Session Description: A judiciary interpreter’s duty of care towards the LEP individuals for whom we interpret has never been openly addressed. In this presentation, participants will become familiar with the concepts of legal duty and duty of care, and how those concepts have a bearing on our interpreting performance within the legal domain. This will be an interactive presentation in which participants will be challenged to introspectively analyze how they have or have not incorporated an awareness of a legal duty into their everyday practice and everyone will be invited to discuss possible roadmaps for a heightened accountability in future interpreting encounters.

Objectives: At the end of this presentation, attendees will be able to define what is a legal duty of care, recognize how it impacts their work, and apply this principle to their everyday practice when interpreting in legal contexts.

Session Description: The ISO 17100 translation standard specifies that a translator must check their work before delivering, but what does “check” actually mean? During this session, attendees will learn several best practices and how to use a quality assurance tool to ensure that their work is thoroughly checked before delivering it.

Objectives: By the end of this session, you will be aware of common formatting, consistency, punctuation, and number difference mistakes as well as the processes and tools you can use to avoid them.

Session Description: Taking notes in consecutive interpreting can be daunting task for many colleagues just getting started in the profession. Some take too many, some take too few. Some can’t decide what to write down. It’s hard to hit the sweet spot! During this session full of practical exercises, participants will take a step back and review how memory works and the approaches and techniques they can use to evaluate their own abilities: when should I rely on my memory? What can I do to improve my recall? What should I actually write down? What simple tricks can I use can I use to make notes more efficiently (and effectively)?

Session Description: In this session about the search for the proper use of Spanish, we will cover the changes that the language has undergone and examine several examples regarding why some terms that may have been incorrect twenty years ago are no longer incorrect. That is why we should always keep ourselves updated in our knowledge of the language and should not rely on what we studied in school or university. Also, that search for the correct usage of the language should not remain stagnant. The goal is to achieve perfection; excellence is what you seek! We will review the principal tools at our reach: books, stylistic manuals, dictionaries, both general and specialized, etc. Also, we’ll take a look at the Real Academia Española and the Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española regarding their take on the proper use of Spanish. The entire session will focus on how to obtain the proper use, always seeking excellence, and keeping Spanish up to date.

En busca del español correcto.
En la sesión sobre la búsqueda del español correcto hablaremos de los cambios que se dan en la lengua y podremos ver varios ejemplos de cómo algunos usos que eran incorrectos hace veinte años hoy ya no lo son. De ahí que sea necesario estar siempre al día y no conformarse con lo que se estudió en la escuela o en la universidad. Además, esa búsqueda del español correcto no debe quedarse ahí, sino que debe llevarnos hasta la perfección, la excelencia, pues la meta es lograr un uso excelente de nuestra lengua. Revisaremos las principales herramientas que tenemos a nuestro alcance: libros y manuales de estilo, diccionarios de dudas, diccionarios generales, diccionarios de lenguaje de especialidad, etc. También examinaremos el papel de la Real Academia Española y a Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española en cuanto a referentes del buen uso del español. Toda la sesión se centrará en cómo conseguir un uso correcto —buscando la excelencia— y actualizado del español.

Session Description: The interpreter’s voice is their instrument for connecting with clients and their livelihood within their profession. The sudden increase in demand for interpreters to work both remotely and/or in person has posed many challenges when trying to optimize the interpreting experience. Interpreters have few tools to care for their voice and prevent voice problems. Vocal health skills are necessary to perform interpreting work effectively. This session will focus on arming interpreters with strategies to protect their voice and prevent injury, provide ways to self-advocate and share best care strategies to optimize voice during interpreting work.

Objectives: Utilize strategies presented to protect and prevent vocal injuries. Advocate for your own safety and that of your colleagues by being able to identify injuries and the potential of permanent vocal damage. Foster better working standards by sharing vocal health protection strategies with your colleagues and leaders.

Session Description: Simultaneous interpreters provide a service that is mentally taxing and requires constant upkeep. Aside from assignment-specific research and preparation, interpreters must regularly practice their simultaneous interpreting techniques to maintain and improve the quality of their renditions. Reflexive practice is a common technique used to enhance any interpreting skills; however, a rubric to evaluate our own performance and a path towards improving deficiencies is essential to level up one’s interpreting. This session will apply deliberate practice principles to enhancing simultaneous interpreting skills and provide a rubric and skill enhancement exercise suggestions.

