Pink for October
Here is a word of advice for non-interpreters: never ask a sign language interpreter if they are “in training.” Unless you have been an interpreter yourself - and if you have, you know better than to ask - you have no idea what our work entails. When I stumble in the last five minutes of a 14-hour workday because the speaker suddenly changed the short speech they gave multiple times in the previous couple of hours, don’t assume that I don’t know what I’m doing. If I ask my co-terp for help, be aware that this is standard procedure in my field. You don’t know me, you don’t know what I did earlier in the day, and you don’t have a clue how difficult my job is. Do not fucking ask me if I am “training to be an interpreter” and then when I say “I’m a certified interpreter” rephrase your question to ask again if I am still in training. Just don’t fucking do it.
4 Responses for "A Tip For You"
What a jerk!
Yesterday I had an interpreter inquire about how much sign I knew and where I trained - she was *surprised* to meet a d/hh teacher-in-training who knew ASL.
Scary, but true.
In MN, you must pass an ASL proficiency test to get licensed - if you don’t pass it, your license is listed as oral/aural.
I passed last spring.
But, wow that’s crazy rude, and I’m sorry to hear it!
Wow! That’s an excellent requirement for the state to have established - I have interpreted in deaf classrooms (public schools but the deaf kids have separate classes) where the teachers had terrible sign skills. MN’s law should really be nationwide.
I know this was a ranting. However, it cracked me up. Finish!
Holy Cow. I’m trying to envision the level of social retardation needed to be that bloody tactless. Perhaps a counter-question (”Are you still in charm school? I could’ve sworn someone with your social graces would still be in training…”) is in order.
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