Daniel Greene

Tag: thoughts

Personal reflections on myself and other people— introspection, examination, reflections, musings, contemplations, examinations, probing— feelings you can probably relate to

  • Settings vs. specializations: Categorizing interpreting work

    Interpreter Patricia Stöcklin whispers interpreting to Garry Kasparov. Klaus Bednarz is speaking on the lit.Cologne 2007 Français : L'interpréteur Patricia Stöcklin traduit en chuchotant à Garry Kasparov. Klaus Bednarz parle au lit.Cologne 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
    Interpreter Patricia Stöcklin whispers interpreting to Garry Kasparov. Klaus Bednarz is speaking on the lit.Cologne 2007 Français : L’interpréteur Patricia Stöcklin traduit en chuchotant à Garry Kasparov. Klaus Bednarz parle au lit.Cologne 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

    Is “freelance” a setting? I’ve heard people say they used to be “educational” and now they’re “freelance.” What they mean is they used to be employed full-time at a school and now they work as an independent contractor for agencies. Yet interpreters can work full-time in schools and be “freelance” if they’re working at that school as independent contractors. By the same token, there are interpreters who work for agencies as full-time employees, and they do doctor’s appointments, business meetings — the same kinds of work as interpreters who call themselves “freelancers.” I think interpreters get their settings and specialties mixed up, and I think it can cause confusion to those entering the field, those who hire us, and even ourselves and each other. Knowing what’s what can give everyone a better understanding of what we do. Here is how I suggest we distinguish interpreting settings from interpreting specialties: (more…)

  • Happy Independence Day, America!

    USA Flag
    I actually took this photo on a regular day, since we fly our flag every day of the year.

  • Why worry whether people like me? I don’t worry whether I like them.

    I was wondering the other day whether a group of people liked me and then I asked myself whether I liked them. I realized I didn’t think about them that way, so they probably don’t think about me that way either.

  • Exploding our models to get a better view of our work

    I’m not talking about blowing up runway models with dynamite; I’m talking about looking at our work like a 3-D model— stretching it out and viewing its constituent parts from all angles to see how they work together. In the interpreting profession, we talk about “models” of interpretation like helper, conduit, ally, etc. We may have seen some flat diagrams of these models, so maybe we’re used to thinking of models as two-dimensional. How can we bring these models to life and apply them to our work? If you’re like me, you need a picture, or better yet, a moving picture. This video shows the way I like to think of modeling our work. Think of this next time you get supervision or case conference, next time you analyze your work within the Demand-Control Schema. Think of this video and see if you are really taking the time to stretch out the scenario and look at all the parts that make it tick.

  • Professional conferences and organizations are valuable!

    In response to The Professional Interpreter’s post Are professional conferences and organizations valuable? I replied:

    I think that, in general, professional conferences are great! I don’t go to them all the time—one a year on average—but I always make some valuable personal/professional connections, and I always learn more about how to be better at what I do. For example, at the Conference of Interpreter Trainers in 2010, I met Miako (Villanueva) Rankin. We happened to chat at a lunch table, and now she is one of my master’s thesis committee members. Another example: I attended a Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf regional conference in 1998 and learned some life-changing lessons about participant-presenter interactions that have stayed with me both as a participant and a presenter of workshops.

    I also think it helps to find more than one reason to go to a conference. When I attended the 2006 CIT conference in San Diego, it was a chance to visit my parents and friends in the city I had moved away from two years before. When I attended other conferences, such as the National Association of Black Interpreters (NAOBI), I was there as a presenter but I reveled in the warm welcome I received even though I am not black and I loved the festive atmosphere and cross-cultural exchange.

    A conference is what you make it. If you can network and make friends and/or academic/professional relationships, combine both learning and teaching, and enjoy the city you’re visiting, I think a conference can be a great boon to one’s career.

    P.S. I didn’t put all these links in my comment on The Professional Interpreter; I added them here. 🙂