Two questions: 1) Is technology going to replace us? (Ironically, the “age-old” one.) 2) Does language really evolve so fast? I want to bring perhaps a different perspective, which others may have evoked in other places. As to technology, it is possible that AI becomes powerful...
During the first pandemic winter, I took on one of the hardest teaching assignments I’ve ever experienced: I tutored the son of a dear friend of mine with his fifth-grade homework. He was struggling a lot, and there were concerns that he might not be...
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new” —Socrates Jon Leeth was the Special Assistant to the Assistant Director in Charge of Court Reporting and Interpreting Services, also referred to as Chief of the...
We have all been there: tired and in need of a partner. Could there exist a machine that does the notetaking for me? I started to ponder about speech recognition many years ago when ASR (automatic speech recognition) was accessible via software (think Siri). I...
An agency that I have not worked with before recently got in touch, and we had the typical e-mail back and forth regarding compensation, cancellations, travel, etc. Here is that e-mail exchange. To: Garrett From: LSP rep Subject: In-Person Spanish Interpreter on Upcoming Date Hello, Garrett. I’ve been given your contact...
How could modern translations function without technology? There’s no denying the important role technology plays in our modern life. But it’s a double-edged sword since each new technological advancement poses a new risk to translators and interpreters: the possibility of one day being replaced by...
We are all in this together, but while we are all in the same sea, we are not all in the same boat. We know this pandemic has affected people differently, and everyone has experienced it in a different way. For most people, for instance,...
The Couch is a place for readers to engage in stimulating discussion. The subject of this month’s Couch is...
An open or shut case? A couple of weeks ago, a woman I was interpreting for started chatting with me before an interview, and she asked me if I had heard about upcoming plans to reopen the courthouse. During this conversation, she shared her view that...
It is hard to believe that it has been a year since I started working from home due to the pandemic. It feels so long ago, but I remember the uncertainty vividly. Something ominous hung heavily in the air, blinking question marks hovered in everyone’s...