Conversations: Interpreting and Translating's Podcast

Overview: 

On 3 June the Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing hosted the Cultural Diversity in Ageing Excellence Awards. The Excellence Awards recognise initiatives that promote excellence in the provision of culturally inclusive aged care services across Australia. The winner of the award in the Excellence in Organisational Leadership category was Northern Health for its in-house Transcultural & Language Services (TALS) Department. 

In this episode, Fatih chats with Yue Hu, Director of Transcultural & Language Services (TALS) at Northern Health about the award and what it means to Northern Health.

Guest Bio: 

Yue Hu
Having worked in the public health sector for over 10 years with a background in language service, Yue is passionate about advocating for equal access to health care for culturally diverse populations and Australia’s First People, engaging the community in health care decisions and activities. In addition to her passion, Yue is best known for driving improvement by bringing innovative ideas, and working collaboratively with stakeholders in providing a culturally safe and responsive environment.

Your interest and support are greatly appreciated and we hope you will join us for our events throughout 2022 and onwards.

Don’t forget to visit our training website for more information and PD opportunities:
https://www.conversations-interpretingandtranslating.com.au/w/AU/

International Mother Language Day is a worldwide annual observance held on 21 February to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and to promote multilingualism.

The first episode of Season 3 is a special edition of the Conversations Podcast where we celebrate UNESCO's International Mother Language Day in collaboration with NAATI's Indigenous Interpreting Project.

In this episode, Lavinia Heffernan from the NAATI Indigenous Interpreting Project joins Fatih as co-host. The main aim of the project is to get as many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language interpreters certified as possible.


Guest Bio:

Lavinia is a Luritja-Pintupi woman from a small community three hours northwest of Alice Springs called Papunya. Papunya is where she spent her early years speaking Luritja-Pintupi and learning and living her culture.

Both of Lavinia’s parents were linguists, and she was fortunate to observe and learn from her parents who did translating and interpreting work, thinking, ‘Wow, I want to be able to do what my parents do one day’.

Lavinia is a NAATI certified Luritja-Pintupi interpreter. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in General Studies in Education from the Queensland University of Technology. She is currently working as a Project Officer at NAATI on the Indigenous Interpreting Project.

Your interest and support are greatly appreciated and we hope you will join us for our events throughout 2022 and onwards.

Don’t forget to visit our training website for more information and PD opportunities:
https://www.conversations-interpretingandtranslating.com.au

NAATI and All Graduates have collaborated in an initiative that aims to provide information to practitioners directly from a NAATI representative. Every quarter, a panel of NAATI managers will answer questions that Interpreters and Translators have sent through using an online form. Questions will be picked at random and directed at the panel by All Graduates Head of Training, Fatih Karakas at the end of each quarter.

Guest Bio:

Ask NAATI - November 2021, features Certification Policy and Development Manager, Aurelie Sheehan and National Operations Manager, Michael Nemarich on the panel.

Your interest and support are greatly appreciated and we hope you will join us for our events throughout 2021 and onwards.

Don’t forget to visit our training website for more information and PD opportunities:
https://www.conversations-interpretingandtranslating.com.au/w/AU/

In the latest episode of the Conversations Podcast, Fatih chats with practitioners Cintia Lee and Silvia Martinez about some of their recent court interpreting experiences and the implementation of the RNS.

The Recommended National Standards for Working with Interpreters in Courts and Tribunals (RNS) was introduced in 2017 but are they being implemented? Do the courts provide interpreters with briefings and preparation materials? What kind of assistance and support do they get from the courts?


Links mentioned in this week's episode

Link to RNS: https://jccd.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/JCCD-Interpreter-Standards.pdf

Link to AUSIT petition: https://www.change.org/p/attoney-general-s-department-demand-fairness-in-the-justice-system-improve-court-interpreting-conditions-now

Guest Bio: 

Cintia Lee is a NAATI Certified Interpreter and Translator (Spanish<>English), and holds a degree in English Philology from the University of Deusto in Bilbao, Spain. She has a wealth of experience across a range of community interpreting settings, with a focus on legal and law enforcement. She has been providing professional interpreting services in criminal, civil and administrative courts, and tribunals in Australia since 2011 and has a strong commitment to delivering high-quality interpretation and to upholding the highest professional and ethical standards.

Silvia Martinez is a NAATI-Certified Interpreter and Translator (Spanish<>English), who has concentrated her interpreting practice on conference and legal interpreting. She gained an appreciation of the challenges and requirements for interpreting in legal settings—and the skills—when she completed a Graduate Diploma in Interpreting and Translation at Western Sydney University in 2001. She also worked as research assistant to Professor Sandra Hale on the project that led to Interpreter Policies, Practices and Protocols in Australian Courts and Tribunals, published in 2011 by the Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration, and which laid important groundwork for the development of the JCCD’s Recommended National Standards for Working with Interpreters in Courts and Tribunals. 
 
