🔍 Episode Summary
In this episode, Jill Kushner Bishop, founder and CEO of Multilingual Connections, joins Janice Caston to discuss why language and cultural nuance matter in global research. Jill explains why relying on English alone can lead to missed insights, how translation goes beyond words, and the evolving role of AI in multilingual workflows.
🧠 Key Themes & Takeaways
- Why English Isn’t Enough
The gap between speaking English and expressing authentic experience in language can have a negative impact on your research results - Survey Translation & Open Ends
Capturing nuance in responses and detecting fraud before translation helps solidify better results - Beyond Words: Cultural Context
Localizing demographics, education levels, and household structures is dependent upon quality respondents and survey - AI in Translation
Machine Translation Post-Editing (MTPE) and the “human in the loop” approach - Bilingual Moderation & Interpretation
Why global qualitative research needs cultural fluency - Challenges with AI Output
Beautiful but inaccurate translations and the risk of hallucinations
💬 Memorable Quotes
- “Language is more than words—it’s culture, context, and meaning.”
- “AI is great at prediction, but humans are good at judgment.”
- “The goal of translation is that it doesn’t sound translated—it sounds written for them.”
📈 What You’ll Learn
- Why translating surveys and open ends is critical for authentic insights
- How cultural adaptation impacts survey design and data quality
- The role of AI in speeding up translation—and why human oversight is essential
- Why bilingual moderation creates more natural and meaningful conversations
Brands you’ll hear from
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