13 Feb Moving forward… but where do we go from here?
The act of interpreting has been taking place ever since two groups of people met but could not speak each other’s languages. A friend of mine, who is working on her doctoral dissertation, found this quote from the work of Marzena Chrobak[1]: “In the Near...
16 Jan You can’t have your cake and eat it, too
It’s a lot of fun when you work in a venue where you can get together with colleagues to share anecdotes, ask questions, and learn new things to help you be a better interpreter. I was with some fellow interpreters recently talking about sayings in...
19 Dec It’s been that kind of a year!
Posted at 12:20h
in Business Practices, Certification, Community, Court Interpreting, Interpreters, Janis Palma, Language Associations, NAJIT Affairs, Odds & Ends, Recent Posts, The Profession, Volunteer
6 Comments
I know it may seem like a tired old cliché but, come on! You have to agree with me: it has been a great year! For me it was a year of enormous challenges chairing the NAJIT Board of Directors during the first half, and...
07 Nov Building the New
Posted at 15:07h
in Advocacy, Business Practices, Court Interpreting, Ethics, Immigration, Interpreting, Janis Palma, Language, Recent Posts, Technology, The Profession
14 Comments
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new” —Socrates Jon Leeth was the Special Assistant to the Assistant Director in Charge of Court Reporting and Interpreting Services, also referred to as Chief...
10 Oct Interpreting Is Not Always Improv
Posted at 01:00h
in Certification, Court Interpreting, Ethics, Interpreters, Janis Palma, Personal Growth, Professional Development, Recent Posts, The Profession, TRAINING
11 Comments
There is one aspect of all judiciary interpreters’ certification exams that I find somewhat inconsistent with real-life practice. In real life, being able to anticipate and appropriately reformulate what judges and attorneys say is very closely linked to the repetitious nature of legal language. There...
19 Sep A Spanish interpreter communicating in Polish? Not quite!
Posted at 01:00h
in Community, Ethics, Hilda Zavala-Shymanik, Interpreting, Language, Recent Posts, Translation
5 Comments
I have been familiar with nonverbal language my whole life. As a child, I used to sign with my sisters and friends. We were just doing it the other day in court actually, my sister Marisa and me. But the first time I attended a...