The Critical Link: Interpreters in the Community

Book excerpt: What is community interpreting? What are the roles of the community interpreter? What are the standards, evaluation methods and accreditation procedures pertaining to community interpreting? What training is available or required in this field? What are the current issues and practices in community interpreting in different parts of the world? These key questions, discussed at the first international conference on community interpreting, are addressed in this collection of selected conference papers. The merit of this volume is that it presents the first comprehensive and global view of a rapidly growing profession, which has developed out of the need to provide services to those who do not speak the official language(s) of a country. Both the problems and the successes related to the challenge of providing adequate community interpreting services in different countries are covered in this volume.