IW 84: 20 Voices and More

Happy New Year, 2024!!

Let's celebrate the new year and look back on 2023 and a bit into 2022. I look at how we can be better interpreters and colleagues within the communities we serve and our own signed language interpreting community.

And a special recognition to those friends and colleagues who have donated and supported me and the podcast from 2022 to 2024.

Until next time...

Transcript

IW 84: 20 Voices and More

Support the Podcast!

[ROCK INTRO MUSIC STARTS]

00:00:02 Tim

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 Tim

Let's start talking... interpreting.

00:00:34 Tim

And now the quote of the day. Today's quote is by Kelsey Dionne, creative writer of tabletop role-playing games. Her character, a human wizard named Creeg, said, “Language is key to the most important doors.” As interpreters, we all know how important language is…

00:00:57 Tim

…how key it is for those opportunities throughout our lives and throughout the lives of the communities we serve. Today, I talk a little bit about language, about this past year of 2023 and this coming year 2024, and how we as interpreters can learn from our past and plan for our future.

00:01:19 Tim

Let's get started.

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

00:01:25 Tim

In 2022, I started this podcast, in June of that year. I interviewed seven interpreters, giving their voice and sharing their stories, their advice about ethics, about practical decisions, and the nuances that affect our profession.

00:01:44 Tim

And in 2023 this past year, we had the opportunity to listen to over 12 voices, 12 interviews and a special efsli conference reporting, where we talked to many different interpreters and their experience at the efsli conference in September.

00:02:05 Tim

Each individual had their own stories to tell. How they got into interpreting, the research they have done, the difficulties that they have faced.

00:02:14 Tim

And how they overcame barriers or problems in the different settings where we work. We have listened to those who came before us, those who started the profession and those who have just begun their careers and everywhere in between.

00:02:32 Tim

Each interpreter uses different languages from their countries and some languages from other countries in their daily work.

00:02:41 Tim

Our multilingual, multicultural, very diverse profession has many voices, many stories, but we all come together, experiencing some of the same exact situations, moments in time, and those understanding details. [slight chuckle in his voice]

00:03:02 Tim

A look, a gesture, one word, and we all know what we're talking about. That is connection. That is relationship. That is the beginning of understanding each other.

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

00:03:20 Tim

Our communities that we serve face many barriers and not just language barriers, cultural barriers, differences in perspective, discrimination, so many barriers to communication, to relationships. Having a common language is that one step.

00:03:41 Tim

That foot in the door that opens up into opportunities for each of us. Our clients have many doors open for them because of what we do and that puts a lot of responsibility on us.

00:03:56 Tim

That means we have to be good at what we do. We have to continue the development, as many of the voices have said here on the podcast, create that training for yourself. Find a way to improve yourself. Accept a new perspective when you find that it's a better perspective or a perspective that is useful in certain situations.

00:04:20 Tim

Having those open doors for our communities helps build their relationships between other communities, the hearing, the deaf, the boss, the worker.

00:04:30 Tim

But I think we need to take that a step further and remember, for us in the profession as interpreters, we need to start breaking down those barriers too. We each have different perspectives. We need to use those skills in language and in communication that we have… with each other.

00:04:52 Tim

We need to take those language skills, those communication skills that we use every day in our work. We need to use those with each other, communicate in a way that is clear, kind and conceptually accurate so that we can break down the barriers between ourselves.

00:05:12 Tim

Not just between countries or communities, but between each other within the profession that helps build each of us up…

00:05:21 Tim

…working on our strengths rather than our weaknesses. Working on our strengths and allowing our differences to teach each other, to see new ways [changes voice to Capt. Kirk] “…and new civilization…” (No, sorry, that would be Star Trek.) Taking those new ways, those new ideas, those new concepts…

00:05:42 Tim

New training methods. New research…

00:05:45 Tim

New voices. Let's take that into the new year. Use our language skills, our communication skills, and our comprehension skills. Use our memory skills to remember when we could have done better. Remember our mistakes when we are trying to advise or help others who are making mistakes.

00:06:07 Tim

The more we learn, the more we realize how little we know. So, remember that when you're helping, when you're supporting your team. I know I have learned much from these voices over this last year and a half, and I know I will learn even more in the coming years.

