Italian-English simultaneous remote medical interpreting (RSI) for market research

Working together

The company emailed me, telling me about the project they wanted me to take part in. From the level of detail they gave in their first email, I could tell the company had worked with interpreters in the past.

It was so detailed, in fact, that I didn’t need to ask for any more info before giving them a quote.

I asked the company to provide me all of the materials they had available to get ready for this job, and they sent me an outline of the questions patients would be asked. Medicine is one of my specialist sectors, so I was already familiar with a lot of the specific terminology they used. Nonetheless, for this job I created a new bilingual glossary specifically about asthma, including not just the symptoms but also terms to do with devices and medicine used to treat it and used to help asthma patients with the social issues they face.
I also did a deep-dive into other terms that may have come up, based on the question outline I’d been sent, including things like other allergies.

Services the company chose

The company and I agreed to do the interviews over Zoom so we could use its interpreting feature. That way, I was able to follow the interview from start to finish with my screen off, and translate simultaneously for the company staff listening to and following the different stages of the interview. Zoom even lets you choose what channel to listen to: I was tuned into the Italian conversations between the facilitator and patients, while the company was listening to me speak English.

This means the company could listen to just my channel and hear me clearly, without any interference or distractions from other noise.

The customer and interpreter meeting before the event allowed us to create the perfect strategy to organise the interview and choose the most suitable way of getting the job done based on their needs.

The client asked to record the interviews in both languages: to protect the interpreter’s copyright under the 1886 Berne convention, if you want to record an interpreter you need their agreement and a signed waiver. Recording an interpreter’s work costs extra, and this client paid for this additional service.

The customer also decided to add some extra interviews beyond those they’d originally planned, and so they bought three more hours of interpreting services.

Difficulties

Since the interviews were with asthma patients, some of whom have very serious conditions, when they spoke it was often flustered and emotionally charged. There was one interviewee in particular who spoke very, very quickly, without taking into account that they were being interpreted. They often went off-topic, telling us about things or events that weren’t relevant to the interview.

I interpreted them simultaneously, doing my best to keep up with their rhythm and including everything they said. That’s what being an interpreter is all about: faithfully reproducing your speaker’s words, without changing them. The client appreciated my calm, relaxing tone of voice even when the speaker was getting upset.

What the client has to say

Get in touch now to book the English-Italian remote interpreting services you need.

Get in touch now to book the English-Italian remote interpreting services you need.
Whether you’re going to be interacting with a foreign professional or are organising a work meeting, let me help you achieve your goals by overcoming language and cultural barriers.
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