A musician from Santiago who became a professional interpreter across medical, cultural, legal, and corporate settings. In this episode of Cross-Cultural Communication, Jay Miranda shares what twenty years of interpretation across international film festivals, cultural heritage programs, US medical settings, and corporate IT development projects has taught him about what makes interpretation actually work.

Jay was born and raised in Santiago, Chile and attended an American school for all twelve years of his schooling, which left him bilingual and with a deep love for English. He studied music in Portland, Oregon before transitioning into medical interpretation during his time in the United States. He has worked with major film festivals for nearly two decades and is a simultaneous interpreter for cultural heritage programs that work with Indigenous communities on shared stewardship of museum collections.

In this conversation, Jay walks us through:

00:00 - Introduction and welcome from Jose Gallardo
01:30 - Jay’s background: Santiago, American school, deep love for English from first grade
03:00 - Shared experience with the American school system across Latin America
04:30 - From music to medical interpretation: how one career transitioned into another
06:30 - Working across digital forensics, cultural heritage, medical, film festivals, and performing arts
08:00 - The curiosity and preparation that makes multi-sector interpretation possible
09:30 - False cognates and the compromiso example
11:30 - Nearly two decades at a major Chilean film festival
13:00 - What happens when you encounter unfamiliar names during live interpretation
15:00 - The bridge principle: there is no “he said” - it is always “I”
16:30 - The invisibility principle and how it shapes professional interpretation
17:30 - When and how interpreters can ask speakers to clarify in real time
19:30 - Chilean Spanish dialect and localization in different settings
21:30 - Performing arts festivals and the professional standards within informal settings
23:30 - Working with cultural heritage programs and Indigenous communities
26:30 - Interpreting for Indigenous communities and the shared stewardship conversation
28:30 - What a successful day of interpretation feels like
30:30 - Where interpretation produces romantic feelings versus technical corporate work
32:30 - The crucial role of invisible interpreters in high-stakes settings
33:30 - Why speakers need to slow down and factor interpretation into their planning
35:30 - Budget and time constraints that often sideline interpretation planning
37:00 - Why interpreters work in medical settings and how Jay built that experience
39:30 - Routine medical appointments versus life-threatening situations
41:30 - The emotional dimension of medical and legal interpretation
44:00 - Reaching out to both sides before the session begins
45:30 - Body language, demeanor, and mimicking the speaker’s cadence
47:30 - What makes a good working relationship with a language service provider
49:30 - Punctuality, invisibility, preparation, and bravery as the core qualities
50:30 - Being brave on stage and interrupting speakers when needed
52:30 - Jay’s perspective on AI and the future of interpretation
54:30 - The obra gruesa concept and the first-draft stage of translation
56:30 - Why AI is removing entry-level work from the translation market
58:30 - Working with computer-assisted translation tools in technical projects
01:00:30 - The importance of memory in consecutive interpretation
01:01:30 - Simultaneous interpretation as a meditative trance state
01:03:30 - Jay’s music recommendations: The Ocean, Deftones, Nine Inch Nails, Tool
01:06:30 - Closing reflections on communication in a polarized world

🌐 About The Language Doctors

The Language Doctors delivers certified translation and professional interpretation in 200+ languages worldwide. USCIS-certified. ISO 17100 certified. HUBZone certified. GSA schedule holder. For more than two decades we have supported hospitals, law firms, government agencies, and global businesses in the moments when clear communication matters most.

A CART captioner in Georgia. A career built on serving the deaf and hard of hearing community. And a hospital bedside where a son finally spoke to his father again after a month of silence.

In this episode of Cross-Cultural Communication, we sit down with Jana DeHart - a professional CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) captioner based in Jefferson, Georgia - to talk about what real-time captioning actually is, how it works, and why more organizations should know it exists.

Jana shares how she pivoted from ten years in hospice care into CART captioning during the COVID period, why voice writing is reshaping the traditional stenography field, and how a naturalization interview with a deaf, vision-impaired applicant became one of her favorite stories from the work. She also reflects on the audience CART truly serves (much broader than most people realize), the difference between AI captioning and human captioners in high-stakes settings, and the growing shortage of qualified captioners across the country.

