English Spanish Interpreter: A Simple Guide

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The purpose of this guide and these exercises is to be a simple-to-follow tool that develops and strengthens your skills to become an English Spanish interpreter. 

You will be able to improve or learn how to interpret, and at the same time it will help you increment your English-Spanish vocabulary related to different industries that use this type of service. Here’s what you need to know.

According to the book Interpretation Techniques and Exercises (by James Nolan):  “Interpretation cannot be learned from a book alone, but only through a combination of study and steady practice”.  

Over the year, we found Nolan’s statement to be true and that’s why we have developed these exercises that combine realistic conversations that will place you on the right path to become an interpreter.

First thing first

For you to be able to take advantage of these exercises you must be at least an intermediate English student.  If you have basic knowledge of the English language or are planning to start an English course, then I strongly recommend you to read our article about how to learn English here.

Even though our exercises and methodology is intended for Spanish speakers who want to become English-Spanish interpreters, if you are an English student, then you can also learn from these every-day-dialogues and conversations that have been translated into Spanish for learning and practicing purpose. 

That’s said, if you speak some other language such as French, German, Mandarin or any other, you can still use our blog automatic translation tool of Google to help you with your studies.

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The proposed scenarios or fictional conversations of an agent, an interpreter and a LEP (Low English Proficiency Person) are helpful for consecutive interpretation practice although they can be used for simultaneous interpretation exercises as well. 

We will be adding more exercises and scenarios so that our readers can find a tool to improve their skills for medical and court interpretation.

   

 

Three Simple Steps to Become a Spanish Interpreter

Exercise your Short-term memory.  

It is one of the most important skills you must develop to become a great interpreter.  The most you exercise your memory retention the better results you will get.

a- Studying with a partner.  If you have a partner or friend who can help you study, just simply ask him/her to read one or two lines of conversations (information or dialogue) and scenarios we have selected here for you to repeat it aloud in the same language. Do not try to interpret anything during this stage because you are simply developing your memory retention.

b- Studying alone. Basically, you can do the same exercise using Google Translate or any other program you may have available that you can use to hear one or two sentences at a time and then repeat them aloud.

Expand your vocabulary of the industry

With every scenario or conversation you will be able to find a small list of the most common vocabulary related to a specific industry that was used in such scenario. Follow these steps.

a- Copy and paste the words in Google Translate or a similar program to help you learn new words.

b- Practice translating the words from English to Spanish and vice versa.

Practice your listening, conversion and interpretation skills

Do not start to interpret the scenario if you haven’t done the two previous steps. When it comes to languages, it is better to learn a bit every day and acquire that knowledge deep in your brain than to try to do a lot and not be able to use that knowledge effectively later on.

1-You can either work with a partner who can help you to read the scenario for you while you give your rendition or you can copy and paste it into Google Translate website so you can hear it and practice.

Regarding using Google Translate when you don’t have a partner to help you study. Even though it is a machine and not a real human that reads the conversations and dialogues, you can still take advantage of its great features such as: listening to a female or male voice at a near native pace and pronunciation.

Ready to start a profitable and rewarding career as a Spanish interpreter?

 

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If you already know two languages, or have mastered two languages, then becoming a Spanish interpreter can be a great venture for you, so go ahead and start to grow your interpretation skills today.   

And last but not least

Stay tuned. Consider to register with your email address so you can receive updates of new scenarios and new exercises and reach us this way. We will be more than happy to help you with questions you might have. Also, helpful comments are always welcome. Enjoy!

Also see:

1- Social Services Glossary: List of DHS Most Common Vocabulary

2- English Spanish Exercises Online: Calling Social Services -Advanced 101