IW 99: Your Turn: Q&A - Czech Republic

It's MY turn, no....it's YOUR turn to talk.

Today we get more answers from sign language interpreters on the questions below, today we get answers from Karolina and Filip in the Czech Republic.

I gave them the same three questions from last episode to answer how they wanted.

1. What is one of the biggest challenges you have when it comes to working as a sign language interpreter?

2. What was one of the most memorable moments from the podcast for you?

3. What one perspective of yours about sign language interpreting has changed since your first started interpreting?

Want to answer any of these or ask me a question? Click here to send a voicemail.

Transcript

IW 99: Your Turn: Czech Republic - Q&A

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[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.

[ROCK INTRO MUSIC ENDS]

00:00:35 Tim

And now the quote of the day by English novelist Jane Austen.

00:00:42 Tim

“Self-Knowledge is the first step to maturity.”

00:00:48 Tim

This quote can work in so many places in life or in a profession. As a sign language interpreter, most of us work alone most of the time, so who do we turn to when we need advice when we need to analyze our work?

00:01:07 Tim

Hmm, looks like we have to look at ourselves. Knowing ourself helps us mature as a sign language interpreter, learning what we do, what we don't do, how we do it, how we don't do it, and why to all of those questions helps us mature.

00:01:26 Tim

Helps us develop, helps us to be better as a sign language interpreter and an ally to the communities we serve and to each other, our fellow interpreters.

00:01:39 Tim

Today it is your turn again, more sign language interpreters listening to the podcast, answering some questions for us. Let's get started.

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

00:01:55 Tim

As we begin our journey as a sign language interpreter, we all start at different points in life.

00:02:01 Tim

Some of us have a lot of life experience, a lot of professional experience and some of us don't. Some of us have academic training as a sign language interpreter and others do not. Some have a high fluency in both languages, perhaps being a CODA.

00:02:21 Tim

All of these different experiences shape the individual interpreter, and its shapes the profession as a whole.

00:02:30 Tim

Each of us contributes to what the profession is. We each contribute to the dialogue that we have with the communities we serve. Each of us influences how the next interpreter is perceived by the deaf community and by the hearing community as well as the next interpreter that we're teaming with, those first good impression.

00:02:58 Tim

Well, how do we develop those skills? How do we develop how we interact? Hmm. Through maturity, through the soft skills that everyone talks about, that we need to work on.

00:03:14 Tim

How do we do that? How do we learn, develop, study, analyze… become better at what we do?

00:03:24 Tim

We learn more about ourselves because the more we learn about ourselves, the more we can influence change.

00:03:34 Tim

Just as a teacher must learn about the students and where they are in their journey of their studies to understand what will overwhelm the student or underwhelm the student, or accurately match where the student is on their journey and therefore give them a little push, motivation, inspiration to move forward.

00:03:58 Tim

We need to do the same for the student inside of us.

00:04:04 Tim

That means we must be curious. We must ask ourselves all of these questions.

00:04:12 Tim

When there's a topic that we talk about all the time, question that, think about that. What is it about this topic that we know? What is it? We don't know. Perhaps there's a new perspective that we haven't thought of.

00:04:28 Tim

Re-analyzing, redefining what we know helps us understand what it is we actually know. You know?

00:04:39 Tim

Questioning, analyzing, debating, discussing, asking others, asking why they have that opinion, where they got that opinion, where they developed that skill, all of those things is what we're trying to do here at the podcast.

00:04:57 Tim

We are having a conversation with interpreters around the world, seeing how they deal with these things, how they talk about these things, what they question, what they have, what they don't have.

00:05:11 Tim

So that's why I asked a few more interpreters to give some short answers that we can maybe get a new perspective, maybe see something a different way and therefore give us a new question because their perspective on this topic might give you a new perspective on another topic. We might be able to apply what they think to something else to help us breakdown a barrier that we can't get past in our own self-awareness.

00:05:45 Tim

So, let's take these simple questions and hear the answers from these colleagues of ours.

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

00:05:57 Tim

The first question I asked, what is the current biggest challenge you have in your sign language interpreting practice?

00:06:07 Tim

And first to answer that is Karolina from the Czech Republic.

00:06:13 Karolina

Well, I would choose that. The biggest challenge for me is to stay silently watching when things go just wrong. For example, at school during classes, when I see that the teachers are overworked, and they do mistakes more often than it's usual.

