“Oh, that was terrible! I can’t believe how bad that looks,” said my 8-year-old niece the other day. She was referring to her own drawing, which was actually a very nice depiction of a butterfly. My niece would never speak that way about somebody else’s...
I truly believe life is a great journey, and it sometimes takes us places we didn't know we would go. In my first interpreting position, I was hired as a staff medical interpreter, and after a few years interpreting in the real world and completing...
January is the month of the year when most of us want to start fresh with a clean slate. I recently learned that some people, especially in Europe, call the third Monday in January Blue Monday because it’s supposedly the most depressing day of the...
“One moment, the interpreter needs a repetition,” I said in English, followed by “Excuse me, could you repeat that for the interpreter?” in rapid-fire Spanish. It was about fifteen minutes into the interpretation, and the fourth time I had interrupted. I was feeling a bit...
It is with a great deal of excitement and anticipation that I let you know that I have the honor of serving as the new editor of the NAJIT Observer. It is a role I take on in the hope that I can build on...
The NAJIT Board of Directors wants to express our deepest appreciation to Giovanna (Gio) Lester for her years of service to the NAJIT Blog, which was re-branded as the NAJIT Observer under her leadership. Her tireless efforts have been a tremendous benefit and resource to...
When Maria Cristina de la Vega invited me to join the team of contributors to NAJIT's weekly publication, in 2011, little did I know that one day I would end up taking her place at its helm. I was asked to lead the project by Rob...
Imagine this scenario. You’re having an argument (I know, I know, none of us ever argue, but just…humor me for a moment). For the sake of the story, we’ll say it’s an argument with a spouse. As tensions and voices rise, you can feel a...
Another trip back in time. Athena Matilsky's 2018 article seems very apropos. Enjoy. This week it was my turn to post on the NAJIT blog, and I asked some of my colleagues what I should write about. I was told, “Don’t teach. Tell your story.” So...
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...