Daniel Greene

Category: Interpreting

Posts about Interpreting/ interpretation, translating/ translation, and transliterating/ transliteration

  • LiveJournal Communities re: Interpreters

    Here are some of the LiveJournal communities I found last night:

    • aslterps: started 5 October 2003; c. 240 entries; last entry 18 August 2006.
    • anti_bad_terps: started 5 March 2004; c. 40 entries; last entry 23 April 2006.
    • certified_terps: started 2 February 2006; 14 entries, last entry 15 August 2006.
    • itp_students: started 1 February 2006; 14 entries; last entry 23 July 2006.
    • vrs_411: started 21 June 2006; four (4) entries; last entry 28 June 2006.

    (By the way, it took me an ungodly amount of time to compile those data. Does no one know of an easy way for a LiveJournal Community visitor to see when the community was started and how many entries it has without having to page back through all the entries?)

    I guess these really are more journaling “communities” rather than “blogs.” Online interpreter communities have been around for a long time, especially in the form of ListServ’s, Yahoo! groups, etc. These communities differ from ListServ’s in that they are out in the open for all the world to see. They each have their group originators and moderators, but no one person seems to be the main blogger of any of them. Some of the posts and comment discussions are interesting. For the most part, they don’t seem to “log the web” in the sense of providing links and commentary about other Web documents, as discussed in Journal vs. Blog. They are more a collection of discussions about either real or hypothetical interpreting situations, or bad experiences they had with other interpreters.

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  • I Found Some Other ASL Interpreter Blogs

    It wouldn’t be the first time I was the first one on the Internet to do something (see my Style Sheets Demo Page and HyperHaiku), but thankfully, I am not the first ASL interpreter to have a blog. I did some more searching this morning on DeafBlogs and found some other interpreter blogs. Here they are:

    • certified_terps, a LiveJournal community
    • anti_bad_terps, a LiveJournal community
    • OakHomey— I don’t see much there about interpreting, except that he feels he can’t blog about his personal life because it would damage his relationship with his clients. Hm…
    • Shanni’s Blog— I don’t see much about interpreting there, but there are some posts that mention her experiences as an interpreter, and there are lots of beautiful photos.

  • What I Love about VRS

    In a recent post, I bemoaned the lack of interpreter-client relationship that comes of the anonymity imposed upon video interpreters. When I first wrote that, about a month before I published it on my blog, my morale about video relay interpreting was in a bit of a slump. Getting out and doing more interpreting in the community, i.e. face-to-face, has revitalized me, I guess. Lately, I really enjoy going in to work, and I’d like to share here some of what I think is great about VRS (in no particular order).

    1. I love going to the call center and working 4–6 hours in one place without having to drive all over the county to several shorter jobs.
    2. I love using technology to improve the lives of deaf people and their hearing family members, friends, and co-workers.
    3. I love being on TV in homes all over the country. It’s what I always wanted! 😉
    4. I love it when I interpret a call and the hearing and/or deaf people say to their interlocutor, “Wow! I finally understand you!
    5. I love meeting deaf people from all different regions of the U.S. and learning all their different regional signs.
    6. I love the “cross-pollenation” that is happening with deaf people and interpreters in various regions talking to each other in ASL, and I believe this might help to standardize ASL a bit more and make it easier for people to understand each other wherever they’re from.
    7. I love how my voice interpreting (ASL-to-English interpreting) has improved since I began doing VRS interpreting!
    8. I love exploring the unique challenges that come with VRS interpreting such as: register variation (from intimate to frozen, sometimes in the same call), unfamiliarity with topic, personnel, and specialized vocabulary.
    9. I love the fact that, since I got a regular job doing VRS interpreting, I’ve been able to buy a home and begin saving for my retirement!
    10. Oh! And I love seeing people’s adorable pets on camera! Brightens my day!

    There are others things I love, but that’s all I can think of for now. 🙂

  • Where Are The ASL Interpreter Blogs?

    Is it possible that mine is the first ASL interpreter blog? I have searched the Internet for other ASL interpreter blogs, and I can’t find any. There are hordes of Deaf Blogs and Vlogs out there—hooray for deaf people!—but where in the blogosphere are my interpreting colleagues?

    I wonder if there are no ASL interpreter blogs because we have to keep our mouths shut about our work to protect client confidentiality. Yes, we need to protect our consumers, but we can talk about our work publicly! I believe it will benefit our profession and our consumers, too, if we talk about our work in a way that is illuminating without betraying any confidential information.

    That is my goal here—to talk about ASL signing and interpreting in such a way as to inform and stimulate discussion while maintaining a sense of professionalism and respect for my colleagues and our hearing and deaf consumers. I look forward to the time when this blog is full of comments from deaf and hearing readers engaged in meaningful dialogues that have a profound and positive effect on the work we do and the people we serve. I look forward to adding other ASL interpreter blogs to my blogroll and being added to theirs.

    Blog on, ‘terps!

    Related posts:

  • VI Anonymity Diminishes Interpreter-Client Relationship

    The differences between text relay and video relay are so vast; it amazes me how the FCC and, in turn, the VRS companies continue to treat VIs (Video Interpreters) like CAs (Communications Assistants; i.e. text relay operators). The effects of this treatment are sometimes unrecognized until something happens to remind an interpreter of what it’s like to feel like… well, like an “interpreter” again, rather than an “operator.”

    Recently, I took a break from my regular video relay interpreting job to interpret in a seminar for which I was requested by the client. The client and I had professional and social relationship that went way back. While on that job, I experienced emotions that I had long forgotten as a VI: the pride in being asked for by name and the joy of being wanted for who I am, not just for what I do.

    What is the point of anonymity when the deaf client can see you? At some point, they are bound to find out who you are; what’s more, if you are active in your profession, they should find out who you are! Sign language interpreters are professionals who bank their businesses on their professional reputations. They make a name for themselves by publishing, doing community service on the boards of interpreting organizations and governing agencies, teaching classes and workshops, mentoring new interpreters, and socializing within the deaf community. Text relay operators, or CA’s, do not need to do any of these professional activities, and they are literally invisible to their clients. It makes sense for them to be anonymous. It does not make sense for video interpreters, who are visible on television screens in people’s homes all over the country, to be nameless. Interpreters who follow the NAD–RID Code of Professional Conduct are never truly anonymous, as they are active and visible members of their communities.

    Anonymity robs from us what many of us have spent years to develop: (more…)