IW 128: InterpreTips: Experience Preparation Quality

How did you do that?! Is it magic?

Sign language interpreters need to prepare for their gigs. How do they do that when they have little information about the assignment? Well, preparation is does not start when we accept the assignment, it starts way before that.

This episode discusses the art of reflection, learning from our past, stopping the bad historical cycles, and improving our work.

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Transcript

IW 128: InterpreTips: Experience Preparation Quality

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[ROCK INTRO MUSIC STARTS]

00:00:02 Tim [ONLY TIM IS SPEAKING IN THIS EPISODE]

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 to interpretersworkshop.com.

00:00:28 

Let's start talking... interpreting.

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00:00:34

And now the quote of the day by Barbara W Tuchman, American historian and author.

00:00:43

“Learning from experience is a faculty almost never practiced.”

00:00:49

What does this mean? It means we all have experiences and they're there to teach us something. Most experiences could be called mistakes that we learn from. But how do we learn from them? Well, we have to reflect on that, right? Huh. And many people don't do that. I believe that that's what Barbara is saying we don't learn from experience.

00:01:12

Our history as a person, as a sign language interpreter, needs to be recognized, needs to be analyzed, needs to be reflected on. We all talk about preparation and how it's important for planning, for scheduling and of course for the interpreting process, for the management of our interpreting process all of those decisions that we're going to have to make about culture, about understanding the use of language of different types of people, different perspectives and different topics.

00:01:46

We have to prepare in many, many different ways and the way we prepare changes over time. It's a skill set that we improve with experience, with training, …with understanding of different perspectives. 

00:02:03

Preparing for a job is sometimes only the result of experience, of doing this job, this profession, this practice for years and we can't change that we can't teach you experience in a course we can give you perspectives and different ways of thinking about how to prepare, what to prepare for, when to prepare for it, and how to adjust your decisions your interpreting method at a certain moment when you have certain demands certain stimuli.

00:02:38

But we can't give you the full gut feeling that experience gives us today. Let's talk about that. How preparation changes over time and how it looks at various stages of our experience. Let's get started.

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00:03:02

In my interview with Marco Nardi… gave us his story about how his experience prepared him for a certain assignment, a rigorous assignment. And when someone complimented him on such a great job, “How can you do that? How did you learn to do that?” He says, “Yes, that took 25 years to learn, 25 years to prepare for this job.”

00:03:25

And that's what it's all about. The more experience you have, the more you have to learn from, the more you have to develop your skills, the knowledge of the schemas, the different environments, the different people, the different uses of language will help you do a better job in the next interpreting gig that you have. Huh, that sounds so profound, doesn't it? Well, it is because if we look back to the original quote…

00:03:52

It's another way of saying that history repeats itself. If we want to stop the cycle of history of mistakes, we have to learn from them. We have to learn from history. We have to analyze it. We have to reflect on it.

00:04:08

How did I make that decision? Why did I make that decision? What was affecting me that made me do that? And now I want to do better, or I want to change that. Just discussing it, just looking at it and thinking about it helps you improve, helps you realize that in moments like that, I have been tending to do this. Why?

00:04:31

Why? Keep asking yourself why and analyze those moments until you get to the real reasons and work on those reasons to initiate a better development of your skill or your decision-making process. How does that connect to preparation for an interpreting job? … [pauses]

00:04:52

I'm pausing so you can say, well, duh, of course it does because… [pauses]

00:04:57

And now you have your reasons that you've just thought of. When we know the answer to why we did something, we can go back and say so next time I experience this, I know I realize I will immediately do this, which means I now have a bookmark that tells me wait, I want to do something else and that helps us change.

00:05:23

The more we have those little bookmarks, the more we make those little changes, the better our practice will be. We are practicing the profession while we do that and improving ourselves as sign language interpreters. So consciously we are analyzing, we are reflecting. We are asking ourselves questions and coming up with answers as to why and how we can change.

00:05:48

Subconsciously, there are other little lessons that we have learned along the way. Knowledge that we have put in our toolbox that we hold with us on every new gig. That's the unconscious preparation that we've been doing over our career.

00:06:05

And this conscious deliberation and discussion and analyzing methods that we use to dig deep into our work that is an ongoing practice of preparation for the next years in our career.

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

00:06:27

In some of my interviews I have interpreters who say I want materials. I want PowerPoints. I want to know the names, the dates, the numbers. I need to know everything about it so I can get all of that information. That preparation material, I have to have it. If I don't have it, I don't do the job. I don't accept the job.

