英米　２年
Thank you for your presentation. I’m from British and American studies, studying in the interpreting course. I was very interested in your lecture, and I thought medical interpreting was similar to court interpreting. “No additions. No deletions. No changes.” But I guess medical interpreting is much kinder for people who have trouble speaking Japanese than court interpreting. The foundation of both interpreting is the same, but medical interpreters play a role like a bridge between patients and doctors, and they get involved seriously. I hope the salary will be increasing as your job is recognized as important in this society. Thank you again.

フランス　２年
I didn’t know about this job before, so I was so interested in this. There are many LJP patients in Japan these days, but Japanese people like me don’t notice that they need help. More and more foreign people will come to Japan in the future, for example the Tokyo Olympics, so medical interpreting is an essential job for Japan. Lots of volunteers will be needed, not only concerning medical problems but also other problems like school, workplace, transportation, etc. In my opinion, we should know about LJP more and have opportunities for students to help them.

フランス　４年
Thank you for your presentation. When I was in Vancouver, I got a fever and I needed to go to the hospital alone. And sadly I also lost my voice, so I was worried about going there. But there was a medical interpreter of Japanese and she was so kind to me that I could get rid of my worries. But, when I lost my phone, I needed to go to the police and the phone shop. But there was no interpreter and I was in trouble. So, I guess there is a need for interpreters in not only medical situations but also in every trouble situation. Anyway, I thought Japan needs to be more kind to LJPs.

スペイン　２年
Thank you for your lecture. I’m very interested in interpreting, so this lecture was very helpful for me. I used to (sometimes I am) an ad-hoc Interpreter for my parents. I remember trying to understand what the doctor was saying before translating to my parents with my bad Portuguese. This experience inspired me to help foreigners or LJP patients because I know how scary it is to go to a hospital or city hall without knowing the language they are using. I learned from your talk that one of the most important things is that “No changes, no deletions, no editing.” We need to be very accurate about what the doctor is saying. I want to take this lesson and use it to improve myself.

国際関係　２年
Thank you for your presentation. I was interested in the work of interpreters, so I’m glad to listen to this topic. There are LJP patients in Japan so a medical interpreter is a very important job. However, I think the number of the interpreters is not enough. When I went to the U.K. for a month, I caught a cold and I was very worried about which hospital I should go to. Fortunately, I could find a Japanese doctor in the same city, but it was an anxious experience. Medical interpreting is harder than other interpretation jobs because it requires accuracy and impartiality. I hope that all LJPs will be able to go to the hospital without anxiety with medical interpreters.

国際関係　４年
I understood the important role medical interpreters have the in modern-day Japan, and the job is in high demand. However, I was frightened to know that there are hospitals/clinic who refuse (or at least are not willing) to pay for the patients’ interpreter fee. The hospital lacks a sense of human rights and the conscientiousness that LJP patients are also a member of the community. I strongly hope that the government could offer some subsidy to this problem so that both patients and hospitals could be given what they need and are given what they deserve. The information about the AIMs system should also be known to more people who need it.

情報　１年
Thank you for your presentation. Medical interpreter is generally considered difficult to break into. I think at a bare minimum, medical translators must be able to write and speak well in their native language, have a near-native understanding of foreign language and have in-depth knowledge about medicine and healthcare, among other things. As you said, if asked to interpret for friends and family, don’t accept, if you do not have absolute confidence.

留学生
Today’s lecture was about medical interpretation and how it currently works in Japan. In Japan, medical interpreters are not provided and most must be ordered by the hospital. There is a three-day reservation period and the cost is split with the patient. While this sounds fair in most conditions, this actually means the hospital can deny you an interpreter. This is actually the same as denying them access to healthcare due to the created delays this would cause. This is basically unacceptable in my eyes, as someone from the UK where healthcare is free and translators are available to prevent delays. I understand that each country is different, but not even giving the choice to the patients is really too much. I really appreciate the work that Ms. Kim is doing and hope that Japan can fix this issue. I hope people remember that healthcare is always serious and this matter works both ways. Japan is famous for their tourists.

留学生
If we believe in globalization, we need to be prepared in a lot of ways, and maybe the most important thing is language. This time we talked about a medical topic, but everything needs interpretation if we think in that way. I think that it is more than just learning the language, more than using dictionary, or a translator, I think even confidence and trust isn’t everything. I think that it is passion, about feeling. Of course, it’s easy to understand, with a little bit of practice, almost everybody can do anything, but is that all we need? At first, it is a big start, but I think that everybody has to feel passion and love for the job that they have and talking about something so difficult as medical topics is more important.

留学生
I’m a biology student really interested in languages, so this was quite an enlightening presentation. To be honest, I believe that in modern society, offering a medical interpreter’s service should be a must, and also that trained professionals should get higher pay. This job sounds very hard and challenging, but also very exciting and motivating. The ability to help people like that (and not jfust with your language skill) is precious on its own. Thank you for your presentation.