A Year of Growth, Gratitude, and Community: Welcome to 2025   The NAJIT Observer   As the new year begins, at The Observer, we are excited about what the upcoming year holds. The beginning of a new year offers us a great opportunity to reflect on our past successes,...

Judiciary Translation vs. Judiciary Interpretation: Which Path Resonates with You? By: Julli Jaramillo   Language professionals are essential in bridging communication gaps within the judiciary system. As experienced judiciary interpreters and translators, your expertise is vital in ensuring justice and equity for all parties involved. However, many aspiring...

Let’s Test Your Ethics The NAJIT Observer Team  Welcome to “Let’s Test Your Ethics” As professional interpreters and translators, we often navigate challenging situations that test our ethical judgment. Whether it's balancing confidentiality with transparency or maintaining impartiality in emotionally charged settings, these dilemmas are part of our...

The Day of the Dead: El Día de Muertos – A Lesson in Adapting to Change By Reme Bashi   [caption id="attachment_37368" align="alignright" width="225"] A striking portrayal of La Catrina in front of an intricately carved stone archway during El Día de Muertos celebrations[/caption] If you are unfamiliar with El...

  It’s Always a Good Day to Make New Friends By: The NAJIT Observer Meet NAJIT’s new Publishing Coordinator and Editor-In-Chief, Julli Jaramillo. Her C.V. will tell you that she graduated from New York University with a Master’s in Translation, specializing in Spanish-to-English and legal translation. Her background...

I came to the profession as many of you did, if you started your interpreting career ten or more years ago. I had a 15-minute phone interview with an agency owner, and I was hired on the spot and given very few instructions. I started interpreting...

Well, folks, I did it! I got my dream assignment. Perhaps surprisingly, it wasn’t for the United Nations, or for any other important governmental (or non-governmental) entity you may have heard of. What was it, you ask? Well, can you guess? What would your dream...

Several weeks ago, a friend and freelance colleague fell in the cafeteria of the courthouse where some of us work. The floor was wet and the “wet floor signs” were out of her line of vision. Once she was embarrassingly sprawled on the floor, the...

I have to be really honest. Every time I hear about a problem here or there with some client or court who does not want to pay a fair compensation to the interpreter, or someone wondering why the interpreter needs to prep for an assignment...