Haven’t posted in a long time, and hair care

I have not posted anything here since 2011. I’m sorry. I should be writing regularly, describing all the courtroom drama and developments in the field of interpreting. Instead, I spend more time at Whole Foods trying to figure out which shampoo has the fewest toxic ingredients.

One thing I have observed in courtrooms lately is increased use of laptops. Cell phones are properly concealed but Macbooks and PCs and tablets are now enjoying front row seats at counsel tables. This is a positive development for interpreters who want to have their device readily available for either reference or interpreting itself. Safety in numbers!

My personal feeling is that if an interpreter is going to use a laptop in a courtroom, it should be light, low profile and slim (whenever possible) so as to be less conspicious. The machine should be a natural extension of the person performing the job.

That’s all I have to say about that. I actually need to go buy shampoo.

Now tweeting, or twittering, or whatever you call it

I should be writing long paragraphs about this work I’m (still) doing but I’m fascinated by the idea of blasting out bite-sized morsels of information about court interpreting on Twitter.

A well structured tweet can possibly say as much about something as a long-winded paragraph. Either that or I’m just going insane and don’t have the patience to write normally anymore.

Either way, please do check out my twitter feed, devoted to the unusual world of the court interpreter:

Tweets by ilegalmente

@ilegalmente is my username on Twitter, I guess. What do I know?

Thanks for reading. And please be nice to the court interpreters. It’s a rough job.

So you took the new federal exam?

So, once again, like a rare comet, the federal court interpreter oral examination has come and gone. It won’t be back again for another two years. To those who braved the experience (I myself made an attempt many, many years ago) don’t ruminate about it too much. You won’t have the results for several weeks so it’s no good fretting.

I heard through the grapevine that the test has changed. Now, apparently, instead of three solemn exam raters, a lone proctor administers the test armed with a recorder and a CD player.

Maybe the new method is easier on test-takers, less nerve wracking. If you took the new test, share your experience here. Don’t give away any details (that would be innapropriate)  but feel free to share your experience in general terms. Did you feel you were treated fairly?

Reworking the blog

You may have noticed I deleted all of my previous posts. A big apology to those who miss the old stories but it had to be done.

I’m a bit of a perfectionist and I want things done right and wasn’t happy with my past material. Sorry if you are disappointed, but don’t worry. New content, stories, anecdotes, etc will be coming soon and I will be revisiting old themes.

A lot of what I wrote in the past about interpreting was sophomoric and offensive and this time around my focus is going to be on entertaining and informing the public without compromising myself professionally.

Thanks for reading. I think you will enjoy the NEW Court Interpreter blog.

Back AGAIN from a LONG disappearance

So here we go, back to blogging about this profession of intelligent maniacs. I think it’s the only job where you can be certifiably insane and still be qualified and fully competent when it comes to interpreting accurately.

The work can drive you crazy. Listening to one language, speaking in another, trying to hear the original language OVER THE SOUND OF YOUR OWN VOICE …

No trials today. Yay.