- by Giovanna Lester © 2015 Claudia Villalba serves on the NAJIT Board of Directors and, until a few weeks ago, was the Supervising Court Interpreter for the 7th Judicial Circuit in the State of Florida. She wears many hats, but that is the nature of...
How many of you are familiar with SSTI? Well, let me introduce you. SSTI stands for the Society for the Study of Translation and Interpretation. It is the non-profit charity component of the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (NAJIT). NAJIT was created in 1978...
I’m a perfectionist and an introvert. I’d be willing to bet a lot of interpreters are (that’s a different post), but not as many as translators. I loved translating from the time I heard of it, and like every other idealistic liberal arts undergrad, I had romantic ideas of how I could translate [ha] my love into a professional calling: I was going to be a literary translator! My name would be as famous as Gregory Rabassa’s! To say that we interpreters are sometimes exposed to trauma is an understatement. Perhaps the worst is how it can happen so suddenly. I can go about my day nice as you please, interpreting tedious status conferences where attorneys are all legalese about dates and...
We all wish we had one. I saw a beer commercial today that used the concept to sell beer! “The simple life.” Beer? Really? Yes. We all definitely wish we had one. But for judiciary interpreters in particular, and I really don’t know if I can pinpoint why,...
You may recognize this week's guest author from some of his previous NAJIT Blog contributions, including last summer's "Holly is a Big Deal in Ohio", posted on August 15th 2014. I'm pleased to announce John Shaklee is joining the Blog team. While we work out...
When I first started learning to interpret, I shadowed the radio in English. It took me months before I was able to even attempt simultaneous interpretation from English into Spanish. At first, it was hard enough to keep up in just one language. “Today we...
*** First Friday Flashback, from Oct. 2013 *** Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They're absolutely free and worth a fortune. —Sam Walton As my translation business has grown, the amount of work for private clients who need...
© 2012 Giovanna Lester [This article was first published on May 18, 2012] One of the issues most discussed at interpreters’ and translators’ meetings and forums is contracts. What should and should not be in a contract, the details we did not cover, how to ensure payment,...
I really have no life. No. Seriously. If I am not interpreting in court, I am translating at home. And if I am not doing some work for pay, I am doing voluntary work...