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My friend is making alot of money just by being an on phone interpreter. He makes 3 grand a month by simply being on the phone. Damn damn why didn't I pay attention to my elders when they would speak big Somali terms to me.


Jallemarx and co you guys should get in this business.

Sign me up, I got free unlimited minutes to the States. $3k is about £1.7k

Holy shit $3k a month!

Julkimi wrote:My friend is making alot of money just by being an on phone interpreter. He makes 3 grand a month by simply being on the phone. Damn damn why didn't I pay attention to my elders when they would speak big Somali terms to me.


Jallemarx and co you guys should get in this business.

I am assuming that your command of the somali language is stronger than what you believe it is. Many somali interpreters do not speak good Somali - or other languages for that matter. Some Somali terms are only known to people who attended school in Somalia or are from the countryside.

I was in court sometime back to observe a commercial case. The intepreter did not know the somali word for bill/invoice, website and quotation/offer.

The somali words are qaans heeg, malko and qiimo sheeg. He interpreted as fatuuro (a bad pronounciation of the swedish word faktura), "websaayt" and " xaashi"

So. don't give up. The somali language is one of the easiet to write and if you have somali parents, the easiest to learn.

I once had to deal with a Somali person at work. I ended up using an interpreter as it was too difficult to explain for me. I was in shock when everything I said was interpreted differently. I understand some medical terms may not have a literal Somali word( for maybe there is but not used) but this guy never asked for clarification or did he attempt to say word by word what I was telling this person. That was my own experience with Somali medical interpreters but I have seen others who don't even even comprehend English work as interpreters. That's really scary.

SummerRain wrote:I once had to deal with a Somali person at work. I ended up using an interpreter as it was too difficult to explain for me. I was in shock when everything I said was interpreted differently. I understand some medical terms may not have a literal Somali word( for maybe there is but not used) but this guy never asked for clarification or did he attempt to say word by word what I was telling this person. That was my own experience with Somali medical interpreters but I have seen others who don't even even comprehend English work as interpreters. That's really scary.

Ramadan kariim SummerRain. Yes, I feel sorry for Somali patients who do not speak the languages of doctors and nurses. For instance, the somali word for "cell" is unug. How many somalis know that? It is even worse when it comes to internal organs.

The problem is that this goes both ways; the patient and the interpreter do not speak good somali- well they might but their command of terminology is weak.

Marx
Well how do patients understand their providers back home? Did the Somali language evolve in the last 20years? I can't imagine being in my 30s and not knowing what "cell" in the only language I know. Is it an issue of literacy?
Also, why take up a job you know you can't give 100%? Knowing any mistake/misinterpretation could cost a life or adverse effect in treatment! What I see is lack of personal responsibility and ethics.

Octavious: You have to be a U.S citizen.

Jallemarx: you're telling me there's still hope for me to interpret with my limited afsomali?

Summerrain: I once too a family relative to a clinic and the clinic had their own interpreter and I was surprised at how limited her English was.

SummerRain wrote:Marx
Well how do patients understand their providers back home? Did the Somali language evolve in the last 20years? I can't imagine being in my 30s and not knowing what "cell" in the only language I know. Is it an issue of literacy?
Also, why take up a job you know you can't give 100%? Knowing any mistake/misinterpretation could cost a life or adverse effect in treatment! What I see is lack of personal responsibility and ethics.

When poverty comes through the door, ethics, modesty and honesty leave through the window SummerRain.

The somali school curricula was created in the 1970s. It was a tenacious task to find words for technology, maths, science, biology etc. The curricula developers relied on old somali words which only made sense in academia and adminstrative units.

I started writing and reading the somali language as an adult. At the onset, I viewed it as an impossible task but soon, I was able to speak and write it. I avoid using "foreign" words when I am speaking to somalis. Our people (majority) are intellectually impaired and think that using a foreign word is an achievement. Watch Somali TV; every politician, every man and woman thinks it is smart to use foreign words; ABOLOJAAS, DAYUUSBARA etc are ubiqous.

And then there is the issue of diseases/anatomy and how we describe it; a somali woman who has period pains will say "caloosha/bogga/beerka ayaa laiga haayaa". Anything under the chest is bogga/beerka. "Pain" comes in many forms too.

Another one is the word " isfiliito" ENG Syphilis. The somali word is waraboow but many people especially from the south use the word isfiliito to describe anything from stress, depression, anger etc. so you will meet many people telling the doctor ISFIILITO ayaa i haaysaa.

JUL; there is hope for you. Don't give up. Visit your local library and borrow somali books.

Scansom is a good source of books. You can buy them online and find books in different genres i.e. literature, music, sports, history, law etc

JaalleMarx wrote:He interpreted as fatuuro (a bad pronounciation of the swedish word faktura)

Fatuuro (fatuurada) is correct. It's from the Italian fattura.

sconosciuto wrote:

JaalleMarx wrote:He interpreted as fatuuro (a bad pronounciation of the swedish word faktura)

Fatuuro (fatuurada) is correct. It's from the Italian fattura.

That is the Italian word. In Swedish it is called Faktura. But we are talking about the somali term saaxib. It is "qaan sheeg" in Somali.