Houses of Worship:

Translation Equipment for Houses of Worship

¿Does Technology Bring Us Closer to God?

Each year more than a million immigrants come to the United States. Some come to be near their families, others because of a new job, or perhaps simply to find a more promising future.
It’s a known fact that moving is one of the most stressful things that a person can go through. This being the case, just imagine what it must be like to move to another country!

When immigrants first arrive in a new country, one of the first things they look for is comfort and reassurance. They often do this by seeking out others who are of the same religion or creed. Yet, although religion often brings people together, many times there is a language barrier to be overcome. However welcome a newcomer is made to feel, how long is it feasible for him/her to attend a religious service where he/she hardly understands what is being said?  On the other hand, it is not an easy task for houses of worship to offer multiple services for people who speak different languages. Houses of worship seek to bring people together in a tight-knit community that shares the same beliefs, not separate people because of language or culture.

How can they do this when the community of believers is made up of people who speak different languages?

More and more churches, mosques, synagogues and other religious groups are acquiring simultaneous translation equipment to use in their services.  These systems allow the congregation to hear what the preacher is saying in their own language, in real time. The preacher speaks in English and through the use of a microphone and a small transmitter, an interpreter transmits the simultaneous translation to the listeners over an FM radio frequency. The listeners who do not speak English, hear the message through a wireless FM receiver tuned to the channel designated for their language.  The transmitter functions like a small radio station, but because the frequencies used are out of the range of commercial FM stations, there is little chance of interference.  In this way, English, Spanish and Portuguese speakers, for example, can all attend the same service and hear everything that is said in their own languages.

We recommend FM technology because it allows simultaneous translation systems to be configured in very little time and it does not require any specialized knowledge.  An infrared system can also be set up, but this is more expensive and requires more components.

 

For more information, click here to read about the characteristics of the different simultaneous translation systems.

We offer different packages, which can be used to incorporate one or several languages into your house of worship. The number of FM receivers is always expandable. Visit our special Translation Equipment Store for houses of worship: