The growing presence of indigenous languages in the U.S., such as Tzotzil spoken in Mexico, has highlighted the challenge of finding legal court interpreters for rare languages.
Tzotzil | Court Interpreter Shortage
The United States legal system is facing a shortage of qualified interpreters as the number of cases involving rare language speakers rises. This, in turn, has led some courts to use interpreters without proper training which ultimately produces inadequate results. The qualifications of interpreters used to translate rare languages vary greatly—in most cases, they are not trained to interpret at all, nor do they possess the required skills for simultaneous interpreting services as well as knowledge of legal terminology.
Tzotzil | The Language Challenge
John Haviland, an anthropology professor and interpreter for Tzotzil, an indigenous language spoken in Mexico, explained that understanding American legal terminology and concepts is no small feat—this is much more so when interpreting or translating. A simple statement such as, ‘Do you waive your right to a jury?’ needs three paragraphs to translate into Tzotzil.
Needed: Rare Language Interpreters!
Because the judicial system faces a major challenge in finding qualified interpreters for uncommon languages, they often resort to dismissing cases. This has prompted outrage from the public in regards to crucial cases. For example, prosecutors in Louisville, KY were challenged in finding a Bantu qualified interpreter for a Somali man charged with killing his four children. The case resulted in a dismissal purely due to a lack of qualified interpreters.
A few years ago, relevant organizations could not estimate the number of cases affected by the inability to secure qualified interpreters in rare languages, as most of the cases were considered unworthy of wide media coverage. Now, courts are continually in search of rare language interpreters.
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