22 Jan Did you say you wanted a volunteer interpreter, Your Honor?
Posted at 10:56h
in Advocacy, Attorney Education, Business Practices, Certification, Court Interpreting, Ethics, Janis Palma, Leadership, Professional Practices, Recent Posts, Terminology, TRAINING
9 Comments
In most states, a bilingual individual who wishes to be on the court’s roster of qualified interpreters must meet certain requirements. These are not whimsical or random requirements. The first one is usually an orientation seminar about the court system in the state where the...
18 Dec When we advocate for interpreters, are we not also advocating for the LEP population?
Posted at 01:00h
in Advocacy, Attorney Education, Business Practices, Court Interpreting, Ethics, Interpreters, Janis Palma, Leadership, New Ideas, Professional Practices, Recent Posts, The Profession
9 Comments
I have been turning this question around in my head for a while, since someone raised the question in a social media exchange: am I advocating for interpreters? Or am I advocating for the LEPs we serve? And I just have to wonder, can we...
10 Oct Does the term Limited English Proficient need rethinking?
Posted at 16:58h
in Advocacy, Attorney Education, Community, Court Interpreting, Ethics, Janis Palma, Language, Recent Posts, Terminology
1 Comment
As we were reading the Summer 2023 issue of Proteus (a great issue, by the way), we were both struck by an article entitled “Are we comfortable telling someone that they are limited because English is not their language?”, written by Ingrid Oseguera, an experienced...
06 Sep How do we do this?
Posted at 10:11h
in Advocacy, Attorney Education, Business Practices, Court Interpreting, Ethics, Interpreting, Janis Palma, New Ideas, Recent Posts
8 Comments
There is a practice in some of the courts where I have worked, in which the judge will call several defendants at the same time for proceedings like initial appearances, arraignments, or guilty plea hearings, each one having a different case. Sometimes they all need...
17 Jul On the Witness Stand: How the Federal Rules of Evidence can guide the interpreters’ performance
Posted at 09:35h
in Advocacy, Business Practices, Court Interpreting, Ethics, Interpreting, Janis Palma, Professional Practices, Recent Posts
13 Comments
Direct Examination: Could you please tell us what driving instructions, if any, did you receive from the defendant here, Mr. Delfín? Interpreter: Puede usted decirnos – Opposing Counsel: Objection! Judge: ...
15 May What is “privilege”?
Posted at 14:04h
in Advocacy, Attorney Education, Court Interpreting, Ethics, Interpreters, Janis Palma, Professional Hazard, Professional Practices, Recent Posts
6 Comments
No, I don’t mean the social “privilege” we all enjoy as interpreters or translators because of the education, general knowledge and specialized skills that give us a certain advantage over others a bit less fortunate. No, I mean the sort of privilege we are supposed...
17 Apr The Power of the Inflected Voice
Posted at 12:43h
in Court Interpreting, Interpreting, Janis Palma, Past Posts, Recent Posts, Tools of the trade
9 Comments
We hardly pay attention to the way in which we say things, but we certainly know intuitively that we should raise our volume when we want to emphasize something, or lower it when our intention is a bit more secretive or intimate. We know to...
20 Mar Sometimes I feel like a nut…
Posted at 08:21h
in Court Interpreting, Idioms, Interpreting, Janis Palma, Language, Professional Development, Recent Posts, Terminology, Tools of the trade
4 Comments
Does anyone remember that commercial for a chocolate-covered coconut candy bar that could be bought with or without almonds? So, if you “felt like a nut” (if you felt like eating a nut, that is), you could buy the one with almonds, and if you...