I mean, Hearing people are the ones who hire us, right? Hearing people need us to interpret for them because they are not fluent in sign language, and most of the time, Hearing people foot the bill. So why do we so often side with our Deaf consumers? We signed-spoken language interpreters probably all have our “Stupid Hearing People!” stories, but where would we be without them? (And remember, for the majority of us who are not CODAs, we used to be Stupid Hearing People ourselves.) Hearing people may be naïve about signed language, deafness, and Deaf culture, but most of them mean well. Hearing people who hire spoken-signed language interpreters want what we want: (more…)
Category: Interpreting
Posts about Interpreting/ interpretation, translating/ translation, and transliterating/ transliteration
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Why I don’t tell people I’m a sign language interpreter
Instead of telling them I’m a sign language interpreter, I like to screw with people’s heads. I love to see whether they react differently to “interpreter” as opposed to “sign language interpreter” or “interpreter for the Deaf.” When I tell people I’m an interpreter, they inevitable ask what language. I can then say, “Sign language, American Sign Language” (like “Bond, James Bond”). When I ever-so-debonairly stress “American,” they usually ask, “Oh, isn’t sign language universal?” And BAM, that’s when I tell them it’s not!
This impresses upon them that:
1. An interpreter is an interpreter,
2. A signed language is a language, and
3. American Sign Language is not the only signed language.What’s in a name? Oh so much.
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Why would Deaf people think interpreting is easy?
I pose the question respectfully. I understand that not all Deaf people think interpreting is easy, but I know several Deaf people who never realized how hard interpreting was until they tried to do it themselves. Case in point, a Deaf colleague of mine recently wrote:
I remember attending a CDI [Certified Deaf Interpreter] workshop with several Deaf participants. After several interpreting exercises, most Deaf participants arrived at a realization – that interpreting is not easy…
I have heard this time and again, and for this reason, I wish all Deaf consumers of interpreting services took a Deaf interpreter workshop! (Unrealistic as that wish might be.) I thought about saying “all consumers” (Deaf and Hearing), but I’ll tell you why I didn’t. (more…)
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Interpreting teams being blunt with each other for the sake of consumers
They did not seem to find a need to soften the statements with qualifiers or with the use of questions. As indicated earlier, this may be due to their comfort level with each other.
–Shaw, 1995 p. 265
I read the above statement in an article by Risa Shaw called “A conversation: Written feedback while team interpreting” and it summarized the many examples of respectfully blunt notes the interpreting team wrote to each other. I envy their rapport, that they were able to be so blunt with each other for the sake of their consumers! I felt the same envy when I read the article in the Views last spring by the husband-wife interpreting team and the notes they wrote to each other while teaming (Snyder & Snyder, 2011). I have not had many experiences with no-nonsense, helpful, “just-say-it” note-taking; yes, I have done notes, and it has been helpful, but I don’t think the notes between me and my partners have ever been as dedicated to excellence as these examples are.
Have you had the pleasure of such note-taking with your team interpreters? I would love to read some examples of notes you have written to each other that have had positive affects on the work at hand. Consumers: Have you even been aware of the feedback your interpreting teams are giving each other that is positively or negatively affecting the service you receive? Please leave comments.
References
Shaw, R. (1995). A conversation: Written feedback while team interpreting. In Elizabeth W. (Ed.) Mapping Our Course: A Collaborative Venture, pp. 245-276. Charlotte, NC: Conference of Interpreter Trainers. Retrieved from http://www.cit-asl.org/members/PDF/Proceedings/CIT%201994.pdf
Snyder, C. & Snyder, N. (2011). Let’s go team! Views 28(2). Alexandria, VA: Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.
Daniel Greene 