It’s Always a Good Day to Make New Friends By: The NAJIT Observer Meet NAJIT’s new Publishing Coordinator and Editor-In-Chief, Julli Jaramillo. Her C.V. will tell you that she graduated from New York University with a Master’s in Translation, specializing in Spanish-to-English and legal translation. Her background...
Have you ever been on assignments that booked you for a hearing but turned out to be a full-length trial? One that involves extensive evidence submission and multiple witnesses. These situations are inevitable as sometimes thing changes at the last minute. But what can we...
Any seasoned interpreter will tell you why we work in teams on long assignments. There is research on the matter of interpreter fatigue and the negative effect it has on accuracy and appropriate rendition. Team interpreting has been done at least since the Nuremberg trials,...
To quote Shakespeare, “apparel oft proclaims the man”. It has taken me over a year to finally have the courage to write this blog. The reason for my delay was that I did not wish to offend anyone. I realized that many interpreters believe that their...
Let me begin with a disclaimer: documentation about the early codes of ethics for judiciary interpreters, also called codes of professional responsibility, is scant or lost altogether. I am writing mostly from memory and some documents I have been able to track down, which means...
Introduction As an interpreter with over 22 years of experience, I have witnessed the evolving dynamics within our profession. In Wisconsin, there is a shortage of court-certified interpreters. However, this shortage is not due to a lack of potentially qualified professionals but rather a failure in...
In Wisconsin, the State Court Interpreter Program and certification are turning twenty years old in the Fall of 2024. The first staff interpreter jobs in our state were created shortly after the certification became available. Recently, a few counties have advertised jobs in this category....
Many times, I am saved by the bell. Last week I was in court, on time waiting for my early morning case to start. As we waited over 90 minutes, the ADA, judge, sheriff’s officers, clerks, and LEP defendant were understandably frustrated. The practice in...
I came to the profession as many of you did, if you started your interpreting career ten or more years ago. I had a 15-minute phone interview with an agency owner, and I was hired on the spot and given very few instructions. I started interpreting...
I have to be really honest. Every time I hear about a problem here or there with some client or court who does not want to pay a fair compensation to the interpreter, or someone wondering why the interpreter needs to prep for an assignment...