It has occurred to me, in recent years, that the core concern of the interpreter’s responsibility – be it in court, classroom, office, hospital, correctional facility or a client’s home – is not language, but communication. To not recognize that very important distinction relegates the role of the interpreter to that of a language converter. And that strongly devalues the work that interpreters do, for to simply convert words in one language into words in another is a task that can be done by AI, or even a simple, old-school, bilingual dictionary. Instead, interpreters spin together words, meaning, context, situation, goals, interpersonal relationships, culture, awareness, responsibility, accountability, strict role boundaries, empathy, objectivity, intrapersonal communication, systemic realities, and non-verbal communication to ensure that speaker and listener are achieving the communication exchange necessary – without altering an iota of the intended message – if they are an educated, professional interpreter (let’s not confuse bilingualism with interpreting).