The Classroom

Typically in the United States, many ASL interpreters are known to interpret into sign language for deaf or hard-of-hearing students in the classroom setting, whether it be K-12, colleges, or universities.

Classroom interpreters may also be called “educational interpreters”—these interpreters aren’t just advocates for the students they interpret for, but also role models and supporters. Educational interpreters are part of the educational teams that are responsible for students’/children’s learning goals and outcomes. While the interpreter must maintain confidentiality, of course, confidentiality is not limited to themselves and the classroom teacher. Instead, the interpreter must speak with the student’s educational team about the student’s behavior, answers, development, etc. during classroom and/or school hours.

To properly teach a deaf or hard-of-hearing student, the interpreter and other members of the educational team must decide beforehand on a) what specific type of sign language is necessary to use; b) whether the interpreter should modify vocabulary and/or register (this is especially important if the child has a developmental disability); and c) what each lesson’s outline and expected learning outcome will be.

A Workshop

We’ve recently received a request to provide ASL interpreters for an upcoming workshop designed to promote leadership and effectiveness in the workplace. Workshops can be on any topic–technology, business, medical, community CPR and fire training, etc.

Depending on the length of the workshop and number of attendees, a team of interpreters might be better than a singular interpreter, as interpreting can be tiring with constant hand movement and so require sufficient breaks. If there is a speaker addressing an audience, an interpreter will stand up on stage as well and sign to provide interpretation (usually simultaneous), and can switch out with another interpreter as needed. Providing a team of interpreters can also allow for one or two of them to work with someone who may require extra assistance.

ASL interpreters may be asked to “voice” during the workshop. Voicing is the process of using spoken English in tandem with signing. Deaf or hard-of-hearing people using an interpreter’s services can benefit greatly in their understanding of the interpretation by reading the interpreter’s lips. Those with some level of hearing can also pick up on the morphemes (simply put, small units of spoken sound) coming from the interpreter. Depending on the needs of the situation, the interpreter may be asked not to voice during their work, too.

A Hospital or Forensic Setting

Hospitals are a very common setting for any type of interpretation, and it’s no different for ASL interpretation. Oftentimes, an emergency or a high-priority appointment will pop up. In those cases, time is of the essence to find an interpreter, and it takes a quick, calm, and agile manager or coordinator to find who is available and experienced to interpret.

Recently, we were contacted for a same-day ASL interpretation request concerning medical forensics. We worked fast to send an interpreter who not only could make it in time to the appointment, but also fluent in medical terminology with a proven track record of interpreting for potentially upsetting circumstances.

In our next post we will be highlighting more ASL interpretation scenarios, so please stay tuned.

This graphic novel project is part a type of new media, a pioneering effort by a handful of creators in search of a new medium for presenting art, story, voice, and music. A pool of talents was gathered for an old-fashioned romantic adventure with elements of Arabian Nights, Cinderella, and the Shangri-la myth. The story depicts a romantic adventure that spans modern-day New York City and the ancient, fictional country of Gao in China. In the midst of modern and old, fiction and non-fiction, West and East, English and Mandarin, romance and mystery, the graphic novel indeed is exotic to watch.

The work has been produced into ten video chapters. To give you a glimpse of our translation work, among what has been published: Chapter 3 has the most translation voices so far. The significant amount of Mandarin presented among English voices indeed makes the graphic novel stand out as a unique and interesting entertainment piece!

Monterey Language Services took extra time to polish the translations into Simplified Chinese to ensure not only accuracy, but an enjoyable and colloquial read for native speakers. Some of the challenges for this project were derived from cultural differences in how to translate certain phrases created specifically for the graphic novel.

For example, we have the “golden doom,” which refers to a specific event in the story. Because the event transports people similarly to the Christian idea of the rapture, our translation was “极乐升天,” which means “bliss ascension” in Chinese language.

One more example of the cultural challenge is rooted in English homonyms. The sentence: “They follow the standard of Lord Kang and swear on his eyes.” In this sentence, what does “standard” mean? If we suggested “average or normal requirement,” it actually would be incorrect! “Standard” in this instance means a battle flag—something ancient soldiers would follow on the battlefield.

Another difficulty was dealing with the ambiguity of written words. In spoken English, a person’s tone can very easily denote sincerity or sarcasm — consider the phrase “good job” being spoken sincerely and being spoken sarcastically, and their meanings become very different. While the context and illustrations in graphic novels can alleviate this confusion in text, sometimes the tone could be just missed. One such problem occurred in our initial translation of “What a stunt,” a line which our translator took be said in admiration, when in actuality, it was an insult. Through our editing/reviewing process we discovered the issue, and the translation was changed from “真是好身手” (really good) to “真有一套,” which has a similar meaning in a more sarcastic tone.

We are incredibly proud of the work we were able to provide for this project, and would like to add more viewing pleasure and excitement by sharing the above behind-the-scenes glimpses to our translation work. We wish all the success to the audience and contributors to the graphic novel. The chapters will be published in video format weekly on YouTube until the tenth and final one is uploaded.