"Hello! What Would You Like Me To Say For You?"

My current measurement of proficiency in the Azeri language is my landlady. She speaks quickly and mumbles a lot, frequently I suspect she's speaking Russian, and no matter what I say, she refuses to listen through my accent. I can't necessarily blame her, there's a sense of 'you can't teach an old dog new tricks' and I'm probably the one and only American she will ever be interacting with. So our conversations continue to bumble along until it gets so bad that she starts clamoring 'Elvin. Elvin zeng vumalisan'

Elvin is the name of my friend who helped me find this apartment and when we are having a particularly difficult time understanding one another she asks that I call Elvin to get things sorted out. Even after 10 months of immersive Azeri study, there are still times when I've needed Elvin as a go between. There have been numerous times (such as when my plumbing broke or she suggesting that her son in law stay with me) where I thanked the heavens for having his help to politely and accurately interpret the situation.

It strikes me that this could be a pretty desirable service. Most of us, when traveling, don't have the luxury to settle into a culture or location long enough to meet friends (and bilingual friends at that) who could help serve as a personal translator for particularly sticky situations. And the fear of language inability is a pretty common source of anxiety for new or seasoned world travelers wherever they may be traveling.

What if there was a business where I could pay a fee to have the luxury of calling an on-call translator to help with whatever situation is thrown my way? Benefits range from confidence in understanding should an unforeseen medical emergency occur; helping oneself get settled for a longer stay, while minimizing the all to common 'language ignorance tax'; or simply asking for accurate directions while site seeing. An on-call translator service could bring a level of comfort and support to world travelers never before experienced.

Current translation services seem to occupy one of two spaces, business and learning. Those services that are focused on business tend to deemphasize personal support. These services take the form of providing conference call translators and document translation. Then there are those services focused on learning. Here the focus is on the individual but does not provide information in a way that would be useful in real-time. I may be able to go online and submit a phrase to be translated, but there is a lag in both speed of answer and place of use, let alone accounting for the local's response. I'm not aware of services that try and provide an on-call, real-time, benefit for an individual, rather than the professional.

What are your thoughts? Is anyone interested in further exploring this idea with me? Send me an email/comment.