Research Question and Rationale
Question:
What does it take to become a successful American Sing Language interpreter?
Rationale:
I first became interested in the topic of the deaf community and interpreting when I took an American Sign Language class in high school. Throughout the four years, I learned a lot about the language and some about the culture that has evolved with it. I ended up loving the language so much that I considered (and still am considering) becoming an ASL interpreter for my career. Being a hearing person on the outside looking in, I want to know more about their culture, the way they live as a minority in a mostly hearing world, and how being a successful interpreter can connect the two worlds (hearing and deaf). I think it is an important community to learn about because ASL is slowly becoming a popular language to want to learn, and with that the deaf culture is also becoming more well known and recognized. Still, there are many things that the hearing world doesn’t know, or understand about deaf culture. I plan to explore the history of how deaf culture came to be, what deaf culture looks like today, and how it is slowly getting integrated into hearing society.
From my preliminary research, I have been able to learn about what makes the deaf culture so different from the hearing culture. I have learned about the general history, and have looked at current stories about the deaf community. I would still like to look into perspectives of both a hearing person that has immersed themselves into the community as well as a deaf person. While I have learned quite a bit about deaf culture already, I feel that I need to go even further in understanding how it is different outside of the obvious observations. Through my further researching, I know I will start to uncover even more things that I can include for my final project.
Peer Interview
When walking under the beautiful canopying Spanish Moss trees, down the cobblestone streets, and past multiple glorious fountains and statues, it is hard not to fall instantly in love with Florida State University. For Jamie, it was just that, love at first sight. She knew she wanted to go to FSU since third grade when her brother started attending the college, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. It ended up being the only college she applied to, and while some would say that was a risky move, it was worth the risk. Now, as a true Seminole, she feels right at home walking around the beautiful campus that she first fell in love with excitedly saying she “[has] this special feeling every time [she] walk[s] past it.”
Coming from a small town suburb off of Tampa, to the city of Tallahassee, was a surprisingly easy transition. Her parents were skeptical on if she was ready to take on the new responsibilities of college life, but she proved to them quickly that she was ready to be independent and do things on her own. One thing she said that made it easier for her was the fact that she had family already living in Tallahassee, and that both of her siblings went, or still go to college at FSU. She had visited the city many times before and her siblings were able to give her helpful tips on how to get through the four years in one piece. She also liked that the city was “not as big of a city as you would think.” Even with it being the capital of Florida, it still had a way of feeling small. However, like many people starting college, there were times when she missed home. The sense of nostalgia and comfort when driving around the streets of one’s hometown was something that couldn’t be replaced.
When asked what her favorite experience has been at Florida State so far, there was no hesitation in her response: “football games.” She smiled happily when saying that, “standing next to your best friend doing the war chant is just the best feeling out there.” Even though the football team didn’t have the best season, it was still the best experience for Jamie. She even got her friend to transition from being a Gator’s fan, to a Seminole fan! That’s true success. She is currently majoring in hospitality and tourism with hopes to join her brother, and his soon-to-be wife’s new business as an event planner. She thinks “it would be cool to start a family business”, and is excited to see what’s in store. While the future seems distant, the next four years will go by fast, but for now she is happy to be here, and happy to be a student at the college she instantly fell in love with.
Annotated Bibliography
Benedict, Beth Sonnenstrahl. Legg, Jannelle. “Deaf Culture & Community.” Hands and Voices, 2014. http://www.handsandvoices.org/comcon/articles/deafculture.htm. Accessed 1 February 2018.
In this article, Deaf Culture and Community, Beth Sonnenstrahl Benedict and Jannelle Legg discuss the culture and how it differs from many other cultures, as well as, controversial and important issues in the Deaf community. Beth Sonnenstrahl Benedict is deaf herself and is a Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Gallaudet University with a Ph.D in Education and a specialization in Early Communication and Family involvement. Jannelle Legg was raised by two deaf parents and is currently pursuing a degree in Deaf Studies as a graduate student at Gallaudet University. They stress the uniqueness of Deaf culture and how it has given Deaf people, “a feeling of ‘home,’ and community that comes from interaction with other Deaf people.”
In the article, it talks about the richness and diversity within the culture. Deaf people come from all different backgrounds with all different influences, but yet they still have a lot in common besides just their language. They share “a common history, values, morals, and experiences.” The culture is different from others because it isn’t one that people are born into. While someone may be born deaf, many children are born with hearing parents and will only get introduced and included in Deaf culture through their education and other programs that involve the community. It also discusses the importance of stepping away from the “medical models” of deafness and not treating it as a problem but simply a difference.
This relates to my topic in a similar way the online journal article prepared by Linda Siple, Leslie Greer, and Barbra Ray Holcomb does. It helps me to get a better understanding of the culture that an American Sign Language interpreter is immersing themselves into. What I like about this article over the other one is the fact that it talks about the community from more of an insider perspective. The only weakness is that after initially discussing deaf culture as a whole, it then goes more specifically into controversies with deaf children which doesn’t help with my topic.
