What I Hate About “Interpreting”

I put interpreting into quotes because I am using that term very loosely in this story. Put yourself in my shoes.
A service man comes to the house two hours earlier than scheduled to fix the water softener. You are trying to prepare lunch. You feel confident that your husband is capable of learning what is wrong [...]

Being His Ears

I talked to a lady at Deaf Interpreter Services to find out what the Utah laws are concerning this service. She said she understands how difficult it is for Steve to receive interpreter service in Utah. Utah has a critical shortage of qualified sign language interpreters.
There are three different levels of certification depending on the [...]

Interpreting in Church

I found this web page about ASL – English Interpretation. It’s worth a read for anyone who wants to understand the process. My favorite paragraph is the following:
unlike translations, interpretations occur while the interaction is taking place. This means that the interpreter is involved in a rather complicated process. An overly simplified explanation of this [...]

Utah Interpreters

Steve has been offered a part time job at our local Deseret Industries, which he accepted. Today is his first day.
Don’t show up, late, incompetent, too distracted, bring their (friends, lovers, relatives)….these are all descriptions of Steve’s experiences with interpreters in Utah. Right now he is in a meeting with a couple of other employees [...]

Fast and Testimony Meeting

Today was a good day. This morning I started an entry after my husband told me his experience at a Deseret Industries employment workshop. He was quite frustrated. I’m happy I saved the entry as a draft because after Church was over, my outlook and my entry changed. The lesson for our Gospel Principles class [...]

Signing the Songs of Zion

The LDS Church created a DVD of most of the hymns in ASL. I had purchased a copy and then a couple of weeks later, the primary choruster gave me a copy. Since the hymns are in ASL, the signs are not the same as the words in the hymnbook. So in order for me [...]

Signer or Interpreter

There is a difference between being a Signer and being a Sign Language Interpreter. “Interpreting should be left up to the professionals. A well-meaning but unqualified signer may unintentionally harm deaf and hearing people.”(1) Guess which one I am.
A Signer:
- Knows sign language but may not be fluent.
- Is able to communicate his/her own thoughts.
- [...]

Interpreting

I took a beginning Sign Language class at the Deaf Center one time. The instructor was deaf, some students were deaf and some were hearing. The first thing the teacher did was write on the board in large capital letters, “NO TALKING”. The best way to learn sign is to not talk and emmerse yourself [...]