About a year ago, CPS signed a contract with Language Services Associates to provide confidential professional translation services through the speakerphone function of the office’s phones.
The next time a counselor sees an international student at Ohio University's Counseling and Psychological Services, he or she might be aided by a translator.
Only this translator's interpretation comes from a speakerphone in the middle of the room.
About a year ago, Counseling and Psychological Services signed a contract with the Language Services Associates to provide confidential professional translation services through the speakerphone function of the office’s phones. According to its website, Language Services Associates is a translation provider that serves 1,400 clients worldwide in more than 200 languages.
“We decided to look into what other university counseling centers across the country were doing,” Paul Castelino, an associate director and clinical coordinator of Counseling and Psychological Services, said.
Through research, Castelino said he found that a few large university counseling centers have bilingual counselors, but the majority of universities he looked at used a translation service.
“We chose this particular service after speaking with other centers,” Castelino said. “(We) found that their services were user friendly, quick access to a translator, HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliant and reliable.”
The service has been used a handful of times in the past year, and Castelino said it’s mostly been used by students enrolled in the Ohio Program of Intensive English who speak Mandarin Chinese and Korean.
In the 2014-2015 academic year, OU had 1,860 international students, OU spokeswoman Katie Quaranta said in an email.
All international students are required to submit an official Test of English as a Foreign Language or International English Language Testing System results, which show the university each individual’s understanding of English, according to the undergraduate admissions website.
Students who score low can still attend OU, but are required to enroll in the Ohio Program of Intensive English language course.
Last academic year, 199 international students were required to take that course. The class teaches the English language and prepares students to take the required proficiency tests again.
“They would be the only ones who had not yet met the English proficiency requirements when they came to campus,” Quaranta said.
For those who are taking the course, Quaranta said Counseling and Psychological Services counselors understand the challenges faced by non-native English speakers.
“(Counselors) are very good at helping students who aren’t native speakers of English,” Quaranta said.
Miguel Gomez, the vice president of the International Student Union, said the service definitely solves the language barrier a lot of international students face while on campus.
"They don't know where to go, they're afraid to ask people because they might say the wrong thing," Gomez said. "This is definitely a great resource for them."
Gomez also said that better promotion of the service is needed.
"I've been here for four years, and this is the first I'm hearing of it," Gomez said.
Other services available to domestic and international students are conversation hours, where students can speak in certain languages to each other.
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Matt Thomas, a freshman studying political science, took advantage of one of these programs where he speaks to a Japanese speaking partner.
Thomas meets with his speaking partner, Shingo Kawanishi, about once a week to talk about school.
“My partner doesn’t know much English, so sometimes it’s hard,” Thomas said. “It’s a learning experience for both of us.”
Thomas said it's "great" that Counseling and Psychological Services provides the translation service for those who need someone to talk to without having to worry about a language barrier.
“I think it’s important for every student to talk to someone if they need it,” Thomas said.
@Fair3Julia
Jf311013@ohio.edu
