The Realities of Child Interpreting and Ways Forward: A Recap of Translators Film: An ATA Roundtable
Please note: The views and opinions expressed in this summary do not necessarily reflect the views of each individual panelist or participant or those of the American Translators Association.
From child interpreter to professional interpreter
When he was 10 years old, Nery Mazariegos was asked to interpret for his mother during a visit to her obstetrician. Through her discussion with the doctor, he learned a family secret his mother may not have intended for him to learn so young—that he had had an older sister who had died. Not only did he have to process the information being exchanged between his mother and the provider about her current pregnancy, he also had to contend with the enormous emotional burden of trying to process the loss of a sister he had never known.
“I was not prepared to handle that. […] Put yourself in the shoes of a 10-year-old who doesn’t have the emotional intelligence, emotional maturity, hasn’t lived enough to understand.”
– Nery Mazariegos
Now that he is a certified interpreter and talent acquisition manager at a language services provider, Nery realizes that his experience as a child language broker is not rare. The film cites that this is a scenario that is repeated 11 million times every day in the U.S. Most of these children are proud to be able to help, even though they are often ill-equipped to perform the task; as children, they