Over the past decade I’ve heard the term “unfunded mandate” used all too often to describe the Department of Justice and the Ohio Supreme Court’s stance on providing interpreters and language access in the courts. This phrase is used because the government requires the use...
I know. The official name is “International Translation Day”. I changed it. I just have this thing about “interpreters” being included whenever anyone talks about “translators” and “interpreting” being understood as a part of “translation” in the title of such an important day. We all...
I was at a Holly Mikkelson training on August 3rd and afterward at lunch I asked her if I could blog about it. She said yes, but another NAJIT member, esteemed colleague, and past guest blogger beat me to the punch. I asked John P....
- By Gio Lester Why would entrepreneurial individuals create a business to help others like them make money? That seems to go against the very core of Capitalism. But does it? And what are non-profits, actually? Well, the truth is that non-profit endeavors and money making are...
Beware of false friends! I don’t mean the people, I mean the words. One of the first impulses a young interpreter must overcome is the use of words that may, at first glance, seem to be equivalent terms and concepts in two languages... but are not. Taking that direct path from similarly-sounding words in our source and target languages is not always wrong, but part of being a good interpreter is knowing exactly when to take this path and when not to. In the rapid pace of judiciary interpreting, our brains may lean heavily towards cognates in source and target languages. Cognates are words with a common origin or etymology. True cognates, like “library” and “librería” in Spanish or “livraria” in Portguese, with a common Latin root -- liber -- may come to have new and different meanings with usage and the passage of time. In this example “library” is a place where books are kept for people to read or borrow, whereas “librería” or “livraria” is a place where books are sold. So although they may be true cognates, these words have become false friends, or faux amis. If you’ve never met Freek Lankhof, you're in for a real treat this week...
How and when did you get into the field of Interpreting? What is your background? I had some experience with interpreting and translating when I was an office manager and trainer for a direct sales company in the late 80’s and early 90’s in Miami, FL....
Last year, InterpretAmerica published a document titled “Best Practices in the Interpreting Profession: Simultaneous Interpreting in Non-Conference Settings[1]” which I co-authored. Last month, we completed a draft document titled “Best Practices in the Interpreting Profession: The Professional Medical Interpreter”. Last night I interpreted for a local school...
Sometimes my first answer is NO if I know I am not qualified to perform a task. However, if the authorities persist due to the nature of an incident, that incident is likely to be documented. It comes down to personal ethics; more precisely, it...
Warning!! The flexibility, variety, mobility and enjoyment that come with being an interpreter or a translator (or both!) can be addictive, turning us into smiling, giddy workaholics! Do you sometimes feel like your life is holding you back from achieving all you can in your career?...