The interpreter's journal

Benjawan finally reveals the exciting story of her experience as a professional Thai and Lao interpreter, graphically showing how she works in legal settings including courtrooms and jails. She demystifies the conflicts than many Thai-Western couples face after moving to the US. Find out what happens when individuals who don't speak the language end up in criminal, civil and family courts. But this story is also a personal one, relating the author's journey from humble beginnings in rural Thailand to become a professional interpreter in the San Francisco Bay area. More and more in this interconnected world, the need to communicate across language barriers is becoming essential. Miscommunication can lead to serious conflicts between groups or countries; taking the wrong medicine can cause serious medical complications; the wrong word spoken by a traveler can lead to a foreign jail.