Objectives: Describe the primary elements of the simultaneous interpreting process. Identify the area in which one’s own interpreting technique may need the most improvement. Apply one strategy to enhance and/or develop one’s interpreting skills.

Session Description: When is a sentencia not a sentence and why is it inappropriate to interpret asalto as assault? U.S. Spanish or so-called “Spanglish” is a reality in the everyday practice of interpreters in the courts who must, at a minimum, have a passive understanding of these terms to be able to operate effectively. The stakes of potential misunderstanding are particularly high when it comes to interpretations of legal terms influenced by a similarity with English terms, which can sometimes have very different meanings. This workshop will present participants with a brief overview of the topic before allowing them the opportunity to grapple with these potentially tricky terms, all within the context of the need for accuracy and the ongoing evolution of language.

Objectives: Participants will be able to identify Spanglish false cognates to avoid in legal interpreting.

Session Description: This workshop is designed for T&I professionals of all levels. Whether you’re new and starting your freelance career or a veteran-staffer-turned-solopreneur, knowing how to price your services according to your income goals, manage your business expenses, keep track of what’s coming in and going out so that you don’t come up short at tax time, and knowing what tools and approaches exist to help you market your growing business are essential skills that every T&I professional needs.

Session Description: Law enforcement agencies across the world increasingly rely on electronic surveillance techniques to combat crime. Recordings of conversations obtained from telephone interceptions and the covert deployment of listening devices are often used as evidence of criminality. Covertly intercepted conversations are frequently conducted in a language other than the court’s and often contain jargon and/or code words, particularly in relation to drug-related activity. Translators and interpreters are engaged by federal and state law enforcement agencies to produce translated transcripts of audio recordings and text messages presented as evidence. This session will provide an overview of how translated transcripts are prepared for use as evidence in criminal trials. Comparisons will be made between the U.S. and Australia concerning approaches to the transcription/translation process. Issues that affect the admissibility and weight assigned translated transcripts as evidence in court will be discussed. This session will also address likely areas of difficulty faced by translators and interpreters when producing translated transcripts. Examples of common errors detected in translated transcripts will be provided. The importance of being able to explain the methodology applied to the transcription/translation process will form an important part of the presentation. Ethical dilemmas for translators and interpreters preparing translated transcripts will also be discussed.

Objectives: On completion of the presentation, attendees will be able to: Explain how translated transcripts are prepared for evidence in the US and other jurisdictions. Identify problems faced by interpreters and translators when preparing translated transcripts for evidentiary purposes. Identify common errors in a translated transcript. Explain translation methodology used when preparing a translated transcript. Provide an overview of what is required of translators and interpreters when they are called as an expert witness. Identify ethical considerations when producing translated transcripts for evidentiary purposes.

Session Description: In our regular day-to-day, we work with Word. However, being fast is not enough. Word offers more than you know, and now more than ever, take advantage of it. Make Word do the dirty work; clean up, handle repetitions, generate merges. Let Word’s macros work for you!

Objectives: We will learn to execute the following: How to create a macro, how to save and export a macro, how to search lists, and how to clean-up a macro.

Session Description: Interpreters swear or affirm to interpret accurately at the beginning of court proceedings. But effective interpretation, which is especially desired in tense and sometimes theatrical cross-examinations, goes beyond accuracy. The presenter will explore the power of effective interpretation during cross-examinations in depositions and trials—how to work with attorneys, judges, and witnesses, while maintaining the integrity of the record and preserving mental capacity for the long day(s) ahead.

Objectives: Attendees will review cross-examination in a deposition or a trial from the perspective of an experienced attorney. They will then reflect on their practice as interpreters on effectively interpreting the different types of questions an attorney may ask. The session will also discuss best practices regarding convoluted questions, frequent objections, and other challenging scenarios in cross-examination.

Session Description: Few interpreters truly love building their network, as it often involves standing around in a room with strangers, bad food, and overpriced drinks. But let’s shift the paradigm and focus on the advantages of networking: building a strong tribe that gives us moral and professional support, growing our business by outsourcing and partnering with others, etc. Join the speaker, who does love to build her network, on this seemingly soft topic, but one that’s key to running an interpreting business. This session will focus on both online and offline network-building.

