Interpreter Education Online

IEO at the 52nd Annual ATA Conference in Boston, Massachusetts

Posted by Interpreter Education Online on November 3, 2011  |  No Comments

Every time Jinny and Irina attend an ATA conference, they wish they could be in several places at the same time. The conference in Boston offered such an overabundance of fascinating meetings, workshops, and presentations; choosing which one to go to posed a major challenge. While attending sessions, welcoming visitors at the IEO booth, socializing with language professionals from all over the globe, and conducting presentations, Jinny and Irina hardly noticed the four days in Boston go by.

This year, Irina delivered two presentations: Coping with Challenges of Simultaneous Interpretation into Russian in Courtroom Settings and Distance Interpreter Education: Benefits, Challenges, and Perspectives (with Nestor Wagner of Southern California School of Interpretation as a co-presenter). Both sessions were received with great enthusiasm and interest.

The session on virtual interpreter training attracted interpreter educators, court and hospital administrators, and e-learning specialists and stirred a fruitful discussion on online learning. While only a handful of the attendees are currently engaged in online education, the general consensus of the room after the presentation was that online learning is the way of the future and a great opportunity to expand the ranks of qualified professional interpreters nationwide and across the globe.

Tom Fennell, an English > Russian legal translator, commended the hands-on practical approach of Irina’s workshop on simultaneous interpretation. The participants offered brilliant solutions to challenging linguistic problems and discussed problematic court terminology.  Due to time restraints, one of the discussions on an appropriate Russian equivalent to the term probation was left unfinished, and in continuation of this discussion, Irina offers a short terminology research piece for Russian interpreters and translators: “Probation” in the Criminal Justice System.

It was wonderful to see many of our current and past students in person and learn about their accomplishments. We look forward to next year’s conference in San Diego, CA.

For more information about the conference, please visit http://www.atanet.org/conf/2011/index.htm .

MiTiN 2011 Conference was a success!

Posted by Interpreter Education Online on October 3, 2011  |  No Comments

This past weekend, the Michigan Translators/Interpreters Network held its 2nd annual conference in Novi, Michigan. Interpreter Education Online’s very own Irina Jesionowski was a presenter at the event. Irina’s presentation was entitled “Coping with Challenges of Simultaneous Interpretation”. In it, Irina discussed the core competencies of simultaneous interpreters; certain specific and common challenges simultaneous interpreters face in various settings such as conferences, seminars, round-table discussions, and courts; interpretation strategies and coping techniques; training and employment opportunities.

Just in case you couldn’t make it to the conference, here is a link to Irina’s presentation:  Conference_Interpreting_Jesionowski_MiTiN_2011.

Sight Translation Course for Medical Interpreters

Posted by Interpreter Education Online on September 23, 2011  |  No Comments

The need for healthcare interpreters has risen sharply in recent years. Thanks to the growing awareness among healthcare providers, the demand for accurate and professional interpreters will only continue to grow. However, just being bilingual and having ad hoc interpretation skills isn’t enough to satisfy this need nor is it a guarantee that you’ll find a job. For example, just because you know how to speak with your family in a foreign language at the dinner table, that doesn’t mean you automatically know how to use that language to interpret complex terminology associated with cardiovascular disease in the doctor’s office.

Interpreter Education Online understands the vital need for having professionally-trained interpreters in the medical field. That is why we’re pleased to announce our newest single topic unit: “Sight Translation Techniques for Medical Interpreters“. This course is designed to train and prepare medical interpreters to execute flawless sight translations in healthcare settings. “ST Techniques for Medical Interpreters” will be sure to ready any healthcare interpreter to sight translate documents they may encounter while out on an assignment, such as questionnaires and discharge instructions.

This course will also help to satisfy the educational requirements that are needed to take the certification exam. Currently, the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI) and the National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters (NBCMI) are two organizations that oversee the certification process for medical interpreters. Both CCHI and NBCMI are similar in that they require 40 hours of healthcare interpreter training before the certification examination. However, they differ slightly in their certification prerequisites. Be sure to check out CCHI’s Candidate Examination Handbook and NBCMI’s Prerequisites page for more information.

Our “ST Techniques for Medical Interpreters” course is available in the following language combinations: English < > Albanian, Arabic, French, Haitian-Creole, Hmong, German, Korean, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese. The course lasts 2 weeks and students will receive a Certificate of Completion after successfully finishing the course. “ST Techniques for Medical Interpreters” is the second course in the healthcare series to be launched by Interpreter Education Online. Simultaneous Interpreting for Medical Interpreters is next with a number of short and extended courses to follow.

If you have any questions or comments, or if you’d like to know more about the course, feel free to contact us!

