Well, I'm late again in writing for Friday. I will backtrack and make a slight amendment to my previous blog. Okay, so, interpreting two hours should be doable by yourself. But, I still think you should be able to rely on your team if they're there for that purpose. And, I still think most interpreters do need to keep practicing and working on their receptives as well as their expressives. After a ton of discussion, I was glad to see that I wasn't the only one who was disturbed by the lack of respect shown by other people. I think that was the hardest thing for us all to handle. I was never saying the interpretation was perfect or that there couldn't have been improvements but I still hold that there should be some respect shown for the job that was done, especially by students who are going into the profession and will be in those shoes one day. That was just the one thing that really struck me from the other night.
And as far as the presentation being relevant, I think anything that has to do with the Deaf culture and community is relevant to our interpreting and our learning. We need to get as much knowledge as possible about our clients so we can best serve and represent them. If we don't understand anything about the culture, there's really no way that we can appropriately portray their thoughts and ideas to other people. We'll probably always be exposed to new and diverse things about the Deaf culture and it's important for our jobs. I don't always agree with everything but at least we're being put in situations where we can learn the differences and at least see where people are coming from.
As for our recipe assignment.....again, I think my internal noise got the best of me. It is so true that when you have a thousand things running through your mind, it is that much harder to concentrate and really be able to interpret accurately. So many little things kept going wrong while I was trying to do the assignment that when I finally got it done, I just stopped and thought, geez, I wish I could do that again. But, the assignment was supposed to be pretty much based on the fact that we haven't heard the information before and are not supposed to re-do the interpretation. And so I ended up turning in a, less that satisfactory for me, assignment this time. I hope I can do better next time around and can learn more ways to not let the internal stuff affect my interpreting. There's always going to be things going on and I need to learn how to put all that really aside enough to do the assignment and then worry about it again later.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Huge handbook necessary...
Okay, so, I have no clue why I didn't write anything for last Wednesday. Oh.......so I can't forget to put really quick about my voicing. I chose the CD with Brianna. I was kinda torn between doing one of the longer ones that I wasn't sure about the terminology or the shorter one that I thought I could probably know all of it. And let me just say how stupid the reason was that I didn't know if it was ballerina or ballet class and that was the deciding factor. I think I did okay and got the general message expressed but felt I could have done better. Maybe that's how we'll always feel and maybe in some ways that's a good thing because it makes us remember that we always need to improve. I'm trying to think of something else I should write for Wednesday but too much stuff is in my head right now to remember more of what we did.
ANYWAY...as for today's blog, I think the biggest majority of this will be focused on the presentation from tonight. And I have a feeling that I'm not the only one. To start...I thought the presentation was interesting and it gave us a different, more in-depth view of the gay community. I just had to put it out there to start that the presenter did very well and it was interesting.
Now...I must vent. Let me just say...I, along with probably most of the class, am disgusted with the majority of the first year students. By the end of the two hours, I was pretty much fuming, and that sign came in handy. Whoever thought that one up was pretty much a genius. And, before I start completely complaining about that, I have to give huge kudos to Stephanie for interpreting pretty much two hours straight BY HERSELF.
I think there should be some kind of informal handbook to pull out and hit people over the head with. In no particular order - - - Number One: Do not correct an interpreter who you are not teaming with! You are an audience member. You are a student. Sorry, but that's the reality. Need a wake up call? We about gave it to you. Number Two: Do not think you know what interpreting in a real-life freakin two hour session is like if you don't have a clue. We're in the second year and we still don't have a clue about what it's really like. We only have the advantage of a bit more of a glimpse into the interpreting world. Number Three: Do not think you can do a better job of interpreting and put someone else down when you seriously couldn't. Wow, congratu-freakin-lations. You got a fingerspelled word. I'm so proud of you all. And I hope ya'll caught the sarcasm. Number Four: When you are team interpreting, please pay attention for your team. Hey, maybe they need your help. -Maybe that one goes against a previous one but seriously...help a girl out when she could use it. Number Five: Do not ask a gay person, in a room full of gay people, why they chose to be gay? Okay, that one shouldn't be in the handbook maybe but I had to throw that in there for Kim. Next time ya might need a few bodyguards to get ya out.
