Zoom interpretation feature-- do you understand it because I still don't
June 24, 2022 6:45 AM Subscribe
I'm attempting to use the Zoom Interpretation feature for simultaneous translation in a virtual meeting. I can't figure out some of the details. Can you help?
I have a dedicated interpreter who is attending the meeting only to interpret English/Spanish, primarily on behalf of one attendee. This attendee is more comfortable expressing herself in Spanish but can pretty much follow the conversation in English.
My questions:
-The single interpreter *can* translate both directions, correct? ie when someone is speaking in Spanish, the interpreter is speaking in English to folks in the English channel and vice versa; the interpreter is always interpreting both directions? Or are two interpreters needed for that, one for each directions
-If the attendee would rather *listen* to the conversation in English but have the interpreter translate for her when she speaks in Spanish, is that an option? If so, which channel should she be in? My understanding was that if she put herself in the Spanish channel and the interpreter wasn't speaking, she should be able to hear the underlying (English) audio, but if the interpreter was speaking she would hear the interpreter (in Spanish) instead. Based on the last meeting, I'm wondering if I'm wrong on that, though.
I have a dedicated interpreter who is attending the meeting only to interpret English/Spanish, primarily on behalf of one attendee. This attendee is more comfortable expressing herself in Spanish but can pretty much follow the conversation in English.
My questions:
-The single interpreter *can* translate both directions, correct? ie when someone is speaking in Spanish, the interpreter is speaking in English to folks in the English channel and vice versa; the interpreter is always interpreting both directions? Or are two interpreters needed for that, one for each directions
-If the attendee would rather *listen* to the conversation in English but have the interpreter translate for her when she speaks in Spanish, is that an option? If so, which channel should she be in? My understanding was that if she put herself in the Spanish channel and the interpreter wasn't speaking, she should be able to hear the underlying (English) audio, but if the interpreter was speaking she would hear the interpreter (in Spanish) instead. Based on the last meeting, I'm wondering if I'm wrong on that, though.
Response by poster: Neither of the interpreters I have used so far have used the Zoom interpretation feature so they are not a resource for these questions. However, I will check in with them aside from the tech capabilities.
posted by geegollygosh at 8:14 AM on June 24, 2022
posted by geegollygosh at 8:14 AM on June 24, 2022
I've done this recently for a conference, and work with professional simultaneous interpreters frequently.
--One interpreter can handle both directions. Once assigned the interpreter role, they can switch between talking down the English Language or Spanish Language channel, depending on what language is being spoken by participants. As noted, they usually work in pairs but that's to take turns, tagging each other out every 20min or so. Since cognitively it's hard to sustain for longer time periods.
--Your Spanish-language participant should not have access to *talk* into the English or Spanish channel. Only interpreters can do that (in fact, they can only talk into the intepreted language channels, not into the main meeting audio). Any participant, including your Spanish speaker, can choose to listen to English audio, Spanish audio, or No Translation (normal meeting audio), and can easily change this during the meeting.
*Edit on re-read: your Spanish presenter should listen to the normal meeting audio (no translation), and speak as normal, just speak Spanish. Everyone else can switch to listen to the English channel at that point (or stay there throughout) if they want interpretation.
Please feel free to memail me questions or ask follow-ups!!!
posted by hovey at 1:46 PM on June 24, 2022
--One interpreter can handle both directions. Once assigned the interpreter role, they can switch between talking down the English Language or Spanish Language channel, depending on what language is being spoken by participants. As noted, they usually work in pairs but that's to take turns, tagging each other out every 20min or so. Since cognitively it's hard to sustain for longer time periods.
--Your Spanish-language participant should not have access to *talk* into the English or Spanish channel. Only interpreters can do that (in fact, they can only talk into the intepreted language channels, not into the main meeting audio). Any participant, including your Spanish speaker, can choose to listen to English audio, Spanish audio, or No Translation (normal meeting audio), and can easily change this during the meeting.
*Edit on re-read: your Spanish presenter should listen to the normal meeting audio (no translation), and speak as normal, just speak Spanish. Everyone else can switch to listen to the English channel at that point (or stay there throughout) if they want interpretation.
Please feel free to memail me questions or ask follow-ups!!!
posted by hovey at 1:46 PM on June 24, 2022
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posted by altolinguistic at 8:11 AM on June 24, 2022 [1 favorite]