AOS Interview/ Translator

[mspain 1]

I'm a little nervous about AOS for my husband. We have our interview in two weeks. My husband is learning English and can answer basic questions. We speak Spanish together. Can I translate for him at the interview?

[YuAndDan 153]

Nope, typically in these cases will need a third party translator at the interview.

[Melissa Garcia 0]

I'm a little nervous about AOS for my husband. We have our interview in two weeks. My husband is learning English and can answer basic questions. We speak Spanish together. Can I translate for him at the interview?

Unfortunately not, but why are you so nervous about the AOS? Do you think he won't remember the figures or something? Just keep practicing everything!

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Some spouses have been allowed to translate for their spouse, but I wouldn't depend on them being okay with it. It depends if they want to see how you communicate (then yes, they wouldn't mind you translating for him) or if they think you are lying and changing his answers (then no, they would want a third party). I would guess they have a spanish translator on hand at the office; you may want to inquire via infopaass. If you think he can answer basic questions, maybe try to do it without finding a translator. Good luck.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

If you have a friend or family member that speaks spanish ask them to come with you. While someone in the office MIGHT speak the language I don't know if they'd be okay with pulling a staff member off their job because you didn't bring a translator.. and I thought they mentioned something about a translator on the interview letter.. could be wrong.

[mspain 1]

They did mention a translator, but due to our situation, we think it might not work out well. My husband is orignally from Morocco and has only been speaking Spanish for about 4-5 years and it's not perfect. He also has no formal background in Spanish as he learned it all from living in Spain. We have no problem communicating, but I sometimes catch myself saying things incorrectly because that's how he will say them in Spanish.

The differences between Latin American and Peninsular Spanish are also an issue. For example, since living in the US, we signed him up for driver's ed en espanol. The lady who taught the class was from Cuba and the words and accents were very different for him. He ended up failing the driver's ed class in Spanish, but we later took it in English where I translated for him (without cheating) and he made a 96 on the test.

I guess I'm nervous that if he gets someone to speak Spanish for him, that there may be some kind of misunderstanding due to regional differences. There's even a language barrier between Moroccan Arabic and standard Arabic. We don't know anyone who would be willing to take off time from work to travel an hour away to go to the interview with us. Is it unreasonable to feel nervous in this situation?