A Little Spanish Translation Goes a Long Way

Editor’s Note:  This week’s post is from one of my dynamo audiologists, Jennifer T. Lamfers, AuD and AnaMarie Garcia who is an Administrative Specialist who took Jennifer’s ideas and made them work into a translation to Spanish that works with our area of Spanish Speakers.  We have a couple of people in the office who speak Spanish, but sometimes just the spoken word isn’t enough.  Here is Jennifer’s story on challenges which came up with language barriers and how all of us in the office as well as those who come in to see us could benefit with some Spanish translation.

“During graduate school I was fortunate to be selected to volunteer with a large Rotary Club that went to Mexico to test people’s hearing and fit them with hearing aids–services and technology that often were otherwise not available to them. These people came from all over Mexico,  sometimes traveling two to three days by bus to attend the one-week clinic. I was selected because I am bilingual and could work independently of the few translators who joined us each year. As we  talked over  breakfast before clinic, we decided to write Spanish language testing instructions. The translations–imperfect as they were–were picked up by my graduate program, which gave them to  students with the goal of enabling some English-only speakers to muddle through with patients.

Years later, I had forgotten this piece of translation until an inmate came to the office with two corrections officers who indicated he could not hear and was unable to respond to officers who spoke fluent Spanish.  As a semi-fluent Spanish speaker I took my chances and spoke in my loud and clear “audiologist voice” to no avail: He was non-responsive but clearly trying and struggling. I wrote out instructions in Spanish (hurriedly and not in the finest of grammar) and he followed the tasks without difficulty.”

That encounter spurred me to work with AnaMarie to come up with these translations:

Spanish for Audiological Testing
Ana Marie Garcia

 

Tympanogram:
We will begin with a pressure test.  You will feel a little pressure like you are going up a mountain in a car.  You will also hear loud sounds in either ear.  You don’t have to do anything for this test.
TR: Vamos a empezar un examen de presión.  Va sentir presión en los oídos como cuando está conduciendo un coche en lo alto de una montaña.  También va escuchar sonidos en cualquiera de los dos oídos.  En este examen usted no tiene que hacer nada.
Otoacoustic  Emissiouns (OAE):
You are going to hear some noise that sounds like static.  You don’t have to do anything.  Simply listen quietly and don’t move.
TR: Va escuchar unos sonidos como estática. Usted no tiene que hacer nada, simplemente escuche y no se mueva
Air/Bone Conduction:
You will hear some beeps (press the button/raise your hand) when you hear them.  It doesn’t matter which side you hear them on.  Even if it is very soft continue raising your hand when you hear.
TR: Va escuchar unos beeps (oprima el botón/levante la mano) cuando los escuche.  No importa en cual lado los escucha, aun si el sonido se escucha muy bajo siga levantando su mano hasta que deje de escucharlos.
Speech Reception Threshold (SRT):
Now I am going to say some words, repeat these after me.  The words are going to get softer, continue to repeat them as you can hear them.
TR: Ahora voy a decir unas palabras, por favor repítalas después de me.  Las palabras van a bajar de tono,  continúe repitiendo hasta que deje de escucharlas.
Most Comfortable Loudness (MCL):
I need to find the point at which you can hear well, not too loud and not too soft.  How is this?
TR: Necesito encontrar el punto donde usted pueda escuchar mejor, no muy fuerte y no muy bajo.  Como esta esto?
Do you want it louder?  Do you want it softer?  Or is it comfortable?  I can turn it up?  I can turn it lower?

MISCELLANEOUS

• Ven comigo.  Tr:  Come with me.
• Es todo.  Tr:  That is all.
• Regrese a la sala de espera.  Tr:  Go back to the waiting room.
• Los resultados indican una pérdida de oído.  Tr:  The results indicate a hearing loss.
• Suave/Pequeno   Tr:  Mild
• Moderado  Tr:  Moderate
• Severo  Tr: Severe
• Profundo  Tr: Profound
• ¿Usted tiene gusto de hablar de los audífonos/apparatos?  Tr:  Would you like to talk about hearing aids?
• Pila/batteria  Tr: battery
• Micrófono   Tr: microphone
• Mojado  Tr:  Wet
• Corrosion  Tr: corrosion
• Tubo  Tr: tube
• Molde  Tr: mold
• Infección del oído   Tr: ear infection
• Firma aqui   Tr:  sign here

 

AnaMarie Garcia recently moved to Arizona with her family from the big state of Texas.  She has many years experience in different settings, but very much enjoys one on one contact with patients to build great customer services.  AnaMarie is a patient care coordinator in both the Tanque Verde and Oro Valley offices.  She is bilingual and helps bring top quality care to all of those she encounters with her wonderful attitude!

Jennifer Landers is originally from Miami,  and acquired her undergraduate degree at The Florida State University. She moved to Phoenix for graduate school and completed her Clinical Doctorate in Audiology in 2010 at A.T. Still University-Arizona School of Health Sciences. There she focused on amplification, pediatrics and vestibular testing. She has annually attended a Rotary Club medical mission trip “Ayúdeme a Escuchar” (“Help me to hear”) in Guaymas in Sonora, Mexico.