“We need more pay for the work we do.” “Nobody respects us interpreters.” “Can we please stop having intruders in this profession?”[1] “When will people understand that being bilingual doesn’t mean you can interpret?” “We should boycott if they try to bring in video interpreting.” “Maybe conference interpreters can demand...
What do a Brazilian Butt-Lift and a Kindle book have in common? They are two examples of our society’s penchant for instant gratification. Language proficiency and by extension interpreting, nonetheless, are not abilities you acquire overnight. They improve exponentially as you practice, and reflect consciously or...
Last year, InterpretAmerica published a document titled “Best Practices in the Interpreting Profession: Simultaneous Interpreting in Non-Conference Settings[1]” which I co-authored. Last month, we completed a draft document titled “Best Practices in the Interpreting Profession: The Professional Medical Interpreter”. Last night I interpreted for a local school...
I believe that the hierarchy and macrocosm of nature, should be reflected in its many microcosms, one of which is the interpreting profession. Accordingly, to be successful, the values exhibited at the apex must be mirrored in the other. Today I am going to write about...
I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead[1]. So said Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Christian philosopher in a letter to a friend in December 1656.[2] The quote, often misattributed to Mark Twain and Abraham...
[caption id="attachment_839" align="alignleft" width="214" caption="Roseann Dueñas González"][/caption] Dr. Roseann Dueñas Gonzalez is a 21st Century luminary in the field of language access in the U.S. She was the founder and long-standing Director of the University of Arizona National Center for Interpretation, Testing, Research and Policy. I...
I have just finished reading Found in Translation, the new book which has just come out by Nataly and Jost, and is already lined up for a third printing! I heartily recommend it to anyone interested in the T&I sector. Having worked in the industry...
The hotel housekeeper has a complaint, and I am there to interpret it. Sitting beside the housekeeper, I speak into a cheap handset speakerphone. On the other end, the hotel owner and district manager listen, encouraging the employee to air her concerns fully into the...
A few weeks back, I traveled to a distant town for a court interpreting assignment. It had been well worth the trip from a financial point of view, but I was really beat when I got home. As I was drifting off to sleep for...
I didn’t exactly grow up on a farm, but my small town was indeed surrounded by fields of corn and soybeans. When I was in my teens I started out on what turned out to be years of travel, living in enormous cities both in...
