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Interpret edit_mixdown.mp3
Transcript
Susan Robertson
Hi and welcome to In Touch with Tennessee, the official podcast of the University of Tennessee Institute for Public Service. The Tennessee Language Center became the sixth agency of the Institute in 2018. TLC is focused on language, learning, teaching and services for the public sector, the business community, and private citizens. One of the services the center provides is interpretation and translation.
Today's guests are Eric Amos, interim program director for interpretation and translation for the Tennessee Language Center and Barbara Tallent from the Nashville Children's Alliance welcome. To both of you. Thank you.
Eric Amos
Thanks for having us.
Susan Robertson
So Eric, let's start with you. Can you give us an overview of the center's interpretation and translation services?
Eric Amos
Yeah, sure. So we provide services. Like you said, all throughout the state to both private sector and government work. We have multiple contracts with a lot of different state agencies and then we do work with different hospital systems throughout Tennessee and then also lawyers' offices. So, a lot of it is legal or medical-related.
And then we work with a lot of school systems throughout the state as well. Doing IEP meetings and things like that, especially for interpretation. And then we translate a lot of documents, especially for state agencies like the Department of Human Services which is one of our biggest clients doing things for them, and then we have walk-ins as well for transcripts, marriage certificates, all kinds of different documents, letters and things that need to be translated. So, we work with all kinds of people throughout the state providing these services for people who need them.
Susan Robertson
OK. So how does that work, I mean, say I need translation for my doctor's appointment. How would that work?
Eric Amos
Yeah, so all hospitals, court systems, lawyers, offices, things like that, schools. It is legally required that they provide an interpreter if it's needed. So to what we call the LP, the person who doesn't speak English in the situation, they don't really have to pay for these services out of their own pocket. These clients, the hospitals, the schools, the courts, the legal offices or people contact us.
We have a list of probably about 150 to 200 contractors throughout the state who in person cover about probably 50 or 60 languages, and then we have a telephonic service as well and so they reach out to us and we have a scheduling system that works out to where we are able to get everybody to where they need to go, make sure they have everything that they need to provide the services to a quality level, whether it's documents ahead of time and things like that.
For translation they usually either walk in or e-mail us with a document and then we work with the network of translators throughout the country as well to provide the translation in whatever language is needed, and then get those back to them and we can certify those translations as well if they need them for like legal proceedings and things like that.
Susan Robertson
OK, interesting, so you said you have interpreters across the state. How do you identify those?
Eric Amos
So a lot of them are certified either medically or legally, which is, you know, the two main ways you can be certified and most of those are recognized nationally, especially as far as medical and then legal. It kind of varies state to state, but we partner with the Tennessee court system to provide legal interpretation. And legal certification process. So see those processes, we can identify them through websites that have the list of interpreters that are certified in your area in your state, and we can.
And then we also provide training here at the university or at the Tennessee Language Center. And as we recruit people for those trainings. Kind of bringing them up in house. We know that there will be good interpreters for us, and so there's a few different ways. And then word of mouth as well through different interpreters as well. So we're able to contact them that way.
Susan Robertson
OK, thank you. Barbara, welcome tell us a little bit more about the National Children's Alliance.
Barbara Tallent
Sure, yeah, thank you for having me. The Nashville Children's Alliance is a local nonprofit 501C3. We are a child advocacy center. We're in a neutral, child friendly location for multidisciplinary teams to meet and investigate cases involving allegations of severe child abuse, whether that's physical abuse, drug exposure, general sex, abuse, anything like that.
Susan Robertson
And how long have you all been a client of the Tennessee Language Center?
Barbara Tallent
That's an interesting question for me, because so I've been here for about 10 years, but I don't think officially we were a client of TLC until October of 2019, which is kind of funny to me because we are a nonprofit, we we don't have extra funds at all and for the longest time, uh, when we received referrals for forensic interviews; the Department of Children's Services covered the fees for an interpreter, which was great, but we had no say in anything as far as who it might be or who it's through or kind of. We didn't have much say in any part of that, and then was someone in a powerful position who did an audit and decided they would no longer cover those costs. Well, that left us in a very tough position and I recalled working with some wonderful people from the Tennessee Foreign Language Institute, which I think is what TLC was a long time ago when I was an advocate.