Objectives: Attendees will learn to view colleagues as resources rather than competition and will become aware of the importance of solving clients’ problems, which oftentimes can be accomplished through recommending someone in your network. Attendees will learn how to best approach others who are perhaps already more successful and how to respect professional boundaries. In addition, attendees will get easy tools for getting started on both online and offline network building.

Session Description: An overview of Native Mexican languages and their prevalence throughout Mexico and the United States will be provided. Attendees will gain understanding on how to identify non-Spanish native speakers, how to identify regions and varieties of the same language and how to connect with interpreters abroad. A demonstration of relay interpreting will be provided along with an explanation of the “behind the scenes” aspects of this type of interpretation. Attendees will participate in a practice of relay interpreting and will be able to ask questions during the Q &A portion of the session.

Objectives: Attendees will gain knowledge of the prevalence of original Mexican languages in both Mexico and the United States. Learn how to identify speakers of languages other than Spanish who might be mistakenly identified as Spanish speakers. Attendees will get information on how to identify languages and find sources to connect with interpreters of that language. The logistics of team interpreting for relay interpreting in Native languages and Spanish/English will be explained and demonstrated.

Session Description: In this hands-on, interactive workshop we will explore some tips and techniques from the world improv that will help you become more confident, more prepared interpreter and a better partner. We will work on stage presence, thinking on your feet, searching for solutions, being in the moment and teamwork.

PART I: Legalization of Documents – This workshop (language neutral) seeks to enhance the professional interpreter’s understanding of the protocol (chain of legalization) required for presenting documents from one country to another so that they are considered legally binding. Topics covered include: international document protocol and the importance of the Hague Convention + Apostille.

PART II: Sight Translation (Civil) – Civil law cases often present specific challenges to the court interpreter given the highly formal register. In order to properly and concisely sight translate documents used in civil court proceedings and depositions, interpreters must become familiar with formulaic legal language. Participants will gain confidence through hands-on practice with proper sight translation technique, formulaic language and civil terminology. All practice materials are original and adapted from real cases.

Interpreters are constantly faced with challenging moments while fulfilling their duties due to the interpreter’s lack of understanding of the legal concepts and terminology. This course seeks to demystify these challenging topics.

Objectives: This session seeks to enhance the professional interpreter’s understanding of the Protocol (Chain of Legalization) required for presenting legal documents from one country to another so that they are considered legally binding. Formulaic Language and Civil terminology will also be highlighted through Sight Translation practice of Civil court documents; participants will leave this workshop. Participants will be introduced to the protocol required for document legalization; participants will gain an understanding of the importance of the Hague Convention and the Apostille; participants will polish sight translation skills; participants will leave this session feeling better equipped to deal with challenging moments in the civil arena.

Session Description: What would your life be like if April wasn’t stressful? If your books were perfect and your business was organized? Do you wish you knew an easy way to do that? Do you wonder if you’re missing out on tax breaks or deducting the right items? Have you considered incorporating as an LLC, and what the costs and benefits of doing so might be? This session is for the budding or the established interpreneur looking for ways to run the administrative side of their business more efficiently and cost-effectively, and above all, non-mysteriously. We’ll discuss fundamental principles such as separating business and personal income and expenses and the legal and practical reasons why you should do this. You’ll learn how accounting software such as Quickbooks can streamline your invoicing, help you understand your profits and losses in real-time, and above all, make tax time a push-button operation that you can get done in January. We’ll also discuss why individual entrepreneurs might want to open one or more LLCs and how that’s done in general terms and explain what an S-corp is and how your accountant will partner with you to run it. Along the way, we’ll bust a few myths and worries about taxes, business law, and liability. As an added bonus, since we’re all interpreters here…we’ll carefully define all the terms we use, and you’ll get a glossary of terminology to use the next time you interpret a business law-focused encounter.

