On a sunny fall day in 2013, I received a phone call from Grace. Who is Grace, you ask? It is hard to say who Grace is to me. She is a colleague, certainly. A mentor. A friend. My personal interpreting fairy godmother. It was...
“The terror of performing never goes away. Instead, you get very, very comfortable being terrified.” ~Eric Whitacre I like that quote. It speaks to me. I think you could replace the word “performing” with “interpreting” and paste it on the walls of all our offices....
The Couch is a learning place, not only for its contributors but also for our readers who engage in the ensuing discussions. So much has changed in the performance of our profession that educating clients about how to work more effectively with interpreters has become...
“One moment, the interpreter needs a repetition,” I said in English, followed by “Excuse me, could you repeat that for the interpreter?” in rapid-fire Spanish. It was about fifteen minutes into the interpretation, and the fourth time I had interrupted. I was feeling a bit...
It is with a great deal of excitement and anticipation that I let you know that I have the honor of serving as the new editor of the NAJIT Observer. It is a role I take on in the hope that I can build on...
Imagine this scenario. You’re having an argument (I know, I know, none of us ever argue, but just…humor me for a moment). For the sake of the story, we’ll say it’s an argument with a spouse. As tensions and voices rise, you can feel a...
Another trip back in time. Athena Matilsky’s 2018 article seems very apropos. Enjoy. This week it was my turn to post on the NAJIT blog, and I asked some of my colleagues what I should write about. I was told, “Don’t teach. Tell your story.”...