Proposed Best Practices for Simultaneous Interpreting in Non-Conference Settings

Many in the industry have been following recent developments in the Federal Immigration Courts. The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) has decided to start using simultaneous interpreting during immigration court hearings. While this decision is certainly a step forward in increasing language access for the non and limited English-speaking persons involved in immigration proceedings, the move highlights a conundrum that many in our profession face: how to ensure proper working conditions for the interpreter when simultaneous is the required mode.

In response to concern that this innovation would not be accompanied by necessary changes in work policies and conditions in immigration courts, the interpreting profession has recently made a concerted and unprecedented unified effort to reach agreement on what does constitute "best practices" for simultaneous interpreting in non-conference settings.

Earlier this week, the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters (NAJIT), in collaboration with eight national and international interpreter professional associations representing conference, legal, medical, and sign language interpreters, published a joint statement promoting best practices and proper work conditions for interpreters providing simultaneous interpretation in the immigration court system. You can see the full statement here: http://www.najit.org/Lionbridge%20letter%20pdf.pdf

Today, InterpretAmerica follows suit with our own statement on Best Practices for Simultaneous Interpreting in Non-Conference Settings. InterpretAmerica worked in tandem with NAJIT and the professional association collaborative, to ensure that our position is in full support of the consensus rapidly forming industry-wide.

In what we plan to be periodic statements on best practices on issues relevant to our profession, we share our Best Practices on Simultaneous Interpreting document with the field. It is our hope that this document, along with the effort of other key stakeholders in the field, will go a long way towards defining proper working conditions for interpreters in sectors where these guidelines are lacking or non-existent.

The Best Practices statement can be viewed here:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B7OAPyAQ9PNwVUVmLTgzdEt1b2c


We look forward to your feedback!

New Logo! New Name! New Programming!

It’s official! InterpretAmerica has a new look – a new logo – and a new name for our annual conference.

We are excited about our new logo, which can be seen in its various formats on our Facebook page. The logo design is symbolic of interpreting, with two opposing dialog balloons representing different languages. They are connected in the middle by a vertical line, one color seamlessly fading into another, representing interpreting.

Our new logo is meant to convey that we support anything and everything that helps make communication and understanding possible between languages and cultures.

We also have streamlined the name of our annual conference. Formerly the North American Summit on Interpreting, we have shortened it to the InterpretAmerica Summit, in recognition of how most people already refer to the event.

In celebration of our new logo and summit name, we have finalized the preliminary program for our 4^th Summit, which can now be view at http://interpretamerica.net/program2.

Check out the planned program for 2013, a blend of the familiar and new, and mark your calendars to attend the 4^th InterpretAmerica Summit this coming June 14-15, 2013 in Reston, Virginia.

And let us know what you think of the new look!

Interpreting Finds Its Voice

InterpretAmerica Co-President Katharine Allen is this week's author for the NAJIT Blog. In a piece titled Interpreting Finds Its Voice: The Shared Vision of Association Leaders Cruz and Ferreira, she explores the encouraging trends both men see in our profession.

When will “I am an interpreter” have shared meaning for the average person in the same way that “I am a teacher” or even “I am a politician” does?

And perhaps more pertinent, how will that shared meaning come about?

If NAJIT Chairman Robert Cruz and California Federation of Interpreters (CFI) President Michael Ferreira have their way, that broader recognition and clout will only come about as a result of the efforts of all of us, whether as individual interpreters or as larger association and agency players. However, they see a vital and special role for us, the individual practitioner.

And the moment may indeed be ripe to achieve that kind of visibility.

Both leaders keynoted the recent California Federation of Interpreters (CFI) 10^th Annual Continuing Education Conference in Los Angeles. In his address, NAJIT Chairman Cruz emphasized the growing synergy between initiatives undertaken by individual interpreters and interpreter associations, and those spearheaded by outside fields, such as lawyers and the Department of Labor..

You can read the full blog post here. 

Be sure to leave your comments as to what you see as the most important trends you are experiencing in the interpreting profession.

