Session Description: Many interpreters are not aware of the wide variety of options within legal interpretation. This workshop will show participants the other face of the profession: The world of interpreting outside the courtroom. The first half of the workshop will deal with interpreting and translating International Law cases between the United States and Mexico. Those attending will learn the basic principles of international law, the parts of an international treaty, and how to prepare and interpret for an extradition hearing according to the extradition treaty between these countries, or an international child abduction under The Hague Convention. The second part will explore the popular field of interpreting depositions, mediation, and arbitration involving parties and legislation from Mexico and the United States. Attendees will learn the differences between depositions, mediation and arbitration, will have a hands-on exercise simulating an international dispute, and they will also get many practical tips on how to do a rendition in these international proceedings. By the end of the day, those attending the workshop will have several new tools in their professional toolbox, and a broader view of their professional future.

Objectives: The attendees will be aware of legal interpreting options outside the courtroom, covering basic principles of International Law: Ius Soli, Ius Sanguinis, Ius Fori, Locus Regit Actum, and the 2 types of international law: public and private; how to read and practice interpreting the parts of an international treaty, concretely the extradition Treaty between Mexico and the U.S., its terminology and proceedings, and a Hague international child abduction hearing. Lastly, attendees will learn the differences between depositions, mediation and arbitration in Mexico-U.S. cases, including preparation, protocol, and a mock practice group exercise.

Prerequisites: This is a language-neutral workshop presented in English. Participants need not have prior experience with FTT, but training in court interpreting ethics and skills will be beneficial. Attendees are encouraged to bring a laptop or tablet to this workshop so they can access the contents of the DVD and experiment with the software that will be presented.

Session Description: Forensic Transcription/Translation (FTT) work is an increasingly important element in litigation and with it comes an increased need for well-trained FTT practitioners capable of producing evidence-worthy transcripts. This fast-paced workshop will cover the procedures, protocols and ethics required to create defensible FTT products suitable for use in court proceedings. Participants will learn the proper formatting of FTT documents. They will be introduced to listening techniques and specialized software they can use to convert and enhance A/V files, improve listening conditions, create “speaker profiles”, and optimize their comprehension of recorded speech. Legal and ethical aspects of FTT translations will be considered in terms of accuracy, fidelity, coded/irregular language usage and terminology research. Each participant will receive a DVD handout containing support documents, templates, software links and a selection of sound files they can use afterward for practicing skills learned during the workshop.

Objectives: Attendees will acquire knowledge of the standard procedures, protocols and ethics required for Forensic Transcription/Translation (FTT) work including proper text formatting, optimized listening skills, and the legal/ethical parameters; The ability to use specialized software for better transcription output and to improve their presentation in court; and how to practice these skills at home.

Session Description: Whether an interpreter is preparing for an exam or simply wants to maintain their skills, a defined strategy for practice sessions is the key to productive interpreting practice. Even for those working as full-time interpreters, there is nothing like the deep reflection and analysis of one’s performance in a practice session to help hone your craft. A solid interpreting skill improvement strategy includes honest self-assessment and setting specific goals for every practice session that goes beyond “take good notes,” “master all technical vocabulary,” or “interpret everything perfectly.” This session will cover goal-setting, resources for practice material, honing language and vocabulary skills in downtime, giving and receiving feedback, and tips for solo and group practice. Participants will try their hand at practical exercises that help hone an interpreter’s skill with a special focus on paraphrasing, a valuable exercise that builds the mental agility necessary for interpretation. This workshop is suitable for experienced interpreters looking to get unstuck and achieve a long-desired goal of passing a specific exam, for beginners who feel overwhelmed by the daunting task of learning this craft, and anyone in between!

Participants should come prepared to record themselves with an app on their phone or an audio recording device.

Objectives: Participants will develop a strategy for interpretation skill-building, engage in practical skill-building exercises and practice giving and receiving peer feedback.

Session Description: This language-neutral session is designed to help working court interpreters devise strategies for making the transition to conference interpreting by identifying best practices and the professional ethics demanded by colleagues, direct clients and conference organizers. The practical, hands-on pre-conference workshop is designed to guide participants in identifying similarities and differences in the conference and court interpreting worlds and to identify potential avenues for continuing education and professional development with a view toward working on the conference circuit.

Objectives: Attendees will garner a solid grasp of the best practices and professional ethics demanded on the conference market by colleagues, conference organizers and direct clients by comparing and contrasting those standards with practices in the court interpreting environment.

