Best practices when working in interpreters
Debrief the interpreter
You might not need to go into all details of what you need them to say (we often have excellent prediction skills anyway), but by doing so you manage to contextualise things and build rapport. If there is anything you find complex, you may want your interpreter to know about it in advance.
Sitting arrangements
Ideally the interpreter should be able to see all parties, especially their faces. This helps connect emotions and words and facilitates the rendering process. Sometimes you may have multiple people in the room, which means the interpreter will whisper parts of the conversation when the English speakers are not addressing the person who has limited English proficiency directly. Make sure the interpreter sits right next to the person who they will whisper for.
Remember you’re in charge
Is the other party not answering questions the way you would like? Have they given a correct answer but spoken about various other things as well? Does the whole meeting feel stiff? Do not blame the interpreter. You are the one who needs to make the person you are speaking to feel comfortable. You are the one who needs to be clear on how questions are to be answered. And most important of all, you need to wait for the interpreter to finish before you move on to the next thing, or set different ground rules
Explain your role and the interpreter’s
We are not supposed to clarify what you mean. We are not supposed to give examples of our own. We are not supposed to add or remove information of our own. The interpreter is not a spokesperson or a friend of the parties. It is very important to have a clear idea of what our role is and isn’t, and it makes it much better when the parties know it. It always works well to explain at the very start of the meeting what the interpreter’s role is going to be.
Use first person
One of my main interpreting pet peeves is when people keep saying “can you ask them …?” and “Please tell them”. Just use first person when addressing the party. Reported speech makes it all feel much less natural, and places the interpreter at the centre of the conversation, which is not the goal.
Look at the other party when speaking
Even though you are not speaking to them in their language, look at them. I find when people look at each other their turn-taking improves a lot. You’ll realise how it actually feels for someone who doesn't speak your language to be listening to you talk and it will certainly make them aware you are addressing them and not the interpreter. They will often give you clear signs you have already spoken long enough.
Mind your speech
If you speak too quickly, or for too long, or use language that’s too complex/figurative, things might get lost in translation. Chunking up language in small bits and being objective is the best way to go
The universal language
A smile always a smile and it means the same in every culture. And it remains one of the best ways to connect with people and build rapport.