That's all for now I think. No one said this was a long handbook yet but we need to make it longer so we have a thicker book to hit people with. These were just a few glaring things that hit me over the course of two hours and God help us if we do the same things. Maybe someone needs to write a book to hit us with too but...I hope we've learned a little more than that over the past two years. I guess no one ever said learning was easy or painless.
ANYWAY...as for today's blog, I think the biggest majority of this will be focused on the presentation from tonight. And I have a feeling that I'm not the only one. To start...I thought the presentation was interesting and it gave us a different, more in-depth view of the gay community. I just had to put it out there to start that the presenter did very well and it was interesting.
Now...I must vent. Let me just say...I, along with probably most of the class, am disgusted with the majority of the first year students. By the end of the two hours, I was pretty much fuming, and that sign came in handy. Whoever thought that one up was pretty much a genius. And, before I start completely complaining about that, I have to give huge kudos to Stephanie for interpreting pretty much two hours straight BY HERSELF.
I think there should be some kind of informal handbook to pull out and hit people over the head with. In no particular order - - - Number One: Do not correct an interpreter who you are not teaming with! You are an audience member. You are a student. Sorry, but that's the reality. Need a wake up call? We about gave it to you. Number Two: Do not think you know what interpreting in a real-life freakin two hour session is like if you don't have a clue. We're in the second year and we still don't have a clue about what it's really like. We only have the advantage of a bit more of a glimpse into the interpreting world. Number Three: Do not think you can do a better job of interpreting and put someone else down when you seriously couldn't. Wow, congratu-freakin-lations. You got a fingerspelled word. I'm so proud of you all. And I hope ya'll caught the sarcasm. Number Four: When you are team interpreting, please pay attention for your team. Hey, maybe they need your help. -Maybe that one goes against a previous one but seriously...help a girl out when she could use it. Number Five: Do not ask a gay person, in a room full of gay people, why they chose to be gay? Okay, that one shouldn't be in the handbook maybe but I had to throw that in there for Kim. Next time ya might need a few bodyguards to get ya out.
That's all for now I think. No one said this was a long handbook yet but we need to make it longer so we have a thicker book to hit people with. These were just a few glaring things that hit me over the course of two hours and God help us if we do the same things. Maybe someone needs to write a book to hit us with too but...I hope we've learned a little more than that over the past two years. I guess no one ever said learning was easy or painless.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Two weeks!?!
Where exactly did the spring break go? It was nice to have a break to just clear the mind for a while, even though that doesn't take me very long to do sometimes. A week can feel like an eternity though, too. I feel like I haven't signed anything in forever. I really feel like I need to pull out some more of our old books or at least the consecutive and simultaneous dvds that let us practice interpreting for people. I'm so nervous when we do interpreting for the most part in class but I feel like I need it. Practicum is two weeks around the corner...yeah, two weeks. By the way, how did that happen!?!
So today's class...we watched a video that discussed some things with Deaf culture. It was pretty interesting and was a review of some things that we haven't outright discussed for a while. It's important for us to remember all the culture portions of the interpretation and the situations we're going to be going into. Another part of that was kind of in Ruby's class today, too. Our video in there was about storytelling and as we watched those, you could see the attention to details and the expressions when telling a story to someone. I think my receptives are still improving, which I'm glad of because then I'm not just staying the same. There are still a ton of little things that come up though that I don't comprehend or just don't catch sometimes when they're signed. The same goes for vocabulary though. There are always little signs that we are used to seeing one way but can represent various words. Where was a thesaurus today when we needed one?
So today's class...we watched a video that discussed some things with Deaf culture. It was pretty interesting and was a review of some things that we haven't outright discussed for a while. It's important for us to remember all the culture portions of the interpretation and the situations we're going to be going into. Another part of that was kind of in Ruby's class today, too. Our video in there was about storytelling and as we watched those, you could see the attention to details and the expressions when telling a story to someone. I think my receptives are still improving, which I'm glad of because then I'm not just staying the same. There are still a ton of little things that come up though that I don't comprehend or just don't catch sometimes when they're signed. The same goes for vocabulary though. There are always little signs that we are used to seeing one way but can represent various words. Where was a thesaurus today when we needed one?
Monday, March 10, 2008
Always an open chair
While it is officially spring break, as of today I guess, I still need to write about Friday. I don't know why I can't remember to blog every Friday it seems. Actually I do know why I didn't this past Friday. Let's see, was it that the portfolio was due, we had a performance test in Ruby's class, we went over a ton of stuff in the blue book, and oh yeah, what was the other one? Oh, we had a six hour workshop afterwards. No, all that wasn't that bad in the end, I'm just sounding dramatic.
