Bilingual English-Spanish blog on issues important to the professional interpreter.
Dear Colleagues, The interpretation services market has undergone profound changes over the last few years. Platforms, agencies, players in the grey market, and other actors with little knowledge of, or genuine interest in, the interpreting profession have invested millions of dollars promoting the inaccurate idea that machines can interpret speech from one language into another. Among language…
Dear Colleagues, Not long ago, I was contacted by a colleague from another country who asked whether they could refer me to an overseas client planning an event in my market. I thanked them for the referral and gladly agreed to speak with the potential client. Soon after, I received an email from the foreign […]
Dear Colleagues, In today’s post-pandemic world, the way clients plan conferences, award ceremonies, and multilingual business events has shifted, often in the wrong direction. Budgets are tighter, scrutiny is higher, and decision-making bodies are under pressure to justify every expense. As a result, many organizers fall into a dangerous trap: prioritizing cost-cutting over value creation. […]
Dear Colleagues, The FIFA World Cup is supposed to be a celebration of the world’s most popular sport. It should be a tournament that unites nations, brings fans together across cultures, and allows athletes to perform on the grandest stage in front of a truly global audience. Yet the current World Cup hosted by Canada, […]
Dear Colleagues, The interpreting profession has undergone a profound transformation in recent years. What began as a sudden shift during the Covid pandemic has evolved into a lasting change in how interpreters work, how clients perceive language services, and how the market itself is structured. For freelance interpreters, this moment represents not a threat, but […]
Dear Colleagues, In recent months, it has become increasingly common for interpreters to share clips of speeches on social media in which speakers praise interpreters and acknowledge the importance of their work. These moments can feel validating for a profession that often operates behind the scenes. When a speaker publicly recognizes interpreters as essential to […]
Dear Colleagues, Professional interpreting, especially in high-stakes environments such as conferences, relies on far more than linguistic fluency. It requires preparation, context, and access to materials. Yet interpreters frequently encounter a troubling dilemma: clients or event organizers fail to provide documents, presentations, terminology lists, or background information in advance, but…
Dear Colleagues, A few weeks ago, I was on holiday in Cancún, enjoying the sun, the food, and the surreal experience of being in the Yucatán Peninsula. Like many visitors, I booked a day trip to Chichén Itzá, one of the most iconic archaeological sites in Mesoamerica. The ruins are breathtaking, the history is deep […]
Dear Colleagues, Artificial intelligence is reshaping the world at an unprecedented pace. From healthcare to education, from diplomacy to justice, AI-driven tools increasingly mediate human communication. In the field of interpreting, technological developments promise efficiency, accessibility, and innovation. Yet focusing solely on technology, its performance, accuracy, and deployment, is not…
Dear Colleagues, 2025 is in the history books and it is time to assess what we learned during those 12 months. As interpreters we are constantly learning, and from talking to many of my friends and colleagues, the year that ended was packed with news and developments around artificial intelligence, and issues like public policy […]