12 minutes
Working with an interpreter Work with a sign language or spoken language interpreter in a way that keeps the person as the party to the conversation.
What you’ll be able to do Describe how to book, brief and work with an interpreter so that the conversation is with the person, and identify three common errors. Compare the responses to this question and explain your choice: What went wrong? Document a next step for Working with an interpreter: Before your next interpreted meeting, brief the interpreter for five minutes on the purpose and the terms that will come up. The conversation is with the person An interpreter is not a participant in the conversation. They are the means by which two people who do not share a language speak to each other. Everything about working with one well follows from that. You look at the person. You speak to them directly, in first person, as you would if you shared a language. You pause so the interpretation can happen. You do not say "tell him." You do not have a side conversation, because the interpreter will interpret it, and because it is rude.
The other half is logistics. A qualified interpreter, booked in advance, for the full meeting, in the person's language and the right variety of it. Not a family member, who has their own stake and their own filter. Not a bilingual staff member pulled from another task, who is not trained and whose presence changes what the person will say. For a Deaf person, a certified sign language interpreter; for some, a Deaf interpreter working alongside a hearing one. Ask the person what they need.
Before, during and after Before During After
Ask the person what language and what kind of interpreter they need. Book a qualified interpreter for the full length plus margin. Send the interpreter the purpose of the meeting and any terms that will come up. Arrange seating so the person can see both you and the interpreter.
Look at the person. Speak in first person. Pause. Do not talk over the interpretation. Do not have side conversations. If you do not understand something, ask the person, not the interpreter. Check understanding by asking the person to say back, not by asking if they understood.
Provide a written summary in a form the person can use, which may be a different language or format. Ask the interpreter whether anything about your practice made their job harder. Record what language and what kind of interpreter worked, so the next booking is right.
There are no side conversations in an interpreted meeting. Everything said in the room is interpreted, and everything is the person's to hear.
Never use family as the interpreter What you can change You control whether an interpreter is booked or a family member is asked to fill in. The second is faster and it changes everything the person will say, and what they will hear.
What to watch for Do not let a meeting proceed with a family member interpreting because the booking failed. Reschedule. A meeting in which the person cannot speak freely is not a meeting.
Your next step Check the interpreter booking for your next interpreted meeting a week in advance.
Carry this forward Book a qualified interpreter in advance, for the full length of the meeting, in the person's actual language; family members and staff are not interpreters.
Speak to the person, not the interpreter. Look at them. Use first person. Pause for interpretation and do not talk over it.
The interpreter interprets everything said in the room, and that includes side conversations, which means there are no side conversations.
A tabs walk through before, during and after, a quote, a scenario decision and a knowledge check.
Before your next interpreted meeting, brief the interpreter for five minutes on the purpose and the terms that will come up.
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Previous lesson Next lesson Carry this into practice Presuming competence, the methods people use to communicate when speech is not available or not enough, what it takes to work with an interpreter or a communication device well, and how to make what you say and write usable.
Return to the experience: What did you notice or try, whose perspective informed it, and what would you keep or adjust?
Participation and course completion in this program do not count toward DHS-required training credits unless management, a director, or DHS leadership expressly approves an exception.