Maria Cristina de la Vega, noted blogger on interpreting issues, interviewed InterpretAmerica Co-Presidents Barry S. Olsen and Katharine Allen for her blog this week. The topics covered range from current trends in the interpreting industry to interpreter training, fragmentation in the profession, and outlooks for technology and collaboration. A sneak peak at programming for next year's 4th Summit on Interpreting is also provided. Be sure to read the entire interview at Maria Cristina's blog site. The link is provided below.

Interview with Barry S. Olsen and Katharine Allen of InterpretAmerica

The interpreting  profession has really advanced into the limelight this year, to the degree that we  were  the subject of a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Taniguchi vs. Kan Pacific Saipan, Ltd. Thus I thought it would be apropos to interview two visionary entrepreneurs in the field about their insights into the industry.

Barry Slaughter Olsen and Katharine Allen founded InterpretAmerica in 2009 with the express purpose of raising the profile of interpreting. Since 2010, InterpretAmerica has organized a yearly Summit on Interpreting, which brings together leaders from across the interpreting industry, individual interpreters, and end users of interpreting services. The 4^th Summit on Interpreting will take place just outside Washington, D.C., in Reston, Virginia, on June 14-15, 2013.

See the full interview at:  http://mariacristinadelavegamusings.wordpress.com/2012/08/28/interview-with-barry-s-olsen-and-katharine-allan-of-interpretamerica/

3rd Summit on Interpreting Keynote Address: The Digital Revolution and Multilingual Communication--A New Paradigm

The 3^rd North American Summit on Interpreting took place on June 15-16, 2012, in Monterey, California. For the Summit’s first time on the West Coast, InterpretAmerica reached beyond the confines of the interpreting world to invite a keynote speaker who would help the interpreting profession see just how it can not only fit into but also influence the technology-dominated world we live in.

That speaker was author, entrepreneur and technologist Scott Klososky. While Scott normally speaks to CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and business and civic leaders from around the world, he didn’t flinch when we approached him to address an eclectic group of some 180 interpreters, agency owners, professional association leaders, interpreter educators, and end users of interpreting services. He took the time and effort to understand what interpreters do today and how they do it as he prepared his remarks. The result was an informative, engaging and thought-provoking presentation that we now offer to interpreters everywhere here on our blog.

The video is just over an hour long, so carve out some time and prepare to learn and to have your own perceptions challenged. We think it will be time well spent. We look forward to your comments after you watch the video. If you would like to have a copy of Scott’s slides, they may be downloaded here.

Be sure to mark your calendar for the 4^th North American Summit on Interpreting on June 14-15, 2013. For the 4^th Summit, we will be returning to the Washington, DC region. Keep an eye on www.interpretamerica.net for more information.

Finally, thanks to all the interpreters, technicians and dreamers out there who are helping our profession evolve and adapt to the 21^st century. This video is for you. We hope you enjoy it and hope to see you at next year's Summit on Interpreting!

InterpretAmerica Recognizes Lou Provenzano's Contributions to the Interpreting Profession

InterpretAmerica Co-Presidents are both in Monterey this week, wrapping up final details from June’s conference and initiating planning for the 4th Summit.

Over the next couple of weeks we want to highlight the unique contributions made by key sponsors, speakers and participants. 

Today we start with Lou Provenzano. We would like to honor Lou’s contributions to the interpreting profession during his term as CEO and President of Language Line Services:

"In 2009, when we were organizing the 1st North American Summit on Interpreting, Lou was the first business leader that we contacted to support the event," said Barry Slaughter Olsen, InterpretAmerica Co-President. "He immediately saw the potential in a conference that would bring leadership from the entire interpreting industry together to leverage our respective strengths."

Co-President Katharine Allen, who has wide experience in the medical interpreting sector, has worked with Lou Provenzano on many projects, including the initial dialog supporting national medical interpreter certification and on language access issues in California and nationally.

"Through Lou's support, Language Line became an early sponsor of the Summit. Lou personally lent his support as a speaker on misclassification issues during the 2nd Summit, helping us to spotlight this critical yet poorly understood issue. At this year's Summit, Lou helped kick off the Summit at the Language Line sponsored Festival of Cultures, celebrating the company's 30th Anniversary and Monterey as the Language Capitol of the World."

