The concept of “community interpreting” touches many language service areas, including interpreting in medical settings.

One of the fields of language interpretation is community interpreting. Although it can involve various specialties, such as medical or legal interpreting, it differs from them in that its main goal is to serve a community.

The services stem from the needs of this community, rather than from individual organisations such as schools, medical establishments or legal structures. So a community agency may offer interpreting services to local residents.

Such a center may focus on a particular language and culture, or many different ones – once again, it all depends on the needs of the community. For example, the Fife Community Interpreting Service in Scotland, a registered charity, provides services in 30 languages, from Arabic to Vietnamese.

“Community interpreting is a broad and flexible field, encompassing work in education, social services, industry, public relations, and local government issues and affairs,” explains the Boston University Community Interpreting program description.

Community interpreters need to have the requisite interpreting skills, of course, but also be very familiar with public services and how the community they represent relates to them.

So a community interpreter specialized in medical settings might work with patients even before their contact with a medical facility, helping them sort out paperwork, hospital entrance procedures, and in general facilitating their access to the services.

In general, community interpreting can be thought of as a field where language interpreting meets social work.

Betty Carlson

See Also

• Language Translation, Inc.
  A leading language translation and interpretation service provider for more than 20 years.