Session Description: The mission of the National Board is to foster improved healthcare outcomes, patient safety, and patient/provider communication, by elevating the standards for and quality of medical interpreting through nationally recognized and validated credentials for medical interpreters. In this presentation, we will review the CMI and Hub-CMI programs, explain the process and exams, and how to maintain your credential once you’ve earned it.

Objectives: At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to differentiate between a CMI certification and a Hub-CMI credential, understand the process and steps for the exams and to follow the procedures to maintain the credentials.

Session Description: Let’s face it: The interpreter’s job is stressful. We have to be ready for unknown content and unfamiliar terminology. Meanwhile, the attorneys are convinced they can interpret better than us, and the doctors won’t give us time to finish a sentence. Pressure, much? In this workshop, we will explore keeping a Zen mindset while under pressure. In other words, faking it until you make it. Through discussion and hands-on exercises, we will practice how to keep cool, calm and collected. If you would like to project confidence on the outside even when inwardly you’re trembling, this workshop is for you!

Objectives: Participants will create a toolbox to draw on when they need to stay calm and focused even under immense pressure.

Session Description: Through a varied list of scenarios, participants will learn to listen more analytically to how judges, lawyers, and parties traditionally speak. With this fresh look at these court players’ discourses, participants will leave better equipped to interpret at court hearings. The session is interactive and requires participants to have headphones and a recording device available.

Objectives: Participants will be prepared to analyze oral discourse in legal settings in order to produce accurate, complete, and faithful renditions in the simultaneous mode. At the end of this presentation, the audience will identify the different types of discourses heard in court settings, analyze sample texts and reformulate them in their target languages. They will learn the basics of a self-study method to prepare an accurate, complete and faithful interpretation.

Session Description: Interpreting remotely presents challenges for working with a partner in the simultaneous mode, especially for those used to working with their partner readily available at arm’s reach. But teaming with a partner located across the country does not have to be stressful or difficult. Join two experienced court and conference interpreters as they reflect on their experience to share best practices in the key elements of successful team interpreting: communication with their partner, a solid technical setup and seamless virtual handovers of the microphone. Participants will also be encouraged to share their best practices developed from their own experience.

Objectives: Participants will be able to identify the challenges of remote simultaneous interpreting with a partner as well as solutions and techniques to address common issues. They will also be able to weigh the relative advantages and disadvantages of different technologies in facilitating remote simultaneous team interpreting.

Session Description: Those interpreters attending the presentation will learn how criminal and civil law differ in substantive and adjective law. Those attending will learn the respective types of law, including objectives, procedures, burdens of proof, parties, procedural rules, differences in the interpreter’s role in these fields, and many other differences as well as similarities between both procedures, including the difference between a procedure before an Article 3 judge, and an Article 1 judge, such as immigration and social security hearings. The presenter will discuss the ways interpreters can prepare for civil and criminal cases and what top lawyers expect from a successful interpreter. Every interpreter attending this presentation will leave a better professional.

Objectives: Attendees will learn and truly understand the concept essential to all professional court interpreters regarding what is civil law, what is criminal law, what is administrative law, and their differences and similarities. They will understand who the parties to these cases are and the different burdens of proof, as well as the universal rules in civil law’s contested proceedings, including immigration.

Session Description: Has it been more than 15 years since your state increased interpreter remuneration? Are assignment minimum hours more of a disincentive than an incentive? Are stale and ambiguous policies putting enmity between you and interpreter coordinators? Is a fear of being “blacklisted” holding you back from taking action? In this session, the panelists will describe their advocacy efforts to support court interpreters in Maryland, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington. They will discuss the administrative organization of interpreters in each state, some problems they sought to solve, their methods and strategies, and the results of their work. The panel will recap on common elements of their approaches, what elements are required, and what elements are optional. They will reflect on what it takes to continue working on these issues after a first success. They will mention perceived and real risks involved in their work. Attendees will have the opportunity to work in groups to define challenges they face in their state or federal courts and suggest ways to overcome them together. Participants will also be able to have conversations with the panelists throughout the conference.

Objectives: Attendees will leave with concrete steps to embark on a plan for change to the policies and conditions under which they work in court. They will understand how the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of government create laws, rules, and regulations that affect their working conditions and the quality of the services that they render. With that knowledge, attendees will be able to create a localized roadmap to advocate for their profession at the state or federal level, build a local group of champions for change and examine how professional associations and labor unions support advocacy.

