Volunteer Interpreting for Springdale schools

A few weeks ago, I received an email from the UARK Spanish majors listserv detailing an opportunity to volunteer at Springdale public schools for Parent Teacher Conferences. I decided to participate as an interpreter for the Conferences, and so I attended a training session at the Administration office this week. I was one of about eight other people training to interpret. It was more of an informational meeting, but we also worked in small groups reenacting various interpreting scenarios.

I'm excited for next week, when Conferences are held, because almost half of the kids in the school district speak Spanish as a first language. Due to this, there is a large demand for interpreters for the Conferences in order for the parents to communicate with the parents. I'm glad I'm able to help out although I know that there is still need for more interpreters to volunteer.

This won't be my first experience interpreting, but I am still learning how to interpret. I've recently had experience in the medical field as an interpreter, for example. It was a nerve-wracking experience, but I did learn some important aspects such as asking the doctor/teacher to say only 2 sentences (more or less) at a time, and to make sure that the patient/parent has fully understood what was said. Interpreting word for word is not very realistic, and it is more important that the content of the message is relayed.

In my experience, it has been very gratifying to volunteer, and I'm glad I was made aware of this opportunity.