00:06:49

And then there's the extreme of I don't prepare at all. I've, I've been doing this for decades. I just go and do the job, and it usually works out just fine. In reality, I believe we are somewhere between those extremes and it's our experience that determines how far we are from the extreme of needing everything to the extreme of needing nothing.

00:07:15

When we first start interpreting, we do want to know as much information as possible. How do you spell their names? How do you pronounce their names? What is the number? What is the exact location? What does it look like there on the street on the building, the door? Then I also need to know the topic. 

00:07:33

So, I researched that topic as much as possible, I get out the dictionary for terms and terminology. I look up something about the medicine that might be offered for this condition at the doctor’s office.

00:07:46

So, I read up on all those medications. How do you spell those medications? How do you say those medications? We want that. If we don't have everything, we're a little bit nervous when we go into the job, right?

00:07:56

A little bit nervous because we're anticipating there's going to be something I don't understand. There's going to be something I don't feel I know how to sign correctly, or even what it's going to look like when they talk about it in sign language. And I'm nervous about all those little details. Or the first time I go to a doctor's office as an interpreter. 

00:08:14

The first time, I actually have to voice a presentation by a deaf person. There's nerves there. Anxiety. That's the first time. The second time you have a little bit of experience that you can build on. You're like, OK, I didn't do too bad last time I this and this I had problems with.

00:08:31

So now you've analyzed, you know what to do about it and you have a gut feeling of a lower stress level because you've been there, and you have the T-shirt. It happens to be black, but it's a T-shirt.

00:08:42

The more experienced you are, sometimes we don't need as much information or as much detail, because we've been in spots where we didn't have any information at all, but we handled it sometimes not well, but we got through it.

00:09:00

So sometimes it's not something we can analyze, something we can pinpoint, like Marco said. Sometimes it's because we are so good... No, we are so experienced with so many pieces of information, so much conversation, so many different viewpoints, and knowledge that we can connect the dots when a less experienced interpreter would be fumbling or confused as to what's going on.

00:09:29

We have those gut instincts, those gut knowledge points that help fill in the gaps for us to make it work.

[ROCK TRANSITION MUSIC STARTS]

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.

00:09:50

Because it's very embarrassing to fall asleep during an interview. Thank you. Let's go back.

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00:09:56

So now you may be saying “So, I can't be a good interpreter unless I have experience” to a certain extent. Yes, that's why. That's exactly why we advise new interpreters not to take more than they're ready for not to take on those critical moments, those critical conversations, events that need someone who knows what they're doing.

00:10:22

But you are an experienced person, which means you can understand certain settings just because you've experienced them before as a non-interpreter, right? You've gone to the doctor's office, you've gone to these offices, these businesses, you've gone shopping, you've gone to presentations, workshops, a lecture, or a classroom.

00:10:44

Those things, you know, you just haven't interpreted them. So, you have a lower stress level just because you've experienced the setting before.

00:10:54

So, we encourage you to do those settings that you're familiar with, where it's not a critical situation for someone's life. Try not to do overly emotional settings such as funerals or even births. Those sorts of things you need to have some experience with.

00:11:13

Because interpreting is a hard thing, it's difficult. We make it look easy, the more experienced we are. But that's because we have been practicing it for so many years, and that's just the same with new interpreters. So, when you're new, how do you get experience with all of these different places?

00:11:33

Practice. And that does not mean go to the court and say I'll interpret for you. I just want to practice. No, no, don't do that. Practice. Just like you would if you were a student. Maybe videotape yourself, analyze that videotape of you interpreting a television series, a radio program, practice.

00:11:56

Have someone else analyze your work, get with a mentor and practice get with a practice group where you can come together and actually practice interpreting where they can now analyze it with you and give you feedback. Truly practice what we teach. Get experience.

00:12:15

Follow someone else. Shadow that interpreter. Get permission from an agency or the clients involved to sit in and be a team with that interpreter. And I say team with quotes, because at first you should just be an observer because you're experiencing this new setting as an observer.

00:12:38

And you’re observing an interpreter in that situation and how they handle it and then discussing it with that interpreter afterwards, asking critical questions. Why did you do this, this, and this? Not why did you use this sign, although that might be the case in some situations.

00:12:59

But don't focus on the signs. Focus on how the interpreter handled the situation, the management of the whole communication makes sure that this interpreter is experienced, not another new interpreter.

