A Brief History of The Couch Series [caption id="attachment_36172" align="alignright" width="300"] A symbolic representation of interpreters and translators fostering understanding, depicted by a figure on a couch and another actively listening[/caption] Since its debut in 2017, The Couch has been the place to provide our members with the space to discuss...

Language Access on the Biggest Stage By: Julli Jaramillo    Last month, millions of viewers tuned in to watch the Super Bowl Halftime show. As always, the spotlight was on the teams, the halftime show, and the commercials that quickly became part of the cultural conversation. But behind the...

Warts and All  By Ángeles Estrada, M.A., F.C.C.I    The letters written to the judge by Spanish-speaking defendants in U.S. penitentiaries are hard to  read and time consuming to translate.   Because of the literacy level of most defendants, their letters are laden with spelling mistakes  and frequently as cryptic...

Let’s Test Your Ethics: The Digital “Assist” The NAJIT Observer Team   Honoring the Lunar New Year Before we turn to this month’s ethical discussion, we want to pause to recognize the Lunar New Year. For many communities around the world, this celebration marks renewal, reflection, and the beginning...

Playing The Infinite Game In Your Interpreting Career  By: Jiraporn-Ann H. Huynh With Special Credit To Contributor and Editor: Hilda Shymanik   I was at a dental event for an elite group of dental practitioners who don’t just fix teeth and collect money; they are highly specialized dentists whom...

Not An Infallible Technique, After All By Hilda Shymanik   Just recently, I was telling some colleagues how, since I started freelancing regularly in some of the best and interpreter-friendly courthouses in the area, I’ve found fewer topics to blog about. The reason? I rarely encounter situations that...

On Verbatim By Ángeles Estrada, M.A., F.C.C.I. Verbatim is a Latin expression that means “word for word,” and it is the golden rule for court-reporters whose charge it is to preserve the record. But, what about court interpreters? An interpreter's oath is different from the court reporter’s oath....

Beyond AI, Beyond the Conference Julli Jaramillo   AI is already part of our professional reality. Not as a concept we debate in the abstract during dinner, but as something that shows up in conversations about tools, ethics, training, expectations, and the future of our work. That context is...

Can Translation Be the Only Route? Julli Jaramillo In our last conversation on Judiciary Translation vs. Judiciary Interpretation: Which Path Resonates with You? We explored the question many of us encounter early on: which path should I choose? The responses, both spoken and unspoken, pointed to a...

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...