Course Profile: Relay Interpreting: A Solution for Languages of Limited Diffusion?

Abstract

Clients of public service agencies are often speakers of minority languages or languages of limited diffusion (LLDs) for which it is difficult to find interpreters. If no interpreter is available in a given language combination, relay interpreting may provide a solution. This profile describes an attempt to address the shortage of indigenous language interpreters in the United States by training selected speakers of these languages to work in a relay situation with certified Spanish-English interpreters in a variety of settings. The course, ‘Indigenous Relay Interpreter Training’, was presented to two different groups by the International Interpretation Resource Centre in conjunction with two other agencies, under a grant from Oxfam America. Participants heard lectures about the different settings in which dialogue interpreters work and the role of the interpreter, collaborated on subject-matter glossaries in indigenous languages, and practised relay interpreting with English-Spanish interpreters....