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...
Mr. Microphone, or “Mike” for short, has been in my life for only the past seven years. Our relationship got off to a rough start, because I didn’t think I needed him so people could hear my interpreting. Prior to meeting Mike, I had worked...
Co-author: Kaitlin Heximer, Candidate for the Masters in Conference Interpreting, Glendon School of Translation, York University “When I think back to the first time I ever interpreted in a formal setting, I would have done things differently if I knew then what I know now about interpreter...
Have you ever thought about sharing your profession at your local high school? Sound like a good idea? In Me, You and the Next Generation of Interpreters on the NAJIT Blog back in September (https://najit.org/blog/?p=580), Kathleen Shelly said, “…wouldn’t it be great if more of...
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...
I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead[1]. So said Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Christian philosopher in a letter to a friend in December 1656.[2] The quote, often misattributed to Mark Twain and Abraham...
Sometimes my first answer is NO if I know I am not qualified to perform a task. However, if the authorities persist due to the nature of an incident, that incident is likely to be documented. It comes down to personal ethics; more precisely, it...
This is a cautionary tale about what can happen when you don’t have two interpreters for a trial. It’s also rather amusing in a macabre way, and I enjoy telling the story to people who ask me about the most unusual case I have ever...
Warning!! The flexibility, variety, mobility and enjoyment that come with being an interpreter or a translator (or both!) can be addictive, turning us into smiling, giddy workaholics! Do you sometimes feel like your life is holding you back from achieving all you can in your career?...
