We mourn the passing of Eyak, once a traditional language spoken in Alaska. Mrs. Mary Jones died on January 21 and took her language with her. Southern Tsimshian, a dialect used in Klemtu, British Columbia is expected to follow soon, surviving only as long as...
Last year, InterpretAmerica published a document titled “Best Practices in the Interpreting Profession: Simultaneous Interpreting in Non-Conference Settings[1]” which I co-authored. Last month, we completed a draft document titled “Best Practices in the Interpreting Profession: The Professional Medical Interpreter”. Last night I interpreted for a local school...
I am ushered through a backdoor by a Korean who calls himself Francisco and who happens to speak near-perfect English, Spanish and Portuguese. He is a regular and quickly shows me around. I sign myself in and stand at a busy intersection of narrow corridors,...
I believe that the hierarchy and macrocosm of nature, should be reflected in its many microcosms, one of which is the interpreting profession. Accordingly, to be successful, the values exhibited at the apex must be mirrored in the other. Today I am going to write about...
Warning: trick question ahead! What is the best mode for interpreting witness testimony? If you said “Consecutive, of course,” then I disagree. And if you said “Um, simultaneous, maybe?” then I disagree even more strongly. (See, I told you it was a trick question.) What interpreters...
I am interpreting consecutively. I am well-rested, fully focused, alert and engaged. Almost effortlessly, I allow the equivalent words,phrases and structures to flow through my brain and out my mouth. An interpreting instructor of mine once called this being “in the groove.” It doesn’t happen every...
Our family recently embarked on an educational journey when we put our son into an online homeschooling program. In my job as an interpreter, trainer, and advocate for our profession, my days are already focused on finding the most effective educational tools and resources for...
I’ve only been active on Facebook for a couple of years, if you could call having a few family members as friends “active”. In a sense, I’d been wading gradually into the social networking scene up until fairly recently. I’d always signed up for listservs and yahoo groups...
The hotel housekeeper has a complaint, and I am there to interpret it. Sitting beside the housekeeper, I speak into a cheap handset speakerphone. On the other end, the hotel owner and district manager listen, encouraging the employee to air her concerns fully into the...
A couple of weeks ago I was driving home from an interpreting assignment listening to NPR radio, as is my custom. The program was “Fresh Air,” and Terry Gross was interviewing an author named Michael Lewis on a piece of his in the magazine Vanity...
