The Department of Human Services marked last week’s Harmony Day by honouring its multilingual staff who speak more than 40 languages between them and, with the input of interpreters, can deal with enquiries in more than 200.
The Department said it had 540 bilingual staff, among them Ahmad El-Dik ( pictured) who answers calls for the Department’s national Multilingual Phone Service and uses Arabic to help people every day.
The service is the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, handling approximately 2,500 calls a day in more than 30 languages.
Mr El-Dik said some things said in English don’t translate well in Arabic.
“So I need to put together an example that better describes a scenario people can relate to and understand,” Mr El-Dik said.
“When I was growing up we had a rule that Arabic was to be spoken at home and English at school so that my siblings and I were able to learn both.”
He said that what he loved about the language was that there were so many ways to describe things so they had a really deep meaning and could be tailored.
“By taking calls in a language that a caller can better relate to makes them feel more comfortable and they can easily do their business,” Mr El-Dik said.
The Department also provides free interpreter and translation services in more than 230 languages.
In 2017-18, more than 2,000 interpreters assisted with over 800,000 appointments with people over the phone and in person.
