Interpreting

An interpreter has to do their job well in order to facilitate communication. They are responsible for the success of interactions between people who do not have a common language. The success of any international event or visit by a foreigner depends, in part, on the interpreter. An interpreter’s objective is not to summarize, paraphrase or explain what someone is saying, it is to communicate the meaning and information they are sharing as clearly as possible.

Our interpreting service is one of the best in the region due to the following characteristics:

Quality

ONG Traducciones achieves a high level of quality in its interpreting through rigorous preparation for each job. During this process we study supporting documents to increase our knowledge of the subject matter and prepare a glossary of terms and specialized language.

Experience

Everyone knows that an interpreter has a difficult job. Because we have been providing this service for the past 12 years, we have impressive skills when it comes to interpreting. During this time we have worked in a huge range of contexts for a broad range of clients. Our extensive and long-standing experience ensures that we can provide an interpreting service of the highest quality in any context.

Adaptability

A good interpreter needs to be flexible, due to the nature of the job. The ONG Traducciones team is as comfortable working in meetings with governors and ministers as it is in the jungles and ethnic communities of Colombia. We have provided interpretation at weddings, taxis, airports, buses, canoes, the presidential palace, jungle huts, five-star hotels and many more. We are as happy interpreting in the steamy Amazon jungle as we are at the top of the Andes mountain range. We can start at 5am and finish at 9pm. No matter the place, time or weather conditions, we are always ready and willing to provide an interpretation service that is tailored to local realities.

Warmth

People are not robots, and your interpreter shouldn’t be one either. The process of interpreting is extremely human. For this reason, we bring our positive, friendly and warm attitude in order to improve the understanding of everyone involved. At ONG Traducciones, we make it easy for people to not just communicate, but also enjoy their time in Colombia.

At different times an interpreter has to speak to the media, give speeches to large groups of people, facilitate relationships between people who have just met and overcome cultural differences. Although these tasks are not officially part of an interpreter’s role, they are essential for communication to flow and for everyone to feel comfortable, safe and included.

Background information

When we are working on an interpreting job, we are often with people from other countries who want to learn about very specific realities during their stay in Colombia. In order to understand these realities, it is necessary to receive background information about the context, which can be local, departmental or national. We share information about certain facts, norms or cultural situations in Colombia that are implicit or very well known by locals but not by visitors. We have identified that providing this background information facilitates their understanding of a specific situation. This work does not affect the rhythm or quality of our interpreting work, but instead enhances it, and has become an added value of our service.

Type of events

Conferences

We have years of experience in providing interpreting services for international conferences and congresses. We have worked with the public sector, private companies and non-profit organizations, always providing a high quality service that facilitates understanding and exchange of knowledge and experiences for those in attendance.

Our work before a conference is focused on preparation. We study all of the preparatory documents sent to delegates before the event. We obtain copies of the presentations and papers that will be delivered. As a result of our preparation, when the conference takes place we ensure that all attendees benefit from the information presented because it is communicated by the interpreters in a fluent and concise manner.

Training

It is common that training programs for employees of international companies and organizations are delivered by people from other countries. Interpreting for a training program requires a high level of flexibility from the interpreters due to the variety of activities that are held. These include theoretical presentations, practical exercises, role-plays, icebreakers, plenaries and question and answer sessions. The ONG Traducciones team works hard to ensure that all participants benefit from the training program. We draw on our experience as university professors and high school teachers and combine this with our inexhaustible energy to contribute to the participants’ learning process.

Zoom Meetings

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, interpreting for meetings on the Zoom virtual platform has become an indispensable necessity for the vast majority of international organizations. This new form of interpreting requires specific conditions to facilitate communication between all members of a virtual meeting.

The first is the sound quality of our simultaneous translation. We ensure that our interpretation is heard perfectly through a broadband internet connection and digital microphone. The second is our ability to keep up with the speed of the conversation, without asking people to speak more slowly. After so many years working in Latin America, where most of the population speak very fast, we have developed the ability to express a speaker’s ideas without summarizing them, ensuring that listeners don’t miss any details.

Finally, and something that is very important for Zoom calls, is our ability to understand different accents in both English and Spanish. Thick accents can confuse many interpreters, but thanks to our extensive experience and time living in countries such as Scotland and India, we are able to understand even the most difficult accents in both Spanish and English.

Field visits

A specialty area in our interpreting service is field visits. This almost always involves hard work in inhospitable places carried out by a single interpreter. From the jungle to dusty neighborhoods, in the heat and in the cold, we love to go into the field with visitors from other countries.

This is not a job that suits everyone. Our experience traveling to remote locations to facilitate communication and take part in significant visits has allowed us to develop very specific skills that include:

Stamina to interpret for long periods at a time, on our own, without there being a drop in the quality of the translation at the end of the day.
Generate interpersonal connections with people from indigenous, Afro-descendant and peasant communities in a very short period of time.
Available to interpret at any time, especially during breaks and lunch.
Demonstrate enthusiasm for visiting special and little-known places and transmit it in our work.

Weddings

It might sound a bit hard to believe, but when a foreigner does not speak much Spanish and marries a Colombian in Colombia, it is a legal requirement that there is an official translator present to interpret at their wedding (they have to know what they are signing!). To date, we have had the good fortune to be part of one wedding as an official translator. We are pleased to say that the couple is still together and have a beautiful daughter. We love weddings and will be ready, smiling and well-dressed if you need an official translator for a marriage between a foreigner and a Colombian.

Contact us for a quote

WhatsApp / Tel.: +57 321 941 0975 • info@ongtraducciones.com

To request a quote for a written translation, you can upload your document(s) and let us know the deadline. (File format .doc, .docx and .pdf. With a maximum weight of 5 Mb).

If you want to request a quote for an interpreting service, please provide as much information about the job as possible: location, number of people, type of event, equipment required and dates.

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