Japanese hospitals to use translation services

admin 2019年4月15日

Vocabulary:

interpreter /in-tur-pri-ter/

[noun] a person whose job is to change what someone is saying into the words of another language
The president had a talk with the prime minister with the help of an interpreter.

mitigate /mit-i-geyt/

[verb] to make something less severe or less unpleasant
Some cities have ordinances that can mitigate the effects of global warming.

framework /freym-wurk/

[noun] the ideas, information, and principles that form the structure of an organization or plan
The implementation of the house rules was a failure due to the lack of framework.

expertise /ek-sper-teez/

[noun] a high level of skill or knowledge
His expertise in the courtroom is widely acclaimed, despite his attitude.

party /pahr-tee/

[noun] one of the people or sides involved in a formal agreement or argument, esp. a legal one
The school would like to hear the side of parents and affected parties on its tuition fee increase.

Access to language interpreters will be given to nearly 400 hospitals across Japan to mitigate the language barrier. This is the result of the survey from Japan’s health ministry which reveals that around 53% of doctors and medical staff from participating medical institutions had difficulties communicating with foreign patients. The medical institutions that will participate can either have an actual medical translator using videophone systems or have a tablet with translation functions. Moreover, interpretation services and languages to be translated will be based on the hospital’s needs.

Under the framework, hospitals will be categorized into two–emergency and non-emergency hospital’s needs. Emergency hospitals, where severely ill patients are brought, will require high expertise in medical and language skills. The ministry will ask prefectural governments to select the participating hospitals based on comments made by concerned parties at council meetings. Selected hospitals will receive financial support from the ministry.

True or False:

According to the article, the ministry pertains to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology.
According to the survey, around half of the responding hospitals experienced a language barrier with foreign patients.
Language interpretation services in hospitals serve as a preparation for the 2020 Olympics.
English and Japanese languages are available for translation in all hospitals.
Prefectural government will choose hospitals that will receive financial support from foreigners.

Discussion Questions:

What do you think are the good effects of having medical translators in hospitals? Please elaborate.
Do you think language interpreters will soon be replaced by machine translations? Please explain your answer.
In your opinion, what is the best way for you to learn a new language? Please explain your answer.
In your opinion, what other places need interpretation services? Please explain your answer.
Do you think using medical translators is a good way to improve health services in Japan? Please explain your answer.

Express Your Opinion:

“Writers make national literature, while translators make universal literature.” – Alberto Manguel
“Every act of communication is a miracle of translation.” – Ken Liu
“Body language and tone of voice – not words – are our most powerful assessment tools.” – Christopher Voss