Session Description: This is an interactive workshop during which interpreters will identify strategies by which they can consciously or inadvertently introduce bias into their renditions. Various aspects of linguistic pragmatics—hedges, ungrammatical pauses, uber politeness, tag questions, implicit information, among others—will be discussed, with demonstrations and practical exercises for participants to identify exactly how these become part of the source-language (SL) speaker’s overall message and how to best incorporate them into the target language rendition. Participants will acquire strategies to forestall any pragmatic elements that insert unwanted bias in their interpretations. Exercises will be in the consecutive mode, although the principles may be applied in simultaneous interpreting as well. The focus will be on how we communicate meaning in different social situations, with special emphasis on formal legal settings, and how interpreters understand and convey the SL speaker’s intended meaning. One of the issues to be addressed in depth is how a rendition that adds certain pragmatic elements to the original message can distort the listener’s perception of the original speaker, affecting that speaker’s credibility and reliability as a witness.

Objectives: Attendees will learn what aspects of linguistic pragmatics have a bearing on the source-language (SL) speaker’s overall message and on the accurate rendition of that message, as well as which of those can insert bias into the listener’s perception of a speaker.   Furthermore, attendees will be able to examine the effect on the examination process and on witness-interpreter exchanges of the negotiation of repairs, such as requests for clarification.

Session Description: This workshop is designed for interpreters seeking an edge to increase their skill level. The presentation, open to interpreters of all languages and specialties, will give attendees tools to critically evaluate their interpreting output, thus utilizing their study time more effectively. The presenter will break down all three modes of interpretation, covering everything from effective listening in Consecutive, to speed in Simultaneous, to previewing a document for Sight Translation. Attendees will receive a multitude of practical exercises and techniques to approach different problem areas such as names and numbers, fast-paced speakers and long, complicated utterances. Whether they hope to pass an interpreting exam or simply improve their on-the-job renditions, attendees will come away from the presentation more confident, prepared, and ready to achieve their professional goals.

Objectives: Session participants will leave the workshop with an in-depth understanding of how to improve their skills in all three modes of interpreting.

Attendees will enjoy a 1-hour tour of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, Tennessee’s highest court. This tour is limited to 20 attendees. The Supreme Court is 10 miles from the conference hotel. Transportation will be provided to and from the conference hotel provided attendees meet at the designated area. Instructions will be emailed to attendees prior to the conference. Please allow a minimum of 2.5-hours for the tour and travel time.

Prerequisites: Attendees are encouraged to bring a cell phone or other recording device. 

Session Description: Frustrated with fast speakers/presenters when simultaneously interpreting? In this hands-on workshop attendees will focus on the development of deverbalization, condensing and anticipation skills in simultaneous interpretation. Emphasis will be made in establishing the difference between “sense” vs. “meaning” in language processing. Participants will be encouraged to apply the principle of “Think hard, say little” when delivering speech in the target language.  Lexical and syntactic anticipation exercises will be introduced as a way of preparing for the unexpected. Attendees will sight translate and simultaneously interpret texts from English into Spanish. Interpretation tasks will be accompanied by a self-assessment exercise that will allow interpreters to identify their strengths and weaknesses. Oral and written anticipation exercises will be practiced.

Objectives: Attendees will learn how to improve and assess their own simultaneous and sight translation skills.

Session Description: In this three hour workshop interpreters will review basic techniques needed to perform in long consecutive mode and will practice targeted drills to hone subskills. This session will provide instructions to implement basic preparation techniques to enhance memory and examine the steps in the long consecutive process. Attendees will also evaluate the product of their interpretation based on the needs of each setting as well as the type of question. They will review their own aids to memory and analyze which components of their personal note-taking system are useful/useless.

A complete guide to effectively communicate with your clients using the services of professional Interpreters. Attorneys are frequently finding it necessary to use, and depend on, the services of interpreters in order to communicate with their clients. During this interactive presentation, participants will be presented with effective techniques to determine if the interpreter they are working with is in fact a competent professional who understands the ethical considerations of the encounter such as confidentiality and impartiality, while at the same time possess the technical skills required to ensure accurate and complete interpretation between counsel and client. Participants will also be informed about the different levels of certification that exist in the country and the importance of using only certified or professionally trained court Interpreters in order to successfully navigate each interpreted encounter. Finally, the impact of the Court Interpreters Act of 1978, Executive Order 13166 and Title VI will be discussed. These Acts provide for protecting the due process rights of parties in our courts and the attorney’s role as an officer of the court in ensuring the limited English proficiency (LEP) participants’ rights are protected.