10 Apr Self-Love in the Time of Corona

Posted at 04:00h in Athena Matilsky, Personal Growth, Professional Development, Recent Posts, Self care by Observer Editor 5 Comments

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Dear Colleagues, Well, goodness me. It would appear that since my last blog post, the world has spun a teensy bit sideways. All of my own carefully made plans have been turned upside down, along with the plans of…every single person I know. And the...

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06 Mar Language Skills-Building for Interpreters

Posted at 04:04h in Athena Matilsky, Interpreting, Professional Development, Recent Posts, The Profession, TRAINING by Observer Editor 6 Comments

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Interpreters face somewhat of a conundrum upon entering the profession. That is, we are expected to have “native-level” discourse and comprehension skills in all of our languages. Advertisements boast “perfect fluency,” and respectable interpreting courses necessarily steer their content away from language acquisition. Yet, of...

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07 Feb Interpreting for Crimes Against Humanity: Giving Victims A Voice

Posted at 04:04h in Athena Matilsky, Interpreting, Recent Posts, The Profession by Observer Editor 6 Comments

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On March 14, 2012, Thomas Lubanga Dyilo became the first person to be found guilty through a trial in the International Criminal Court (ICC). Among the war crimes this Congolese warlord oversaw were enlisting and conscripting children under the age of 15 years and using...

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24 Jan Muddying the Waters of Interpreting

Posted at 04:04h in Athena Matilsky, Court Interpreting, Interpreters, Interpreting, Medical Interpreting, Past Posts, Professional Practices, Recent Posts by Observer Editor 19 Comments

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This post was first published in November 2018. Exactly a week ago today, you would have found me in New Orleans with a colleague at an oyster bar on the banks of the Mississippi, discussing the Dunning-Kruger effect. For those of you who are unfamiliar...

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27 Dec The Year in Review – The Most Popular Posts of 2019

Posted at 05:39h in Business Practices, Interpreting, Medical Interpreting, Recent Posts, Translation by Observer Editor 0 Comments

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This being the last Friday of the year, we will share below the most popular posts of 2019, by month. The selection is based on the number of comments the post received and that will vary greatly with the seasons. Summer is an especially difficult...

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20 Dec Lots of Resources for LOTS Interpreters

Posted at 04:01h in Athena Matilsky, Past Posts, Recent Posts, TRAINING by Observer Editor 9 Comments

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By Athena Matilsky © 2017 Last year I left my job as a Superior Court staff interpreter, and moved from New Jersey to the beautiful city of Montreal. I’m here temporarily, working on a book and improving my French. The idea is that with increased...

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06 Dec Court and Conference Interpreting
– So close and so far apart

Posted at 04:04h in Athena Matilsky, Conference Interpreting, Court Interpreting, Interpreting, Professional Development, Recent Posts by Observer Editor 13 Comments

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Well, I made it! One more semester to go. As I write, the train wheels rumble underneath my seat. We are somewhere between Toronto and Montreal. When I made this journey in reverse three months ago, the leaves still adorned the trees. Now the fields...

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04 Oct A Week in the Life of an MCI – Master’s In Conference Interpreting Candidate

Posted at 04:04h in Athena Matilsky, Conference Interpreting, Interpreting, Recent Posts by Observer Editor 6 Comments

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Greetings from the Glendon campus in Toronto! I’m currently waiting for my News Class to begin. Winter is fast approaching over here and each sunny day could be the last. So I’m taking advantage of the unseasonably gorgeous weather, sitting outside the cafeteria at a...

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06 Sep Federal Interpreters or Bust!

Posted at 04:04h in Athena Matilsky, Certification, Professional Development, Recent Posts by Observer Editor 3 Comments

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This article was first published in November 2017. It seems appropriate that we dust it off now that the dates for the next Federal Interpreter Exam have been set. Good luck to all who will take the challenge. Reaching the Brass Ring I still remember...

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02 Aug Need to Improve Your Note-Taking? Learn to Listen!

Posted at 04:04h in Athena Matilsky, Professional Development, Recent Posts, TRAINING by Observer Editor 9 Comments

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Do you want to know the funny thing about notes? The better you get at taking them, the less of them you need.  I noticed this one day in court, a few years into my career when I took a look at my notepad and...

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