The ATA Chronicle - July/August 2018 - 20

TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETING IN MEXICO: UNCHARTED TERRITORY, RICH WATERS continued

LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION
2017 Survey on Translation and
Interpretation in Mexico
http://bit.ly/Mexico-survey
Association of Public Service and
Community Interpreters and Translators
www.interpretesytraductores.org
Italia Morayta Foundation
http://italiamorayta.org/en/italia-morayta
InterpretAmerica
www.interpretamerica.com
Lenguas
http://lenguas.org

these fields. Other sources of work
supplement their income (page 30).
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Translation and interpreting agencies
are not the most common source of
income, but rather direct clients. 78%
of translators and 64% of interpreters
derive a portion of their income from
direct clients (page 34).
60% of translators, including those who
work with indigenous languages, have
at least one client located outside of
Mexico, while around 7% depend almost
exclusively on foreign clients (page 56).
Interpreters and translators believe
that the primary factors that negatively
impact their income earning potential
are competitors that charge lower rates,
lack of respect for the profession, and
lack of awareness about the importance
of translation and interpreting services
(pages 42-43).
Most translators and interpreters (69%)
state that they do not belong to any
professional associations.5

Obstacles to Professionalization
Survey respondents also had an
opportunity to leave comments regarding
their perspectives on the profession. Many
of these comments concerned barriers to
professionalization, including the areas
listed below. (Please note that I translated
the comments that appear here from the
original Spanish.)
Inadequacy and lack of enforcement of
existing linguistic legal frameworks and
20

The ATA Chronicle | July/August 2018

protections: "Translation and interpreting
services are required by linguistic rights
legislation, but these rights are denied.
Furthermore, indigenous language
translation and interpreting services are
undervalued" (page 89).
Lack of training programs that would
allow for continued professional
development: "[...] Translation is thought
of as an informal trade rather than a
profession. [In my state,] there is no wellknown, accessible formal degree for those
who are in this stage. The belief persists
that speaking two languages is enough to
translate" (page 90).
Lack of awareness of and respect for the
profession: "Bilingual amateurs who are
not trained in translation and charge low
rates are saturating the market" (page 89).
In response to the obstacles highlighted
above, several respondents called for:
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An increased awareness of the translation
and interpreting professions, including
those who provide these services.
The creation of new linguistic rights
legislation for unregulated aspects of
the profession and the enforcement of
existing regulations.
Expanded online and in-person
training options that focus on more
language combinations, specialties, and
modalities, and that ideally result in
recognized certification (pages 93-94).

In spite of the challenges to the
profession, many respondents expressed
personal and professional satisfaction, as
evident in the following comments: "It's
hard work, but people are very grateful.
Many say: 'I don't know what I would have
done without your help! The physician
wouldn't have seen me.'" (page 94)

SHINING A LIGHT ON
HIDDEN CORNERS
Boarding the plane back to Brazil, with
the luminescent and vibrant Mexico
City at my back, I reflected on what had
been accomplished. By translators and
interpreters having shared their experiences,
we had managed to shine light on
previously hidden corners of our industry.
At the end of the day, we're all laboring
arduously to improve this complex and

noble act we call communication. The 2017
Survey on Translation and Interpretation in
Mexico gives us the concrete and powerful
information needed to do so. The next
Lenguas conference in January 2019 will be
one place to make good use of it.6
Both the executive summary (English/
Spanish)7 and the full report (Spanish)8
are available for free download.
(Acknowledgement: Thanks to Gonzalo
Celorio Morayta, Ana Lucía López Mendoza,
and Alejandra Hernández León for their
contributions to this article, and to editors
Katharine Allen and Lauren Stephenson.)
NOTES
1
2017 Survey on Translation and Interpretation
in Mexico, http://bit.ly/Mexico-survey.
2

For more infromation on Italia Morayta, please
see http://italiamorayta.org/en/italia-morayta.

3

The Interpreting Marketplace: A Study
of Interpreting in North America,
http://bit.ly/interpreting-marketplace.

4

Please consult page 80 of the 2017
Survey on Translation and Interpretation
in Mexico (full report in Spanish),
http://bit.ly/Mexico-survey.

5

See http://datamx.io/dataset/eitmx17.

6

Lenguas2019, www.lenguas2019.com.

7

Executive summary of the 2017 Survey on
Translation and Interpretation in Mexico:
English (http://bit.ly/summary-English);
Spanish (http://bit.ly/summary-Spanish).

8

2017 Survey on Translation and
Interpretation in Mexico (full report,
Spanish), http://bit.ly/Mexico-survey.

Laura Vaughn Holcomb has
been a health care interpreter
and conference interpreter for
nearly a decade. An interpreter
trainer, curriculum developer,
remote interpreting/training
consultant, and English for interpreters coach, she
has a master's degree in conference interpreting
from Glendon College. She is an adjunct professor
of the Virtual Healthcare Interpreting Practicum
at Glendon, and launched CoLAB Toronto, a
peer-driven conference interpreting practice
intensive. In 2017, she directed Mexico's first
nationwide survey of translation and interpreting
professionals on behalf of the Italia Morayta
Foundation and InterpretAmerica.
Contact: laura@lauraholcomb.com.
www.atanet.org
http://www.bit.ly/Mexico-survey http://www.interpretesytraductores.org http://www.italiamorayta.org/en/italia-morayta http://www.interpretamerica.com http://www.lenguas.org http://www.bit.ly/Mexico-survey http://www.italiamorayta.org/en/italia-morayta http://www.bit.ly/interpreting-marketplace http://www.bit.ly/Mexico-survey http://www.datamx.io/dataset/eitmx17 http://www.lenguas2019.com http://www.bit.ly/summary-English http://www.bit.ly/summary-Spanish http://www.bit.ly/Mexico-survey http://www.atanet.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The ATA Chronicle - July/August 2018