Janzen, Terry, et al. Topics in Signed Language Interpreting. John Benjamins B.V., 2005.
The book Topics in Signed Language Interpreting edited by Terry Janzen covers information on the theory and practices of signed language interpreting. While there are many different contributors to the book, I only utilized the first section which was written only by Terry Jenzen. She covers many of the basic topics including an overview on what a successful interpreter looks like, about interpreters at work currently, the resources interpreters should use to successfully translate from signed language to the spoken language of choice, and brief summaries of what all of the preceding chapters are about.
The parts that were the most helpful and related the best to my topic were when she discussed what a successful interpreter looked like and three “resources” they should use to successfully translate. Janzen says that a “skilled interpreter cannot only depend on intuitive knowledge…, but must know the structure consciously… so that she can best understand what words and constructions represent within a given source text, and make informed choices about words and constructions that carry the same message in the target text.” She then gets more specific with three “resources” to help depend on more than just their intuitive knowledge. They are “meaning, linguistic form, and the interpreters strategies.” The meaning is one of the most important parts when interpreting because when interpreting for someone who is deaf, you want to get their point across in the way they intend for it to come across. American Sign Language is a language that has multiple meanings for some of the same signs, so the interpreter has to be good at finding out which meaning was intended. The linguistic form goes hand in hand with meaning because typically certain grammatical constructions are signed in a specific way to show one’s meaning. Lastly the interpreters strategies ties the other two resources together. It is up to the interpreter on what they feel they need to focus on and what things they need to be looking out for to successfully translate what the deaf person is trying to say.
This source is very helpful with going beyond just the simple knowledge one has to know to become an interpreter. Whether someone is training to become one, or they already have been interpreting for years, it gives helpful strategies on how to improve your skill. It relates to the article “Professional Sign Language Interpreting” when talking about translating a “target text.” Both the book and the article talk about the importance of being able to accurately translate the message the deaf person is trying to get across.
Professional Standards Committee. “Professional Sign Language Interpreting.” Standard
Practice Paper, 2007, http://www.adainfo.org/sites/default/files/Professional-Sign-Language-Interpreter-SPP.pdf. Accessed 2 February 2018.
This article is a Standard Practice Paper for Professional Sign Language Interpreting created by the The Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. It provides helpful information about American Sign language interpreting, where a professional interpreter could work, professional conduct, and the different types of interpreting credentials one could receive. I find it helpful that it discusses more in depth about how there is more to the job than just the interpreting itself. One example it gives is how “an interpreter’s work begins before arriving at the job site. The interpreter must become familiar with the subject matter that the speakers will discuss; a task that may involve research on topic-related words and phrases that may be used from both languages.” Even after one gets their license, constant research and practice needs to be done to improve ones skill.
This relates to my topic on how to become a successful interpreter by talking about both the skills one needs to get certified, as well as how to use those skills to get into certain interpreting jobs and be successful with it. It gives examples of the two different types of interpretation and how different types of interpreting jobs will use one or the other. The two different types of interpretation are simultaneous and consecutive. Simultaneous interpreting is when the “interpreters to listen and sign, or watch and speak, at the same time”, and it is typically used for more casual settings such as classrooms, meetings, or conferences. Consecutive is when the interpreting “ begins only after the speaker has spoken or signed a sentence or paragraph.” This is used more in settings such as a legal setting, one-to-one doctor meeting, counselor appointment, etc.
Like the book Topics in Signed Language edited by Terry Janzen, this article discusses how ASL interpreting is more than simply replacing an English word with a sign that matches and vice versa. It is about trying to find the true meaning behind what is trying to be said all while accurately following the different grammatical rules and sentence structures of the two languages. What I like better about the book that this particular article doesn’t have is the model Jenzen gives of the three recources an interpreter should use to master interpreting. It acts like a guide that one can follow to be successful.
Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Incorporated. Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf,
Incorporated, 2015, https://www.rid.org/. Accessed 29 January 2018.
Becoming an American Sign Language interpreter is no easy process. There are many steps that one needs to take with an extensive amount of knowledge on the language, the culture, and the ethics. The Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf is where to go when looking for information on the process to becoming an interpreter, and the professional development one needs to do to continue to improve their skills. It even has information on ethics, membership, events, and advocacy. It is run by the RID board of directors consisting of eleven people that each have an impressive background in interpreting. Their mission is “for best practices in interpreting, professional development for practitioners and for the highest standards in the provision of interpreting services for diverse users of languages that are signed or spoken.”
To become a successful interpreter, the biggest, and most obvious, step one needs to take is to first become an interpreter. This website shows the process as well as providing many other resources to do just that. It is helpful in answering the basic components of my research question with a checklist on the steps one needs to take to become certified. There are also other resources provided that will help with things like places that provide ASL education and interpretations. Any basic information I would need on the subject, the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf most likely has. The only things it lacks are more specific descriptions about the steps, or any personal input on the process, however, like stated before, they provide a lot of additional recourse one could go to to get more information.
