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...
I like being tucked away in some nondescript area of a courtroom, where I can see and hear everyone but no one is paying attention to me, where I can have complete anonymity as my voice flows from a wireless microphone to a receiver in...
This piece was first published in 2018. Not too long ago, I found myself at an arbitration in which one of the parties, John Doe, was attending by WhatsApp from across the globe. That was a first for me. I have already used Google Hangouts, Skype,...
[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text]As far as the client is concerned, what we do is simple: repeat what someone else is saying in a different language. And that is the vision of many, since before the new normal became reality. How can...