Interpreters see the whole exchange from a position nobody else occupies. We asked one what practitioners consistently get wrong.
What do attorneys most often misunderstand about your role?
That I am translating words. I am rendering meaning, and those are different tasks. A witness who says something ambiguous in Spanish gets an ambiguous rendering in English — I am not permitted to tidy it up, and attorneys sometimes think I have made an error when I have done my job.
The second thing is that I am not part of anyone's team. I am neutral, and that neutrality is the whole basis of the record being reliable.
Why should family members not interpret?
Because they cannot help editing. A daughter interpreting for her mother will soften a question she finds humiliating, or answer on her mother's behalf because she already knows the answer.
None of that is dishonest. It is what a loving family member does. It also destroys the evidentiary value of the exchange, and it puts the family member in an impossible position if the case turns on that testimony.
What goes wrong most often in scheduling?
Late requests, and imprecise ones. “Chinese” is not a booking. Cantonese and Mandarin are different interpreters, and for some languages there may be very few certified interpreters in the county.
The other issue is that people request for the hearing and forget the consultation. The preparation meeting matters as much as the hearing.
What can a practitioner do to make it work better?
Speak to the client, not to me. Short sentences, one idea at a time, and pause. And send documents ahead — I cannot sight-translate a fourteen-page contract in a hearing at the quality anyone deserves.
A daughter interpreting for her mother will soften a question she finds humiliating. None of that is dishonest. It also destroys the evidentiary value of the exchange.Certified court interpreter, 14 years in LA County courts
What we took away
- Interpreters render meaning, including ambiguity — apparent “errors” are frequently accurate renderings.
- Family members inevitably edit; the interviewee described this as loving behaviour with serious evidentiary consequences.
- Requests must name the specific language and dialect, and should cover preparation meetings as well as hearings.
- Short sentences addressed to the client, and documents supplied in advance, materially improve accuracy.
Method
This piece is an editorial composite drawing on how certified court interpreters have described their role in public commentary and professional literature. It is not a transcript of one named interpreter's interview, and nothing in it concerns a specific proceeding.