00:13:14

Having someone else observe me and ask me questions about it helps me analyze my own work as well. So, we're both reflecting on the situation and helping to boost our learning from the experience.

00:13:29

Learning from experience is the first step in preparation for a job. It's an ongoing step. Hopefully the steps are leading up and not leading down. Eventually it almost feels like it's an escalator. You may still be taking those steps, but it's moving with you quickly.

00:13:49

You have to keep up.

00:13:51

But sometimes you can just rest but stay to the right because people walk on the left, just letting you know. And it's OK, you're all going to get to the top. Just keep working.

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

00:14:07

There are times when we do not have the time to prepare, or we don't have any information about the job. How do we take care of that? We've asked for materials. We've asked for PowerPoints. We've asked for notes or, or a meeting with the speakers beforehand, a phone call, a Zoom call, or meeting in person.

00:14:31

Sometimes they're willing to do that, and it's a good thing, but you need to be prepared for what to ask them. You can't just say what are you going to talk about, especially if they've already sent you the PowerPoint. Uh, didn't you read the PowerPoint? So, think of the questions analytically. What is it you need to know to make your interpretation better?

00:14:51

Usually asking their goal. What do you want your audience to take away? What's the most important thing? What's the outcome of your presentation?

00:15:03

It's the same question the presenter should be asking themselves. Another question would be what do you think people misunderstand about this topic that you want to make sure you clarify? Those are very critical deep questions to ask about a presentation. Those are the type of questions you can ask.

00:15:25

Then there are those that are detailed like you use this term on this slide. What does that mean to you? How does that connect to this topic?

00:15:34

Because many times the vocabulary, the jargon, does not always mean what we think it means unless we are in that profession, just like our profession. It's not about how much material we have. It's not about how much information they give us, how many questions they answered for us.

00:15:53

It's about the quality of our preparation. It's not about how much experience you have. It's about how much you've learned from that experience. The quality of that learning.

00:16:08

So, think of your preparation. You're planning as an interpreter with quality in mind, not quantity. If you get to meet the speakers in person, see how they talk about the subject, see their style of language, how they're presenting it, their use of vocabulary, their use of humor.

00:16:29

All of that are the quality gems that you need to make the interpretation match.

00:16:35

Gerdinand from the Netherlands when I interviewed him, he said, looking at the beginning and the end of a presentation usually gives you what you need.

00:16:47

Everything else in the middle is only supporting those two things. The first is the goal, the title, what they want to get across and the end, they conclude. They give all these points that were important for you to get from the presentation, the conclusion of what they wanted to say.

00:17:07

So, he went for quality. What are the main important points, the beginning and the end.

00:17:14

And in between, you can skim through it and look for certain vocabulary or names.

00:17:20

But otherwise, look for the important points, the beginning and the end. Everything else is fluff.

00:17:29

As experienced interpreters, we think about what's the goal of this meeting. Why are these parties getting together? What are the individual goals and the goal of the group?

00:17:43

If you're new to interpreting, if you're only experienced a few years.

00:17:48

Go for quality preparation, not quantity. Look for the goals. Look for how they speak, how they express themselves.

00:18:00

Go with the flow of that. That's preparation during the assignment.

00:18:06

Don't dismiss a job opportunity based on whether you get preparation materials or not. Base it on how much do you know from your own experience about this setting, about these people? How much can you find out about them nowadays? Most things are online.

00:18:26

You might be able to understand the topic and how this person has talked about the topic in the past, so there may be a lot of information out there already that you can use, but don't look at everything. There is such a thing as being over prepared.

00:18:44

You might be focusing on the wrong things, and that can trip you up during the assignment.

00:18:51

Again, think quality, think ongoing preparation, analyzing your experiences that will help you learn and develop your skills as an interpreter, as a manager of the interpreting process and as a colleague…

00:19:11

…especially when you're teaming with another.

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

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00:19:20

Preparation is lifelong learning. Lifelong learning is experience as well as the workshops, the mentoring, the practice groups, all of those together help us develop and prepare for the next job. So don't always think.

00:19:39

I need preparation materials to do this one job.

00:19:43

Remember, all of the experience that you have had that will help you as well and analyze how it will help you in this job. We don't always know, but it helps to prepare ahead of time to plan our learning process.

00:20:00

So, until then, keep calm in quantity and keep prepping the quality of your interpreting. I'll see you next week. Take care now.

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