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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...

18 August, 2017 /

This article was written on June 27, 2014. Enjoy! I generally start my day with a cup of coffee.  By no means am I a morning person, and there is nothing like that freshly brewed first cup to get my day started.  I wouldn’t consider myself...

21 July, 2017 /

- by Janis Palma © It’s what we all work for. It’s where we expect to be someday: retired… with a pension. For many of us, it’s the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. True, some pots are bigger than others, and...

14 July, 2017 /
This article by Janis Palma was first published two years ago, almost to the date. It is a good reminder of the importance of proper terminology and the traps we face in our work - both translators and interpreters!
©Janis Palma- 2014
Beware of false friends! I don’t mean the people, I mean the words. 
One of the first impulses a young interpreter must overcome is the use of words that may, at first glance, seem to be equivalent terms and concepts in two languages... but are not. Taking that direct path from similarly-sounding words in our source and target languages is not always wrong, but part of being a good interpreter is knowing exactly when to take this path and when not to. In the rapid pace of judiciary interpreting, our brains may lean heavily towards cognates in source and target languages. Cognates are words with a common origin or etymology. True cognates, like “library” and “librería” in Spanish or “livraria” in Portuguese, with a common Latin root -- liber -- may come to have new and different meanings with usage and the passage of time. In this example “library” is a place where books are kept for people to read or borrow, whereas “librería” or “livraria” is a place where books are sold. So although they may be true cognates, these words have become false friends, or faux amis.
16 June, 2017 /

This article was originally posted on November 15, 2012. Some social media tools have added features, others have lost their appeal.  As ephemeral as some of its elements are, social media is here to stay. Got something to add? Use the comments area below. By Gio...

19 May, 2017 /

by Janis Palma, USCCI, NCJIT-S I can remember how to say “Compass Rose” and “boatswain” in Spanish at the drop of a hat, but I cannot remember what I ate for lunch 2 days ago. I can recall every word of a 2-minute narrative by a witness and...

12 May, 2017 /

This article by Janis Palma was originally published on Aug 22, 2011. Janis gives us some insights into her rituals and encourages us to look into our own behavior. Enjoy!   - by Janis Palma © 2011 [blockquote text="I have just realized that with my rituals I...

14 April, 2017 /

By Gio Lester © 2016 A sense of belonging, feeling welcome, knowing someone is listening—those were some of the things that made our listserv unforgettable and cherished. Everyday felt like a visit with close friends to discuss the news, industry developments, terminology difficulties, new challenges… even jokes. The...

16 December, 2016 /

We have another Guest Blogger for you. This time we are graced by Leslie Tabarez who is a State Court Certified Interpreter in Pennsylvania. But we will let her introduce herself. “I’m a natural blonde, I have blue-eyes, and I’m a Spanish interpreter. Born in NYC,...

16 September, 2016 /

Do you have an experience to share? Please write to the  tno_editor@najit.org. Our work is confidential and all identifiable details are removed from the stories shared with us to maintain compliance with our Code of Ethics. This space is for us to help each other...

09 September, 2016 /
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