Free Resources

A vocabulary challenge for aspiring and practicing court and conference interpreters.

Thinking of becoming an interpreter? As you explore your options and come up with your plan, here is some information to help you navigate the waters of interpreter certification: Interpreter Certification Resources.

By popular demand, this English/Spanish downloadable document explaining most of the ways drugs are medically administered, is being offered to you for study. We hope it’s helpful as you gain further knowledge in your chosen field of work. Check back for more shared documents, or to share any of your own (respecting copyright, of course)!

Here’s a little sight translation to get into the spirit of Thanksgiving. Pull out your audio recorder, phone, or tablet and record yourself sight translating the police report below into a non-English language. Remember, standard procedure is to spend two or three minutes reviewing the document before rendering it to prepare your brain for the linguistic challenge. When you listen to your rendition, listen for content – did you get all the concepts?

Talking about our native tongues, here.

Much has been said, written and discussed about this topic, and it is particularly interesting to those of us who find ourselves in the same position as the author whose article I share at the end: long-term immigrants to an English-speaking country. Think of the overall impact being surrounded by the English language has on our fluency and breadth of vocabulary, especially if everyone in your household prefers English: it becomes our default language, our go-to language for everyday things.