This is the war everyone hoped would never happen. And yet it has happened. Most of us had never paid attention to Ukraine, except perhaps when it came up during the testimony before Congress in 2019 regarding Marie Yovanovitch, a former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine....
I had my first business at the age of twenty. It was a furniture store a block away from the main plaza in downtown Celaya, Mexico. Business has been in my blood since I was born. My father was an entrepreneur and we, the sisters,...
The Couch is a place to exchange ideas and brainstorm, not only for its contributors but also for our readers who engage in the ensuing discussions. Sometimes, a day’s proceedings in the courtroom can seem more like an episode of Jerry Springer than they do a trial....
“Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits recipients of federal financial assistance from discriminating based on national origin by, among other things, failing to provide meaningful access to individuals who are limited English proficient (LEP)” (lep.gov). In state courts, where Title VI...
THE FOLLOWING IS NOT YOUR TYPICAL DAY IN COURT. What do you do when you are challenged? Is it professional of an interpreter to request a break? Dilemma in the courtroom! What would you have done? The following is an experience I had in a Superior Court in Georgia...
During my years of interpreting in many different areas, mostly in court and other legal settings, I have observed situations that seem, at the very least, inappropriate, unfair, and perhaps even illegal. One of the first and simplest examples I can give is an assignment I...
Did you know humans can’t actually multi-task? We are capable of lightning concentration if we try, and we can quickly shift focus if we practice. But we can’t actually do two things at once. When we interpret simultaneously, for example, we listen. Then we process....
The Couch is a place to exchange ideas and brainstorm, not only for its contributors but also for our readers who engage in the ensuing discussions. Sometimes, without the remotest fault on interpreters’ part, a crowd can have its suspicions aroused against them...
There are many ways to start off the New Year: resolutions to take that yoga class you’ve been meaning to take, or that creative writing course, or maybe getting a whole new advanced degree in something exciting, like archeology! Could this be the year you...
It was the kind of day that leaves you tired, yet proud. Your arraignment calendar that morning listed fifty-seven cases. Somewhere around your eighth interpretation, your lunch started calling. Now, however, it’s 1:28 p.m. Back to court. As you clear security, the office texts you: Hey, can you head...