Session Description: TEl intérprete está traduciendo la declaración de un testigo en un juicio. De repente, el testigo dice, “Bueno, ya sabe aquello de que en casa de herrero, cuchillo de palo”, Como aguerrido profesional que es, elintérprete, sin pensárselo dos veces, espeta, “Well, you know, as they say, ‘The shoemaker’s son always goes barefoot.’” Sin embargo … es posible que ese día el intérprete se haya levantado con el pie izquierdo, y aunque conoce el dicho, no se le ocurra la traducción. También podría ser que la paremia le suene a chino básico. ¿Cómo salir del apuro? En esta sesión, examinaremos algunas opciones para hacer frente a estas situaciones. Veremos muchos casos de refranes (los que nos permita el tiempo), algunos de los cuales tienen equivalentes exactos en inglés. Para otros, cada uno tendrá que aguzar el ingenio para salir del paso. Escucharemos algunos casos sacados de la política y también veremos unos segmentos sacados de la serie de la televisión española Servir y proteger. En todos ellos, los refranes desempeñan un papel clave, y el contexto contribuye mucho a esclarecer el sentido del refrán. Después de cada segmento, los participantes afrontarán el reto de identificar el refrán y luego, de proponer opciones para su traducción. De todo hay en la viña del Señor/Sobre gustos y colores…/En la variedad está el gusto…

Session Description: The interpreter is translating witness testimony during a trial. Out of the blue, the witness says, “Bueno, ya sabe aquello de que en casa de herrero, cuchillo de palo”, Battle-tested professional that he is, the interpreter doesn’t miss a beat: “Well, you know, as they say, ‘The shoemaker’s son always goes barefoot.’” However … it’s possible that on that day the interpreter got up on the wrong side of the bed, and although he’s familiar with the saying, the translation just doesn’t come to him. It’s also possible that the interpreter might never have heard the proverb before. How does one extricate oneself from such a jam? In this session, we shall examine some options to deal with these situations. We’ll see many cases of proverbs (whatever time permits), some of which have exact equivalents in English. For others, everyone will have to use their wits to come up with a solution. We shall listen to some cases taken from politics, as well as some excerpts from the Spanish television series, Servir y proteger. In all these instances, proverbs play a key role, and context is a great help in clarifying the proverb’s meaning. After each segment, participants will take on the challenge of identifying the proverb, and then proposing possible translation options. De todo hay en la viña del Señor … En la variedad está el gusto… It takes all kinds… Variety is the spice of life…

Objectives: Attendees will have a clearer idea of what a proverb is and how it differs from an idiomatic expression.  They will come out of the session with an increased awareness of the wide dissemination of proverbs in all sectors of the Spanish speaking world.  And, most importantly, they will have acquired some techniques with which to tackle the translation of a problematic or unknown proverb that might come up during witness testimony in Spanish.

Session Description: In this session participants will understand the importance of managing decalage while providing simultaneous interpretation in court and will work on exercises to increase understanding in order to provide better renditions.

Session Description: The emergence of several guides to inclusive language in the Spanish-speaking world and the Royal Spanish Academy’s reaction towards them beg a controversial question: should language service providers worry about inclusive language? Despite the negative reactions towards this language phenomenon, translation agencies, various companies, governments, and international organizations are increasingly requesting language services from a gender perspective, which suggests that this is a new competence to be developed by language professionals. Framed in Descriptive and Feminist Translation Studies, Queer Linguistics, and Decolonial Theory, we will discuss the reasons behind inclusive language reforms and the role played by language professionals in relation to those reforms―especially in legal contexts. Similarly, we will go over practical examples to understand some of the strategies that may be used if a translation brief requires us to use inclusive language.

Objectives: Participants will learn why inclusive language reforms and practices are not a new trend, what role language providers play in creating fairer societies, and why a gender perspective should be deemed a new competence for language professionals. Additionally, participants will become acquainted with theoretical and practical tools they may use if inclusive language were requested in a translation or interpreting brief.

Session Description: Representatives from three language access offices will be offering a brief overview of the language access laws and regulations applicable to state courts (Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Executive Order 13166, Americans with Disabilities Act, and DOJ guidance), and the programs they have each instituted for interpreters in compliance with those laws and regulations. They will describe how they vet programs and courses to build the required knowledge and skills for interpreters to become certified, to maintain their knowledge and skills after certification, and how they each manage their credentialing programs. Attendees will get an “insider’s view” of the operational demands a state-wide interpreter program poses, and the challenges of providing meaningful access to the LEP populations that require language services in legal settings. Interpreters and translators will also learn common traits coordinators look for in professional language service providers. There will be an opportunity to ask questions and engage in a dialogue with the panel presenters at the conclusion of the presentation.

Objectives: At the end of this panel presentation, attendees will be able to identify and define current language access laws applicable to state court interpreters and to assess how well they meet the criteria that language access coordinators look for in language service providers for state courts. Attendees will also be able to recognize which performance standards are most valued and align service quality to language access coordinators’ expectations.