00:06:34 Karolina

Then just I, I see this confusion of the deaf students and they just get more and more confused and it's really hard to not to say anything.

00:06:45 Karolina

Not to, not to tell them that, hey, “You're, you're right, you're correct. The teacher is the one who's wrong.”

00:06:52 Karolina

But I know it's just part of our job, but yeah, sometimes.

00:06:57 Karolina

It feels just like it's…

00:07:00 Karolina

Itching, scratching my brain. So yeah, sometimes it's really big challenge.

00:07:07 Tim

In the educational setting, it can be a challenge, especially when we know that the teacher or professor has the authority in the room. If there is not a dialogue going on. If there's not a question and answer session, it can be difficult to interrupt.

00:07:27 Tim

Difficult to ask for clarity.

00:07:30 Tim

But if you're in an educational situation where it is with younger students, those under university level at the elementary level or, as we say in the US, the high school level, the primary and the grammar school levels.

00:07:45 Tim

One technique we can do is remember that we are interpreting and it's not about the language.

00:07:52 Tim

But we can use the language to our advantage. What does that mean? Well, whether I'm working in the community at the doctor's office when something is not clear, or if I'm interpreting in a classroom, and the student obviously is confused.

00:08:13 Tim

Or not quite getting something and we know the reason why such as what Karolina just said. We know that the teacher has made a mistake or the teacher is not clear.

00:08:26 Tim

If we have the opportunity, I interpret the confusion because how do I know that the student is confused? Is it because of the way they're signing, the way they're answering? Is it the way that their facial expression has a puzzled look or a confused look?

00:08:46 Tim

Well, why not interpret that into spoken language?

00:08:51 Tim

When I see that in a critical moment, such as the learning environment, or like I said in the medical environment, confusion that I see, I interpret.

00:09:04 Tim

Because it's critical for understanding in those moments and when I have done that, the doctor explains more thoroughly or restates what they said in another way, which helps with the clarity and the same goes in the classroom.

00:09:22 Tim

Teachers ultimately have a goal of getting the point across.

00:09:28 Tim

When I see that puzzled look without any signed expression, no communication, just the facial communication, I still interpret it. I still interpret. “Umm. I'm sorry. What does that mean?” Or “I don't get it.” “I'm confused.”

00:09:49 Tim

Or “Can you say that again?”, “What does that mean?”

00:09:54 Tim

Whatever is appropriate for how the confusion came about, I use it in my interpretation and if the teacher replies back, “Wait a minute. What's confusing?” I will interpret into sign language appropriately.

00:10:10 Tim

Such as “You looked confused. What? What is confusing? What part did you not understand?”

00:10:17 Tim

Because that's what the teacher normally does. If they see the student and look at the student and the students look puzzled, teachers usually restate what they say or they ask, “does that make sense? Do you understand that? What part did you not understand?”

00:10:33 Tim

Teachers also have to be aware of themselves and their students in order to be successful, just as we need to be aware of ourselves and our clients to give a successful interpretation.

00:10:49 Tim

It is hard and it's frustrating to make a decision when we see something that the clients we are serving don't see. We understand there's been a miscommunication, or someone misspoke, but they didn't catch it, they said someone's name.

00:11:07 Tim

But they meant someone else. All of those little things can frustrate us because we know what they meant. Hmm. Now that is something to think about. If we know what they meant or what they intended.

00:11:23 Tim

Aren't we supposed to be interpreting what they intended? Perhaps we can show the mistake and maybe add what was intended, especially if we see an indication from the target or the recipient of that interpretation, we see that they are a little confused.

00:11:43 Tim

Can we add, “Maybe they meant this?”

00:11:47 Tim

Or even just say, “Did you actually mean this?” Because we see confusion on the target participant’s face. Hmm. So much to think about, but not something we should completely get worried about. No, we are not there to make sure that everyone understands.

00:12:06 Tim

That’s truly not our goal, because many times people just talking to each other in their native languages don't understand each other, or they misunderstand each other.

00:12:17 Tim

And if you married out there, and if you have a partner that you have been with for a long time or have a best friend or a sibling that you communicate really well with, but you still misunderstand each other? Yeah, it happens all - the - time.

00:12:33 Tim

And if you had an interpreter there, is the interpreter there to make sure everybody understands each other, and clears up any misunderstandings, and makes sure that nobody gets mad because something was said wrong?

