Interpretation & Translation Services

Our recent experiences have included:

  • High profile criminal trials

  • Medical conferences

  • Training courses for refugee interpreters

  • Implementing interpreter training as part of high school Spanish classes

  • Training & testing for medical interpreters in hospital settings in bilingual communities

Testimonial

Yvette Citizen has been simultaneously interpreting Chopra Center events since 2009. At our workshops and seminars, she seamlessly interprets specialized vocabulary in a myriad of topics, ranging from quantum physics and medical terminology to Ayurvedic cooking and the poetry of Hafiz. Our Spanish-speaking participants consistently praise Yvette's precise and high quality interpretation. She has been a crucial element in our ability to impart the teachings of the Chopra Center to our Spanish-speaking guests. We are fortunate to have her on our team, she is the best!

~Amanda Ringnalda, Director of Operations & Events

Contact Bilingual Citizen Today for a Free Quote

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Yvette with retired Austin Police Commander, Katie Haggerty for whom she interpreted at a community policing conference.
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Featured
The Interpreter as Word Detective: Easy tips to improve your vocabulary

 By Yvette Citizen, FCCI

Dedicated to our colleagues in Fiji

Some people think bilinguals are like two monolinguals in one but the truth is, most bilinguals have a well-developed vocabulary for certain subjects in one language and not in the other. Monolinguals of course, have an overdeveloped vocabulary in their language because they’ve had to do everything in one language. For example, you may have an Argentine businesswoman who can negotiate business deals fluidly in English (her second language) but not know how to say “diaper, spatula, door-hinge, screwdriver” and other household words in English because she doesn't need to. Many immigrants to the United States don’t know how to say “mortgage, handbrake, punch card” and the like in their mother tongues because they never had cause to use those words in their home countries. And that’s perfectly fine – unless you’re a professional interpreter; in which case, you will aspire to literally be “two monolinguals in one body."[1] To that end, we must always be striving to maintain our languages at equal levels. This is why we must become ‘word detectives’, investigating every term that comes our way and asking ourselves if we have equivalents in all our working languages.

Here’s an exercise that will not take up too much time out of your busy life but will help you expand your vocabulary. Take on the role of a linguistic Sherlock Holmes – cap, pipe, and spyglass are optional.

EXERCISE: Go into every room in your house and see if your can name all the items you see in your working languages. If there’s an item you don’t have an equivalent for, investigate it! Look for synonyms, think of similar or related items, and fatten up your glossary. Start sleuthing!

Read More →

Book Release

Spanish Interpreter Guides Readers Through Meditation Exercises While Improving Spanish

Bilingual Citizen is very excited to announce the release of Yvette’s new book!

Throughout her career as an interpreter, Yvette Citizen met people who wanted to improve their Spanish. Whether they took Spanish in high school or spoke Spanish at home with their parents, they felt as if their language skills were a little rusty. She came up with a great way to help people improve their Spanish while working on their self-improvement goals with her book: Bilingual Meditations - Meditaciones Bilingües: Improving Yourself and Your Spanish at the Same Time.

Written in Spanish and English, this book is a set of meditative exercises that allows people to simultaneously improve their lives and their Spanish. With these exercises, the reader will visualize goals, set intentions, and review favorite quotes and songs - all in Spanish. This way, they can practice their Spanish skills and extend their vocabulary while getting themselves into a more positive state of mind. Each exercise has instructions in English and Spanish and is followed by a glossary to help the reader remember the new vocabulary.

Don’t forget to check out her other venture, TheConfidentInterpreter.com for interpreter training material and free language tips and resources.

Available at
BalboaPress.com
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

Equipment Rental

Interpreter Microphones, Headsets, & More

Bilingual Citizen offers a variety of interpreting equipment needed to ensure quality interpretation for conferences, workshops, business meetings and other types of encounters where interpretation is necessary.
Request rental equipment.

My Other Venture: The Confident Interpreter!

Irene Radillo from Utter Linguistics and Yvette Citizen from Bilingual Citizen have joined forces to create The Confident Interpreter. For a long time now, our interpretation students have been telling us they wanted more practice materials for independent study or practicing for certification exams, so we got together and created all kinds of fun and challenging consecutive, simultaneous, and sight translation exercises. Check us out on theconfidentinterpreter.com.