Tips for Working with Interpreters & Translators

Training Date: August 30, 2022

In September 2020, we held our first bilingual CORE Coffee Chats on Self-care and Well-being (featuring Inbal Yassur of Encompass Community Services) and Digital Equity and Distance Learning Resources (featuring the Santa Cruz County Office of Education). We offered simultaneous interpretation, translated the slides into Spanish, and recorded the Digital Equity session in both English and Spanish. It took a lot of work, and we didn’t know if any Spanish-speakers would participate or watch the video. We just knew it was important to make the information about self-care and distance learning resources accessible in multiple languages to both service providers (our usual audience) and families throughout the community.

Since then, nearly every CORE Institute event has been offered in English and Spanish. We’ve tried new tools and techniques, made mistakes, and learned a lot about how to design and facilitate meetings for bilingual audiences. We do this for many reasons, including being inclusive and following best practices of language justice, which calls for respecting every person’s ability to communicate, understand, and be understood in the language they prefer and in which they feel most articulate and powerful. We’re still learning (and making mistakes), but we’ve developed new skills and habits, thanks to great partnerships with highly-skilled interpreters, translators, and other bilingual partners.

Watch the recording of this Coffee Chat, in which two local interpreters, Beatriz Trujillo-Ortega (Tru Translations) and Jorge Valenzuela, shared their top 10 tips for making your own in-person and virtual meetings and materials shine in more than one language.

In English

In Spanish

Hosted by CORE Investments:

Guests:

• Beatriz Trujillo-Ortiz

• Jorge Valenzuela

Interpreted by: Stella Lauerman

Bilingual Chat support: Gisella Carrasco

Presented in English with simultaneous interpretation into Spanish.