Elena Langdon

Elena Langdon is a Portuguese < > English language professional specializing in healthcare, law, and business. She is certified by the American Translators Association as a translator (PT>EN) and by the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters as an interpreter, and has been in the field for 17 years. She started in Florianópolis, Brazil, where she was raised bilingually. In 2003 she moved back to the United States to pursue a Master’s in Translation Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. For six years, Elena was supervisor of the Interpreter and Translation Services department at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, MA. She oversaw 50 interpreters in her time there. She organized and led continuing education workshops, revamped and managed the translation process, developed a new scheduling system, and helped expand (backup) remote interpreting from phone to video.

Elena is an active member of several professional organizations. She is currently on the Board of Directors of the American Translators Association and the National Council for Interpreting in Healthcare (NCIHC). She is chair of the conference committee for the New England Translators Association. Elena also co-produces and hosts webinars for interpreter trainers for the NCIHC. She was chairperson of the National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters, one of two national programs to provide accredited credentials to healthcare interpreters.

Elena has been teaching interpreting and translation since 2005 at institutions around the country, including UMass Amherst, Boston University, Chicago University, Century College, and Smith College. She leads regular workshops and presentations at regional and national conferences and she currently coordinates a medical interpreting program for the UMass Memorial Medical School.