[ROCK TRANSITION MUSIC STARTS]

00:06:28 Tim

Hey, could you do me a favor? If you've enjoyed any of my episodes, please consider sharing it with a friend. Take a moment to send a recommendation of this podcast to your friends and colleagues. It's the one way we can spread these voices further.

00:06:43 Tim

And if you also support the idea of recording the many interpreting voices for posterity, please consider a financial donation. Click on the links in the show notes to support this show. It allows me to have the technical equipment and the software to keep the podcast going. Thank you very much. Let's go back.

[ROCK TRANSITION MUSIC ENDS]

00:07:05 Tim

Let's talk about a couple of examples. First, social media. Yep, that elephant in the room many times on Facebook, for example, new interpreters, old interpreters, students, they ask for our advice.

00:07:24 Tim

Ask what we think we would do, or they ask, “did I do something wrong” or “what do I do now?” And they usually get many opinions and answers, many different views and perspectives that need to be taken into account.

00:07:39 Tim

We should be using our language skills and our communication skills, our professionalism, our kindness, when we are answering or replying in social media. Anytime we send a text or recorded message, I would advise that we stop for a minute and look at what we have written.

00:07:59 Tim

For example, if one person is asking for advice or what would we do? We need to look at this reply that we have written and think if I was doing a workshop and someone in the audience asked me this question, would I answer with this text?

00:08:19 Tim

Would I say it this way? If I change the inflection on different words, is the meaning still what I want it to be? If I was sitting opposite this person having a cup of coffee and having a chat, would I say these words?

00:08:35 Tim

Or perhaps if I got this text from someone I didn't know, would I interpret it any other way than what I intended to be? Is my intention to support this person or my intention to show where this person has gone wrong and what is it they actually wanted me to say?

00:08:57 Tim

How did they want me to support them? Was I being kind and professional? We've all heard how people don't react the way they would in person.

00:09:08 Tim

But do we ever think of that when we are writing our text, the inflection, the tone, all of those are hidden in the text. Everyone puts their own facial expressions to what is written, so use those communication skills. Realize as an interpreter we don't get all of the meaning from the words from the text.

00:09:33 Tim

So, if we’re reading text, it's easier to understand it if we know the person who's writing it. But if we don't know the person who's written it, it is very difficult to know the intention to know the personality and to know how that person would have said it. So be careful with your own messages on social media.

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

00:10:00 Tim

If you remember my interview with Brett Best in episode 28, we started that interview. And she told us about her research into how interpreters treat each other on social media. It's very eye opening and shows that even in our profession we can be just as harsh as anyone else on social media.

00:10:25 Tim

So that's one way we can start breaking down barriers between each of us, is by using our skills that we use every day in our work on how to communicate effectively and professionally. Because we're all in this together, we're all trying to improve ourselves and our community for the communities that we serve.

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

[ROCK EXIT MUSIC STARTS]

00:10:54 Tim

There are some voices who have been unheard, but they have responded to me and so I would like to now let you know who those are. 14 individuals have supported my podcast with financial donations. It is very much appreciated.

00:11:12 Tim

That each of these individuals are colleagues, friends, Deaf and hearing who helped me find the time to spread the word about my passion for the profession, about our passion for the profession. Since the beginning of my podcast, I have received donations from these individuals:

00:11:34 Tim

Yvon von Burden, Minnie West, Jill Baker, Karolina Kalendova, Filip Machac, Aleksandra Kalata-Zawlocka, Bostjan Jerko, Brett Best, Alison Vere, Kamila Skalska, Andrea Andelova, Julie Creswell, Gale Manuel, and Anne Byrd.

00:12:07 Tim

Each of these individuals have touched my heart and helped me continue spreading the passion. What excites me most about these donors is that they are from many different countries coming together for one purpose…

00:12:23 Tim

…to help me speak to you, from across the world.

00:12:27 Tim

So, here's to another year of connecting, and sharing, and caring from students, interpreters, researchers, teachers and all our communities that we serve.

00:12:39 Tim

Let’s… keep our voices calm and keep interpreting. I'll see you all year.

00:12:49 Tim

Take care now.

[ROCK EXIT MUSIC ENDS AT 00:13:26]