The NAJIT Observer (TNO) was created in 2011 in response to NAJIT’s members need for a tool
to share information, first-hand experiences, and the occasional fun moment with colleagues.
We are delighted with the response TNO has received from our members and subscribers. And
thanks to our dedicated and generous contributors, TNO’s archive features an amazing number
of posts that you can search by category or author.
Do you want to contribute a post? Send us an email at TNO_editor@najit.org.
Enjoy The NAJIT Observer!
The Couch is back. Can we help our colleague who, apparently, is doing too good of a job? How about you? This is a space where we can share our doubts, our knowledge and help our colleagues. All data that might make the parties or case identifiable...
This week we welcome Cultures Connection as a guest author. They publish a blog and, after reading some of our posts, asked to share some of their good writing with our readers. Would you like to see your post on our pages? Please send a note...
The problem with court interpreting is that it’s messy. Heck, life is messy, and court interpreting is just a manifestation of our daily struggle with chaos. Allow me to explain. For months now I have been mentoring students to study for their tests; notably I’ve been coaching...
No, NAJIT has not gone into the dictionary business. We are just trying to make things clear so folks know what they mean exactly when they use a word like "translator," or "interpreter." We are providing definitions that will, we hope, help those who need our...
Article by Kathleen Shelly, originally published on May 18, 2014. Images from University of Massachusetts Amherst I used to be a grasshopper, you know, like the one in Aesop’s fable. It wasn’t that I didn’t work—I did. It’s just that after paying for rent, utilities and...
Monday, May 22 is NAJIT Advocacy Day. Join NAJIT in Washington, DC. Together our voices are louder and can reach farther! NAJIT will be scheduling a group visit with Executive Branch offices and recommend interpreters and translators schedule appointments with their own legislators. That is only one part of...
Here’s the thing about my Spanish: I learned it from a book. When I enrolled in my first Spanish class, I didn’t even know how to ask someone, “How are you?” But I progressed quickly, with brilliant professors hailing from places like Peru, Costa Rica,...
We have renamed the "What Would You Have Done?" section. Presenting to you, The Couch. We trust you will feel the same warm welcome here, and confident enough to air issues and to help our colleagues. All data that might make the parties or case identifiable have been...
This article by Jennifer de la Cruz was originally published in August 2014. We thought it was especially relevant after Athena's piece on sight translation. This is a new aspect of what we do in court interpreting. When Facebook and Instagram and even text messaging were...
This is Part II of Javier Aparisi's report on his Brazilian adventure. Pedri, a family friend from my early years in São Paulo, accompanied me a few days later in our visits to the Barra Funda regional court in São Paulo. This judicial complex offered a...