Interpreters find opportunities, purpose in helping non-native English speakers

May 3—URBANA — Meiby Huddleston remembers the day she understood why God put her on Earth.

She was called to a hospital around 5 a.m. to interpret the exchange between a doctor and a man who didn't speak English. The doctor needed to communicate that it was time for the man's wife to be disconnected from life support, and the man needed to know if he could say goodbye.

After helping him communicate with medical personnel and understand what was happening in those final moments, Huddleston realized assisting others with her Spanish interpreting skills was more important than her ambition to become a journalist.

"That's when I got the message that you are not working at any media, you're not going to do TV, you're not going to do radio, you're not going to work in television like your heart's desire — you are going to be the channel," Huddleston said.

"You're not going to work at a channel, you're going to become the channel for other people."

Huddleston is one of many independent contractors that work in the Champaign County Courthouse, interpreting legal proceedings into Spanish, French, Chinese and other languages for those who are not native English speakers.

If a person cannot understand English, whether it be in a or case, Illinois law requires that the court provide an interpreter. It is not the individual's responsibility to obtain their own interpreter and they have the right to an interpreter in their dominant language, even if they speak some English.

"One of the most important functions of a judge is to make sure that people who come into court understand what goes on," Chief Circuit Judge Randy Rosenbaum said. "And for many people, they don't speak English or it's not their first language. So it's essential that we have qualified interpreters who can help us out."

Based on data the Champaign County Courthouse submits to the Administrative Office of Illinois Courts, interpreters were involved in 1,683 cases in the courthouse in 2023, with the vast majority — 1,207 — involving Spanish interpreters.

Another 63 cases required a French speaker, 61 cases needed a "Chinese" speaker, and 36 someone fluent in American Sign Language. Another 305 cases involved interpreters who spoke "other" languages.

In 2022, 1,844 cases involved interpreters.

The county circuit court spent $68,000 on interpreter work last year, though Champaign County Court Administrator Lori Hansen said the courthouse will rely on video remote interpreting services whenever necessary as those services are billed directly to the state and come at no cost to the county.

Huddleston and Cristobal Bartolo, another Champaign County interpreter, said they have been called to facilitate nearly every type of matter — from client-attorney meetings to traffic calls, probation cases, adoptions, orders of protection, divorces, marriages and murder trials.

The two emphasized that a lot more goes into being an effective interpreter than merely being multilingual.

Huddleston, who now works as an interpreter full-time, said she has learned to "neutralize" the Spanish she speaks in order to help people feel comfortable understanding proceedings, regardless of the region-specific accents or lingo they speak the language with.

And if a judge is showing emotion in the way they are addressing someone, or using sophisticated vocabulary, Huddleston must convey that same emotion and language in the best words that fit without simplifying, because interpreters are supposed to be conduits, not mediators.

Bartolo added that interpreters keep all the sensitive matters they communicate strictly confidential and they don't give advice or extra information. But he's also witnessed his role help de-escalate the stress of those in court who don't understand English.

"It kind of brings an ease to them, it makes them feel that they will be here and that it's going to be a fair trial for them whatever the situation is, because once we show up, it's a breather for them," Bartolo said. "They're like, 'Ok so now I can actually express what I feel because I know I will be heard.'"

Neither Huddleston or Bartolo initially set out to become interpreters; it was a role they took on from a young age and continued because they wanted to help people in their community — and found that help was badly needed.

At 13 years old in 1999, Bartolo said, he was one of the first in the local population of Guatemalan people to arrive in the Champaign-Urbana area.

A native speaker of Q'anjob'al, a language spoken in the northern region of Huehuetenango Guatemala, he went on to learn Spanish and English in school. Soon enough, he was not only interpreting matters for his parents, but his cousins and his cousin's cousins.

Similarly, Huddleston, who immigrated to Champaign-Urbana with her parents from Venezuela, was frequently called on from a young age to interpret for her parents and her parents' friends. She was amazed when she realized how many people didn't speak fluent English.

They went on from helping family and friends to strangers, local organizations, Carle Foundation Hospital and eventually the Champaign County Courthouse. Now their experience causes them to receive frequent requests to interpret in other counties and states.

Huddleston remembers walking through 10 different doors to interpret for a man locked in a supermax prison in southern Illinois. And while Bartolo runs an auto-body shop in town, he answered a call from the Department of Homeland Security to do interpreter work back in Guatemala.

The work is demanding and difficult.

During his first assignment in the courthouse, Bartolo said he was shaking more than the man on trial. And just 15 minutes of live interpreting — listening to English in one ear and hearing the Spanish she's speaking with the other — feels equivalent to an hour of other work for Huddleston.

But the two said their interpreting work has opened up many opportunities for them, and the chance to help others in their community is something they'll never walk away from.

"We recognize that we do play a big role into their lives, so we want to do the best that we can," Huddleston said.