Speedy Speakers, Gasping Interpreters
Tuesday October 14, 2008
Here's a slice of my deaf life: Today at work I was in a session with a speaker. The speaker was so fast the interpreter was literally gasping for breath from the effort to keep up. My workplace frowns on interpreters interrupting speakers to ask them to slow down, but the deaf employee can ask the speaker to slow down. So that is just what i did; I asked the speaker to slow down, saying "Could you slow down? My cochlear implant is about to have a short circuit!"
Later, the interpreter told me she thought that was a very funny way to handle it...and later in the session, one of the hearing people also demanded the speaker slow down!
Comments
That’s something I’ve definitely notices. Sign Language Terps have to work in real-time with no pauses.
When there is a foreign language interpreter, the speaker pauses to allow the interpreter to speak.
ASL interpreting is much harder, because you have to sign and listen at the same time.
Bill, foreign language interpreters can do simultaneous interpreting as well. They just adapt to listening and speaking at the same time.
Now we know why ASL terps need to switch off every 20 minutes.
Rox, how about those CODA interpreters switch every 20 min, too…when CODA grow up communicating with their deaf parents?
I had a philosophy instructor who spoke too fast that I had to quit class after 5 terps quitted on him.
As a former hearing person and presenter in my job, I can tell you if the presenter is speaking so fast that a good ASL interpreter can’t keep up, then there are many hearies that aren’t understanding the speaker either. They are just going way too fast! Many times, nerves are involved. Also, a speaker may have been given way too little time to cover the required information and they didn’t know how to cut back their presentation to make it effective, so they superspeed through, doing little for learning 0or information transfer.
The policy of the interpreter not being able to ask the speaker to slow down is very wrong and should be challenged. Your interpreter needs to be seen as a partner to the presenter and treated as such. Most speakers would be happy to oblige to make sure everyone understands their message. If they don’t, I’m not sure why they are presenting in the first place. Evidently not to get a message across!
I’m SO sorry!!!
I’m hard of hearing and once had to request for an Interpreter because I only know to read lips in Spanish and needed someone to transliterate to Spanish for a meeting in English. The activity was in a National Park, so people that came were from the States (I live in Puerto Rico). When it was my turn to speak up I spoke in sort of a broken English, but finally I got tired of mixing the words and ideas on my head and mispronouncing, I started to speak in Spanish. Uh-oh! My Interpreter went crazy translating to English because I tend to speak SO fast! Ooops! I had fun, and my Interpreter and I became fast friends. She is a really nice person.