The portfolio.....I was a little worried about this one, if you have read any of my previous blogs. The biggest reason for the anxiety was just because I've never really put a true portfolio together. But, after it's all said and done now, I am glad that we were required to do one. It at least gives us a pretty great basis for taking with us for possible employment and that's a really great thing, even if we were somewhat stressed about the grade part of it. We can now say we have something professional-looking to have in our hands when we walk in to see someone about a job. There truly is a rhyme and reason to our madness. haha.
Okay, on to Ruby's performance test. I sat and signed what I was going to present over and over in my head and before we went in there. And then...I get up in front of everyone and thought I was okay for a minute, that is until my mind went completely blank. Overall I think I did alright but I just kinda froze up there. I think for me sometimes, it is easier for me to sign something when there is a message being voiced or when there is at least a smidgen of noise in the room. It's the dead silence that gets me every time.
The workshop was pretty good overall. Again, it was finding some reason to the rhyme I guess. I understood the general concept but it just wasn't sinking in my head the way I was wanting it to. As April said and I think I do categorize things to some degree when I'm interpreting and signing but it can always be improved upon. It was definitely an interesting method of categorizing information in the message. And we were able to do some more of the play on word sentences. You never really think how many different ways one word in the English language can be constrewed until you get ten different examples of the same word with ten different meanings.
And lastly for tonight, for any of you who have an idea of the dilemmas I've been making myself face here recently, I still have a LOT of thinking to do but I think I am closer to a decision than before. That may only make sense to a very few of any of you who may be reading my blog but...I hope you all know what your near future holds and if not, start thinking because it creeps up fast! Thanks again April, for your advice, and for you and Ruby always having a chair open. I'm sure it will be occupied again.
The portfolio.....I was a little worried about this one, if you have read any of my previous blogs. The biggest reason for the anxiety was just because I've never really put a true portfolio together. But, after it's all said and done now, I am glad that we were required to do one. It at least gives us a pretty great basis for taking with us for possible employment and that's a really great thing, even if we were somewhat stressed about the grade part of it. We can now say we have something professional-looking to have in our hands when we walk in to see someone about a job. There truly is a rhyme and reason to our madness. haha.
Okay, on to Ruby's performance test. I sat and signed what I was going to present over and over in my head and before we went in there. And then...I get up in front of everyone and thought I was okay for a minute, that is until my mind went completely blank. Overall I think I did alright but I just kinda froze up there. I think for me sometimes, it is easier for me to sign something when there is a message being voiced or when there is at least a smidgen of noise in the room. It's the dead silence that gets me every time.
The workshop was pretty good overall. Again, it was finding some reason to the rhyme I guess. I understood the general concept but it just wasn't sinking in my head the way I was wanting it to. As April said and I think I do categorize things to some degree when I'm interpreting and signing but it can always be improved upon. It was definitely an interesting method of categorizing information in the message. And we were able to do some more of the play on word sentences. You never really think how many different ways one word in the English language can be constrewed until you get ten different examples of the same word with ten different meanings.
And lastly for tonight, for any of you who have an idea of the dilemmas I've been making myself face here recently, I still have a LOT of thinking to do but I think I am closer to a decision than before. That may only make sense to a very few of any of you who may be reading my blog but...I hope you all know what your near future holds and if not, start thinking because it creeps up fast! Thanks again April, for your advice, and for you and Ruby always having a chair open. I'm sure it will be occupied again.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
.............
Okay, first I must say that I am much relieved about the blue book test being later than this week and a take-home. That's a burden lifted. I'm glad that we're still discussing the chapter because it's some important information, but we don't have to worry about every little detail to learn and remember for the test this time.
As for the second class, I didn't get to voice yet. In some ways, I wish we were doing more signing too. I just feel like it's been a long time since I have. I told Jeana today that the semesters should almost be switched. I need to start going over the consecutive and simultaneous videos again to practice that more. But, as I usually write, I am glad for any experience and being able to watch and listen to other people voice just gives us more of an idea as to how each interpreter is different in their own ways.
