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Desiring to reach Spanish-only speakers in our area. Translation devices?

[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 12817 **5/12/16 11:04 am**

Our church, like our community, is about 50% Hispanic and 50% white folks. We are wanting to provide a way for those for whom Spanish is their sole or their primary language to be able to understand the sermons and lessons in their native tongue. So far I cannot seem to find anyone in our congregation who feels confident enough to serve as a translator. I have been looking at translation devices online, but haven't really found any that would seem practical for what we need. Any good suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

The only good way

Acts-celerater Posts: 935 **5/12/16 12:40 pm**

is to have someone who is a very good spanish speaker do simultaneous translation for you. We put a window into a small storeroom (housed breakers etc) in our balcony and ran a mic cable and headset cable from our board (also in the balcony). We installed a microphone there and our translator can see me and hear the sermon thru her headphones. She then translates into her mic which is wirelessly sent to these headphones below thru the transmitter which comes with the system (i use her a lot in South America on Missions trips and she is a asst. pastor as well so she understands all the concepts as well and knows the correct words to translate too). Then we installed this system

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=821492&gclid=Cj0KEQjw09C5BRDy972s6q2y4egBEiQA5_guv2Y2MIMBiG_dsgjCNWe_GPfXNTFN-oZMghQN9h61fdAaAsqA8P8HAQ&is=REG&ap=y&m=Y&c3api=1876%2C92051678882%2C&Q=&A=details

which is a wireless headset. Each Spanish speaker gets their own headset to use and it works great. We only translate the announcements & sermon however. These headsets are wireless and rechargable at a base station and can be packed into a box when not in use. Works great.

But there is no substitute for a person. You have to have someone who is not only a good spanish speaker but who understands Christianity well.

[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 12817 **5/12/16 1:07 pm**

Thanks, brotherjames.

Acts-dicted Posts: 8065 **5/12/16 5:13 pm**

Those translators they use on Star Trek are cool. But I'm sure they are expensive and they have not been invented yet. Wink

_________________
"It is doubtful if any Trinitarian Pentecostals have ever professed to believe in three gods, and Oneness Pentecostals should not claim that they do." - Daniel Segraves UPCI

[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 12817 **5/12/16 5:37 pm**

They do have computer translation devices now, but they are very expensive.

And they

Acts-celerater Posts: 935 **5/12/16 9:14 pm**

Don't understand Christian principles and language very well either not to mention colloquialisms and idiomatic speech

Acts Enthusiast Posts: 1865 **5/17/16 6:37 am**

Just so I'm understanding correctly - are you stating that half of your congregation doesn't speak English?

[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 12817 **5/17/16 9:40 am**

Acts Enthusiast Posts: 1865 **5/17/16 8:13 pm**

Thanks for clarifying QW. This is the advice of an old man so you can take it or leave it. If it were me, I would talk to my state office about a Hispanic congregation or pastor looking for an opportunity. What you may discover is that there is a Spanish speaking pastor or a new congregation looking for a facility near you. You can partner with them and still be the "mother church" or let them rent your facility. They are often very flexible with schedules. In my experience that is much more effective than trying to translate. Something to keep in mind is that the culture and worship styles are often very different.

For what it's worth , we have a Messianic congregation and a Russian group that uses our facilities

[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 12817 **5/17/16 8:34 pm**

Thank you for your advice, brother. For several years actually, there used to be a Spanish-language congregation in our rural small town (pop. 2100). It closed up when the pastor died a few years back though. Since then I have had several requests for Spanish translation of our services by people who would like to attend our church, but who don't speak or understand English well, if at all. They don't have any other Spanish-language services they can attend here. The closest town to us is 20 miles away, and is about 7000 population, so still small. Our county averages 14 people per square mile in population density, very sparse.