Professor Svetlana Tyutina
Imagine for a moment that you cannot afford to file your taxes. You try to find an inexpensive accountant, but everywhere you look, the price is way out of your budget. Now take this scenario a step further and imagine you are a recent immigrant with limited understanding of the English language, and the only thing you know is that you need to file your taxes by the deadline.
This situation might seem far-fetched to an average taxpayer, but this is something that Professor Svetlana Tyutina encounters every day. As director of CSUN's Spanish Graduate program, Tyutina trains her students to offer Spanish interpretation to any taxpayer at the CSUN VITA Clinic who needs a Spanish interpreter.
Sponsored by City National Bank, the Spanish interpretation program at the CSUN VITA Clinic helps non-English speaking taxpayers file their tax returns.
“This service allows our VITA program to fill a critical void in our community,” Tyutina said. “Many times, language is the only barrier to why our clients cannot file their taxes. We help those families who only speak Spanish to file their taxes so they can use their refunds for essential goods and services.”
When a non-English speaking taxpayer comes into CSUN’s VITA Clinic, they are assigned to one of Tyutina’s student volunteer interpreters. The interpreter acts a liaison between the taxpayer and the tax preparer to ensure the filing process is accurate and understandable.
Tyutina offers her students the interpreting opportunity through a service-learning project in her Spanish translation courses. Volunteer interpreters go through a rigorous process of training in business Spanish throughout the course and take the opportunity to practice their knowledge while giving back to their community.
Priscilla Gonzalez
One of her student interpreters, Priscilla Gonzalez, who is working on her master’s degree in Spanish, said the program provided a special opportunity to apply classroom knowledge in a practical setting.
“Professor Tyutina’s training isn’t like taking a normal Spanish course.” Gonzalez said. “We’re trained to translate specific tax vocabulary that isn’t used in regular Spanish conversation. This course allows us to expand our knowledge of Spanish and use it practically.”
Volunteering at the VITA Clinic gives student interpreters the opportunity to see exactly what a career as an interpreter might look like, Tyutina said. It also gives them hands-on experience in their field of study, as well as teaching them communication and administrative skills.
“There’s a great demand for Spanish interpreters in the local community.” said Gonzalez. “I love that I’m able to put a taxpayer at ease and make them feel comfortable as they are handling a complicated thing like taxes.”
Tyutina hopes to expand the program by recruiting more translators for next year’s VITA Clinic.