 
Your interest and support is greatly appreciated and we hope you will join us for our events throughout 2021 and onwards.

Don’t forget to visit our training website for more information and PD opportunities:
https://www.conversations-interpretingandtranslating.com.au/w/au/

In this week's episode, Fatih chats with AUSIT National President Dr Erika Gonzalez about this year's national conference held in Perth in November. The forum will also be made available live online, making it the first hybrid AUSIT National Conference.

The AUSIT National Conference is an annual forum for translators, interpreters, and those involved in the language services sector to explore innovations in practice, technology, and language itself.

Guest Bio:
Erika Gonzalez completed a BA in Translation and Interpreting and an MA in Specialised Translation at Universidad de Valladolid (Spain). She also holds a certificate in Medical Interpreting from the University of Massachusetts. She started her career as a conference interpreter in Europe, and then combined it with legal interpreting at community level. To deepen her knowledge and understanding of this field, she completed an MA by research on community interpreting at Universidad del País Vasco. In 2006, she was awarded an Endeavour Europe Award by the Department of Education, Science and Training, and came to Australia to do her PhD under Professor Sandra Hale's supervision. She graduated with a PhD in professionalism and community interpreting in 2013. She was the AUSIT National PD co-ordinator for two years, and is now a senior lecturer in Translation and Interpreting at RMIT. She continues to work as a freelance translator and conference interpreter. She joined the National Council, inspired by her colleagues and the work they do to improve the situation of the profession in Australia.

https://ausit.org/
https://office.ausit.org/event-4412680

Your interest and support is greatly appreciated and we hope you will join us for our events throughout 2021 and onwards.

Don’t forget to visit our training website for more information and PD opportunities:
https://www.conversations-interpretingandtranslating.com.au/w/au/

In Touch is the official magazine of the Australian Institute of Interpreters and Translators. In this episode, Hayley gives Fatih a sneak preview of the Winter issue of the magazine. 

If you have any questions for Hayley regarding the magazine or would like to contribute, you can email her at [email protected]

Guest Bio:  

Hayley is the current Managing Editor of AUSIT's In Touch Magazine. She is also a Spanish to English translator and interpreter specialising in the legal and business areas. Hayley grew up in Brisbane/Sunshine Coast, and has been based in Guadalajara, Mexico, for the last 13 years and has interpreted for the US Consulate in Guadalajara, Monterrey Institute of Technology, and translated for the Guadalajara International Book Fair. 

Your interest and support is greatly appreciated and we hope you will join us for our events throughout 2021 and onwards.

Don’t forget to visit our training website for more information and PD opportunities:
https://www.conversations-interpretingandtranslating.com.au/w/au/

On 16 Jul 2021, NSW Health launched a new multilingual resource on immunisation and vaccination in 31 languages to assist community leaders and organisations. The COVID-19 Glossary of Immunisation and Vaccine Development provides plain language meanings to complex medical terminology about immunisation and vaccination development. The glossary aims to help community organisations, bilingual workers and community leaders better understand and communicate about COVID-19 vaccination to people from culturally diverse backgrounds. The development of the glossary was led by the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and the NSW Multicultural Health Communication Service (MHCS) in partnership with a broad range of experts. 


Guest Bio: 

Associate Professor Holly Seale is an infectious disease social scientist at the School of Population Health at the University of New South Wales in Australia. She has over 15 years of experience in undertaking social science research focused on improving confidence and engagement of different at-risk groups with immunisation and other prevention strategies. 

The social science and behavioural research that she leads focuses on promoting acceptance and uptake of immunisation while applying a “whole-of-life” lens. It incorporates innovative research focused on groups that traditionally have received less attention and continue to have suboptimal uptake: children and adults with chronic medical conditions, culturally and linguistically diverse communities (focus on both migrants and refugees) and occupational groups including hospital healthcare providers. This research has included case study analysis, policy and programs reviews, community and stakeholder interviews, resource analysis, provider surveys, sero-studies, epidemiology-based studies and more. She works closely with local and state health departments to lobby for improved opportunities for vaccination, as well as to improve communication/promotion packages.

Link to the glossary below:
https://www.mhcs.health.nsw.gov.au/glossary/covid-19-glossary

If you would like to provide feedback or add a new word or term to the list, please contact Associate Professor Holly Seale at [email protected] or on +61 (02) 9385 3129.

Your interest and support is greatly appreciated and we hope you will join us for our events throughout 2021 and onwards.

