Anyone who decides to live in a foreign country, whether only temporarily or permanently, not only changes the place and the language spoken there, but often also the culture. In order to find one’s way around in the new culture, one needs not only language but also cultural knowledge. The latter are only taught to a limited extent in language courses. What would make settling in easier? A kind of tourist guide for newcomers: a cultural interpreter !

What is a cultural interpreter?

If an interpreter translates spoken language, does a so-called cultural interpreter then translate culture? How can you imagine that?

The answer to these questions can be found, for example, in those who are already working as cultural interpreters or are training such. The managing director and educational director of the Evangelisches Bildungswerk (EBW) Oberpfalz , Bettina Hahn, reported to the onetz portal that she was offering a qualification course for cultural interpreters in May and June. She explains that this job is not primarily about linguistic translation, but rather about intercultural mediation.

What makes a good cultural interpreter?

Like the best certified interpreters (language interpreters), the cultural interpreter also needs knowledge of at least two languages. In addition, he should be familiar with the cultures belonging to “his languages” – at best thanks to his own experiences and adventures. The closer one’s own cultural experiences are to those that await newcomers, the more successfully the new culture can be conveyed.

The EBW also sees it this way: According to Bettina Hahn, it is important that future cultural interpreters even have a migration background themselves. “Basically – and I think that’s particularly nice,” says Hahn of the online portal, “the approach is based on the fact that the cultural interpreters bring their own biographical experiences into the voluntary work.” Problems of the cultural interpreters with their own integration should therefore be deliberately included .

The sociologist and educational scientist Ahlam Bendadda-Erraji also has his say in the report. As a speaker at the qualification course for cultural interpreters of the Evangelisches Bildungswerk Oberpfalz, she passes on her experiences: According to her, she was born in Germany, but she still experienced the problems her parents had with integration first hand. There are often many misunderstandings that are not quickly cleared up. The 27-year-old describes her everyday life between two worlds. Her parents’ Moroccan culture is always omnipresent: in the furniture, in the food. It demands more communication and more people in a mediating role like the cultural interpreters played. Because with everything that seems strange, many people would initially distance themselves. Then people get involved with each other they often find a lot in common, says Ahlam Bendadda-Erraji. In essence, it is often the same values ​​that are important. And that’s why she thinks it’s particularly important that the cultural interpreters contribute their own biographical work. The linguistic part is there, but it’s not just about a 1:1 translation.

Are you looking for court interpretation Manchester who also work as cultural interpreters? Then feel free to contact us: Our language experts are at home in the cultures of their languages.

What is the content of the training to become a cultural interpreter?

Cultural interpreters should be able to support others in their integration into the new culture. The training is therefore about how you can familiarize newcomers with the culture of the new country and the values ​​and norms there. It also deals with aspects of migration and cultural foreignness, religion, intercultural communication, upbringing, family and role models as well as the education and health system.

What does the job of a cultural interpreter entail?

Cultural interpreters look after newcomers individually and help them to cope with everyday life in their new environment. For example, they accompany their protégés to doctor’s appointments or consultation hours at school or help them register for a sports course. The EBW, for example, draws a line for cultural interpreters when it comes to the law or help in court. Bettina Hahn says that they want to protect cultural interpreters because they simply cannot perform these tasks.

Cultural interpreters during pandemic times

The pandemic is making the work of interpreters more difficult, no question about it. Due to their job, they are particularly dependent on physical proximity to the parties between whom they are interpreting back and forth and the resulting hearing and seeing. In addition, there is the obstacle that the mask becomes in a conversation, because it restricts the view of the face and deprives the interpreter, especially the sign language interpreter , of valuable facial expressions from which he could derive additional information about what was said.

The distance with which we want to keep the pandemic in check also makes it difficult for cultural interpreters to have direct contact with and to accompany those under protection. However, many cultural interpreters now also offer their services online or by telephone ( video interpreting / telephone interpreting ).

If you also need a cultural interpreter, please do not hesitate to contact us: Our certified interpreters are experts in both linguistic and cultural terms when it comes to “their” languages.