Objectives: Interpreters will learn key best practices for starting a new small business or righting an existing one. The course will cover basic principles of business law and liability, tailored to the unique circumstances of freelance interpreters. It will also discuss proper accounting and ways to simplify accounting and taxes, highlighting key tax and business structure strategies for freelance entrepreneurs. Attendees will come away from the session with concrete pointers that they can put into practice right away to structure their businesses, plan their accounting and tax strategies, hire the right accounting and legal professionals when and to the degree needed, and be empowered to take control of their income and make their businesses work for them. The session will also be useful for interpreters who interpret within the business field, as key terminology will be highlighted and defined, and a glossary of terms will be provided. .

Level: All Levels
Language: English
Panelists: The NAJIT Board of Directors

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

Session Description: Remote interpreting unlocked the gates to the world for many interpreters who never worked globally before. This change, social media peer pressure, and the influence coming from others who are not interpreters but have a market presence, can make interpreters break ethical rules, contractual obligations, and even ruin their reputation with clients and colleagues without even noticing what they did. This presentation will analyze the most common behaviors, their cause, and how to avoid them. We will take a practical approach to what we should do or avoid, the rules and best practices we must abide by, and even how other colleagues react when they see this behavior in social media. Those attending this session will get a durable advantage that will be useful in the top professional interpreting circles.

Objectives: This topic is essential to guarantee our advancement and longevity in the new interpretation world market. The skills that take an interpreter to the highest level are not the way they manage social media or the most recent platforms. Today we all must possess them. This presentation will emphasize the need to adapt to all changes without leaving behind the rules of our professional framework that allow us to access the huge opportunities worldwide. We will explore the different ways to leave our professional mark through the smart use of innovation, learning the limits that legal, ethical and professional obligations have set. Interpreters will see examples of things that harmed colleagues who thought their actions were helping them to succeed. They will learn what senior colleagues and potential clients look for in your social media and how some of the things you are doing might actually keep you from the best assignments. The instructor will share practical tips to avoid mediocrity.

Session Description: There is a unique variation of court interpreting and that is being the check interpreter. It only exists in court interpreting because of its adversarial nature. There are always two sides going against each other and it’s very common that each side wants to hire its own interpreter to make sure the interpretation is as accurate as it can be. Since only one interpreter is allowed to interpret into the record, the other one then takes on the role of the check interpreter, who, as it spells out, checks and corrects the interpretation of the first interpreter, ON THE SPOT! Needless to say, that it is a very difficult situation to be in regardless of which side the interpreter is on, the one who’s checking, or the one who’s being checked. In addition to the very tight rope that the interpreter has to walk already, the interpreter’s EQ is also scrutinized. This session is going to thoroughly examine and pinpoint the various obstacles to the interpreter’s mental state as well as to their competency in such situation, so that solutions and best practices can be identified to help court interpreters manage and cope with this tremendously stressful and arduous task.

Objectives: The check interpreter is something that only exists in court interpreting. Many court interpreters may already have had up and close experience either being the checking interpreter or the interpreter who’s being checked. No matter which side the interpreter is on, the experience mostly isn’t a pleasant one. Attendees of this session will walk away with actionable tips and ready-to-implement advice to turn the seemingly adversarial situation into a cooperative and productive work environment.

Session Description: Today’s tech landscape includes a number of tools that can assist interpreters with real-time automatic speech recognition. This session will explore both general and interpreter-specific programs and apps that attendees can start using right away to add an AI boothmate to their set-up.

Objectives: In this session, attendees will learn about the main options available today for automatic speech recognition, and how to make all the necessary connections to make ASR work with their set-ups, including virtual and physical cables. Attendees will also learn which options work best with phones, tablets and computers.

Session Description: Protecting and maintaining the integrity of protected health information (PHI) is the responsibility of all who access, use, disclose, or transmit PHI in the course of their work. In a study of the language profession performed by CSA Research, 75% of respondents report that they are self-employed (freelancers). Despite this, many freelancers are unaware of what their true responsibilities are regarding both the Privacy and Security Rules of HIPAA.

Objectives:  This class was specifically designed for interpreters in the medical field to help elevate their HIPAA compliance game by: Highlighting changes made to covered entity classification due to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and how this affects freelance interpreters. Highlighting changes to HIPAA privacy and security requirements due to the HITECH Act and how freelance interpreters can become compliant. Bringing awareness to recent and upcoming changes to the Omnibus Rule and present and future compliance requirements.

