The NAJIT conference in Atlanta was intellectually stimulating and for some of us—or maybe all—it was also very good for the soul. We laughed, we sang, we danced, we ran into old friends and made new ones. In short, a lot of those present thought...
How and when did you get into the field of Interpreting? What is your background? I had some experience with interpreting and translating when I was an office manager and trainer for a direct sales company in the late 80’s and early 90’s in Miami, FL....
What is a person to do? “I don’t know anyone. What do they expect of me? How am I supposed to behave? What is a 4H Club? How do you play kick ball? Why do they do math problems so strangely? Is school really over at...
“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...
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 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...
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...
By Barry Slaugther Olsen, Co-President, InterpretAmerica The word “technology” means different things to different people. But when it comes to interpreters, the “T” word tends to conjure up all sorts of largely unfounded fear and denial. “Will I be replaced by a computer?” or “Oh, a computer...
By Katharine Allen, Co-President, InterpretAmerica “Crowdsourcing is the process by which the power of the many can be leveraged to accomplish feats that were once the province of a specialized few.” So said Jeff Howe, a magazine writer credited with coining the term crowdsourcing in his 2006...
