Interpreting Situations and Circumstances

Part I: Regarding the interpreting situations below:

1.  List attributes needed for each interpreting situation

2. List skills/preparation needed for each interpreting situation

3. Consider the positives and challenges of working in those places

4. Consider your own values and interests: Put 1 for highly likely and 2 for unlikely and 3 for unsure or maybe that you would work in that kind of setting and write in at least a reason why.

Each group is to discuss each of the three questions and list them as a group, then individually each of you answer question #4.

  1. AIDS-Related Interpreting: usually in doctors’ offices, clinics, hospitals, hospices, support groups, lectures, workshops
  2. Agency or Staff Interpreting: within organizations serving the D/deaf community; organizations that solely provide sign language interpreting services.
  3. Business/Corporate Interpreting: corporate offices, hotel ballrooms, convention centers, board rooms, training facilities, retreat centers, outdoor facilities
  4. Community Service Interpreting: government office buildings, banks, warehouses, docks, stores, company/manufacturer’s offices, parks, recreation centers, auditoriums, community centers
  5. Deaf-Blind Interpreting: anywhere, everywhere
  6. Educational/Academic: pre-kindergarten, kindergarten programs, elementary, middle, junior, high schools, colleges, universities, trade, vocational, technology schools and programs
  7. Emergency Interpreting: Public Emergency Situations: interpreting during a public emergency or crisis; scenes of natural or man-made disasters or accidents (i.e., Oklahoma City bombing site, Northridge, CA earthquake sites, World Trade Center, Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana & Mississippi); Red Cross stations, food and shelter relief stations
  8. Emergency “911” Interpreting: interpreting for someone’s personal emergency (i.e., medical, law enforcement, or safety related); scene of accident, hospital emergency room, scene of an arrest.
  9. Government Interpreting Position: department/agency/office headquarters, field offices, laboratories, testing sites, conferences/workshops/trainings, hotel ballrooms, auditoriums, office/team/branch/division meetings, one-on-one meetings, small group meetings, agency-wide presentations
  10. Legal Interpreting: What? court proceedings, legal meetings, depositions, arbitrations, mediations, hearings, arrests, and court ordered counseling and evaluation sessions. Where? Court houses, police departments, lawyer’s offices, jails/prisons, juvenile detention centers, court sanctioned counseling facilities, mental health facilities and programs.
  11. Medical Interpreting: doctors’ offices, hospitals, clinics, medical training centers, hospices, rehabilitation centers.

  12. Mental Health Interpreting: mental health facilities & programs, therapist’s or psychiatrist’s office, hospital emergency rooms, offices, training sites.

  13. Platform/Performing-Arts Interpreting: auditoriums, concert halls, convention centers, amphitheaters, stadiums, pavilions, small stages, festivals, fairs, and other outdoor venues.
  14. Religious Interpreting: churches, chapels, temples, mosques, shrines, auditoriums, hotel ballrooms, classrooms, “store front” gathering rooms
  15. Spiritual/Metaphysical/”Alternative” Interpreting: “New Age” interpreting. Same sites as #14 above.

  16. Social Interpreting: hotel ballrooms, convention centers, restaurants, private homes, outdoor venues.

  17. Support Group Interpreting: What? A.A., Narcotics Anonymous, ALANON (for family of AA members), grieving, divorced, widowed, single parents groups etc. Where? General meeting halls, lodges, office conference rooms, library conference rooms, church halls and basements, hospitals, treatment facilities.

  18. Technical Interpreting: government agencies, technology corporations, pharmaceutical companies, laboratories, staff meetings, conferences, classrooms.
  19. Video Relay Service (VRS) Interpreting: VRS centers