• Interpreters in a judicial court have challenges to translate properly.US Supreme Court image by dwight9592 from Fotolia.com
  
  Multi-lingual court cases are a challenge in United States courts because the case is complicated by the use of interpreters. These cases take longer to try because it uses a middleman to repeat the words of others in another language so the defendant, the judge and jury understand the testimony.
  
  

Moral Challenges

• Moral challenges exist with interpreting. A court interpreter translates the spoken word as close to verbatim as possible, despite the temptation to offer explanations. Verbatim translation does not always make sense, and an interpreter might want to explain as well as translate. In a court setting, the interpreter must not explain but let the statements made by a witness stand alone.
  
  

Mistranslation

• Translating is challenging because some languages do not always have words that allow a direct translation. Also, slight differences in tone or context can sometimes change the meaning of a word. Accidental mistranslation in a court case might completely change the verdict of guilty or not guilty, so an interpreter must know both languages with fluency, and must take care to translate perfectly.
  
  

Dialect Difficulties

• Every language contains different dialects that can throw off or confuse an interpreter. Dialects change the sound of the words, which could be misunderstood by a translator. For example, a southern dialect in the United States has the characteristic drawl and elongation of vowel sounds. Because dialects change how words sound, the interpreter must listen carefully to avoid translating words that sound the same but have different meanings.