Editor's Note: This post by Jennifer De La Cruz was originally published in 2012. It remains relevant and we bring it back as a reminder that we are (im)perfect human beings with a measure of shortcomings and virtues that we must learn to manage. I’ll never forget...
Not too long ago, I found myself at an arbitration in which one of the parties, John Doe, was attending by WhatsApp from across the globe. That was a first for me. I have already used Google Hangouts, Skype, and straight phone calls, and each...
I was talking to a colleague friend of mine recently when she mentioned she had to deliver a translation but had to get it notarized first. My brain immediately went in two different directions: (1) I know this is a fairly common practice among translators...
- by Gio Lester (c) 2012 We are Communicators. As translators, interpreters and multicultural individuals we delight in acquiring knowledge as much as in sharing it. And what we do with our knowledge is exactly what this article is about. Our knowledge base consists of cultural and...
Planning is fun. Then, life happens I had planned on writing about my experience in the Southern District of Texas, McAllen Division, interpreting for the “tsunami” of misdemeanor illegal entry cases, maybe comparing it to my experience in the District of Puerto Rico interpreting for the...
[vc_row][vc_column width='2/3']This was real life. There was no do-over. My identity crisis started almost exactly two years ago when I left my job as a staff interpreter in New Jersey and headed into the Great Unknown (Montreal, Canada, to be exact). My plan was to work on...
Have you ever given thought to your public speaking skills? Whether your answer is yes or no, we republished a piece that will have you thinking about it. And, who knows, taking action. Besides being an interpreter and a translator for over 20 years, I have...
Maybe it is time to make friends with Spanglish. …And Italish, Portinglish, Haitian Creolish and any other language +English! It happened this way: Judge (English): “…mortgage…” Me (Spanish): “…hipoteca…” Litigant (No language): [Blank stare; look of incomprehension and confusion.] The question was repeated. All at once, understanding dawned and the litigant...
By Gio Lester © 2017 Living in a multilingual community can be rewarding and frustrating all at the same time. Miami is such a community. I find rewards in being exposed to so many languages and cultures wherever I am. It is frustrating when the population can't differentiate...
Photo by freestocks.org from Pexels It is the last Friday of the year. Our last issue of 2017. Hard to believe, isn’t it? Well, this has been a good year for us. We published every week and went through a few changes. We have a name, a...