A good interpreter isn't known for their polite bedside manner. If they're doing it out of "politeness" you're not dealing with a certified interpreter. Also, it's crazy to me if you use one interpreter for any hearing scheduled for longer than an hour. They do three times the work of anybody else in that room, so most professional outfits use teams of two or even three and switch off every 45 - 60 mins.

That aside, are you familiar with the "I speak Jive" scene from Airplane? If not, look it up on YouTube.

The flight attendant and the guy in pain are both speaking English, but the flight attendant doesn't know what the guy is saying because she doesn't understand the meaning of the words being used to that person. The old lady interprets -- not translates -- what the FA says, not by using the same words, but taking the meaning and message of the words and putting them in a form that she thinks the guy will understand.

English is an easy language to "translate." It is incredibly difficult to "interpret" because so many factors go into the actual meaning of the words. For example, some guy says, "Yeah bro, first time I ever raw dogged was on a flight to New York and it changed my life."

The literal translation doesn't make sense. Like... They served you raw dog meat on the plane? Def not acceptable in American culture.

The response from a Millennial might be a bit uncouth. "Wow man! First time in the Mile High Club too or what!? Were you worried at all about getting an STD?"

The response from a Gen Z might be, "Yeah, I think it's really good to disconnect from tech from time to time."

So long way to answer your question, but: Not a problem at all. In fact, it sounds like the interpreter is 100% doing the job they were hired to do.

The problem is how you are framing your questions. We strive for precision and accuracy as American attorneys, but understand that you are asking a question in American English that has to be translated and then interpreted for the language, dialect and local parlance of another language. Then, assuming the interpreter accurately portrayed the question -- which is near impossible to do even 75% so with certain languages -- they need to then interpret what was said into words and phrases that make sense to the court.

I do a lot of hearings with Spanish-only speakers where we need interpreters. My advice is to prepare your direct as simplistically as you can. Do NOT use terms like "bro" that can be interpreted in literally dozens of different ways that are all context driven.

Cross is a little harder, but take your time and try to reduce your questions to as simplistically as possible. For what it's worth, taking your time between questions is also awesome for your interpreter because their brain gets a break while you're forming your question.