The most useful thing about this source is the fact that it covers so much about my topic. I would read one part of the process and end up forming a new question about it, but there was always something else there answering that new question, or someplace to go to get it answered. It is very informational and makes it very easy to understand what I (or someone else) would have to do to become an interpreter.
Siple, Linda. Greer, Leslie. Ray, Barbra. “Deaf Culture.” PEPNet Tipsheet, 2003,
https://www.sscc.edu/services/assets/guide-71-PEPNet-tipsheet-deaf-culture.pdf. Accessed 17 January 2018.
When becoming an interpreter for any language, you need to know more than just the language. It is helpful to understand the culture/cultures that are connected with that language. My source is an online journal article prepared by Linda Siple, Leslie Greer, and Barbra Ray Holcomb, all who are professors that work for the Department of American Sign Language and Interpreting Education at Rochester Institute of Technology. The article discusses how hearing culture is different from deaf culture by saying that, "the most dominant cultural pattern in the United States is individualism", and that, "one of the most dominant cultural patterns in the Deaf culture is collectivism." It then goes into more detail about American Sign Language specifically, and how one should go about communicating to someone who is Deaf or Hard of Hearing. It even covers some common terms used among people that are Deaf of Hard of Hearing and what they mean in the perspective of that community.
This source relates to my topic on how to become a successful ASL interpreter because without knowing about what Deaf culture is, then it will be difficult to be successful. You may be able to become an interpreter, but your true success will come from how much you know and understand their culture. You have to build up clients and the more you are liked by your clients, the more successful of an interpreter you will be. This connects to the article Deaf Culture and Community by Beth Sonnenstrahl Benedict and Jannelle Legg by talking about how Deaf culture is different from many other cultures. However, this article has more of an educational approach than the Deaf Culture and Community. It uses more vocab words and includes specific examples to help the reader understand the topic.
When it came to finding different ways of communicating with a deaf person, I knew how to go about doing so from previous experience, however, when reading about how their culture is different from the hearing world, I found it interesting how different it really was. Something as simple as an introduction when meeting someone new is different. As it says in the article, People that are part of Deaf Culture will focus more on physical appearances and "Sometimes a person’s name may not come up until the end of the conversation." When comparing that to how most hearing people introduce themselves, it is with their name first. This is just one specific example the article goes into when distinguishing the two cultures. It is very interesting to read about the more overlying parts of what makes the cultures different, but one thing I wish it had
more of are the specific examples. Becoming a successful ASL interpreter is not an easy task (same with becoming an interpreter for any other language), and it requires extensive knowledge of the language and the culture which is why more specific examples would be helpful for someone wanting to become one.
Interview Transcript
(Didn’t start recording until a few seconds in)
Fenton: Good, and how are you?
Lauren: I’m good.
Fenton: So then what class is this interview for again?
Lauren: It is for my english class. It is a research project where we got to think of a community and come up with our own research question.
Fenton: Ok, great! And which school do you go to?
Lauren: I go to Florida State University
Fenton: That’s great. What major are you in?
Lauren: My current major is media and communication studies, however, I took American Sign Language for four years in high school and still would like to become an interpreter later on.
Fenton: Oh, ok great.
Lauren: So I would like to go back to school for interpreting after this.
Fenton: Great. Now your number is showing up as Minnesota, how did you land in Florida?
Lauren: [laughs] My parents have a place down here and I just kind of wanted to get out I guess. Try something new; so ya now I’m in Florida.
Fenton: It’s a little bit different here, ya.
Lauren: Oh ya. Quite different, but I like it here. It’s very nice.
Fenton: Very cool. Alright, so you have a research question, or do you have interview questions?
Lauren: I have actual questions for the interview, but they tie in with my main research question. While it is a “research paper”, it’s very flexible on the research you can do. So mine is how to become a successful interpreter -- keyword being successful because, you know, there is more to being an interpreter than just getting your license.
Fenton: And so where have you -- besides the interview, what other research have you done?
Lauren: I am also done research on (here let me pull up my other google docs) -- I’ve done a little bit of research on deaf culture, as well as the process of becoming an ASL interpreter because you kind of need to have both of that for knowledge. I will say it has been quite difficult to find scholarly articles of people talking about their personal experience with interpreting. So that’s why this interview will be helpful for my research paper because then I can kind of get an inside view. I have also read two -- one of them was a book on topics of sign language interpreting, so it kind of gets more into the technicalities of it and like strategies to use to best interpret both the meaning and the actual..
Fenton: So the process of interpreting?
Lauren: Yes, and I have two articles on that. One is a book and one is made by I believe -- oh ya it’s the Professional Standards Committee: Sign Language Interpreting by adainfo.org.
Fenton: Ya, that’s an educational interpreter group.
