Brazilian Jury Observations — a Florida Court Interpreter’s Perspective

This is Part II of Javier Aparisi's report on his Brazilian adventure. Pedri, a family friend from my early years in São Paulo, accompanied me a few days later in our visits to the Barra Funda regional court in São Paulo. This judicial complex offered a...

20 January, 2017 / 4 Comments

So You Want to Be the Favorite Freelancer

I’ve been working as a staff interpreter for a long time in various jurisdictions, so I’ve hired freelance interpreters (of languages from Achi to Zuni) hundreds of times—probably thousands. And let’s face it: every court has its favorites. For any language for which a court has multiple options, certain freelancers (or agencies, but that’s another subject) will be the go-to when there’s a big assignment, or a last-minute one, or a vacation to be covered. Well-meaning administrative offices try to encourage or enforce a fair rotation, but there will always be someone who has an extra edge. A question asked by prospective and working freelance interpreters alike is often: how can I get more work? Or the flip side: is there really enough work for me? So here’s the answer: There may not be enough work for everyone, but there will always be enough work for those who go the extra mile to make working with them a pleasure. So how do you become one of those people? Let’s see:

26 August, 2016 / 1 Comment

Business and Fun: mixing it up in San Antonio

It’s the last week of April and NAJIT’s Annual Conference is just around the corner. Before we know it, we will be in San Antonio, polishing skills, learning what’s new in the field, catching up with old friends and making new ones. And although I...

22 April, 2016 / 7 Comments

The Fixer

          In my home I am “the fixer”. This is not a role that I chose knowingly and intentionally; it just came with the territory. I own a home, so if anything breaks I am the one in charge of fixing it or finding someone...

17 October, 2014 / 2 Comments

The Power of the Inflected Voice

            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...

20 June, 2014 / 15 Comments

The Mexican Deli Debacle: How Attorneys can Sabotage Themselves, Their Clients and You

We’ve all worked with attorneys who just don’t get it. There are those who simply refuse to learn how to work with interpreters, who fail to conduct a thorough preparation of their LEP clients for deposition or trial, who make no attempt to phrase questions...

16 May, 2014 / 3 Comments

Combatting Interpreter Fraud

At the memorial for deceased South African leader Nelson Mandela on December 10, 2013, the world-wide interpreting community was stunned and dismayed when a fake sign language interpreter was shown on television and the internet pretending to interpret the words of heads of state...

31 January, 2014 / 6 Comments

Appreciate Yourself! Being Your Own Best Critic

In the small county seat where I work several times a week there is a traffic circle. It is  a small oasis in a not-very-attractive little town. In spring and summer there are shade trees and flowers. There is a central fountain, and a number...

09 August, 2013 / 3 Comments

Fresh Air at the 2013 NAJIT Conference

Maybe it was spring fever, but I don’t think so. I definitely felt what I can only describe as a breath of fresh air during the 34th NAJIT Annual Conference May 17-19, 2013,  in St. Louis, Missouri. So often nowadays I hear interpreters talk about the “graying”...

14 June, 2013 / 0 Comments

Code-switching and the Interpreter

I am interpreting consecutively. I am well-rested, fully focused, alert and engaged. Almost effortlessly, I allow the equivalent words,phrases and structures to flow through my brain and out my mouth. An interpreting instructor of mine once called this being “in the groove.” It doesn’t happen every...

25 January, 2013 / 9 Comments