ATA Interpreters Division

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Maya Hess: A path not planned

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Maya Hess, forensic linguist and founder of Red T, grew up in the town of Wald (tr. “forest”), to the southeast of Zurich in Switzerland. Surrounded by forests, rolling hills, and a large, socially conscious family, Maya had a plan. She would be a journalist and document events for the rest of us. But life has a way of changing our plans. A different path After moving to the … [Read more...]

Prognosis for staff healthcare interpreters: The world is their oyster

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By Marisa Rueda Will If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it is that change is inevitable. Perhaps that is why Gabriela Siebach’s 2021 ATA Conference presentation, Maintaining a Career as a Language Professional: An Endless Journey, caused me to reflect on how staff interpreters have been forced to unexpectedly reevaluate their career trajectories as a result … [Read more...]

Finding your power in ethical decision making

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By Milena Calderari-Waldron How many times has a colleague approached you with, “The other day [fill in the blank] happened to me. What do you think I should have done?” When confronted with an ethical problem—as opposed to an ethical dilemma which is where one must choose between two conflicting codes, inevitably transgressing one of them—, one approach to answering the … [Read more...]

Lessons for the new year

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Here we are. 2021 has staggered to a close and a new year has begun. COVID is still in the daily news, our professional world is still a constant mix of virtual and in-person, and we never did get our “old normal” back. In fact, it seems to me that we’re learning to hold this “new normal” lightly, knowing full well that it can change again at any time. As professionals, this … [Read more...]

Portable equipment for socially-distanced simultaneous interpretation in court

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By Flavia Lima & Monica Guelman After months of near-total lockdown in many US states, courts are reopening with a massive backlog of cases to work through as a consequence of the pandemic and interpreters are in high demand. We need to find solutions to assist court attendees who are Limited English Proficient (LEP), while maintaining social distancing. In the pre-COVID … [Read more...]

Robert Joe Lee: Distinguished Speaker

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-By Carol Shaw There are people in this world who see a disconnect in a system and ask what can be done. Then there are those who see the disconnect and ask what they can do. Meet Robert Joe Lee, doer. Not that he started out to fix the system nationwide. He started down that road as a seminary student and prison chaplain in New Jersey, trying to fix the holes in language … [Read more...]

Language services, hurricanes and pandemics: Overcoming crises to ensure access to Education

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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

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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...]