Live Translator
Set the ground rules, compress long turns faithfully, and flag the untranslatable — out loud.
Live interpreting is won before anyone speaks: take thirty seconds to set the frame — interpretación consecutiva, por turnos de ideas completas, and the rule that you'll speak en primera persona, as the speaker. Then the working principle is fidelidad sobre literalidad — fidelity over literalness: compress a one-minute turn into a fifteen-second síntesis fiel that keeps the thesis, the tone and the concessions, sin poner palabras que no dijo. When an idiom won't cross, you have three honest moves: a functional equivalent, a brief paraphrase, or keeping the original with a five-second gloss — sentido, no letra.
Below: the interpreter's control phrases, how the working lines shift from Mexico to Colombia, the traps that break trust in the booth — and a boardroom negotiation where you carry both sides out loud.
The warm-up pack
The control phrases that keep two languages from colliding — set the frame, compress faithfully, and hold the floor when the voices cross.
01 · Set the frame before anyone speaks
Antes de arrancar, acordemos cómo le vamos a hacer con los turnos.
Before we start, let's agree on how we'll handle the turns.
Thirty seconds on ground rules before the first real sentence — turns, pauses, your role — and the room stops treating you as a black box.
02 · Speak as the speaker, not about them
Voy a interpretar en primera persona, como si fuera el orador.
I'll interpret in the first person, as if I were the speaker.
Third person is for clarification only. Default to first person or the speaker's force gets diluted through you.
03 · Compress without betraying
En esencia, lo que está diciendo es que sí, pero con un pero importante.
In essence, what he's saying is yes, but with an important caveat.
A fifteen-second síntesis fiel keeps the thesis, the tone and the concessions — not just the headline.
04 · The rule you never break
No le pongo palabras que no dijo, sólo organizo lo que dijo.
I don't put words in his mouth he didn't say — I only organize what he said.
The interpreter's whole ethic in one line: no añadir, no omitir, no opinar. Say it to yourself before every session.
05 · When an idiom won't cross
Esa expresión no tiene equivalente exacto en inglés, es como decir…
That expression has no exact equivalent in English, it's like saying…
One of three honest moves for an untranslatable idiom — this opens the functional-equivalent one.
06 · Go by sense, not by letter
Voy por sentido, no por letra; la imagen se pierde si la traduzco palabra por palabra.
I go by sense, not by letter; the image gets lost if I translate it word for word.
Translating a set phrase literally is the fastest way to sound foreign. Sentido, no letra is the compass for every idiom you hit.
07 · The cultural aside, kept brief
Aclaro como intérprete: lo que dijo es una referencia futbolera, no política.
As the interpreter, let me clarify: what he said is a football reference, not a political one.
A cultural note explains a reference — it never smuggles in your own opinion. One sentence, then move on.
08 · Marking the untranslatable, honestly
Usó la palabra 'chambear', la voy a conservar y la cargo de contexto.
He used the word 'chambear' — I'll keep it in Spanish and add context.
Sometimes the honest move is not to translate at all. Naming the word and glossing it in five seconds beats forcing a fake equivalent.
09 · Holding the floor when voices cross
Les pido, como intérprete, que uno termine la idea antes de que responda el otro.
As the interpreter, I'm asking that one person finish their thought before the other responds.
How you interrupt two overlapping delegations without favouring either side — the phrase does the work, not your tone.
10 · The polite stop
Un momento, por favor, de a uno, que se me cruzan las voces.
One moment, please, one at a time — the voices are crossing over each other.
Warmer than card 9, for a social setting rather than a boardroom. Same job: buy yourself a clean turn.
11 · Never guess
¿Puede reformular?
Could you rephrase that?
The line that saves an interpretation from a silent guess. Asking costs one second; guessing wrong costs the room's trust.
FLUENT
Finally, someone to talk to in Spanish.
Ten-minute spoken lessons. A teacher who answers back — and gently fixes what you got wrong.
First 10 lessons freeandbefluent.com/spanish/live-translatorRegional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
| English | Mexico | Argentina | Colombia |
|---|---|---|---|
| setting the ground rules first | antes de arrancar, acordemos cómo le vamos a hacer con los turnos | te pido que hablemos por ideas completas | permítanme dos minuticos para fijar el encuadre |
| in short, what he's saying is… | en esencia, lo que está diciendo es que sí, pero con un pero importante | te lo resumo: acuerda en el fondo, no en los tiempos | en pocas palabras, plantea tres cosas y matiza una |
| one at a time, please | un momento, por favor, de a uno | permitime terminar la frase anterior | que uno termine la idea antes de que entre el otro |
Watch out
The part no phrase list can do
Isabella
Your conversation teacher for this pack
In the Live Translator lessons you're the interpreter in a multinational boardroom — two delegations facing each other, notepads ready, decisions expected by end of day — and Isabella is your principal: an eloquent, idiomatic Spanish-speaking client whose reputation now rides on your fidelity. She tests you early with a deliberately untranslatable expression. An executive challenges your rendering to your face. Then both sides start talking over each other in two languages, and you have to hold the floor — les pido, como intérprete, que uno termine la idea antes de que responda el otro — without favouring either side. Out loud, every nuance commercially consequential.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 6 lessons and Live Translator is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
Interpretación consecutiva: the speaker pauses at complete ideas and you render each turn in the other language, speaking en primera persona — as the speaker, not about them. Agree the turn-taking and signals before the meeting starts: acordemos señales.
Choose one of three moves in real time: a functional equivalent, a brief explanatory paraphrase, or keeping the original with a short gloss — voy a conservarla en español and la cargo de contexto. The compass is always sentido, no letra: sense, not letter.
First person by default — you say I as the speaker does. Third person (él dice que…) is reserved for clarification only; used as a habit it dilutes the speaker's force and breaks the illusion of direct dialogue.
Interrupt with serene authority and a bond-preserving formula: les pido, como intérprete, que uno termine la idea antes de que responda el otro, or simply de a uno, si son tan amables. Naming your role makes the request procedural, not personal.
No añadir, no omitir, no opinar — don't add, don't omit, don't editorialize. A cultural aside is allowed but stays a nota del intérprete: a brief spoken footnote that explains a local reference without ever passing judgment.
