The Globe and Mail Amy Chyan Published April 9, 2021
A video screen provides a feed to a live Cantonese language translator for a couple who were about to receive the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, March 13, 2021, on the first day of operations at a mass vaccination site at the Lumen Field Events Center in Seattle.
Ted S. Warren/The Associated Press
Amy Chyan is a journalist and podcast producer.
I’ve been the household translator for my parents ever since I can remember – calling into telecom companies and deciphering government forms on their behalf – so switching between English and Mandarin is second nature to me. Translating medical lingo for strangers in what could be considered a matter of life of death, however, was new.