InterpretAmerica applauds Lou for the work he has accomplished to build the telephonic interpreting industry in the United States and internationally, as well as the personal commitment and passion he brought to his work.

US Supreme Court Decision Reaffirms Definitions of Interpreting and Translation as Separate Disciplines

“Handle them carefully, for words have more power than atom bombs.”

 --Pearl Strachan

Washington policy wonks and K Street lawyers pride themselves on getting the words right. They understand that clear definitions are critical because they are the basis for everything else, but even specialists can get it wrong or unwittingly perpetuate misconceptions. This week, in a 6 to 3 decision the United States Supreme Court helped dispel one of those misconceptions—one so pervasive that it is perpetuated in everyday conversation, the media, and even in our country’s legislation. The simple question at the heart of this misconception:  What’s the difference between a translator and an interpreter?

The simple answer, now upheld by the Supreme Court, is that translators write, and interpreters speak.

When Japanese professional baseball player Kouichi Taniguchi fell through a wooden deck at the Marianas Resort and Spa while on vacation in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, he unwittingly set in motion a chain of legal maneuvers that culminated this week when the Supreme Court handed down its ruling. The question presented before the highest court in the land, however, had nothing to do with construction codes, accident liability or even compensation for pain and suffering. The question presented is whether costs incurred in translating written documents are “compensation of interpreters” for purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 1920(6). [1]

“So what?” may well be your next question. But for translators and interpreters, a cadre of multilingual knowledge workers whose importance continues to grow daily in the globally connected 21^st century, and for those who rely on their services, calling things by their names matters. Clear definitions are important; they help ensure that all parties involved understand each other.

Consider Capitol Hill, home to this nation’s lawmakers. Representatives work in the House, while senators work in the Senate. The work they do is similar, but no senator would take kindly to being called a congressman, and no congressman would try to participate in a vote on the Senate floor, even though they both work in Congress.

A similar division of labor exists between translators and interpreters. Translators work with the written word. They translate international treaties. They translate seized documents from Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. They have translated Harry Potter into at least 67 other languages.  In contrast, interpreters made the Nuremburg Trials possible by simultaneously interpreting witness testimony into and out of English, French, German and Russian for those present in the courtroom. Interpreters make it possible for our president to pick up the phone and speak with other world leaders. They work in countless emergency rooms across this country interpreting what doctors and patients say in life and death situations. A literary translator is of no more use to an emergency room doctor than a medical interpreter is to a company that wants to publish the English version of Stieg Larsson’s latest mystery novel.  The skills, disciplines, and job descriptions are quite distinct.

In its opinion, the Court stated that “both the ordinary and technical meanings of ‘interpreter,’ as well as the statutory context in which the word is found, lead to the conclusion that § 1920(6) does not apply to translators of written materials.”[2]

The drafters of 28 U.S.C. § 1920(6) either intentionally omitted translation or simply overlooked it, focusing on the immediate need to ensure that non-English-speaking parties to a suit could understand and participate in live courtroom proceedings. Given the general confusion surrounding what translators and interpreters do and how often people get the two professions mixed up, the omission comes as no surprise. The best way to fix this oversight would be by amending the code to include translation as well, not by tortured legal arguments that attempt to say translation and interpretation are the same thing, when they indisputably are not. 

Words matter. And the Supreme Court got the words right in this case. When he announced that the ruling was being published by the Court in English, Justice Samuel Alito made it very clear that he understands the difference between translation and interpreting when he said: “Anybody who wants to read it in another language will have to pay to have it translated, not interpreted.”[3]

--Barry Slaughter Olsen

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[1] Brief of Amici Curiae: Interpreting and Translation Professors in Support of Petitioner, p. i http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/supreme_court_preview/briefs/10-1472_petitioner_amcu_professors.authcheckdam.pdf  

[2]  Taniguchi v. Kan Pacific Saipan, Ltd., DBA Marianas Resort and Spa, p. 11. http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/10-1472.pdf 

[3] Supreme Court says interpretation and translation are different things when it comes to fee, Washington Post, 05/21/2012,  http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-says-interpretation-and-translation-are-different-things-when-it-comes-to-fee/2012/05/21/gIQAXzbOfU_story.html