IW 82: Interview Marty Taylor Part 4: Interpreter Means Being There

The FUTURE!!!??? It's impossible to know the future, so it is best to know... you.

We finish our conversation with Dr Marty Taylor. Through the insight of "word association" and looking from the past to the future of sign language interpreting, Marty gives us advice and perspective about what it means to be a signed language interpreter. Enjoy.

Until next time....

Transcript

IW 82: Interview Marty Taylor Part 4: Interpreter Means Being There

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[ROCK INTRO MUSIC STARTS] 

00:00:02

Good morning, good evening, good afternoon. Wherever you are, this is the Interpreter's Workshop podcast. I'm Tim Curry, your host. Here we talk everything sign language interpreting the ins, the outs, the ups, the downs, the sideways of interpreting. If you're a student, a new interpreter, experienced interpreter, this is the place for you. If you want to know more, go tointerpretersworkshop.com

00:00:28

Let's start talking... interpreting.

00:00:34 Tim

And now the quotes of the day, the first by Ralph Waldo Emerson, American philosopher, and poet.

00:00:43 Tim

“You cannot do kindness too soon. For you never. Know how soon it will be too late.”

00:00:52 Tim

And the second by James Earl Jones, American actor.

00:00:58 Tim

“You don't build a bond without being present.”

00:01:03 Tim

These two quotes connect to today's talk in the last of the series, with Dr Marty Taylor. Today we discuss what it means to be an interpreter, what it means to be there, to be available and engaged with the deaf community for each of us.

00:01:23 Tim

So, let's finish our conversation with Marty on a high note.

00:01:28 Tim

Learning what it is to be a sign language interpreter.

00:01:33 Tim

Thank you for being here.

00:01:35 Tim

Let's get started.

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

00:01:40 Tim

Let's do word association before I get into the last deep meaningful questions.

00:01:48 Tim

As opposed to the rest of it, that we've done. [both chuckle]

00:01:52 Tim

Most of my listeners know this. I will tell you a word and you give me whatever concept comes to mind, whatever word comes to mind first and or if it's a story that comes to mind. The first word is… confusing.

00:02:11 Marty

Confusing… Life is confusing. [Tim chuckles]

00:02:14 Marty

The world is confusing. The world is going to pot at the moment. [Tim continues chuckling]

00:02:22 Marty

Yes, it is confusing. It's a fact.

00:02:25 Tim

Yes, OK. Next, after the confusion, we have... comfort food.

00:02:32 Marty

Comfort food.

00:02:35 Marty

Home cooking, homemade applesauce, homemade beets, and sweets. Lots and lots of sweets. Yes. Chocolate bars, [Tim: mmm] chocolate bars with nuts. Christmas cake with nuts. Yes.

00:02:57 Tim

Yes. That's a good thing. OK, next…

00:03:01 Tim

Pet peeve.

00:03:03 Marty

Don't tap me on my head. [Tim: ooo] Oh, I don't like that, even in jest.

00:03:10 Tim

No head tapping.

00:03:12 Marty

No head tapping, no. You can pretty much tap me anywhere else, but not my head. Maybe it's because I've been around deaf people so long. But you know, you don't tap a deaf person on the head. So, I don't know. I have two older brothers. [Tim: chuckling] Maybe they didn't, and I don't remember it.

00:03:32 Tim

OK, next… community.

00:03:36 Marty

Extremely important and many different communities.

00:03:43 Marty

I have a book club community.

00:03:46 Marty

I have a lesbian community. I have a deaf community. I have an academic community. I have a families community. Very important.

00:04:03 Marty

And to know the difference between me being American [Tim: mhmm] on one half, which is very much an individualistic perspective, [Tim: mhmm] and Canada, which is much more of a community perspective.

00:04:23 Marty

And that it is rude when I park in Canada and I take up two spots, [Tim chuckling] or, as in the United States I park, like, take two spots because I can.

00:04:38 Tim

‘Uh, there's no law against it.’

00:04:40 Marty

Unless your partner is sitting in the front seat saying, “what are you doing? Don't do this.” [Tim: chuckles]

00:04:50 Tim

OK, next… interpreter. [Marty: interpreter]

00:04:53 Marty

Key to my being. I am an interpreter. I've been an interpreter for the well, the vast majority of my life. [Tim: mmm]

00:05:07 Marty

Being flexible.

00:05:09 Marty

Being kind, being available.

00:05:14 Marty

Being engaged.

00:05:17 Marty

And participating in the deaf community and the interpreting community, both as an a person who attends and shows up and as a person who's willing to do some work [Tim: mhmm] for those groups. So, I volunteer for bingoes and casinos. [Tim: chuckles]

00:05:43 Marty

I participate in selling tickets for a wine draw.

