
But that isn't how interpreting works.
When you speak to an interpreter, there is no opportunity for the interpreter to summarize your words and then ask, "Is this summary correct?" Every word we choose matters. Every omission can change meaning. Every paraphrase introduces risk. If crucial information is left out, neither speaker may even realize it happened.
This becomes especially important in healthcare.
A doctor may ask several detailed questions because every symptom matters. A patient may mention something that seems insignificant but later turns out to be the key to a diagnosis. If an interpreter starts deciding what is "important enough" to interpret, they are no longer interpreting, they are making medical judgments, something they are neither trained nor authorized to do.
Accuracy is our responsibility.
But accuracy is also a shared responsibility.
One of the biggest challenges interpreters face is when someone speaks extremely softly, mumbles, speaks while looking away from the microphone, or allows heavy background noise to interfere with communication. Naturally, the interpreter will ask for clarification.
Unfortunately, there are occasions where clarification is met with responses such as:
"I already said it."
"You're wasting time."
"I'm not repeating myself."
Or the speaker simply refuses to repeat what was said.
At that point, the interpreter has reached a professional limit.
We cannot invent words we did not hear.
We cannot guess.
We cannot fill in missing pieces.
Doing so would violate the very standards that make interpreting trustworthy.
Sometimes the only ethical option is to request that the call be transferred because we can no longer maintain the level of accuracy required for both parties.
What is difficult to understand is when someone refuses to cooperate during the call, yet later complains that the interpreter was ineffective.
Imagine asking someone to build a bridge while refusing to let them use half of the construction materials. The bridge failing is not because the engineer lacked skill; it is because they were prevented from doing the job properly.
Interpreting works in much the same way.
Respect goes both ways.
Speaking clearly, allowing the interpreter to ask for clarification, pausing between longer explanations, and understanding that repetition is sometimes necessary are not inconveniences. They are part of ensuring that communication remains accurate and safe.
Professional interpreters undergo training that goes far beyond learning another language. We study ethics, confidentiality, cultural awareness, terminology, note-taking techniques, memory skills, active listening, communication protocols, and impartiality. We learn when to intervene, when to remain silent, and how to preserve meaning without becoming part of the conversation.
Fluency alone does not qualify someone to be an interpreter.
The next time you work with an interpreter, remember that we are not trying to slow the conversation down. We are trying to protect it.
Every request for clarification is made for one reason only: to ensure that the message you intended is the message that is delivered.
That isn't poor performance.
That is professionalism.
Because at the end of the day, interpreters are not just translating words.
We are safeguarding communication.
And communication deserves respect.