Session Description: Court interpreters adhere strictly to the notion that “the rendition should sound natural in the target language, and there should be no distortion of the original message through addition or omission, explanation or paraphrasing” (NAJIT Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility). The presenters will introduce the participants to a deeper look into omissions, guide them with analytical and self-reflective exercises, and propose a plan to know when omitting is necessary while still conserving the message in the target language.

Participants must bring a recording device and headsets. Handouts will be distributed during the workshop.

Objectives: Participants will be prepared to make conscious decisions about omitting elements of a message in the source language as long as the message is accurate, complete and faithful in the target language. During the workshop, participants will learn about the different types of omissions and why they occur. They will interpret in the simultaneous mode utterances heard in court and analyze the impact of target language omissions on accuracy, completeness and faithfulness. They will elaborate strategies and coping tactics to apply at hearings while rendering into the target language using the simultaneous mode.

Session Description: This lively, interactive session will bring up topics and circumstances that drive us nuts and make us want to bolt out of the situation. While keeping our sense of humor and taking advantage of the collective perspective of the group of interpreters present, we will look at those unusual scenarios that arise in the field of interpreting which cause us grief, concern, frustration or just plain embarrassment. Is it a moral issue, ethical dilemma, something potentially illegal or maybe just plain karma? Examples of situations will be provided by the presenter and also gleaned from audience members. For example, when a situation arises, how do you address the court or do you? Experienced interpreters and novice interpreters can all contribute to these valuable and sometimes hilarious teaching opportunities.

Objectives: Attendees at this session will have an opportunity to participate in a freewheeling conversation conducive to networking, bonding and building ties with colleagues based on our shared experiences as interpreters.

Session Description: This session is specifically geared towards interpreters who practice in the immigration field, although court interpreters who do not practice in immigration-specific settings will also benefit from an understanding of immigration law as relates to family and criminal law as experienced by court interpreters practicing in traditional court settings. Interpreters will be introduced to the structure of the immigration system, key agencies, and terminology used by immigration practitioners and the adjudicative bodies where interpreters work. The session will cover primarily humanitarian and family-based affirmative (out of court) and defensive (in court) immigration relief and remedies, such as asylum, cancellation of removal, and immediate relative adjustment of status. The session will also provide current updates on the ever-evolving policy and practical situation(s) at the US southern border, and will seek to demystify immigrant processing at the border.

Objectives: Immigration law is both extremely broad and extremely specialized as a field of law, and given that it is cross-border and cross-cultural in nature, the field of immigration law in the United States employs an outsized number of interpreters of all languages. These interpreters, in turn, are responsible for communicating these specialized concepts, which can be exceedingly arcane and non-intuitive, in their working languages. This session will open with an explanation of the key players and agencies within the immigration system, and then discuss, through examples and story-based learning, how immigrants enter and process through the system depending on their circumstances and the types of relief available to them. Throughout the session, the instructor will point out and define critical terminology, and highlight possible interpretation pitfalls. Participants will receive a glossary of terms and example documents for preparation purposes, and a portion of the session will be devoted to discussing the unique challenges of immigration interpreting and how interpreters can train and hone their skills to succeed in this demanding, yet rewarding, field of legal interpretation.

Session Description: As the pandemic eases, interpreters are being asked to travel more frequently out of their local jurisdictions to meet increased demand for qualified professionals across the United States. Some of these assignments offer the promise of higher profitability and greater professional exposure to new clients and colleagues. However, not all travel opportunities are created equal. While some assignments may seem attractive at first glance, once logistics and expenses are factored in, they might not make the most financial sense. The first part of the presentation will address financial, logistical, and professional development factors that interpreters should consider before accepting an out-of-town assignment. Participants will learn how to confidently put together a solid, financially viable proposal that is agreeable to both parties, including safeguards in the event of travel delays or cancelations. The second part of the presentation will provide a myriad of useful tips on travel planning and logistics to help interpreters maximize their profit, comfort, and safety throughout the assignment. At the end of the presentation, interpreters will have a roadmap to confidently decide whether to accept or reject an out-of-town assignment.

Objectives: Participants will examine the financial, logistical, and professional development factors to consider in deciding whether to accept out-of-town assignments. Participants will learn tips on how to stay organized and plan a seamless trip. They will also learn how to apply simple hacks and technology to help them maximize their profit, comfort, and use of their time on the road.