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School District Uses "Instant Translation" Devices
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 Don't panic. The schools in DeKalb County, Georgia, USA, are indeed using hand-held "translation" devices to connect teachers and other school staff to parents who speak limited English.
But they are not for automated translation. Instead, the devices appear to work like portable telephones: they connect staff and parents to remote interpreters. If you listen to the demo on the website of Atlanta's National Public Radio station, it sounds just like telephone interpreting.
Still, if these devices help more parents participate in their children's schooling (which appears to be the case) and staff are happier communicating with their largely Nepali and Burmese families, then the devices and the system seem to work.
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Change Is in the Air for IMIA
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 For those of you who attended the recent conference of the International Medical Interpreters Association, you know that leadership change has happened. And it's real.
For one thing, next year the conference goes "back to its roots"--in other words, it will be held Boston. This decision may surprise many.
For another, this year's IMIA annual report included a financial report of utter transparency. And it is an eye-opener. (You must be an IMIA member to access that report.)
Meanwhile, the always valuable annual 2015 IMIA Compensation Survey and Status of the Profession Report is out, well worth a read.Let's keep IMIA on our radar. |