One other thing I found out today is that the future is so uncertain. I hope that everyone else knows and has everything figured out as to what they want to do after we graduate because let me just say that as of today again, I have no idea. I feel like I just graduated high school and don't know what to do with my life. So.....yeah...
As for the second class, I didn't get to voice yet. In some ways, I wish we were doing more signing too. I just feel like it's been a long time since I have. I told Jeana today that the semesters should almost be switched. I need to start going over the consecutive and simultaneous videos again to practice that more. But, as I usually write, I am glad for any experience and being able to watch and listen to other people voice just gives us more of an idea as to how each interpreter is different in their own ways.
One other thing I found out today is that the future is so uncertain. I hope that everyone else knows and has everything figured out as to what they want to do after we graduate because let me just say that as of today again, I have no idea. I feel like I just graduated high school and don't know what to do with my life. So.....yeah...
Monday, March 3, 2008
What to write? Another day, same worries
I really don't even know what to write today. I guess the biggest thing I'm worrying about right now is having my portfolio finished and how it should be. I feel like I keep writing about it now but I just want it to look professional and be a good start for something we can take to a future employer. Even the thought of a future employer is a daunting idea.
I guess the other biggest thing on my mind today is practicum. I'm supposed to start observing this week and I just keep thinking, I hope I can just do the best job I possibly can and that I can learn a lot from the experience of the situation. I feel like I should have went to the workshop this past weekend as well. It's hard to take off work right now when it's paying for me to be in the program. I wish I could attend more workshops than I have. That's why I'm thankful for the workshop we're having on Friday. Like we've been saying, even learning one new thing is an accomplishment. We may feel like we should learn a whole lot but everything helps if we really absorb the information. I'm sure there will be more to write later when I'm starting to observe and worrying then about the time I'll be interpreting. Experience is key, we just have to get past the fears and concerns in the meantime.
I guess the other biggest thing on my mind today is practicum. I'm supposed to start observing this week and I just keep thinking, I hope I can just do the best job I possibly can and that I can learn a lot from the experience of the situation. I feel like I should have went to the workshop this past weekend as well. It's hard to take off work right now when it's paying for me to be in the program. I wish I could attend more workshops than I have. That's why I'm thankful for the workshop we're having on Friday. Like we've been saying, even learning one new thing is an accomplishment. We may feel like we should learn a whole lot but everything helps if we really absorb the information. I'm sure there will be more to write later when I'm starting to observe and worrying then about the time I'll be interpreting. Experience is key, we just have to get past the fears and concerns in the meantime.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
So simple, yet so complicated
After class on Friday, I finally got home through all the snow and started working on my portfolio. While I still don't have my resume part finished, I did get some more things organized and that makes me feel a little better about it. I know that time and experience will make our portfolios better but for now it just seems a little meager.
Started discussing chapter thirteen in the blue book. Some of the topics so far are on educational interpreting. And yet again, the more we discuss things for this setting, the more questions arise. There are so many different situations that can occur in a classroom setting and it's hard to know what we would do in those situations. Even something as simple as where to stand can be a complicated decision. And again, we are reminded that we should not be in a really young classroom if we're not skilled. Kids need all the language models they can and a less skilled interpreter with limited vocabulary is only detrimental to their learning.
We watched another video today to voice. I realized that in the end, if I had the chance to watch everything twice, I would get the majority of the information. However, when in real life are we ever going to be able to watch everything twice? Never. Sometimes I think I focus too much and don't let it come as natural as it should and sometimes does. I'm glad though that we're still learning things every day. One thing learned today: teepee. How simple and yet complex is that?
Started discussing chapter thirteen in the blue book. Some of the topics so far are on educational interpreting. And yet again, the more we discuss things for this setting, the more questions arise. There are so many different situations that can occur in a classroom setting and it's hard to know what we would do in those situations. Even something as simple as where to stand can be a complicated decision. And again, we are reminded that we should not be in a really young classroom if we're not skilled. Kids need all the language models they can and a less skilled interpreter with limited vocabulary is only detrimental to their learning.
We watched another video today to voice. I realized that in the end, if I had the chance to watch everything twice, I would get the majority of the information. However, when in real life are we ever going to be able to watch everything twice? Never. Sometimes I think I focus too much and don't let it come as natural as it should and sometimes does. I'm glad though that we're still learning things every day. One thing learned today: teepee. How simple and yet complex is that?
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