Lauren: Yup, and I also looked on the actual website of Registry Interpreters of the Deaf because that seemed to be pretty central to a lot of the information I needed.
Fenton: Right, right. It outlines the processes to get certified which you are required to have, but it also has a great deal of information that probably made no sense to you having not been in the field. Some of it you have to have background knowledge to red the website and understand what in the world are they talking about.
Lauren: Ya, the process itself was nice to have on there, but ya there were definitely some stuff on there that was a little confusing, but it was still helpful just to kind of see where I would need to go from here and where I am right now.
Fenton: Ok good. Was there anything else you wanted to add?
Lauren: Nothing currently, unless you have more questions before we start the interview.
Fenton: I’m looking over -- I was taking notes on the things that you found, and it sounds like you found information about the process to the actual nuts and bolts and what you need to accomplish to be an interpreter, and the process of interpreting. And you recognize that an interpreter, not only needs the language, but the culture of the community that they are working -- have a connection with. So that’s a good basis for your research question. If you don’t have the language, if you don’t have the culture, and if you don’t understand the process of what you’re doing, you won’t be successful. So, you’ve got a good basis from which you could, you know, start that if you decided on that journey. So ya, I didn’t want to start without getting a sense of where you were because that would help steer how I would answer your questions. I teach interpreting, and so it’s always good to know what’s the frame the student in front of me has so I can fill in the gaps. You did that so thank you very much.
Lauren: Of course. Ya, I would say am more knowledgeable on the deaf culture side of things because in high school my teacher that taught ASL was deaf herself. So she really did stress teaching all about the culture and what’s different -- how it’s different and all of that, so it definitely helped me with my research and to kind of know where to start.
Fenton: Was high school in Minnesota?
Lauren: Yup! It was a high school in minnesota called minnetonka -- Minnetonka High School.
Fenton: Who was your teacher?
Lauren: Tracy Ivy? She went by T-bubs, so you would sign “tw”
Fenton: Hm, ok. I’m always -- it’s a very small community and sometimes people in Florida will know people in Minnesota [laughs]. So I was just curious. He sign name will actually help when I talk to my friends who are in Minnesota. My interpreter friends who are in Minnesota.
Ok so you have some questions so go right ahead.
Lauren: Alright, so we will just start with a basic one. When did you decide to become an ASL interpreter?
Fenton: Ok, my -- one of the things you need to know is that interpreting is a growing and evolving field. Until about fifteen years ago, 20 years ago, people often find themselves interpreting without choosing that to be their career. So, I’m old, been interpreting for forever. Ok, what year were you born? I need to see so I can see how old I am.
Lauren: 1998
Fenton: Ok! I have been interpreting for sixteen years longer than you have been alive.
Lauren: Alright [laughs]
Fenton: Ok, so back then, you didn’t choose to be an interpreter. There were very few schools to become an interpreter. What happened is you found sign language by accident and then the deaf people said, “we like the way you sign, we’re going to teach you how to be an interpreter.” And so you use to not have to take classes in interpreting. So us old people have a different way to having to become an interpreter. The deaf community decided for you to be an interpreter. That’s how I became an interpreter.
Now it’s a field you choose. Like you are choosing to study it, and take the test, and be an interpreter. That’s not how it use to be. [laughs] Most people nowadays find the language through either knowing somebody deaf, or taking sign class in school, or college, and are fascinated by it, wanting to make it a career. So ya, but that wasn’t the way it happened for me.
Lauren: So then how did you find sign language?
Fenton: I found deaf people outside of school. I found deaf people because their in the world and we happened to meet each other and we started becoming friends. So it literally had nothing to do with academic in any capacity, and that’s the way it use to happen. Somebody would -- this isn’t my story, but somebody would meet someone next door, or someone would start working at your job who was deaf, and the community liked the way you signed and they decided that you would be their interpreter. That’s how it happened. That’s not how it happens anymore, but that is how it use to happen.
Lauren: Very nice. Ok, so now we are going to get into more of some -- like the process of becoming one. So once you were chosen by the deaf community, they liked your signing, what was the process like for you? What did you have to do then to become an interpreter?
Fenton: Ok, again there was no school. Where I grew up there was no interpreting training program. There was no place to train. So you went -- they would work with you for learning the language, and then they would recommend you to take like a Saturday workshop on certain topics. What has happened and what will be your experience is taking conferences and courses on certain topics. In my time that’s not how it happend. For my generation, that meant if you knew you needed help ASL to English, if you knew you needed help learning how to see sign and speak English -- the slang for that is “voicing”, that’s not a real term, but that’s the slang for it -- if you knew you needed that, then you had to find an interpreter who would teach you over coffee better ways to voice. So I came up where it wasn't a formal education for things. Now, having said that, after I got nationally certified, once I actually passed the national certification, I realized that I had huge gaps. What I did well I did well, but what I didn’t do well I didn’t know how to improve. So at that point I joined an interpreter training program at a college. The program had started and I started taking classes in the skills that I needed to work on, but I came to it backwards. So that’s not what you will do.
