Lives in Translation Program Helps Hundreds of State Residents Be Heard and Understood

More languages are spoken in New Jersey than almost any other state in America, yet there is a critical shortage of translators.

Students and faculty from Rutgers-Newark’s Lives in Translation program, the only one of its kind in the state, are helping to fill the void.

“NJ is one of the most diverse states and its limited-English proficient population continues to grow, making language access a critical component in ensuring all residents receive equitable access to government-based, healthcare, public, and social resources,’’ said Stephanie Rodriguez, director of the program.

Collectively, the students from Lives in Translation—a volunteer effort that has evolved into an academic program that offers a minor in translation—speak a multitude of languages from Spanish and Portuguese to Arabic and Haitian Creole.

They have served as translators and interpreters in courts, doctor’s offices and food banks. They’ve helped parents communicate with their children’s teachers and tenants communicate with landlords. They have helped immigrants through the process of seeking asylum and becoming citizens.  During the pandemic, students and faculty worked with the city of Newark as contact tracers.

Last year, they successfully advocated for the state bill that will translate state documents intended for the public  into 15 different languages–the ones most common in New Jersey–including Spanish, Gujarat, and Cantonese. The bill passed  in January.

They have also been translating historical papers and literary works.

“We have a wide range of requests, from students who can translate German-language Newark church documents from the 1700s to Arabic interpreters for a local food bank,’’ said Jennifer Austin, a professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, who co- founded the program in 2016 with other faculty.

When Lives in Translation began as a volunteer effort to help clients in Rutgers Law School’s Immigrant Rights Clinic, Austin expected maybe 50 volunteers. But at Rutgers-Newark, one of the most diverse campuses in the U.S., the response was overwhelming.

“There were hundreds of responses from students who spoke dozens of languages,’’ said Rodriguez, a professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese.

Since, the program has expanded to offer a minor Translation & Interpretation through the department. Interns participate in weekly training and earn academic credits. This spring,  the program received an NEH grant of $150,000, some of which is used to fund exams students need to become professional translators and interpreters, which guarantees that all students who complete the minor graduate with a certification.

At University Hospital in Newark, interns began working as translators and interpreters last spring. Others have landed full-time jobs within the New Jersey Court system. This year, Lives in Translation partnered with New Jersey Medical School to teach medical students how to communicate with the hospital’s many Portuguese and Spanish patients. Interns worked with University Hospital to translate patient orientation materials, hospital direction signs and a list of wellness resources.

The program also seeks to give bilingual and multilingual students a better understanding of themselves and their skills.

“We not only teach them concepts and skills related to translation and linguistics, which may prove useful in their professional lives, but also give them a tool kit to further their knowledge of their own linguistic and cultural identities,’’ said Rodriguez.

Bilingual and multilingual students who are part of the program are keenly aware of the need for translators, since many have filled the role of interpreters for families and friends since childhood.

Gretel Rodriguez Ramos, who immigrated to the U.S. from Honduras at age 4, often translated for her parents when they met with teachers or needed to understand written communications. Because her father was superintendent of a building whose tenants were mostly new arrivals from Spanish-speaking countries, she wound up helping him out.

“From a very young age I would translate lease contracts, and unfortunately eviction notices. I was sort of a quasi social worker,’’ said Ramos, who is earning her masters from the School of Public Affairs and Administration.

As part of Lives in Translation, Ramos worked with immigrants seeking asylum, sometimes interpreting for clients in the Immigration Law Clinic and sometimes translating legal communications.

“I saw myself in them and my parents and family,’’ she said. “They could have been an aunt or an uncle.’’

Yulianna Paulino Nuñez, who came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic as a child, remembers trying to translate for her mother at a young age and encountering adults who mocked both her and her mom. 

“It was hard for me as a minor trying to help my mother, seeing the frustration in her face when she was trying her best to have the doctor understand where her body was hurting or when she needed to ask someone for directions,’’ said Nuñez.

 “It was upsetting to see adults get upset over the fact that my mother is having a hard time, while I was trying to do my best to give my mom a voice. Often, I felt powerless and I wanted to scream and ask them if they can’t make an effort to be understanding and have some empathy,’’ she said.

Now, in her job as bilingual jury intern in the Middlesex County Court system, Nuñez helps clients find the compassion and understanding she didn’t always receive as a child. Recently, she translated for a victim of domestic violence.

“The person who was going to help her didn’t speak Spanish. It was difficult for her to get her words out. She was crying. Interpreting for her really impacted me because I was able to see how much it means to make someone else feel heard, how far it could go to be that bridge of communication between two people and really make a change for someone,’’ said Nunez.

Both Nuñez and Ramos agreed that interpreting and translating can be emotionally exhausting but gratifying, too. “You’re absorbing some of the second-hand trauma but you’re at the right place or the right time,’’ said Ramos.

Students in the Lives in Translation program have championed state policies that help multilingual residents.

Ramos, an intern with the New Jersey State Policy Lab at the Bloustein School, testified before the State Senate during a hearing on the bill to fund translation of state documents. The experience helped foster her goal of helping the government provide translation services, particularly for those that apply to licensing jobs that could provide economic stability and independence for immigrant workers.

“The state of New Jersey issues licenses  to all professionals, regardless of legal status. There are immigrants that want to be home health aides or barbers or work in salons but they don’t speak English,’’ she said.

Randi Mandelbaum, director of Rutgers Law School’s Child Advocacy Clinic, said Lives in Translation has been an invaluable resource. 

“They  have been incredibly helpful when we encounter clients who speak languages other than Spanish. In these instances, Lives in Translation has been able to identify students who can translate documents into English from Arabic, French, Portuguese, Creole, and other languages,’’ she said. “Without Lives in Translation, we would have to rely on remote translation services and might not be able to represent as many clients for whom English is not their first language. We have come to rely on the program so much that at this point, I do not know what we would do without it.”