Van Za Lian’s Story

My name is Van Za Lian. I was born in Chin state, Myanmar and migrated with my wife to Australia through Malaysia as a Refugee. I’ve lived in Melbourne for 13 years and have been working as a Chin Hakha interpreter at LanguageLoop for just over 4 years. It’s been the most rewarding job I have ever done. One of my friends encouraged me to become an interpreter so I enrolled in an interpreting course at RMIT and completed it in 2015.

What I love most about being an interpreter, is helping people to communicate and understand each other. I also love meeting different people, learning their stories and helping them out every day. I always need to remind myself that my role is to facilitate communication between two parties and allow both parties to understand one another.

I believe that to be a good interpreter, it is important to keep learning, punctuality and adhere to the interpreter Code of Ethics. Conveying the right message between the Professional and non-English speaker is also very important for a good interpreter. I also believe that having a friendly attitude with both parties makes me a good interpreter too. It’s very important to keep that balance between being professional and having a friendly attitude.

I’ve accomplished a variety of jobs across many different types of assignments including medical, legal, community services, mental health, and many others. I learn new things every day from my job and often receive positive feedback and compliments from professionals for my interpretation. When I’m not working or at the weekend, I enjoy spending time with my family.

Finally, I would like to thank Language Loop for giving me the opportunity to become one of their interpreters. Because of this Interpreting job I am learning continually, contributing and improving all the time. I appreciate all the interpreting jobs given to me and I’ve always tried to give my best to every job.

Interested in becoming a LanguageLoop interpreter or translator like Van Za Lian? Find out more including how to apply or email us at apply@languageloop.com.au.

This blog post is brought to you by LanguageLoop, Australia’s leading language services provider. With our commitment to facilitating communication across diverse Australian society, we turn words into possibilities. Follow us on social media to learn more.

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