Lauren: Alright, so you did kind of talk about it a little bit, but the fact that it was a different process back then, was that kind of --
Fenton: I can tell you what the process is for people now because I teach ASL.
Lauren: Ya, that would be great!
Fenton: Ok, so typically people who want to work as interpreters now there is a certain foundation of information that you need to get for interpreting. It requires a written test and a sign test. So the written test you need to learn that information, and that typically comes from conferences, or courses. There are some people who manage to find out all the things they need to learn by the textbooks, and they teach themselves, but it’s a much harder way to do it that way. I mean you could just take the class. [laughs]
So the written is the deaf culture, the ethics. Like, doctors have ethics. Have you ever heard of HIPAA? That’s a law about your medical confidentiality. If a doctor goes to his golf game, and tells his golf buddy about your appendicitis he can have his license taken away because of this code of ethics that has been written into law call HIPAA. For interpreters, we have a code of ethics some states have written into law, some states have not, where you have to do good business practices. You have to keep everything confidential. You need to recognize your skill sets and not over do yourself by accepting a job your not able to do. It could be the deaf person's life, or finances, or, you know, success in jeopardy if you take something you’re not qualified for. Well, where do you learn that? You either have to teach yourself which is kind of crazy, or you take the class, or you take the conference. I still take -- go to conferences and workshops because I could always learn deeper and more about the things I already know.
Interpreters are perpetual students and that’s one thing. If you’re not a perpetual student then you will not be successful. Period. Amen. Because there is always something that you’re going to run up against. For example, I have never given birth. Just because I’m a woman does not mean I don’t know the first thing about giving birth. So the first time I had to interpret for a deaf woman going to the classes preparing for her birth, I had to become a student for birth before I needed to interpret it. I had to study up on pregnancy, birth, and that whole process; what would likely happen, what could go wrong, so that if something went wrong I’d already thought about how do I talk about it in a different language. So every time, whatever time it is, you’re looking at it to see if you know that information already, if you’re skilled enough to take that assignment, and before you accept it, and after accept it, studying, learning. So to be a successful interpreter, you need to be a perpetual student. You have to be like “I don’t know about that, and I might need it someday”, always, everything.
Lauren: So then like, there’s the written test about the ethics and everything, and then the signing test. Is that exactly how it sounds, where you…
Fenton: It’s different kinds of settings. So, sometimes in my work I am with a -- ok with media and communications you will understand the concept at the least power dynamics, like who’s in charge there, who’s the boss in that setting. Like, you go see a doctor, the power dynamic is very obvious. The doctor’s in charge, the patient answers questions, asks questions when appropriate, but the doctor is in charge. There is a certain power dynamic in that room. So when you accept the assignments where the hearing person -- where the power dynamic is the hearing person at large, you’re going to be doing a lot more singing than you will be speaking English because the person in higher power will talk more. So in other times you’ll go -- my boss is deaf and he has a PhD and he travels the state training people. So we step into that training room, the power dynamic is that he’s in charge and os the primary language is sign language and so I’m doing a lot of ASL to English. I’m speaking English a lot more. Then they will just raise their hands and ask a question, or raise their hand to these questions and that’s what I’m signing. So I’m speaking English in those settings.
The testing will have both environments where you’re doing mostly sign -- well all sign and then another setting where you’re doing all speaking English. And then in another setting which is called interactive where -- like and interview, a job interview -- where you’re having to do both and you’re having to -- your brain is having to go back and forth between languages that you’re producing. So when people are training for what’s called the performance test -- the performance test is where you’re interpreting is in and out of all the languages that’ll be in play for you to make sure that any setting you’re dropped into, you’re ready. Does that make sense?
Lauren: Yes, that is definitely a very intense process. I knew that coming in, but it is good to hear more about it.
Fenton: For an example, this is an easy way for you to see how hard this process is. Okay, you know what national public radio is?
Lauren: Yes
Fenton: Okay, so you go in Tallahassee 88.9 is NPR. If you turn that on, wait for them to start a story and sit there and listen to what they’re saying and mouth what they’re saying. You’re going from English to English right? You’re hearing English and you’re just mouthing English. So, you’re not even having to put it into another language. You’re speaking in your own native language. Try that for 5 minutes and then see how much your brain hurts, cause it will, and don’t stop cause you don’t have a choice. If you get the interpreting assignment, you’re doing the interpreting assignment. So do it for five minutes and even when you’re brain starts hurting you go to keep doing it for 5 minutes. And then you realize that’s only in one language. Add it it having to understand that whole process of interpreting. Understanding the language, reframing it in a different language, putting out the different language all at the same time you’re listening to the first language to get your next packet of information. So ya, you want to know how hard it is, try that 5 minute experiment with NPR.