I went to my supervisor, and I said, please, can we call these folks? And they have been absolutely wonderful, working with us continually. So yeah, that's kind of, I think officially we began maybe paying what we could a few years ago.
Susan Robertson
OK, great and how do you use the services of the center. Give us an example.
Barbara Tallent
Yeah we do forensic interviews with children aged 3 up to just under 18. And as you know the population and the demographics in Nashville are very diverse and a lot of our clients come in and the children, either you know a different language, is spoken at home. They might be in school and maybe have some kind of survival English, but not something that would be super helpful as far as what we need to do here. The services that we provide, they have to be forensically sound and legally defensible, and the criteria that we have to meet in our interviews with children it's very stringent, it's just a lot we have to meet a lot of requirements. To remain accredited.
And to be something we can be useful and helpful in these investigations. Yeah, and so they. Eric helps us get linked with an interpreter when we have a child come in that does not speak English, so we will reach out and I will sometimes it's very, very urgent and sometimes it's hey this child's coming in two weeks. But they've been helpful no matter the circumstances, and I honestly I don't know what we would do without them.
Language and communication are the core of what we do, and communication barriers can stop us in our tracks and without TLC. We would just. We would not be able. To serve these children.
Susan Robertson
Right, right, and as you mentioned, the population and the demographics specifically in the Middle Tennessee area have changed quite drastically, I guess over the last 10 years or so. Eric, tell me how someone gets in touch with you. Say how you know I have a need for a translator. Do I go to your website? Do I call? What are the the different ways that we can get in touch with the Tennessee Language Center?
Eric Amos
Tlc.tennessee.edu or by calling us. As well, probably the two best ways and the two ways that people contact us.
We have quite a number of people also that are word of mouth that may be in the same industry that have used services before and so that having somebody reach out to them. I haven't thought with lawyers, offices and things like that. Different medical clinics where they'll find us through word of mouth also, but probably through the website and phone call are probably the easiest way to get most of our clients calling us.
Susan Robertson
OK, going back to the the changing demographics. Have you had requests for? New new languages, I mean, new populations that have maybe moved into the state.
Eric Amos
Yeah, so things happen in the world, especially you can kind of tell when things are happening and how it impacts us. And Nashville is a little bit of a destination city for refugees and people like that. So when things were happening in Burma, we got a lot more requests for Karen and and Burmese. Languages when everything happened in Afghanistan over the last couple of years, there's been a huge influx and the need for Dari and Pashto and the Afghan languages and things like that.
Spanish is probably always going to be the number one requested language, but then I mean. We have the largest Kurdish population outside of Iraq as well, so there's a very diverse section. A lot of Southeast Asian languages spoken here, especially between probably like Nolensville and Smyrna Murfreesboro in that area. And those kind of things. So yeah, so it's very diverse. And as things happen in the world, we've had a big request for Ukrainian recently as well. Obviously, with everything happening over there because Nashville is used as kind of a a hub city to get people settled as well. So we definitely see the influx in those different languages as things happen in the world.
Susan Robertson
Right, right? And you all are based in. Nashville, but you do offer your services across the state correct?
Eric Amos
Yes, ma'am. Yeah we, uh, probably the majority of of appointments take place. I would say between like Murfreesboro, Clarksville kind of that area but we have a good network in Memphis as well, and then we do a lot in the Cookeville area, Chattanooga, Knoxville. There's kind of the main ones, and then there's definitely outskirts, especially with like different school systems and things like that. And different medical offices that are more rural.
Susan Robertson
OK, well great. Well thank you both for joining us today.
Eric Amos
Yeah, thanks for having us.
Susan Robertson
Thank you. And thank you listeners. Be sure to look for In Touch with Tennessee on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.
