Daniel Greene

Category: Interpreting

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

  • ASL Introduction on YouTube

    This is my intro in ASL. I say, “Hi, I’m Daniel Greene. I am hearing. I work as an interpreter, and I also sing. I hope you enjoy my movies, whether you are hearing or deaf. Are you interested in learning more about ASL interpreting? Check out my web site, danielgreene.com!

  • FCC Comment: Interpreters ≠ Dial Tone

    I posted the following comment to the FCC regarding Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) – Docket 03-123.

    I have been told that the FCC considers sign language interpreters to be “equivalent to a dial tone,” and that we are not mandated reporters of abuse. The problem with this is that we are human beings, and unlike text relay operators, we video interpreters actually witness the the sign language users with our eyes. In the dreaded event that a video interpreter were to witness something like a person having a heart attack or stroke, or see a person beaten, raped, or even shot dead before our very eyes, it would cause us irreparable psychological damage if we were forbidden to report it. Granted, a Communications Assistant who performs text relay services may hear something terrible on the voice line, but they can never know for sure what they heard. Video Interpreters (VI’s) are unlike Communications Assistants (CA’s) in that we are eye witnesses to whatever goes on in front of the sign language user’s camera. We should be considered mandated reporters both for the sake of our clients and ourselves. It is a human being’s natural desire, nay, need to “do something about it” when we are witness to abuse. I could not live with myself if I witness such atrocities and did not report it. It doesn’t do our clients any good either for us to remain silent in such dreadful circumstances.

    You will notice that I use the term “Video Interpreter (VI)” in my letter to you. This is the term that has gained universal acceptance among the profession of sign language interpreting. Our work differs from that of CA’s in so many ways that (more…)

  • FCC Comment: No 10-Second Rule

    I posted the following comment to the FCC regarding Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) – Docket 03-123.

    There are simply not enough qualified American Sign Language Interpreters in the world to meet the needs of all consumers of Video Relay Services, so I oppose the rule that all calls must be answered within 10 seconds. It takes much longer to train a sign language interpreter than it takes to train a text relay operator. The rule might apply for text relay, but in this real world we live it, it is not applicable. Perhaps in another 5 years, if many sign language interpreters are recruited into interpreter training programs in order to fill the need for qualified video relay interpreters, we can comply with this rule. At this point, it is impossible.

  • Legal Requirements for Self-Employed Persons

    Please note I wrote this in May 2001. Facts may have changed.

    I did some researching lately on the requirements of self-employed status in San Diego, California (laws may be different elsewhere, of course!), and I found out a few things that I thought you might like to know. Some of these facts you probably already knew, and some may surprise you. First of all, did you know that every self-employed person doing business in the city of San Diego is required by law to own a Business Tax Certificate (BTC)? Yes, they haven’t done a very good job at getting the word out about this one, and I’ve never heard of anyone enforcing it, but apparently, anyone could walk up to you while you’re doing your freelance work and demand to see your BTC. The good news is that this BTC (formerly known as a Business License—ah, we’ve at least heard that term before, eh?) typically costs only $46 a year. You may find out all about the BTC, and download the necessary application forms in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), at http://www.sandiego.gov/treasurer/btax.shtml

    Second, some of us have had, at one time or another over the past several years, certain agencies or individuals tell us that, in order for us to claim independent contractor status, we were required by law to have to have a fictitious business name, incorporated status, a FEIN (Federal Employer ID Number), Worker’s Compensation Insurance, California State Disability Insurance, malpractice (professional liability) insurance, etc. Here is what I found out, by making several phone calls to local and state agencies and by looking up information on government web sites, one of which was (ref #1) http://www.sandiego.gov/economic-development/business/starting/tenkeysteps.shtml: (more…)

  • Interpreting or Transliterating?

    In previous installments, I’ve written about the importance of matching the Deaf speaker’s mastery of language, vocabulary, and register, especially when it comes to our ability to produce spoken English that is worthy of that speaker’s signed language. In my last, somewhat “controversial,” column, I wrote about the dilemmas we must face as interpreters when Deaf speakers produce signed English that is “wrong” or “broken English,” (as many second language speakers do). I believe that some of the controversy really turns upon the issue of whether we are voice interpreting or voice transliterating. This article will examine more closely the process that we might use to determine whether a Deaf speaker is producing an ASL message that must be interpreted or a signed English message that must be transliterated.

    I’d like to start off with the assertion that, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” Many of the sentences that Deaf people sign, either in ASL or some form of manually (and orally!) coded English, follow the same syntax as regular, spoken English sentences, and should be voiced exactly as they are signed. This means that we, as interpreters/transliterators, must constantly assess the speaker’s syntax and encoding system to ascertain whether each particular word, phrase, and sentence should be interpreted or transliterated. We must ask ourselves, “if I say exactly what they are signing (and mouthing), will the Hearing audience receive the same message as the Deaf speaker intended, or must I change the wording and/or phrasing in order to produce an equivalent message to the speaker’s intent?” My assertion is that, more often than some would have us believe, transliteration is the way to go. (more…)