I have been digging into my internship phase in pursuit of my Bachelors of Science in Interpreting, and I'm coming up with some nuggets of realization that I am labeling as 'Takeaways'. I poached this term from somewhere so I don't take credit for it, but it accurately describes the phrases that I use in my journal to sum up what I have learned during a particular scenario. These might be similar to the suggestions found in Jack Hoza's 'The Interpreter's Guide to Life: 365 Tips for Interpreters,' but they are all takeaways that I have written spontaneously during my own work. Future posts will include other takeaways as I continue learning every day from every interpreted interaction.
Takeaway: the interpreter will make decisions during the interaction regarding critical information that needs to be included versus expendable details. We hope that we can make an educated guess as to which is which, and that we can judiciously and ethically edit if we cannot include both.
Takeaway: knowing about the clients' interests will help add to your ELK (extra linguistic knowledge) for an assignment because you never know when personal interests or vocabulary from those activities will appear in conversation.
Takeaway: No interpreter catches everything that is said/signed in a given interaction, and team members can assist each other to fill in the gaps either by temporarily taking the floor or by feeding the missed information. If you have a team, rely on them when in doubt, and the two of you can figure it out.
Takeaway: some assignments will require you to pull out all the techniques you have stashed in your ASL tool box.
Takeaway: there are rarely assignments that are solely 'single settings', and usually there are aspects of multiple setting norms in each assignment.
Takeaway: no matter what the circumstances are, there should be open communication between the interpreting team members regarding expectations, actual experience during the assignment, and there should be post-conferencing especially whenever there is a multi-day assignment.
Takeaway: the interpreter is the 'expert' in the room when it comes to matters of interpretation, and we have a right and responsibility to ensure that effective service is delivered to the best of our ability.
Takeaway: be flexible with your positioning so that you maintain sight lines. Don’t get stuck in one spot, and always be analyzing whether you are positioned optimally.
Takeaway: evaluate the impact of 'liberal' choices (see Demand Control Schema by Dean and Pollard) before you commit to them. Your actions may be judged by others involved in the interaction, so my feeling is we should always monitor our professional behavior regardless of how familiar we are with the setting. Every day on a regularly scheduled assignment is a new day in itself, and maintaining professional boundaries over the long haul will reflect well on you most of the time.
Takeaway: if you are able to let your mentor be 'on' first in an assignment, you will have a model to work from. Then you can monitor the client’s feedback to make sure you are both on target.