Lauren: Ya that sounds pretty hard [laughs], but it’s such a beautiful language so I think it’s worth the hard work.
Fenton: It can be. It can also be as ugly as English can be. Have you ever heard someone ranting in English that you’re just like please shut up.
Lauren: Ya, my teacher would rant to us in ASL in class all the time, it was pretty terrifying.
Fenton: [laughs] It can be a beautiful language, yes it is. English can be a beautiful language, English can also be an ugly language, and oh there are times when ASL is that.
Lauren: So this is kind of going back more towards your personal experience -- learning and training for your certification. You kind of mentioned how it was different with the learning process, but is there like a specific challenge -- what was the biggest challenge for you when you were training? Was it the fact that you didn’t have a lot of recourse, or just the actual learning the signs and remembering them or...
Fenton: Wow, ok I’m going to change the question a little bit and I’m going to say the biggest thing that helped me was a community of interpreter, knowing other interpreters. So when a challenge came up, I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel. So whatever the challenge was -- when I was going through it because I went backwards, I went the opposite way than most people do, I didn’t have the resources of books and articles. So I used the community of interpreters who were ahead of me in the learning curve to help me wherever there was a challenge. It wasn’t like they were my teachers as they were just mentors that I called and be like, “I’m getting ready to take the written test and I know Deaf culture, I live Deaf culture, I am always around Deaf people, but I need to know what the test is going to say about Deaf culture. Like what is established academic information about Deaf culture that is going to be written into these test questions.” So they would provide me with recourse or if I -- the test will talk about constructed action and I’m like “I don’t know what constructed action is” because I hadn’t taken that class. I didn’t have a label for what I did. So as soon an an interpreter would go “oh you use it all the time in ASL, it’s the label for when you do this” and I’ll be like “oh, got it.” So I didn’t have the -- I didn’t take the linguistics class until later. So I didn’t -- it would be like somebody saying to you “ok circle all the nouns” I don’t know what a noun is. The written questions were asking the linguistic questions. Well I never took the linguistics. So whenever I had a challenge like that, because I didn’t have the class until later, I depended on my community of interpreters and colleagues to be resources. It’s really important -- in a lot of different fields interpreting is one of them, it becomes really competitive and people shy away from open collegial discussion especially when you want to talk about something you don’t do well. You certainly don’t want your colleagues to know you’re not doing something well. That happens in interpreting too, so it’s really important if you want to be a successful interpreter you need to have a collective. A group of interpreters who think like you, who want to be able to doubt things when something doesn’t go right, or when something like -- you know you’re like “ I want to learn about this, but I don’t know how to go about finding that information.” That still happens today. I have a collective of interpreters that I -- if I need something I’ll reach out to them and be like “Yup, what do you know about this and where can I find more information.” Having that -- or he other thing is that smaller collective where if something goes wrong, like I did an assignment I guess it was last year that went very wrong and needed to talk through the assignment without giving details because I have to keep it confidential, it’s nobody’s business about the Deaf person’s life, but as a professional I needed to talk through it to figure out how to -- if something like that ever happened again how can I prevent it from going as badly as it did. So I have an even smaller collective of people that I -- we’re going for coffee, I need to debrief this assignment and I need somebody who knows enough about -- knows interpreting and can help me to figure out how to have that never happen again. So, for instance there are interpreters in our field -- I know many of them who would never do that. Who would never be open to talking through mistakes. And you can’t be successful if you don’t do that, you can’t be because mistakes are going to happen, nobody is perfect, and if you don’t have a mechanism, or working through the learning that take place when a mistake is made. Scientist are the only people that are like “yay a mistake was made, the experiment failed! Let’s figure out why it failed to help us the next time.” Scientists are the only one like that and interpreters need to be like that. We’re going to make mistakes and we’re going to fail at things. When that happens, and you hope it doesn’t happen often, being open to analysing it, figuring out what happened to make sure it never happens again is really important. If you want to be a successful interpreter you got to be open to that and you need to create a community, a collective of peers that will help you with that. Really important.
Lauren: I find it funny how you said people in the interpreting world were really competitive and were not that helpful because a lot of Deaf culture is very opposite of that.
Fenton: Absolutely.
Lauren: I mean they can be competitive, and they aren’t completely different, but they are more a community that is very close-knit and helpful so I find it that some interpreters are so competitive.
Fenton: Yes, there are lots and lots of us that are still that way because we -- I think many of us are afraid to admit that we make mistakes and that’s just foolish because humans make mistakes. It still happens.
Lauren: What is something that has surprised you the most when you first became an interpreter. Either about the culture, or the language, or looking back at the process and seeing where you are now.
