“The terror of performing never goes away. Instead, you get very, very comfortable being terrified.” ~Eric Whitacre I like that quote. It speaks to me. I think you could replace the word “performing” with “interpreting” and paste it on the walls of all our offices. Interpreting...
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...
Interpreting attorney-LEP client communications is an integral and confidential function of the court interpreter´s job. Due to social distancing, however, the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to restrict attorney-LEP client communications or create unsafe proximity risks for interpreters and their clients. Nonetheless, these bilingual communications can take...
“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...
I used to think that to be an association volunteer you needed to be extraordinary, extremely qualified, have all sorts of accreditations, certifications, a long resume, and be known to all in the profession. However, all you need is to have the will, the time,...
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...
Many of us are trying to figure out how much fun we can have this summer and avoid getting sick at the same time. It is not easy to know what to do based on information we get from the news, social media networks, federal...
This article by Janis was first published in July 2017. We liked it so much that we decided to share it with our readers once again. Enjoy - by Janis Palma © It’s what we all work for. It’s where we expect to be someday: retired…...
This article was originally written in 2017 by Gio Lester © ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes, I have lived a sheltered life. At least where languages are concerned. I have always circulated within groups whose languages I understand. As a result, I have no idea what it must feel like...
- By Gio Lester © 2016 Living in Miami, Florida, a bilingual city for sure, one thing we notice is that every other attorney speaks another language. Most of them have studied Spanish or their families are from one of the myriad Spanish-speaking Latin American countries, or...