00:05:48 Marty

And it doesn't have to be all the time, but definitely show up.

00:05:53 Tim

Nice interpreter show up. [chuckles]

00:05:57 Marty

Yep. Be there.

00:05:59 Tim

And the last… magic.

00:06:03 Marty

Magic. Oh, life is magical.

00:06:08 Marty

How can I be one day in Edmonton and the next day in Croatia? [Tim: hmm] How can I be in my deaf community?

00:06:20 Marty

And then be in Hong Kong and see a deaf woman on a tour bus. [Tim: mhmm]

00:06:28 Marty

And then I'm trying to look at the sites while we're on the tour bus.

00:06:33 Marty

But I'm more engaged with the woman from Hong Kong who's signing, and we're trying to make everything out. [Tim chuckles] As an interpreter, the magic of being in places that I would never be in. [Tim: mhmm] Like, interpreting for the Deaf Olympics and being on a ski hill.

00:06:56 Marty

I'm not going to be there by myself. [Tim chuckles: uh huh]

00:07:00 Marty

That's just not going to happen, and the magic of life, how we live, how we die, how we make it through, [Tim: mmm] how we grieve, how we get past things or not. [Tim: mhmm]

00:07:16 Marty

Life is magic. [Tim: yeah, yeah]

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

00:07:23 Marty

Just one thing that I think has changed, has reduced, eliminated the barrier of telephones for the deaf community for those who have access to video relay services. [Tim: mhmm] 

00:07:42 Marty

That change is monumental. Some of my early research in the video relay service was looking at two companies in the United States.

00:07:57 Marty

And I had access to interviews with interpreters, interviews with deaf people, time for focus groups.

00:08:07 Marty

I must say it was a great report. [chuckles] [Tim: mhmm] But that was probably 20 years ago now. Canada's new in the game we've been around for seven years, [Tim: mhmm] we have not been at, we have not had access to video relay services as long as the United States. [Tim: mhmm] But that's a game changer for deaf people.

00:08:33 Tim

In what ways?

00:08:34 Marty

It's a game changer in terms of access, in terms of the ability to find out any information, call anybody you want, friends, families, politicians…

00:08:49 Marty

Everything that hearing people have taken for granted [Tim: mhmm] and it's very exciting and it, it changes the world of deaf people. When we were talking about the olden days, when I first became an interpreter, those that married couple that had all the television sets. [Tim chuckles]

00:09:10 Marty

They would drive around to make their appointments. Like, they would drive to the doctor's office, make an appointment. They would drive to the mechanic to see if their car was done. When I was in their home, they would say, could you, you know, call so and so and so and so.

00:09:30 Marty

And the calling wasn't really interpreting. [Tim: mhmm]

00:09:33 Marty

They just wanted to make an appointment, so I just did it. [Tim: yeah]

00:09:36 Marty

Which is kind of nice. It's kind of like, “yeah, I know how the phone works. [Tim: mhmm] You don't have to sign to me that you want to make an appointment for Monday at around 10. I can do that.” [Tim: yeah]

00:09:46 Marty

I wish we still could do that on video relay. [Tim: yeah] I wish we could, you know, just get to the place they want to get on a telephone tree and not have them have to tell us because I can't interpret it as fast as, as the answering service is saying it and…

00:10:07 Marty

But anyway, VRS is just such a game changer. [Tim: yeah] And it affects interpreting tremendously because in Canada with our geographical area, we are interpreting for people across the country. [Tim: mhmm]

00:10:24 Marty

And it improves our skills. [Tim: mhmm] It gives us exposure to what's happening in other areas of the country. [Tim: mhmm]

00:10:34 Marty

And it also gives opportunities to deaf people in that both they can work in the video relay environment as managers and as deaf interpreters. [Tim: mhmm]

00:10:46 Marty

And deaf people can have a regular hearing answering machine and be a real estate agent.

00:10:54 Marty

Hearing people don't even have to know they’re Deaf, and hearing people can leave a message on the machine and then the deaf person can call the VRS and say, “Hey, what does this say? [Tim laughing] And ohh, I'm going to sell a house. Great. Thank you.”

00:11:11 Marty

That's something, and if we would have something in the future, the equivalent of, I can't imagine what it would be. What would be the huge barrier that exists now that would be taken down. [Tim: yeah]

00:11:27 Marty

Maybe it's going to be AI and all interpreters will be replaced. [Tim: yeah] If it was good, that would be great. I doubt it, that it would happen. [Tim: yeah] Where's the face? Where's the attitude? Where's the community relationship?

00:11:46 Marty

[Tim: Yeah] We'll see. I'll meet you again in 10… 20 years, Tim.

