Yinghong Huang, International Interpreter

When I look back at becoming an interpreter, I can’t help but think how lucky I am.

I’m originally from China. I came to the United States in 1997 from Canada expecting to find work in mechanical engineering, but I gave birth to three children and stayed home for many years.

During this time, I attended a bilingual church in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and would volunteer to interpret for mandarin speaking families. One of the sisters from the church was an interpreter in the University of Michigan Health System and asked me to apply as an interpreter.

I learned quickly how thorough and difficult the hiring process was. I had to fully understand medical terminologies and know basic knowledge about the body, diseases and treatment. I prepared for a month, passed the interview and started my career.

Three years later, my family moved to Maryland and I applied for a position with Language Access Services at Johns Hopkins Medicine International (JHI). The testing was much more intense.  I was originally brought on as a contractor, and a year later I got the full-time position.  JHI provided me with great opportunities. For example, they pay for you to receive training and certification.

I’m the only full-time Mandarin interpreter. If I don’t have any on site cases, I’ll do phone interpretation — we receive calls on the community line both from patients and provider. I also do translation, which includes patient education material, brochures, and news releases. Anything that needs translation goes through me.

On site interpretation is usually easier and more accurate. It helps to see things like a patient’s body language when you are working on more sensitive cases. Seeing how they react is vital when you are deciding on something like your tone.

End of life situations were initially difficult for me — there was actually one where I ended up crying. Part of our code of ethics is to take yourself out of the situation in order to do your job. Of course, you need a rapport with the provider and the patient, but keeping a professional distance is important. It’s something that I learned — not completely, but enough for the job.

When I’m not working, I enjoy Zumba and Chinese dance. I like cooking Chinese food, but love eating it much more! I’ve been married for 28 years and have two sons who are in college and a daughter who will start next year.

I’ve been interpreting since 2005 and I feel just as passionate as when I first started. I began volunteering in my church from the beginning, and even after all these years, I still love doing it.

Yinghong Huang, International Interpreter, 4.6 out of 5 based on 5 ratings