Session Description: This presentation in Spanish will focus on some interesting facts discovered during a two-year study of the slang used in twenty Spanish speaking countries. It will start by recognizing the most important similarities and differences between the slang of Spain, Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. It will then analyze the influence the internet and social media have had on slang and, at the same time, how gastronomy, music, politics and other factors mold slang in Spanish speaking countries.

Objectives: This one-hour presentation will help participants recognize the most important similarities and differences between the slang used in Spain, Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Students will see how gastronomy, music, politics and other factors mold slang in Spanish speaking countries and, finally, how the internet and social media have expanded the use of colloquialisms.

Session Description: Interpreters working in courts, jails, with refugees, with child protective services, with victims of torture, human trafficking and abuse have most likely experienced high levels of stress and suffered vicarious trauma, or felt vulnerable during the course of their everyday work. Vicarious trauma has been identified as something that affects the performance and well being of language professionals who have experienced or internalized someone else’s trauma. Research has confirmed that language professionals are vulnerable to vicarious trauma, burnouts, compassion fatigue, or secondary stress because of repeatedly working with traumatic information. Not only do interpreters witness the trauma, but they end up channeling it during the interpreting process, and this can further affect their perceptions of the world around them and result in anxiety, depression, and other serious health issues. Participants will be provided with real-life applications and tools that can help identify and examine triggers leading to vicarious trauma impacting the wellbeing and performance of interpreters, as well as learn practical steps to prevent and/or mitigate the effects of vicarious trauma.

Objectives: Attendees will be able to define vicarious trauma and articulate why language professionals working in healthcare, legal and social service settings are at greater risk for vicarious trauma. They will identify the potential impact of vicarious trauma on work performance and quality of life. Participants will also learn how to effectively cope with stress and anxiety and learn self-regulation techniques to maintain performance and remain centered and grounded amidst stress.

Session Description: Court interpreters are trained for the rigid and adversarial nature of trials, hearings and depositions, but are they prepared to interpret for the collaborative approaches used in court-connected mediation? Mediation is the most common Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)/Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) process to help resolve civil, family law, probate and other case types without trial. In this introductory workshop, participants will become familiar with the goals, terms, concepts, stages, ethics, communication styles and nuances of mediation so that they will start to understand how to interpret in this very different legal, but collaborative, context.

Objectives: Participants will learn the differences between adversarial court/litigation processes and collaborative ADR/ODR processes with a focus on mediation. They will also gain a basic understanding of the terms, concepts, and stages of mediation and learn how to apply the NAJIT Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibilities to the mediation context.

“With only a small degree of hyperbole, the immigration laws have been termed second only to the Internal Revenue Code in complexity. A lawyer is often the only person who could thread the labyrinth.” Baltazar-Alcazar v. I.N.S., 386 F.3d 940, 948 (9th Cir. 2004)

Session Description: Immigration is a vast and complex field of law, and nearly all interpreters have provided interpretation related to some aspect of an immigration claim. Have you ever wondered how a case ends up in immigration court? Or how it ends up in federal court from either USCIS or EOIR? Or have you noticed that immigration practitioners tend to use the same terms that you hear in state court but seem to mean something different when immigration attorneys and judges use them? Join Tamber Hilton and Drew Bahr, two practicing immigration attorneys and Spanish interpreters, presenting this introductory 90-minute session on immigration law and terminology. They will provide you with tools and knowledge to help you feel confident and prepared to work in an immigration setting, particularly in immigration court. Because of the specialized nature of immigration law, the fast pace of court proceedings, and the daily frequency with which interpreters work adjudicative hearings rich in fact and law, it is essential for interpreters to understand the law to make informed terminology choices and keep up with the pace of proceedings. This session will give an overview of the structure of the US immigration system and the contours of its relationship with the state and federal justice systems. You will also learn about the most common types of immigration remedies that interpreters may encounter in both immigration court and at USCIS, with a focus on understanding what it is that practitioners are arguing in each type of case so that you can better formulate your renditions of arguments and predict what might come next in a given proceeding.

Objectives: Attendees will learn the different agencies that make up the federal immigration system and understand the role of state and federal courts in immigration claims. Attendees will be able to describe the most common immigration remedies and differentiate between remedies available exclusively as a defense to removal, exclusively affirmatively, and those that may be available in both contexts. Lastly, we will evaluate terminology options for different concepts and assess the legal validity of these options using statutes where relevant.

Session Description: Professional practice and research in the field of legal interpreting and translation have traditionally led separate paths. However, data arising from empirical studies can prove very valuable to effect change in our profession, support our lobbying efforts, inform policies, and more. Since the summer of 2021, six teams of practitioners and academics have been working within the SSTI Research Collaborative to develop research projects that will help us better understand different aspects of our profession and will contribute to move it forward in different ways. This panel will feature four of these teams, who will present the results of their projects on the following topics: gender bias in interruptions suffered by court interpreters, best practices in working with D/deaf attorneys in the courtroom, qualifications for police interpreters, and translation policies for public-facing materials by government agencies.

