The vhs education office provides lay interpreters to translate conversations with parents at daycare centers and schools in the city of Offenbach. To support them in this, the education office, in cooperation with the Freiwilligenzentrum Offenbach e.V. (Offenbach Volunteer Center), once again carried out a training course this year, in which nine lay interpreters took part.
The volunteers are language and often also cultural mediators. They are obliged to be objective and impartial when translating and must recognize and respect their own boundaries. This understanding of their role was conveyed during the training. In addition, rules and techniques of interpreting, assistance in dealing with conflictual and emotionally difficult situations were provided and topics such as the transition from nursery to elementary school, the Offenbach school system and inclusion were covered in greater depth.
"We have tailored the training to the needs and topics that lay interpreters encounter when talking to parents in nurseries and schools. I am delighted that we are supporting them with this and that parents, teachers and children can also benefit from it," explains vhs director Dirk Wolk-Pöhlmann.
The qualification, which took place in June and July, was financed by funds from the Hessian qualification program for volunteers in the social sector.
In order to continue to meet demand, the education office is primarily looking for lay interpreters for Bulgarian. "But people with other language skills who are interested in working with us are also welcome to contact us," says Jasmin Hambach from the education office. Contact can be made by telephone on 069 8065-3838 or by e-mail to bildungoffenbachde.
Background:
Since 2015, the Education Office has been placing lay interpreters at educational institutions. The volunteers, who unlike professional interpreters are not used in court or to translate documents, are mostly native speakers. They receive an expense allowance for their work.