00:12:45 Tim

No, that's not our job.

00:12:48 Tim

Just keep calm. Interpret what you see, what you hear, what you feel there that's being shown. That is clear to you. I hope that strategy helps.

[ROCK TRANSITION MUSIC STARTS]

00:13:00 Tim

Thank you to all the hundreds of people following this podcast. If you want to hear from interpreters around the world and get the latest episodes follow the podcast in your app. Just check out some of the links in the show notes to help you with that. Thank you. Now let's go back.

[ROCK TRANSITION MUSIC ENDS]

00:13:17 Tim

Now let's hear and answer from Filip in the Czech Republic.

00:13:25 Filip

Yeah, uh, my biggest challenge connected to my, to my job as an sign, as a sign language interpreter is interpreting clients’ emotions appropriately, I realized that this is hard for me, for example to…

00:13:46 Filip

Interpret all the negative emotions. For example, when my client is angry, to interpret his or her emotions to the spoken language properly.

00:13:59 Filip

So, maybe I would need some acting courses. [chuckles] Let's say.

00:14:05 Tim

Yes, indeed, acting for interpreters, should it be obligatory? Absolutely must be actors!

00:14:16 Tim

Hmm.

00:14:17 Tim

I think it depends. Ah, not that phrase again. Yes, it depends. However, acting classes can help.

00:14:26 Tim

A degree is not necessary, but acting can help you develop how to handle characterization.

00:14:35 Tim

How to take on someone's personality in the way they express themselves and understand when someone's being sarcastic, joking, angry, yet trying to hide it.

00:14:49 Tim

Being shy yet trying to come out of their shell.

00:14:53 Tim

When someone is emotional, we need to express and deliver that emotion somehow. Sometimes it's obvious, but we don't have to scream or yell in the target language, but rather indicate such emotion to match what is visible, what is seen.

00:15:18 Tim

Sometimes a hearing person can be very, very angry and yet not show it with their body language. But we can detect it as a hearing person.

00:15:30 Tim

We can feel it and we need to show that tension, show that emotion, show that intensity.

00:15:36 Tim

However, if you're having troubles, the first step you can try is to definitely indicate. Actually, tell the clients this person is angry. This person is trying to hide their anger, or their anger is very intense and I can feel it, hear it.

00:15:58 Tim

Because that will help support the clients’ response, how they respond to that. If they know the person, they might know how to soothe that tension. Or perhaps they want to use that tension to their advantage.

00:16:17 Tim

But in some way, they should have the right… they do have the right to have access to that emotion, because that's part of the interaction. That's part of the discourse.

00:16:29 Tim

In a discourse, each participant expects to have responses that match what they are saying. The emotion, the intensity, the goal, the relationship understanding. In other words, one participant might believe. “Ohh, we're friends”, but the other one's angry or upset about something.

00:16:50 Tim

And therefore, an argument or a clash of emotions occurs. That's why it's ultimately important for us to get the emotions conveyed in some way. In the beginning, definitely say it. If you can't express it physically or vocally, if you cannot express it that way then please actually give yourself subtitles. Give yourself a notation saying, “Hey, by the way, this person's feeling this way.” But please don't say, “Ohh, it's a hearing joke.”

00:17:26 Tim

No, try to convey the joke as best as possible and indicate this is supposed to be humorous. This is supposed to be funny, just like my daughter. When she says, “Daddy. That's not funny.” Yeah.

00:17:41 Tim

Indicate it.

00:17:42 Tim

But do that until you've practiced enough to get the emotion across. Practice.

00:17:49 Tim

Practice your emotions. Listen to a movie, a television show, listen to a podcast and try to match… [starts crying] the emotions that they have… [sounds tense with anger] And if they really can't stand something, match it. Try to actually get that interpretation across.

00:18:09 Tim

Match the emotion, the intensity. You'll feel silly at first, but that's OK. Try to make it feel natural. Remember a time when you were in that emotional state.

00:18:21 Tim

Hopefully you have that experience. It doesn't have to be the same level or intensity, but it has to be conveyed in some way in your interpretation.

00:18:31 Tim

Great, great thoughts from the Czech Republic.

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

00:18:40 Tim

The next question, what was one of the most memorable moments from the podcast for you?

00:18:48 Tim

First we have Karolina.

00:18:51 Karolina

I can’t actually choose just one moment.

