Dynamic Equivalence Blog

Image by Timasu from Pixabay. No matter how many times I relocate to a new region, state, or county, I am always surprised by how different the interpreting landscape is. It is easy to think that interpreting in a single field (like healthcare or legal) would be the same across the states, and that you could continue marketing your professional services in the same way, but it is not. Even those of us that provide remote interpreting services (including remote simultaneous, video remote, video conferencing, and over-the-phone) need to consider if there are any geographic requirements for our existing projects/clients. Our client's geographic location, even for remote clients, will inevitably have some bearing on how we earn their business. As I prepared for yet another relocation, I take an opportunity to share some of the differences I have found in the very different markets I have had the good fortune to research, in this initial blog for this series I will venture into a slight...

Unsplash photo by Siora Photography As I work toward acquiring certification as a court interpreter, I also make an effort to maintain my healthcare interpreter certification, while I continue to interpret in education. I also continue to translate and maintain my skills in the simultaneous, consecutive, and sight-translation modes of interpreting. As if that was not enough diversity, I also train and work in the various modalities (over-the-phone, video remote, remote simultaneous, video conferencing, and onsite). In a previous blog , I advocated for skill-based diversification to build a successful career. I highlighted how some skill diversification can be complimentary and help us stay relevant. In the last two weeks, I had an opportunity to renew my appreciation for subject matter specialization.  Why Specialize? When joining the ranks of healthcare interpreters in the United States, one of the things that I found most intimidating was the number of specialties in healthcare. ...

This week, I had an opportunity to hear Erin Timberman, Coordinator for Parent and Family Engagement at Irvine Unified School District , discuss how we can choose our "best yes" at the OCDE Interpreters and Translators Conference . A very timely presentation considering a major decisions on my plate: whether to accept a new consulting project or not.  How much free time do we actually have? As a freelance interpreter, translator, mentor, trainer, consultant, and active contributor to our profession as well as a mother, wife, daughter, sister, and friend, I often feel overextended and overwhelmed. Much to my surprise, Erin started her presentation by leading all participants through an exercise to help us identify how much "free" time we actually have. Her exercise was so simple I could not believe I had not thought of it before. Simply make a list of how much time you spend each day/week on various activities including sleep and work. With only 168 hours in a week, ...

Unsplash photo by Brendan Church I have had an opportunity to learn from Daniel Tamayo on multiple occasions. Those of you who have had the same opportunity know that he advocates for enhancing both our interpreting and translation skills as they are complimentary of each other. He recently spoke at the OCDE 2020 Interpreters and Translators Conference about how instrumental developing both skills has been in weathering the current pandemic. He also elaborated on his career path and how diverse his areas of expertise are, which inspired this entry. Should interpreters and translators specialize or diversify to build a successful career? Daniel Tamayo says that: "We should be generalist before we are specialist."  When discussing specialization, most practitioners in our profession see specialization in a couple of different ways: 1. skill based specialization (Are you a community interpreter, a conference interpreter, a video-remote interpreter, a translator, a translation e...

Unsplash photo by Scott Graham Getting started as a freelance interpreter or translator can be daunting, especially when it comes to the infamous independent contractor or sub-contractor agreements. Although some professional organizations like AIIC  (International Association of Conference Interpreters) and ATA (American Translators Association) provide their members with contract templates and information about common clauses, many clients (i.e. Language Service Providers or agencies, Organizations, Institutions, etc.) may provide us their own contract with different clauses. As an interpreter & translator, I will share some of the clauses I pay particular attention to, however, this should not be misconstrued as legal advise and a legal professional should be consulted for legal concerns related to any contract or agreement as well as any questions pertaining to any of the clauses shared in this entry.  Payment Terms & Compensation One of the first clauses I search...

Unsplash photo by Chris Montgomery The current situation has pushed many trainers and conference organizers to leap into the remote/online arena. Over the past several months, I have had the opportunity to attend many online training events, webinars, and conferences as well as training opportunities specifically designed for trainers and presenters who have not yet taken the plunge. What have I learned? There are a couple of key items that can make your training, presenting, or learning experience more meaningful.   Preparation The first step to ensuring a positive presenting or learning experience is preparing for the online event. Testing your internet connection, access to the remote platform, and functionality of your headphone/speakers, microphone and camera is key to minimizing any glitches on training day.  Although many of the online conferencing and training tools have browser based access points, some may have limited functionality, I have found that the best p...

Unsplash photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko This week's issue of Connecting Cultures' Interpreter Development Newsletter included a short piece on a very important reality in our or any service profession: the importance of the experience we provide our clients. We often focus on the hard (or technical) skills required to provide quality service, such as linguistic, interpreting, and translation skills, however, as Winnie Heh always teaches the graduate students she advises at MIIS, our customers' experiences are more often shaped by our soft skills. For better or for worse, the reality of our profession is that we often provide services to monolingual, bilingual or even multilingual individuals who do not fully understand the value we bring or the technical skills required to do what we do. The value of well-developed soft skills is that they help us demonstrate our quality in a language they understand. In my experience, communication is the most essential collection of int...