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Immigration Interpreters Rebel at New Contract

The largest U.S. civilian contract for interpreters is a disaster. Multiple sources, including a recent news article, confirm the worst: SOS International is drastically underpaying interpreters for the new immigration court contract.

As a result, interpreters across the U.S. are refusing to sign the new contract. The reasons: low pay, poor working conditions and the "slap in the face" that this contract represents. Interpreters are insulted.

Even worse: BuzfeedNews reports that the conflict between the interpreters and the new contractor, SOS International, or SOSi, threatens the ability of the immigration courts to function

The deadline to switch from Lionbridge to SOSI has apparently been postponed from September to November. Stay tuned...

Interpreting Could Land a CIA Officer in Italian Prison

An ex-CIA officer was recently detained in Portugal. Now she is waiting to find out if she will serve a prison sentence in Italy--for interpreting.

Sabrina De Sousa, a dual U.S./Portuguese citizen, was convicted in 2009 in Italy along with 22 other Americans for being part of the 2003 kidnapping in Italy of an Egyptian cleric. None of the convicted Americans has served time in Italian prisons, but De Sousa might be the first.

What was her role? Interpreting. A Washington Post story reports that she was skiing with her son that day of the abduction in Milan. But before the kidnapping, she says she interpreted for a CIA "snatch" team that met with Italian intelligence officials in Milan in order to plan the abduction.

Not many people wind up in prison for interpreting. We'll keep you posted about her fate.

October 16, 2015

IN THIS ISSUE

Interpreting Could Land a CIA Officer in Italian Prison

On the Calendar

Poor Translation Leads to Charges of Homophobia

CCC Corner

Culture & Language Press

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BOOK(S) OF THE WEEK

D�galo en se�as, A Spanish to American Sign Language Reference Book

Lucas Soto

2015

Here is an unusual book: its purpose is to help Spanish speakers communicate by signs with deaf family members and friends who communicate in American Sign Language (ASL). It contains more than 500 common signs and some specialized signs for use in schools and healthcare settings.

The book includes both images and guidance in Spanish about how to produce each sign. We'll be curious to hear feedback about it!

ON THE CALENDAR

Attend Webinars by U of Arizona

The National Center for Interpretation at the University of Arizona is offering two webinars (one language neutral, the other Spanish<>English) on consecutive interpreting with peer and instructor feedback.

The first webinar, language neutral, focuses on technique. It is held October 25, 2015, 1-4 p.m. EDT, $75. The second (Spanish<>English) focuses on practice. It will be held December 12, 2015, 1-4 p.m. EST, also for $75. For questions call 520-621-3615 or send an email.

Poor Translation Leads to Charges of Homophobia

A candidate for elections in Ontario, Canada, of East Indian heritage, was dumped by his own party. The charge: making homophobic statements.

And now Jagdish Grawal is blaming a bad translation.

Last March, in the Punjabi Post, a sentence he wrote in an editorial about therapies to turn gay youths straight was translated as, "Is it wrong for a homosexual to become a normal person?"

He insists the appropriate translation would be, "Is it wrong for a homosexual to become a straight person?"

The throes of an election campaign make this story a lively one in my natal province of Ontario. The question is: will the Conservative party take him back? Right now it's unclear.

PS - Thanks to Kara Warburton for sharing this story!

CCC CORNER

Don't Miss the Most Exciting TOT in the U.S.!

November 16-21 in Columbia, Maryland (near Baltimore): it's back!

Come attend the Training of Trainers for The Community Interpreter�. Get licensed to give the leading national program for community and medical interpreting. Teach your own 40-hour certificate program. Charge what you want. Adapt the program to your audience. Have fun!

Best of all... No licensing fees! And the program offers the best--and indeed only--true textbook in the world for community and medical interpreting. Authored by five credentialed authors from five countries, The Community Interpreter�: An International Textbook is the most cutting-edge work in the field. And it comes with a workbook of more than 200 pages.

Don't miss the fun. Join trainers from across the United States. Here's the fall training calendar for details.

And this time in addition to Marjory Bancroft, the TOT co-trainer is the inimitable Denis Socarr�s Estrada: our passionate, mad Cuban who taught community interpreting for years at the University of Alcal� in Spain.

You won't be bored for a second!