Fenton: That’s a very good question. Ok, I think -- one of the things that interpreters never learn and when they don’t learn it, it becomes a huge problem later, is the fact that interpreters are running a business, unless you’re a staff interpreter. So like interpreter can be two things. They can be full-time, like the FSU interpreter. The same hours a week, she’s on campus. Most interpreters are not staff interpreters. Most interpreters are what’s called free-lance interpreters, or sometimes OPS interpreters if they work regularly somewhere, but not full time. So for the free-lance interpreters, the OPS interpreters, nobody teaches us how to be business people, but we are because we have to market ourselves. We have to negotiate for pay. We have to you know like -- we have to do business often. We have to bill, we have to chase people to pay us when they won’t, and they don’t, and they won’t. That becomes my biggest hang up about any free-laning work. It’s like, “am I sure I’m getting paid.” I’m tired of people who say, “Yes we need an interpreter! Yes, we’ll pay you! Oh, we lied!” after the work is done. That would be a big thing is interpreters are not taught to be business people and we are. Unless we are full time somewhere, then we just get our monthly paycheck and it’s not a problem, but if you’re not a staff interpreter somewhere, you are a business person. Oh good Lord it -- that whole thing is just so foreign to me, and uncomfortable. I don’t like calling people and going “you owe me money.” I don’t like doing that. So that was a piece of the job as a freelancer that nobody told me about until suddenly I was like “Oh wait, they have to know how much to pay me. I guess I have to make a bill. Ok what does my bill look like.” All of that, nobody teaches interpreters that. [laughs]
That’s like the first thing that pops up in my head. Ya, that didn’t happen naturally. I had to go out and -- I had to go to my collective and go, “Ok, how do I get paid? I know they need to send me a check.” Then I get the check and I’ve got an account for my freelance interpreting, then I have to pay taxes on that. Ok, so how do I do that? I mean literally if you don’t know how to do that, you don’t know how to do that. So that was a huge surprise to me. That is totally unrelated to being an interpreter, but if you want to be a successful one, you also have to be a successful business person. Unless, you chose to be a full-time staff interpreter somewhere. Then, even if you do that, you might decide to do freelancing on the side. You know. So like, I’m on the list for FSU. So for graduation, or Golden Tribe, or whatever, whatever, whatever. If they need a teamer for their staff interpreter, I’m on the list to be able to provide the teaming interpreting. Well, that’s freelance aside from my full-time. So that’s why I’m full-time, but I still run this minor business. So even a full-time -- when I said you can still be a full-time interpreter I’m like “Stevie don’t lie to her. You need to be running this business. Even as a staff interpreter.” So I was trying to make a dichotomy that didn't exist.
Lauren: Ya, I never actually really thought of it that way. That was very helpful. Then I -- lets say someone wanted to be a freelance interpreter. How would you suggest them to get their name out there? What kind of tips do you have to get your name out there? I know it is kind of like a building process, but what are the most effective ways to do that?
Fenton: Ok, I will reference what I tell all my students on this. In some states, not Florida, but in Minnesota I can say for sure, some states you cannot work as a professional interpreter unless you have a license. Kind of like a license contractor. Most of the states of the United States requires an interpreter license. Which, in my mind, makes way too much sense because you want to be able to say, although they give you a license, if you’re not an axe murderer, or whatever. Some way of monitoring the people that say that they are an interpreter. Florida is not one of those states. So there’s two different ways. If your state -- you go home to Minnesota, you have to jump through the hoops to become a license interpreter. Once you’re on that list, sometimes people will just refer to the list and you’ll end up getting work [laughs], but in Florida we don’t have a license list so it doesn’t work that way.
I often tell -- in Georgia they have license for school interpreters only, and many of my students will go to schools first so their resume has professional experience. That isn’t something that has to be, but it is something that commonly happens. They either become substitute interpreters for the school, or work full-time with the school, so they can get something on their resume to earn an internship from their degree. If you don’t have any of that, or you don’t want to be a school interpreter, it’s usually a good idea to do two things. Immediately become entrenched in the deaf community. Go to every single event. Talk to every there and be like, “Hi, I just finished. I got my credential, or I’m getting my credential,” and “Who are the really good interpreter agencies to work for in town? Tell me the ones who are the ethical ones, and the ones who aren’t.” Let the deaf community tell you. They will. They’ll be happy to. Then you take the short list of the ethical agencies the deaf community says, “please go work with them”, and you see if you can get on as a subcontractor. Basically, they get the agreement for, oh, this foot doctor has an appointment every Tuesday at two with this diabetic, and we’re going to accept making sure there is an interpreter there on Tuesday at the appointments. Then that agency will look at their list of interpreters that aren’t employed by them, but who their going to pay to go under their agency for this assignment. So it’s kind of subcontracting kind of work. Then you make yourself really available to them to do everything you’re qualified to do and agencies will love you, and deaf people will see you interpreting and say, “I want Stevie to be my interpreter at my next appointment.” Them the doctor calls the agency and says, “Can we get Stevie back on Tuesday at 2.” You do it that way. It’s really word of mouth. Really, really, word of mouth.
Lauren: Yes, Deaf people sure do get around and talk about this kind of stuff.
