Lost in the Same Language
Imagine two people speaking the same language and still not understanding each other. Strange, right? Most of us are familiar with the amount of linguistic diversity in the world. There are thousands of languages spoken across multiple continents, but what often gets overlooked are dialects. Let’s explore how dialects affect interpretation and why it matters more than most people realize.
What Is a Dialect? (And Why It’s More Than an Accent)
A dialect is a regional or social variation of a language with differences in vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. To clarify, although different dialects do tend to carry different accents, the two are not synonymous. For example, some different Spanish dialects are Mexican vs Dominican. In Arabic, there are Egyptian, Levantine, Maghrebi, etc. In Chinese, there are Mandarin, Cantonese, Wenzhounese and many more. While many Spanish dialects are generally mutually intelligible, even native speakers of languages like Arabic or Chinese who are from different regions have difficulty understanding each other.
What Happens When Dialects Are Ignored
Ignoring dialects in interpretation can lead to dangerous errors and misunderstandings. In the legal setting, if an interpreter misunderstands a term in a regional dialect, it can lead to misstatements in court testimony, possibly resulting in false admissions, mistrials, and ethical issues. In the healthcare sector, if a patient is from Guatemala and uses a word that has a different meaning in Mexico, then that can result in a misdiagnosis and medication errors. In sensitive instances like these, fluency is not enough. Context, cultural awareness, and dialect sensitivity are key to ensuring quality interpretation and complete understanding
What Organizations Can Do
As an organization, the best thing you can do for your clients is to be aware of their specific language needs and work with reputable interpreting services that prioritize dialect matching. At Kaplan Interpreting Services, we make sure to ask the right questions in order to match you with the correct interpreter. Slip-ups like sending a Chinese interpreter fluent in Mandarin to an appointment where Cantonese is needed simply doesn’t happen on our watch. We care about the details.
Understanding Starts with Listening Closely
Dialects matter and overlooking them can cost people safety, fairness, and dignity. Partner with interpreters who speak your clients’ language and their dialect, too. If you would like assistance finding the right interpreter, contact us and we’ll help you get started.
CEO & Founder
Born in Dallas, Texas, Alexandra grew up surrounded by Spanish, English, Arabic, and Italian. After moving to Venezuela, Spanish became her primary language. She holds a Master's in Healthcare Administration from Washington University in St. Louis and is a California court certified and medical interpreter.
She founded Kaplan Interpreting Services after seeing an industry that treated interpreters as interchangeable and clients as ticket numbers. She built a protocol-driven operation where every interpreter is hand-selected and credentialed for the specific setting, every client has a dedicated point of contact, and risk management is built into every assignment.
Her career reached a historic milestone when she interpreted the conversation between President-elect Biden and Pope Francis. That assignment, along with engagements for Nike and the Summit of the Americas, set the standard for every client engagement that followed.
"The same protocols that protected that historic conversation now protect every assignment we handle."