Dreaming of Federal Certification By Athena Matilsky Dear Readers, Happy Spring! We’ve gone from sleet and ice to muddy rain up here in Canada, but this week marks the beginning of warmer weather, and it’s possible we’ve almost seen the last of the snowflakes! I hope that wherever...

Peer Observation and the Interpreter By: Jordan Fox Guest Post I have at times been frustrated with myself and my performance when working with a colleague on a case and being overcome by nervousness that ultimately affects my performance in such a way that I’m afraid that the...

Rethinking Reputation By:Ann (Jiraporn) Heath-Huynh   Growing up in an Asian household, I believe that many of us were taught how to behave in such a way that we build and retain a good reputation in the eyes of society. Simply put, “Face-saving value is a cultural value...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Webs of Learning in Practice: Webinars Julli Jaramillo   Professional development matters in our field. The work changes, the courts change, and the expectations placed on judiciary interpreters and translators continue to evolve. Staying competent is not something we do once through training or certification; it is something...

Carrying the Work Forward: Welcome 2026 Julli Jaramillo   When people talk about nonprofits, they often talk about them as if they are abstract things. Structures. Boards. Logos. Missions. But the longer I’ve worked with NAJIT, the clearer it has become to me that this organization moves because...

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...