This week, the Blog team felt it pertinent to re-publish a short post from 2019, in the spirit of Thanksgiving. This is a time to celebrate gratitude; a time to recognize, acknowledge and be thankful for our experiences. A good life is not one free of hardships;...
“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...
I was so comfortable, but man was I bored. I had the privilege of being a Spanish teacher for two and a half decades, which brought with it tremendous success, along with some cool perks. I had taught in the International Baccalaureate program for twenty...
There is one aspect of all judiciary interpreters’ certification exams that I find somewhat inconsistent with real-life practice. In real life, being able to anticipate and appropriately reformulate what judges and attorneys say is very closely linked to the repetitious nature of legal language. There...
I know that many interpreters prefer the freelance world, and there are many successful freelancers working here in Arizona. This is my story and why I now have the second longest tenure as a staff court interpreter here in the state court in Phoenix. I didn’t...
Interested in contributing to our blog? The NAJIT Observer needs you! The shared experiences of other members of our profession can lift us up. A lot of what we do is done alone – a translator plugging away at a lengthy document or an interpreter preparing...
I was the little girl who loved going to school and begged her parents to put her in first grade when she was barely old enough to be in kindergarten. I was the little girl who had a lot more fun playing “office” than playing...
A few decades ago, “language access” was not really a phrase. Litigants who did not speak English were frequently left in the dark as to their own judicial proceedings, and this carried severe consequences. The evolution of court interpreting as a profession has relied on the...
I was talking to a friend and colleague recently about all the in-person work we’re starting to get in court, both civil and criminal. She mentioned, in passing, that she had received a call to prepare a witness for trial. The conversation turned to the...
A few days ago, I was preparing the paperwork for the Wisconsin CEU (Continuing Education Units) Compliance form, and I realized that I do attend tons of workshops, in-person presentations, and virtual webinars. I have the privilege of being a NAJIT member, and as such,...