Objectives: By the end of this presentation attendees will be able to Illustrate how the results of empirical studies can be used to improve professional practice. They will recognize the potential effect of gender bias on court interpreter interruptions and be able to identify the distinctive features of interpreting for deaf attorneys in the courtroom. Participants will be able to describe and contrast qualifications for ad hoc police interpreters in several metropolitan areas of the US. They will categorize the elements that inform translation policy in government agencies (with the example of a Parks and Recreation Department).

Level: All Levels
Language: English
Panelists: The NAJIT Board of Directors
Moderator: Janis Palma, NAJIT Chair

Join the NAJIT Board and key committee chairs to discuss NAJIT and issues within the profession.

Session Description: Join a representative from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to discuss recent updates and engage in a question and answer session.

Session Description: In the spring of 2020, interpreters quickly had to adapt to the new normal. It meant having to move all work to remote interpreting within just a few weeks. We may have mastered the technology it takes to provide online interpreting, but what about price quotes for our professional services? Have we updated them to reflect our new realities? Are we including fees for recording, are we detailing who provides tech support? This session will give you detailed information on what you should include in a solid price quote for interpreting services in 2022 and beyond.

Objectives: Attendees will learn why an interpreting services fee quote is essential in the first place, and which elements are key to include during the new era we have entered, which is dominated by online interpreting.

Session Description: This interactive panel will discuss the pandemic perks that they have experienced professionally, including increasing their client base, honing their interpretation skills, broadening their language skills, improving client education efforts, expanding their outreach, finding solutions to ethical challenges, stepping up their organizational skills and stretching their working knowledge of technology.

Objectives: Attendees will learn different practical tips that they may implement in several areas of their interpretation practice, from client communication skills to best business practices.

Session Description: This language-neutral interactive 90-minute presentation will explore with attendees how to identify the factors in their consecutive and simultaneous renditions that characterize the accuracy of a rendition in a foreign language, such as meaning-based equivalencies, functional equivalents between asymmetrical legal systems, and similar concepts in translation and interpreting theory, whether they are in a legal, medical, educational or conference encounter. They will also learn how to identity when speakers are offering implicit information as part of their discourse that is not shared by the listeners and must be made explicit, as well as information that is a cultural given and therefore need not be made explicit. The concept of contextual meaning will also be explored, along with how it impacts accuracy in these different interpreting encounters. Participants will also be invited to share their own experiences while attempting to ascertain meaning and pinpoint an accurate equivalent in the course of their professional practice.

Objectives: At the end of the session attendees will be able to recognize and define how accuracy standards can change according to the settings in which interpreters provide their services and the interpreting modes in which they are provided, and then to make adjustments accordingly. At the end of the session attendees will know what to look for in order to resolve polysemous words based on the semantic and pragmatic context of the source language speaker’s overall utterance, in order to maintain the highest accuracy standards in their performance. Attendees will identify the skills needed to provide their best interpretation in every setting.

Session Description: Interpreters and translators alike strive to become balanced bilinguals, but often fall short in one language or the other due to common errors in written and/or oral expression and pronunciation. English is the language of business in the United States, and as such it is IMPERATIVE that interpreters and translators communicate in concise and unaccented English. This workshop focuses on common pitfalls in English. Participants will tackle written exercises designed to improve both written and spoken expression in English by removing unnecessary words and confusing verbal clutter. Attendees will also learn easy techniques to overcome problematic pronunciation in English through a series of drills focusing on proper vocal expression, pronunciation, and articulation. In this fast-paced, high energy workshop, the instructor will help you “Say What You Mean” with PRECISION. You will feel more professional and confident the next time you put on that business suit for your next client meeting or interpreting gig.

Objectives: During this lively, hands-on session, participants will polish their business English through a variety of written and oral exercises designed to improve communication skills in English. Attendees will learn to eliminate verbal clutter and minimize common errors for precise written communication. Participants will apply tried and true tricks to improve overall vocal expression, intonation, and articulation to stand out as true language professionals.

Session Description: Have you ever been in a courtroom where a bilingual family member was used to interpret instead of a qualified interpreter? Have you received pushback after suggesting team interpreting be used? Often, interpreters face barriers preventing them from providing interpreting services for the court and limited English proficient (LEP) individuals. Advocating for yourself and the profession can be a challenge. How do you accomplish it in a way that avoids tension and stress? This session will discuss a proven approach to advocate in the courtroom. The presenter will review everyday situations where advocacy is necessary and give you the tools you need to successfully advocate in your local court.

Objectives: Attendees will leave this session feeling empowered with ideas and general parameters to better advocate for themselves and their working conditions in court.