Consecutive Interpreting Course for Medical Interpreters

Posted by Interpreter Education Online on May 5, 2011  |  No Comments

Medical interpreters play a vital role in providing language access to health care patients who don’t speak English well. The access is guaranteed by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits the discrimination of people by any agency that receives federal funding. This includes discrimination based on an individual’s inability to speak and/or understand English. Essentially, this means that any federally funded recipients, such as courts, hospitals or any other entity shall offer LEP clients, patients and consumers proactive language assistance. Some states take this even further. California, for example, has even gone so far as to require that insurance companies provide interpreters to claimants who have limited English proficiency.

Unfortunately, as important and necessary as trained medical interpreters are, there is a shortage of them. For many hospitals, medical interpreters usually come in the form of a patient’s relative or friend. This is always a bad choice because, most likely, those relatives or friends are unfamiliar with medical terminology or with interpreter ethics and that can lead to disastrous results. In addition, there is also a shortage of training programs for medical interpreters. It is essential that those wishing to become interpreters in the health care field have access to qualified training programs. For some patients, having access to qualified medical interpreters is truly a matter of life and death. This is why having industry standards and a national certification process is so important.

Currently, there are two organizations that oversee the certification process for medical interpreters: the National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters (NBCMI) and The Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI). The NBCMI and the CCHI are both aiming to become the “standard” in the medical interpretation industry. Both bodies deal with certifying medical interpreters, but they differ in their testing procedures. The CCHI requires consecutive, simultaneous, sight translation as well as translation. NBCMI’s tests, on the other hand, place significant emphasis on knowledge of medical terminology and do not test a candidate’s fluency in simultaneous interpreting. Both organizations are similar, however, in that they require medical interpreters to take part in at least 40 hours of training before seeking certification.

In order to help in meeting the requirements of the certifying bodies and to accommodate the goals of aspiring and practicing medical interpreters, Interpreter Education Online will begin to offer Basic, Advanced, and Single Topic courses for medical interpreters in the near future. These courses will meet the needs of the students whose ultimate goals are to pass a certification exam, develop interpretation techniques through language-specific training, expand their knowledge of the medical system and specialized topics, and improve their performance in the hospital or other medical environments.

With that in mind, Interpreter Education Online is happy to announce the first course for medical interpreters – a single topic unit on Consecutive Interpretation. The course is available in the following language combinations: English < > Albanian, Arabic, French, Haitian-Creole, Hmong, German, Korean, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese. The course lasts 2 weeks, and students will be able to practice interpretation exercises in their language, develop their note-taking skills, expand their vocabulary, and grow their collection of semantic equivalents, all while working with qualified instructors or choosing to work independently. After finishing the Initial Exercise and the Final Consecutive Exercise, students will receive a Certificate of Completion at the end of the course.

For more information, please visit our Programs page.

2011 Worthwhile Events and Conferences

Posted by Interpreter Education Online on January 18, 2011  |  No Comments

2011 promises to be a year of many excellent conferences. To keep you current and updated on events taking place in interpretation and translation industry, Interpreter Education Online posted a yearly calendar of events taking place around the globe. These conferences and workshops offer great networking opportunities, innovative and powerful tools in advancing your career, whether you are an interpreter or a translator. Please feel free to ad to the list you find below by emailing us the link and some information about your events. We will post an update in a few weeks!

“Bridging the Gap” Interpreter Training
February 21-25 2011 – Seattle, Washington ($750, includes materials)
Bridging the Gap is the leading and most recognized medical interpreter training program in the US today. The quality of health care often depends as much on the interpreter as the provider. This foundation course prepares bilingual individuals to work as medical interpreters in hospital and clinic settings.

GALA 2011 Conference (Globalization and Localization Association)
March 28-30, 2011 – Lisbon, Portugal
GALA 2011 travels to the colorful Iberian Peninsula this year where leaders in global content delivery will collectively discuss, share and debate the latest technologies and advancements in localization, language and translation technology.

Consortium for Language Access in the Courts: Court Interpreter Workshops
April 2-3, 2011 – Las Vegas, Nevada
Interpreters will assist to language neutral workshops taught by experienced professionals for all interpreters at any skill level.

NAJIT 32nd Annual Conference
May 13-15, 2011 – Long Beach, CA
More information, as well as registration forms, will be posted on NAJIT website shortly.

Language Access in Health Care Symposium: Bringing Together Louisiana and the National Dialogue
May 18, 2011 – New Orleans, LA
All are welcome! Healthcare and social services administration, providers, interpreters, people who speak little or no English, advocates, health policy makers.

5th Annual NCIHC Membership Meeting (National Council on Interpreting in Health Care)
May 19-20 – New Orleans, LA

2011 ALC Annual Conference (Association of Language Companies) .
May 18 – 21 – Las Vegas, Nevada

Interpret America Summit on Interpreting
June 17-18, 2011 – Washington, DC
Quality Interpreting in Push-Button World: How Professional Identity & Technology are Driving the Future of Our Field.