Fenton: Oh, yes they do. It’s also word of mouth in the agency too. The agencies have a hard time filling in certain assignments. Like they may not have enough interpreters, or there are assignments that people don’t like to take.
So, for example, do you know what a colonoscopy is?
Lauren: Ya, to an extent.
Fenton: [laughs] Ya, well it’s not a pleasant thing, and the appointments are a pain in the neck because you go. You interpret this beginning -- you go in on a Monday. You go to the prep. Then on a Tuesday you show up and you interpret a little bit. Then they have the procedure and you’re not there for the procedure. Then you’re just sitting around for them to wake up, and then they wake up and they’re not making any sense, and you’re having to interpret. So they’re talking about peoples bowels, and their bowel movements and it’s not a really fun thing to interpret about. There’s always discussions about how to better have bathroom behaviors. I mean there’s always -- it’s a topic nobody likes to talk about, so you really don’t want to interpret for it, but somebody has to. [laughs] So, those kind of assignments -- if an agency has a hard time filling in a certain kind of assignments, that’s kind of one of the ones I know is hard to fill. If you just become the go to interpreter where you’ll take any assignment, it’s all great, you’re learning every time you go, and you’re a good interpreter, and people love you, the agencies will call you first, They're like, “Oh, she’ll take anything, lets call her.” Then once you get your name out you can start being picky later. At the beginning, you take everything you’re qualified for because the agency will love you, and doctors will love you. The Deaf people will love you, and your name will get out.
Lauren: Very nice. So I just have two more questions. This one is a very straightforward question. I understand that you can get different credentials for interpreting like NSC, CDI, like there’s a lot of different ones. I was just curious which credentials you have, or which one you have?
Fenton: [laughs] Alphabet soup, that’s a really good question and of course I got a lot to say about it. So, there have been credentials -- people have been getting credentials for interpreting starting in the 70’s, and every, about ten years, the tests are looked at. They’re like, “this test is old”, like imagine talking about computers fifteen years ago with a friend. Like there were no smartphones fifteen years ago. So if one of the stories you had to interpret was talking about a mainframe, interpreters would be like, “what the hell is a mainframe?” Right? So every ten years or so the tests have to be redone, and when they’re redone they’re given new names because some other part of it will get changed. That’s just the way they do things, but if you have an old test you don’t have to retest. You know, if somebody is a medical doctor and they went to medical school thirty years ago, they don’t know how to do certain medical procedures that they have to take courses to know how to do medical procedures now. They don’t have to take the test again. They’re still a doctor. They just need to take classes to learn how to do the new, current stuff. Well, interpreters have the same thing. Like, I have an old test that isn’t offered anymore. An old credential, but they it becomes dependent on me every time a new test is out for me to figure out, “am I up to date on the things that are tested now?” If not, since I’m a perpetual student, “what do I need to learn?” Does that make sense? So the test -- the credential that I have -- the alphabet soup that I currently have is NAE4. That’s the name of the credential I have. I thought about taking a more current credential, and the credential that came out after mine was actually very flawed. It took them a few years to figure out that it was flawed. So after that I was just like, “I have a test, I’ll just keep training and make sure I’m up to date.” So then I stopped thinking about taking a test. Like, if you had a drivers license, would you take another drivers license test just because they have a new test. No, I have a driver's license.
Lauren: Alright, then I guess I just have one last question. You did a really good job of coming back to the main topic of how to be successful. I guess what do you personally believe makes a successful interpreter. Like I said, you definitely did a good job of covering it a lot in what you said…
Fenton: But if I can summarize. You would like me to summarize?
Lauren: Ya, that would be great!
Fenton: Ok, definitely a perpetual student. Definitely one who is reflective of their work so that when you find things that didn’t go well, or you feel needs to be improved in some way, that you recognize that you don’t go into automatic pilot. Lots of the older interpreters, the people in my generation, will go on automatic pilot and they kind of lose their shine. So, being reflective no matter how long you do the job. Making sure you’re always reflecting how each assignment went to see if there is anything there you need to look at.
So perpetual student, reflective. Those two kind of go together because if you need to improve something then you’re back to perpetual studying. Involved in the community is a must, must, must, must, must. There are some interpreters that think, “I can get my bachelors degree in interpreting, and then pass the written test and take the performance test and the only Deaf people I need to see are in my work everyday” is just wrong. You might be able to do your job, but you’re a terrible interpreter because you’re taking advantage of the community. They are letting you use their language. You need to be respectful and be involved in their community. So, community involvement. Also, being engaged with collective peers. Wow, let me think. That about covers it. Ya, it’s one of those things where you might be a great interpreter, but your shine will be off. If two of those are off, you’re not a great interpreter, you’re not a successful interpreter, you’ve really screwed up, you need to fix it.
Lauren: Perfect! I definitely learned a lot more than I thought I knew about interpreting.
Fenton: That’s cool!