Category: Consulting
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What Watching Livestream Court Taught Me About Interpreting (and Why It Matters)
During the pandemic, something quietly transformative happened in the legal system. Court became visible. Not just high-profile trials—the everyday work. Arraignments. Probation violations. Landlord–tenant cases. The mundane, procedural moments that make up the majority of court life. If you’ve spent time watching livestream court, you may have noticed what I…
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Why Ethical Preparation Isn’t About Knowing More—It’s About Noticing Better
There’s a moment many legal interpreters recognize. You’ve reviewed the assignment.You’ve looked up the charges.You’ve done what preparation allows. And still—something feels unfinished. That feeling isn’t a lack of effort.It’s the reality that legal interpreting doesn’t unfold in straight lines. Years ago, when interpreters were first articulating the skills our…
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Preparing to Teach: Mindset
It’s that time of year again! I know some of you have been back in the classroom for a month or so, but my institution is on the quarter system so we are just back on contract and doing Faculty Kick Off Week stuffs this week to start teaching next…
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Learning Forward…
“..sometimes a painting has taught us all it can teach us and instead of trying to “fix” it or make it perfect, we need to take what we’ve learned and apply it to the next painting. Move forward. ”
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“Can I give you some feedback?”
Feedback is not about telling anyone what to do and/or how you would have done it differently. But rather it is about sahring your reaction to whatever they are presenting you. As the dictionary says – a product or performance. So, saying, “I would have signed xyz” or “You could…
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Sabbatical Reading Plans
The other thing that has struck me from this book is the idea of a “project brain” and how that contrasts with habits and routines. I will be exploring this idea in another blog post (or perhaps a series), but I think there are definitely areas of growth for me…
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Trusting….
But the concept of trusting the other, even in different circumstances is intriguing to me. How about for you?
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Holding space
Questions to deepen your practice: What barriers do you experience to holding space for consumers? What do you need to be able to hold space for others? What is the relationship between your interpreting and/or teaching practice and the idea of holding space?
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Interpreter Presence
Questions to Deepen Your Practice – What do you believe about ways of being human? – What do you want to remember about your function as an interpreter in other’s interactions? – What do you want to contribute to the space? Anxiety, calm, openness, etc? – What do you want…
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Connecting the Dots
I was immediately struck by this analogy, and as in most things, I see implications for interpreting and interpereter eduation immediately. This analogy of connecting the dots to reveal the picture, feels very relevant to the puzzle that is meaning transfer across languages and people.
A. R. Smith Studios 