Have you ever been on assignments that booked you for a hearing but turned out to be a full-length trial? One that involves extensive evidence submission and multiple witnesses. These situations are inevitable as sometimes thing changes at the last minute. But what can we...
Any seasoned interpreter will tell you why we work in teams on long assignments. There is research on the matter of interpreter fatigue and the negative effect it has on accuracy and appropriate rendition. Team interpreting has been done at least since the Nuremberg trials,...
Let me begin with a disclaimer: documentation about the early codes of ethics for judiciary interpreters, also called codes of professional responsibility, is scant or lost altogether. I am writing mostly from memory and some documents I have been able to track down, which means...
Introduction As an interpreter with over 22 years of experience, I have witnessed the evolving dynamics within our profession. In Wisconsin, there is a shortage of court-certified interpreters. However, this shortage is not due to a lack of potentially qualified professionals but rather a failure in...
In Wisconsin, the State Court Interpreter Program and certification are turning twenty years old in the Fall of 2024. The first staff interpreter jobs in our state were created shortly after the certification became available. Recently, a few counties have advertised jobs in this category....
Many times, I am saved by the bell. Last week I was in court, on time waiting for my early morning case to start. As we waited over 90 minutes, the ADA, judge, sheriff’s officers, clerks, and LEP defendant were understandably frustrated. The practice in...
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...
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, you want to “keep calm and keep interpreting,” but external factors make that simple solution difficult to achieve. A...
“Elephants have six toes.” “Sally sells seashells by the seashore.” “My friends are named Sam, Stan, Stu, San, Sandy, Dee, and Dan.” What do all these phrases have in common? These three phrases are typically used in the popular children’s game “Whisper down the lane.”...
“Your Honor, why don’t we have the interpreter read the script generated by Zoom?” This was a question that came up in one of my latest remote hearing cases. If that was not enough to surprise many of us who are court interpreters, the judge’s...