2011 RID National Conference (Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf)
July 17-22, 2011 – Atlanta, GA
It is the mission of the RID National Conference to offer opportunities to develop the knowledge, wisdom and imagination of all interpreters through educational events and to promote participation in leadership opportunities to advance the profession and improve services.

7th Language and Technology Conference (IMTT event)
August 13-15, 2011 – Cordoba, Argentina
The main objective of IMTT Language & Technology Conferences is to reflect the global reality of the industry, help deal with the changes at a local level and leave attendees with a positive message. The 7th Language & Technology Conference will set the floor for elevated and in-depth discussions that will result in a better understanding of both, vendor and client.

TAPIT Annual Conference
Nashville, TN
Check out the calendar of events for more information on this conference. Marjory Bancroft will be the featured speaker.

2011 International Medical Interpreters Conference (IMIA :International Medical Interpreters Association)
September 30 – October 2, 2011 – Boston, MA
The format of the conference is grounded in workshop sessions that maximize audience participation, complemented by stakeholder meetings and plenary sessions on key national and international policy issues. IMIA provides the forum for new experts in the field to develop. This conference seeks to facilitate learning as an ongoing, dynamic and social process, and strives to offer engaging sessions in which diverse participants can form bonds, participate as learners and teachers, and feel integral to the learning process.

MiTiN Annual Conference
October 2011 – Michigan

The 9th Annual CFI Continuing Education Conference
October 2011 – San Francisco, CA
CFI is working hard to build on our recent successes in 2009 and 2010 to bring you an even better continuing education experience in 2011. Browse the offerings from 2010, consider submitting a proposal to present, and check back for updates later in the Spring.

ATA 52nd Annual Conference
Oct 26-29, 2011 – Boston, MA
The four day event will include expert presentations, showcases panel discussions, scholarly papers, training workshops, certification testing and networking sessions for participants. It will also feature a vendor exhibit hall and job marketplace.

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)
Annual Convention and World Languages Expo: November 18 – 20, 2011
Pre-convention workshops: November 17, 2011
Denver, CO

What does it take to be a successful distance learner?

Posted by Interpreter Education Online on December 10, 2010  |  No Comments

When December comes around, many of us are taking a look at the year about to end summing up our achievements and challenges.  The Interpreter Education Online team considers the success of our students to be its highest achievement and finding the best ways to help our students in reaching their professional goals to be our primary goal.

It’s been more than a year and a half since Interpreter Education Online announced its launch at the 30th NAJIT Conference. Since then, more than a hundred of students have taken our courses.  The vast majority of the students graduated successfully. They significantly improved their interpretation performance and expanded their knowledge of the U.S. judicial system.  However, there were a few students who, despite completion of the course work, did not demonstrate the required growth of their skill level.  And there were those who dropped out at various stages of the program.  These students cause us a great deal of concern.

So I decided to compare our academic performance statistics with other online programs.  Here is what I found out:

The 2010 Sloan Survey of Online Learning reveals that online enrollments have continued to grow at rates far in excess of the total higher education student population, with the most recent data demonstrating continued substantial growth.  The twenty-one percent growth rate for online enrollments far exceeds the less than two percent growth of the overall higher education student population. Nearly thirty percent of higher education students now take at least one course online.[http://sloanconsortium.org/publications/survey/class_differences]

However, e-learning struggles with high dropout rates. There are no national statistics, but a recent report in the Chronicle of Higher Education found that institutions are seeing dropout rates that range from 20 to 50 percent for distance learners. [http://chronicle.com/blogPost/The-Online-Attrition/7228]. I am so happy to see that our dropout rates are much lower than the quoted above. Interpreters stick to their guns!

Still, these figures raise a lot of questions. What type of a student has more chances to succeed in the virtual learning environment? What are the most important factors: computer and software usage skills, self-motivation, self-discipline, or independent study skills?  Would you pay more for synchronized live sessions with a trainer or trade a delayed feedback for lower tuition?  We invite you to participate in a discussion on the best distance interpreter training practices. Share with us your personal experiences, your thoughts and ideas.

It is clear that virtual education is here to stay.  Let’s make it work well for the art and craft of language interpretation!

Irina Jesionowski – Curriculum Director

IEO at the 51st ATA Annual Conference

Posted by Interpreter Education Online on November 8, 2010  |  No Comments

By Irina Jesionowski, IEO Program Director

There is no other conference in this country which in its magnitude and multidimensionality could be compared to yearly American Translators Association conferences.

