What is an Interpreter?
An interpreter acts of the voice for an individual. He or she relays what is spoken in the source language and speaks it into the target language. An interpreter does not have an opinion, they simply relay what is being said.
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A good interpreter can translate words, while a great interpreter not only has good memory retention but also has multiple synonyms at his or her disposal to pull from.
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A great interpreter has 40,000 words in his source language (English) and 40,000 words in the target language (Spanish) to work with.
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The most commonly used type of interpreting is "consecutive" which, as the word suggests, is the rendition that follows the original question or statement from the source language to the target language.
Why does one need to be a professional?
There are many ethics that providers need to navigate through alongside the client. Family members cannot be neutral parties. Often friends and family tend to downplay or "sugarcoat" what is being said. Bilingual individuals without the proper training can be a gamble in a legal or medical setting. You want to work with trained professionals in those fields.