If you work in accessibility, ADA compliance, HR, education, healthcare, government or language services - or you're considering CART captioning as a career - this conversation is for you.

📖 Read the full article: https://thelanguagedoctors.org/blog/community-culture/jana-dehart-cart-captioner-story/

✅ CART benefits everyone, not just the deaf and hard of hearing community

✅ Preparation is what separates good captioning from great captioning

✅ Voice writing is reshaping the traditional stenography field

✅ AI cannot yet replace human judgment in high-stakes captioning settings

✅ Regional dialect and accent variation matters more than most buyers realize

✅ Strong relationships with language service partners make the work sustainable

✅ Being their ears is the mission that gives this work its meaning

Cross-Cultural Communication is the podcast for leaders, professionals and organizations navigating language, culture and global audiences. Hosted by The Language Doctors, each episode features real conversations with industry experts on translation, interpretation and cross-cultural communication.

New episodes twice a month.

Connect. Resonate. Succeed.

Jana DeHart is a professional CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) captioner based in Jefferson, Georgia. She provides real-time voice-to-text captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing community across USCIS naturalization interviews, CDC scientific meetings, college classrooms, corporate meetings, city council sessions and cultural events.

Connect with Jana:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jana-dehart-50b34429b/

Email: captionerjanadehart@yahoo.com

The Language Doctors is a full-service language solutions company delivering certified translation and professional interpretation in 200+ languages worldwide. For over two decades, we've supported hospitals, law firms, government agencies and global businesses in the moments when clear communication mattered most.

Learn more: thelanguagedoctors.org

Contact: hello@tldinc.org

Call us: (202) 544-2942

A Peruvian interpreter based in Paris. A career built across three languages. And a wedding in a Paris church where the bride was Chinese, the groom was German, and the priest was French.

In the first episode of Cross-Cultural Communication, we sit down with Camila Fernández De Paredes - a professional freelance interpreter working across French, English and Spanish - to talk about what it really takes to build a global interpreting career today.

Camila shares how she moved from Lima to Paris in 2023, why flexibility became her competitive advantage in the European market, and how a random WhatsApp message led to one of the most memorable assignments of her career. She also reflects on interpreting for young athletes at an international sports federation event in Rio de Janeiro, the emotional weight of the profession, and where AI actually fits into the future of interpretation.

If you work in language services, cross-cultural communication, international business, or you're considering interpretation as a career - this conversation is for you.

✅ Cultural fluency is as important as language fluency
✅ Never take anything personal - it is the foundation of a freelance career
✅ Flexibility is a Latin American professional superpower
✅ Interpretation carries genuine emotional weight in the right settings
✅ AI is a tool for preparation, not a replacement for human judgment
✅ Confidentiality is non-negotiable when working with AI
✅ Strong relationships with language service partners transform the work

Cross-Cultural Communication is the podcast for leaders, professionals and organizations navigating language, culture and global audiences. Hosted by The Language Doctors, each episode features real conversations with industry experts on translation, interpretation and cross-cultural communication.

New episodes twice a month.

Connect. Resonate. Succeed.

Camila Fernández De Paredes is a Peruvian freelance interpreter based in Paris, France. She works across French, English, and Spanish, with occasional Portuguese work. Her clients span international sports federations, cultural events, business conferences and educational programs across Europe and Latin America.

Connect with Camila:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camila-fernandez-de-paredes/
Email: camila.fdepa@outlook.com

The Language Doctors is a full-service language solutions company delivering certified translation and professional interpretation in 200+ languages worldwide. For over two decades, we've supported hospitals, law firms, government agencies and global businesses in the moments when clear communication mattered most.

Learn more: thelanguagedoctors.org
Follow us:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-language-doctors/
https://www.instagram.com/thelanguagedoctors/
https://www.pinterest.com/thelanguagedocs/
Contact: hello@tldinc.org
Call us: (202) 544-2942