CyraCom takes pride in our professional linguists who meet our high-quality standards. Let’s review the qualities our interpreters and translators utilize to deliver excellent language services.
Qualities of professional linguists
Whether you need interpretation or translation services, the professional linguists that assist you should have extensive experience with:
Language skills: Professional linguists need extensive, high-level knowledge and vocabulary in both their native and secondary languages to be effective.
Ethical behavior: Linguists often encounter confidential or sensitive information. They must understand the regulatory environment surrounding patient and consumer privacy. CyraCom’s linguists follow a code of ethics consisting of six parts:
- Accuracy & completeness: Use language that matches meaning-for-meaning without adding, changing, or deleting content.
- Impartiality: Don’t add or emphasize anything based on personal opinions; do not change the original meaning.
- Confidentiality: Protect callers’ and clients’ private information following CyraCom’s security protocols.
- Transparency: CyraCom linguists remove communication barriers and are not advocates.
- Professionalism: Deliver excellent customer service and maintain professional conduct at all times.
- Cultural responsiveness: We use our cultural knowledge to aid understanding.
Subject knowledge: Industry-specific terminology and vocabulary are essential for high-quality interpretation and translation services. CyraCom linguists often serve healthcare, business, government, and 9-1-1 clients within the same day.
Qualities of professional interpreters
In addition to the skills above, CyraCom interpreters excel in:
Listening & recall: Consecutive interpreting requires waiting until a speaker pauses before interpreting. This modality requires intense active listening, memory recall, and note-taking to interpret accurately since the speaker may speak for several minutes without pausing.
Protocol knowledge: Interpreters must learn to be a conduit for the participants of the interpreting session, meaning they act as if they aren’t a part of the conversation. Interpreters speak in the third person unless they need to clarify or share information about the session. For example, in a medical scenario, an interpreter might say, “Doctor, the interpreter is unfamiliar with the term. To remain accurate, the interpreter will need clarification.”
Adaptability: Our interpreters manage the flow of communication so the conversation continues fluidly. Interpreters often have to quickly problem-solve and navigate challenges such as upset callers, time-sensitive scenarios, or other potential issues.
Mirroring: Beyond converting words, interpreters often imitate the speaker’s tone and inflection. For example, during a customer service call, interpreters may smile while they speak to reflect the representative’s friendly tone.
Qualities of professional translators
For exceptional final products, work with a provider whose translators exemplify:
Reading comprehension, writing, & editing: Besides fluency in the source and target languages, stand-out translators are excellent writers and editors. Beyond checking for grammatical issues, translators help ensure new content has the same tone and brand voice as the source.
Attention to detail: Quality translations require consistency, accuracy, and localization, meaning the translation should sound as though it were originally written in the target language. Translators and editors thoroughly review for any inconsistencies in page numbers, formatting, etc., to keep translations professional.
Additional resources:
- How you can help your interpreter
- Tips for using a remote interpreter confidently
- Hiring bilingual employees vs. utilizing remote interpreters
- Three ways CyraCom stands out from other language service providers
Ready to work with CyraCom’s skilled professional linguists?
Contact us at getstarted@cyracom.com to connect with our language services experts.
