The balance between detachment and involvement is a very difficult one. So is the balance between lexical accuracy and pragmatic accuracy. By Janis Palma I recently heard a fellow interpreter on the witness stand for the first time. Of course, I was curious, and as I...
I am often asked about Puerto Rico. Explaining our status has never been easy, but recent events have suddenly made everything crystal clear. Today’s blog is not about interpreting or translating per se, but it is about events taking place in Puerto Rico that could...
Yes, I heard someone use that word during the NAJIT conference this past May 14 & 15 in San Antonio, Texas: Renaissance. And it was so fitting! The energy in the air was electrifying. The conference attendants were excited about the conference topics, and very...
It’s the last week of April and NAJIT’s Annual Conference is just around the corner. Before we know it, we will be in San Antonio, polishing skills, learning what’s new in the field, catching up with old friends and making new ones. And although I...
We build too many walls and not enough bridges. - Isaac Newton We see that “building bridges” metaphor often when someone is referring to the work done by translators and interpreters. We bridge languages and cultures by enabling people to communicate effectively, even if they do not...
OSMOSIS – an ability to learn and understand things gradually without much effort. (Merriam-Webster) I was joking with some colleagues about having parents who were physicians and, therefore, how these friends had learned medicine by osmosis. We have all had that experience: learning about a particular...
I recently became a regular Staff Interpreter...
Let me be blunt: I will not call this the “holiday season” because in Puerto Rico this is Navidad. Although the word does come from the Latin nativitas (nativity) and, yes, it all started with the birth of Jesus, the truth is that in Puerto...
The phrase itself should set off an alarm. Or perhaps “militant” is too strong a word. How about “the advocate interpreter”? Merriam-Webster defines militant as "having or showing a desire or willingness to use strong, extreme, and sometimes forceful methods to achieve something,” or, in...
How many of you are familiar with SSTI? Well, let me introduce you. SSTI stands for the Society for the Study of Translation and Interpretation. It is the non-profit charity component of the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (NAJIT). NAJIT was created in 1978...