This two-part webinar series guides on how to quickly identify the type of call you are interpreting for — a community service call or a potential criminal case.
- Session 1 will review the topics from the conference presentation and start to go further in depth on this topic.
- Session 2 will expand on Session 1 topics and provide more opportunity for discussion and idea exchange.
Learn how to manage communication flow without taking or stepping over boundaries while remaining calm and confident in your language skills. Learn to expand and summarize information without altering tone, intent, or register of the information due to the urgency of the communication.
Let’s discuss as interpreters with different backgrounds the approaches we can apply when our intervention is needed to expedite communication without taking over the call. Continue being transparent and conduct a quick pre-session or introduction at the right time, setting the ground rules for interpreting for both the law enforcement team and the Limited English Proficient (LEP) person. Be mindful of the state of mind and condition of the LEP person: panicky, intoxicated. Try to remain unbiased with the parties.
Common law enforcement forms will be discussed, such as forms related to traffic and crime. Learn how to recuse yourself from a call due to the inability to keep up with the content or because of a lack of credentials. Interpretation recordings can be played in a trial, so this is a setting where you need to make sure that you do the best that you can. Develop your own materials and have them handy if the need arises to help you with the accuracy of the interpretation: translations, glossaries.