00:18:55 Karolina

I just feel that what teams doing is really important and a great thing and I'm so thankful for that.

00:19:05 Karolina

And I think in every episode I can find some pieces of wisdom that I need to write down, and I do. I do write down those pieces of wisdom, and I just feel like this could be something I will need to be remembered of later. And it's true. Sometimes I just go through those notes.

00:19:26 Karolina

And sometimes, yes, it's, it's exactly the thing I need to be remembered of.

00:19:32 Karolina

At the correct time and it's just somehow clicks, and it really helps me in my work. So yeah, thank you for that.

[ROCK TRANSITION MUSIC STARTS]

00:19:41 Tim

A big thank you to everyone who shares this podcast with a colleague and friend. If you want to support the show even more, check out the show notes for links to Buy Me A Coffee because it's very embarrassing to fall asleep during an interview. Thank you. Let's go back.

[ROCK TRANSITION MUSIC ENDS]

00:19:58 Tim

Thank you for the kind words, Karolina. I think we can all benefit from writing down as we learn every time we take a workshop, every time we go to a conference, every time we team…

00:20:11 Tim

Maybe even every time we work as an interpreter, we should take notes afterwards to remind us of what went well and what we want to improve on. Good ideas. Now let's hear Filip.

00:20:27 Filip

One of the most memorable moments was definitely the Christmas episode with your daughter singing her own Christmas Carol. I [chuckles] really enjoyed that.

00:20:40 Filip

And the other one would be the episode focused on the Role Space model, which is something that I really like and it changed my perspective on my profession.

00:20:54 Filip

Thank you. Take care.

00:20:56 Tim

Well, I have to agree that the best episodes are those with my daughter in them.

00:21:02 Tim

However, I also agree that episode 44, part three of the interview with Robert G Lee about Role Space, it is a very intriguing idea. Thinking about how our decision-making changes how we interact in the discourse.

00:21:23 Tim

And it creates an abstract space that we are filling and changing, morphing to match the situation.

00:21:33 Tim

That is one perspective that has changed for Filip and that goes to the last question that we will hear Karolina answer now. The question being what one perspective of yours about sign language interpreting has changed since you first started interpreting?

00:21:55 Karolina

I think that the answer would be accuracy. What it actually is, because at first, I felt like when the deaf person looked really sure about what words which way does he or she wants to express himself, that’s just it.

00:22:17 Karolina

So, I need to use it. But later I found out that there are many tricky false friends between spoken Czech and Czech sign language. So that, they might be sure about the word he or she wants to use, but I have to say it in a different way because…

00:22:35 Karolina

Because of its connotations, they are different or even opposite. Or it should be different intensity or emotion.

00:22:47 Karolina

So yeah, I, I really need to check if the intensity of the, the emotions, that the meaning, the hidden meaning is really what I think it is and then I can express it, but not always. At the worst the Deaf one intended to use.

00:23:06 Karolina

And then I think it's a part of, part of a relationship between interpreter and the deaf person. If he believes me enough to believe, to trust me that I expressed it in the way he intended to. So…

00:23:23 Karolina

Thank you for the podcast and keep doing it because it's important and it's awesome. Thank you. Bye.

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

[ROCK EXIT MUSIC STARTS]

00:23:36 Tim

Accuracy. It's very hard to define this word accurately.

00:23:42 Tim

The hidden meanings behind it, because it also connects with ethical decision-making, practical decision-making, and moral decision-making. It's the fine line of whether or not we are editing something that they are saying when it doesn't need to be edited or leaving something out because it does need to be left out when it's the intention or whether it's a misunderstanding of what that expression actually means.

00:24:11 Tim

But I think Karolina actually said what is most important. It depends on the trust, the intention, the goal of that discourse at that moment.

00:24:23 Tim

If there is trust between us and the client to render the message faithfully with the right intention, we can get to the accuracy that is needed for that moment, and that's why we need to be in touch with the communities. We need to be a part of the dialogue, the discussion and ask how we handle those situations.

00:24:48 Tim

Good intentions are not always the right intentions. Good perspectives today, good thoughts, and some kind words about the podcast. Thank you all. I hope you also had your perspectives turned just a little bit today, or perhaps confirmed… even more.

00:25:09 Tim

So, until next time, keep calm. Keep practicing your interpreting.

00:25:19 Tim

I'll see you next week. Take care now.

[ROCK EXIT MUSIC ENDS AT 00:25:58]