00:11:49 Tim

It's a date. I'll write it on my calendar.

00:11:52 Marty

OK. [both chuckle]

00:11:53 Tim

Which I can online. The calendar goes on forever, so I can do that.

00:11:57 Marty

Ohh, I can use my paper and pen and put it in there too.

00:12:00 Tim

Oh well, yeah, there is that.

[ROCK TRANSITION MUSIC STARTS]

00:12:02 Tim

It's a date, just like every Monday. I'm here with you. Thank you for showing support by listening and sharing the podcast. If you'd like to cash in on that support even more, check out the links in the show notes to support me and the podcast. Thank you. Let's go back.

[ROCK TRANSITION MUSIC ENDS]

00:12:18 Tim

You said there are pros and cons to the way things used to be. Is there something now that you wish we as interpreters would change? Or go back to?

00:12:31 Marty

Great question Tim. I would like to see interpreters more engaged in the community. That's a repetitive statement I'm making, but because of all this virtual interpreting, I feel that that takes interpreters away, away, away from the community.

00:12:51 Marty

And maybe that's where we're headed [Tim: mhmm] and maybe that's OK. Maybe I'm not sure about the language skills. If you're not involved in the community, how do we get the signed language skills? Are we going to get it virtually interpreting? That way, maybe?

00:13:12 Marty

Are we going to miss out on the nuances? I remember working with my deaf colleague at the college and she and I were running the program, and I was going to leave and she was going to take over the chair position we had set up this beautiful visual language lab. [Tim: mhmm]

00:13:32 Marty

Now it's common, but back then it was brand new, and we were having some problems with it and one of the things was we couldn't get the sound on the headphones working.

00:13:42 Marty

So that I, as the instructor, could listen to the interpretations that the interpreters were providing in their carels.

00:13:51 Marty

Finally, it got fixed. So, I see my friend Angela and I, I tell her I say, “Oh, good news.” In ASL, “GOOD”. And then you spelled N-E-W-S. “Good news!” [Tim: mhmm]

00:14:04 Marty

So, I tell her, “Ah, the audio. It's working. It's great. It's… I'm so thrilled.” She looks at me with this dumbfounded face and says, “What's the good news?” [Tim laughs] So, I mean, I, I've been around a long time by that time. Not forever, like now. But good news, she said, “That's only good news for you. [Tim: Yeah] Doesn't apply to me. I don't care about the sound you're using that sign incorrectly.” [Tim laughs]

00:14:35 Marty

So, it's like “really? Ohh, I didn't know that. I thought it was great news”, she said, “No, it's not. I don't care.” So, are we going to lose out on those opportunities? [Tim laughs]

00:14:49 Tim

Ah, the future. Something to look forward to.

00:14:53 Marty

Yes, it'll be magic. Whatever it is. [Tim chuckling: It will]

00:14:59 Tim

Well, my former professor Marty, thank you so much for your time. Thank you for sharing with us your experience, your knowledge, your wisdom, and your humor.

00:15:09 Marty

It's been a pleasure.

00:15:10 Tim

Thank you very much.

00:15:11 Marty

You're very welcome.

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

[ROCK EXIT MUSIC STARTS]

00:15:19 Tim

So many wonderful things that Marty and I have talked about over this series. While this last episode was short, they gave us some wonderful insight in what it means to be an interpreter. The connections we have, the relationships that we build, the things we learn.

00:15:38 Tim

It's all magical.

00:15:40 Tim

For example, it's magic as an interpreter to be in places, to be in situations where we would never go ourselves, things we wouldn't think of, but yet we are there. That's kind of magical to experience something that we normally would not.

00:16:01 Tim

Having that relationship with the communities we serve teaches us the cultural norms, the societal norms, differences, whatever you want to call it, that bond between people that makes up a community.

00:16:17 Tim

And in order to be in that relationship as an interpreter, we need to be flexible, available, be kind, participate, be engaged, volunteer as though we are a part of the community. We may be on the edge as hearing people.

00:16:37 Tim

But were available, and many of us become friends.

00:16:40 Tim

We show up, we're there. We're not just an automated system of ones and zeros. Yes, I mean, artificial intelligence. AI may one day replace translations or frozen interpretations, but it will never replace the community connection, the relationship of someone “being there”.

00:17:05 Tim

Hmm. How much more will we learn in the future? How many more barriers of communication barriers of access that will be opened up for the communities we serve? It is amazing to think how far we've come.

00:17:21 Tim

So, keep calm. Keep being there, interpreter.

00:17:28 Tim

I'll see you next week.

00:17:29 Tim

Take care now.

[ROCK EXIT MUSIC ENDS AT 00:18:06]