Category: Aviation Interpretation

For over a decade, I worked for an airline in China, eventually becoming a certified interpreter for flight training programs. My role often placed me inside full-motion flight simulators, interpreting between English-speaking instructors and Chinese trainee pilots. These weren’t tourist flights, this was serious, technical, high-stakes communication.

I remember one session vividly. A pilot was flying a simulated emergency scenario—an engine failure after takeoff. The instructor gave rapid-fire instructions in English, and I had to keep up, delivering precise interpretation in real time. A single delay or error could derail the training or lead to confusion while regaining the airplane back in control after single engine failure. It was a job that required nerves of steel and a deep understanding of aviation terminology, airplane operation procedure and cultural dynamics.

For me, it combined everything I loved: language, learning, responsibility, and travel.

The cockpit was quiet, except for the low hum of simulated engines. I sat behind the instructor, headset on, watching the trainee pilot grip the controls with visible tension. My job wasn’t to fly the plane—but to be the voice carrying instructions, corrections, and sometimes urgent warnings between two languages. In that high-pressure moment, accuracy wasn’t just important—it was critical.

At the business negotiation table, the topics were just as complex: aircraft purchasing, financing, engine type selection, airline alliances, pilot training, marketing and more.

Years later, I found myself in a very different kind of high-stakes environment: a doctor’s office, a procedure room, or an emergency room. This time, I was no longer surrounded by switches and flight manuals, but by medical charts, physicians, and patients.

Today, at the business meeting table, the discussions are more deeply rooted in the world of healthcare—covering topics such as healthcare networks, global collaboration, expanding access to advanced medical care, and improving health equity for a broader patient population.

Once again, I am the voice in the middle—interpreting words that can make the difference between clarity and confusion, or comfort and fear.

This is the story of how I moved between two worlds: from a certified flight interpreter in China to a certified medical interpreter in the United States. Whether I’m bridging communication in a negotiation room or in a hospital, my goal remains the same—ensuring every word matters and every voice is heard.