January is the month of the year when most of us want to start fresh with a clean slate. I recently learned that some people, especially in Europe, call the third Monday in January Blue Monday because it’s supposedly the most depressing day of the...
The Couch is a learning place, not only for its contributors but also for our readers who engage in the ensuing discussions. So much has changed in the performance of our profession that educating clients about how to work more effectively with interpreters has become...
“One moment, the interpreter needs a repetition,” I said in English, followed by “Excuse me, could you repeat that for the interpreter?” in rapid-fire Spanish. It was about fifteen minutes into the interpretation, and the fourth time I had interrupted. I was feeling a bit...
The NAJIT Board of Directors wants to express our deepest appreciation to Giovanna (Gio) Lester for her years of service to the NAJIT Blog, which was re-branded as the NAJIT Observer under her leadership. Her tireless efforts have been a tremendous benefit and resource to...
I was talking to a colleague friend of mine recently when she mentioned she had to deliver a translation but had to get it notarized first. My brain immediately went in two different directions: (1) I know this is a fairly common practice among translators...
In my first letter as Chair, I would like to thank all of our members for their care and consideration in the recent elections. I am very grateful and humbled to have the opportunity to serve with my fellow board members on behalf of our...
- by Gio Lester (c) 2012 We are Communicators. As translators, interpreters and multicultural individuals we delight in acquiring knowledge as much as in sharing it. And what we do with our knowledge is exactly what this article is about. Our knowledge base consists of cultural and...
Kathleen Shelly penned this for The NAJIT Observer in 2012. It remains just as relevant today. Please enjoy. - By Kathleen Shelly © 2012 A couple of weeks ago I was driving home from an interpreting assignment listening to NPR radio, as is my custom. The program...
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...
I’m not the only one who dreams about “I wish that more people who come into contact with court interpreters (for whatever reason) knew that __________” right? So I am asking for all of you reading this to help me. If you were able to...