Jinny and I have just recently come back from the 51^st annual ATA conference in Denver, CO.  The event brought together almost 1500 language professionals from all over the world!  It addition to 170 workshops and presentations, it offered unprecedented networking opportunities, job marketplaces, book presentations, and an extraordinary collection of exhibitors. Most importantly, each of us had a chance to participate in the Annual Meeting of All Members and in ATA division meetings shaping the future of our industry and of our profession.

We were very happy to meet many of our former, current, and, hopefully, future students!  Many of you came to say “Hi!” and let us know that you enjoy reading our newsletters.  Thank you!  It was wonderful meeting you in person!

An attempt to describe everything that was taking place in Denver’s Hyatt in those four October days would be a futile effort. Taking a more humble approach, I would like to share with you a few of my personal highlights.

To read the entire article, please click IEO at the 51st ATA Annual Conference.

Interpreter Conferences

Posted by Interpreter Education Online on October 6, 2010  |  No Comments

Fall is the conference season for interpreters and translators. Language professionals get many occasions to meet and network, expand their business and learn about the new trends in the language industry. At each of the following conferences, InterpreterEducationOnline is exhibiting and presenting on various topics ranging from Coping with Stress Factors While Interpreting to What every Legal Interpreter Needs to Know.

TAPIT conference that took place on September 10-12 in Nashville, TN, was among the first in the surge of regional and national gatherings. InterpreterEducationOnline, represented by Jinny Bromberg, was presenting on current trends in interpreter education, providing an overview and a comparative analysis of various educational and training opportunities for interpreters.

ProZ Freelance Translator Virtual Conference was a great success! On September 30, more than 10,000 language professionals from all over the world attended this online event. 280 participants followed Irina Jesionowski’s and Jinny Bromberg’s presentation, “Becoming an Interpreter”, now available on our resources page.

MITIN 1st Regional Conference on Professional interpreting took place on October 2 in Novi, Michigan, featuring nationally-recognized experts Holly Mikkelson and Bruce Adelson, who presented on court interpreting and Title VI.

California Federation of Interpreters holds its eighth annual conference in Santa Monica, CA, October 8-10. This conference is known for its engaging, innovating, and unorthodox sessions. Among the presenters are Anthony Rivas, Bethany Korp-Edwards and Tuomas Kostiainen. Take a look at the conference page at http://www.calinterpreters.org/conference/ .

Of course, no conference lineup would be complete without the annual ATA gathering. This year, it will be held in Denver, CO, from October 27-30. Session topics will range from machine translation and its evolution to blogging for translators, from Mexican slang to interpreting in a booth. Multiple sessions will be language-specific: Russian, French, Korean, Spanish, etc.

Any interpreter should take advantage of these well respected speakers, variety of topics, and fabulous networking opportunities. We hope to meet many of you this fall!

Happy International Translation Day

Posted by Interpreter Education Online on September 30, 2010  |  3 Comments

The Interpreter Education Online team would like to send you our best wishes for the International Translation Day!

Translators and interpreters celebrate September 30th as their day, since it is the Feast Day of the patron saint of librarians, scripture scholars, students, and of course, translators and interpreters. St. Jerome is one of the greatest biblical scholars of all time and earned his place in history mainly for his revisions of the Gospels and the Psalms and translations of the Old and New Testaments into Latin.

May our professional holiday be filled with much joy, happiness and success! We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your continued partnership and express our appreciation of your admirable work and talent!

Translation is not a matter of words only: it is a matter of making intelligible a whole culture.
Anthony Burgess

To know another’s language and not his culture is a very good way to make a fluent fool of yourself.
Winston Brembeck

Many critics, no defenders,
translators have but two regrets:
when we hit, no one remembers,
when we miss, no one forgets.
Anonymous

Starting August 1, Interpreter Education Online Offers More Educational Packages

Posted by Interpreter Education Online on July 16, 2010  |  4 Comments

More than a year has passed since Interpreter Education Online opened the doors of its virtual school to aspiring and practicing legal interpreters. Working with our wonderful students is an exciting and exhilarating experience, and a bit of a learning curve. One of the lessons we have learned is that when it comes to professional training and education, one size does not fit all. Each language professional has unique educational needs, scheduling challenges and allocation of funds to work with.

To better serve our current and future students, the IEO team has developed new educational packages that will come in effect on August 1st of this year. The Advanced and the Basic Courses for Court Interpreters, our two most popular programs, will be offered in a variety of formats. Students will be able to choose among the following packages:

- Materials Only
- Materials Only + Interpretation Performance Assessment Test
- Materials Only + Interpretation Performance Assessment Test + the desired amount of glossaries and interpretation exercises evaluated by instructors

In addition to expanding the selection of training options, the new system will allow us to open our programs in more language-combinations adding to the existing assortment of 11 language combinations.

For more information, please visit the Programs page.