By Andrew Dafoe CHI™ If I had to pick a defining word for the year 2020, at the top of my list would be crisis. It really became what felt like a never ceasing stream of natural disasters, global pandemics, the resulting economic downturns, political divisiveness, and racial injustices. Collectively, we’ve experienced and continue to experience more crises than could be listed … [Read more...]
Media interpreters play a critical role in news reporting
![[Photojournalist Thorne Anderson, on assignment in Tarin Kowt, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan, March 2009. Courtesy of Thorne Anderson.]](https://i2.wp.com/www.ata-divisions.org/ID/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Thorne_Anderson.jpg?resize=150%2C150)
To protect the integrity of information, interpreters need to focus on accuracy, impartiality, and completeness By Margarita Martín-Hidalgo Birnbaum When Steve Mines was a journalist in China, he relied on interpreters to help him in his reporting. Years later, those experiences served him well once the shoe was on the other foot. On a recent assignment, Mines … [Read more...]
New challenges–and opportunities–for educational interpreters during a pandemic
![[A pile of books, an apple, and block letters on a school desk]](https://i1.wp.com/www.ata-divisions.org/ID/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/element5-digital-OyCl7Y4y0Bk-unsplash.jpg?resize=150%2C150)
The good, the bad, and the not-so-tech-savvy By Alina Avelar Roque On the morning of March 13, 2020, Anaheim Elementary School District, where I've been working for over five years as an interpreter/translator, held an emergency board meeting to vote on suspending in-person learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That same day, all students were sent home with … [Read more...]
Professional standards and self-care in remote interpreting
Ever since COVID-19 upended the world as we know it, interpreters around the world have had to adjust to working remotely. We’ve learned how to work with a variety of platforms and equipment. We’ve educated ourselves about potential hiccups and how to resolve them. We’ve even developed our individual routines before connecting to our assignments. Over time, best practices have … [Read more...]
To be or not to be certified: the dilemma for non-Spanish interpreters
By Yasmin Alkashef In an industry where the majority of professionals are freelancers and where subject-matter expertise cannot be easily judged by clients or intermediaries, certification remains the gatekeeper to quality. Hiring a translator or interpreter without verified qualifications or certification is a very risky endeavor. The result may cost a limited English … [Read more...]