Don’t forget to visit our training website for more information and PD opportunities:

https://www.conversations-interpretingandtranslating.com.au

Ask NAATI July 2021, features Certification Policy and Development Manager, Aurelie Sheehan and National Operations Manager, Michael Nemarich on the panel.

List of Questions for Part 3:

• I watched the 4-part podcast – All Graduates Conversations: Interpreting and Translating: Ask NAATI, March 2021. It is very likely this will be glossed over, or I will receive some vague answer, that will not actually be answering this. Michael Nemarich said something along the lines of ‘’people who do skills set courses have a higher failure rate.’’ So other than the skills set course being a prerequisite to be completed before the exam. What other purpose does this course have?  So NAATI can fail people before the exam?
• How can someone who cannot find any courses in their language that are NAATI endorsed or any prep courses that can help them to become an interpreter, translator, or both? According to Mr Nemarich, they are already disadvantage and likely to fail. I have done my skills set course and sat for my NAATI test and failed. I have applied for the next available test next year. I have put my name down on a waiting list/expression of interest for a Diploma of Interpreting in Greek with both RMIT and TAFE NSW. I will need to wait to see if the demand is there. Seems like I must fork out more money to increase my chances. It's not like the exam is cheap either. When I jumped on the NAATI website for endorsed qualifications, I get a list of RMIT courses but when someone does not have a diploma or a degree, the slim choices become even slimmer. RMIT has Graduate, advanced graduate, master courses. I only have an undergraduate certificate from a university. NAATI does not help to give out learning materials (I asked and got nothing), when asked on ASK NAATI back in March 2021 how to study, the answer was very vague. Apart from using the material that I got in my skills set course, and my glossaries. I really do not where else to do or turn to increase my chances of passing the test. I even asked RMIT for study materials and their answer was, apply for a course which is $24000. I even found a prep course for Greek on the website it was via TAFE SA. I enquired with TAFE SA and was told that the course no longer exists. I even sent them a snapshot of the NAATI website. Even the website isn’t updated. 
• The only learning materials I have is the two workbooks from RMIT and TAFE SA, which I had access to during my RMIT skills set course. In addition, participate in as many PD, podcasts, and short courses as possible with All Graduates, NAATI, AUSIT etc. Please explain how someone is meant to pass the test with only a Skills Set qualification which is the minimum requirement? You guys go on and on about practice, practice, practice but how and with what? I cannot find learning materials, online, with AUSIT, NAATI, RMIT etc or courses to further my skills. Or is NAATI deliberately failing people who only do the skills set and diploma courses? I cannot be the only person who is in this situation. Is NAATI failing the people who only done the skills set course as a way for NAATI and educational institutions to make easy money? The only reason I bring up money is several times during the 4-part, two-hour podcast Mr Nemarich mentions money. Specifically goes into detail how NAATI loses money when hosting CPI exams etc. These comments made by Mr Nemarich does not inspire any confidence at all. I hope I will get a proper answer and not a vague response. 
• I noticed on the CPI test for Greek is set for 14th April 2023 (Sunday, 16 April Orthodox Easter 2023). That is the date of Orthodox Good Friday. Very disrespectful from NAATI. You think of a multicultural place like NAATI would have been aware of this. 
  
  

https://www.conversations-interpretingandtranslating.com.au/w/AU/

Ask NAATI July 2021, features Certification Policy and Development Manager, Aurelie Sheehan and National Operations Manager, Michael Nemarich on the panel.

List of Questions for Part 2:

• I am not an interpreter yet, I have family members who are on workers compensation and often require an interpreter. The problem is the interpreter does not know the terminology for workers compensation. Often my family members become frustrated when dealing with interpreters.  I know this is not recommended but there is really no other option, often I have to be the interpreter and waste my time. The LOTE speaker becomes frustrated. This isn't a one-off thing either it's everywhere when interpreters are used on the phone with insurance companies, WIRO, in person with rehab providers, at independent appointments etc. I have seen this happen over 99 per cent of the time. Just the other day a family member called WIRO with an interpreter, they became frustrated and the interpreter was difficult. I called back two days later and funny enough stumbled on the same person who the family member spoke to and she told me that even though she did not speak the language she could feel that the interpreting was going nowhere. The interpreter was yelling and refusing to interpret. This is not acceptable and needs to be fixed ASAP. Thanks
• After a person passes their NAATI exam, they are not really required to sit any other test unless they want a higher accreditation. They must show PD in their language but the is pretty much it. I have spent years observing interpreters for various family members. I have seen interpreters omit large chunks of information, not interpret everything, interpreting in the third person. I once confronted an interpreter because he omitted large chunks of information. I told the family member that the interpreter missed large chunks of information. The interpreter had the audacity to get angry at me because I caught him not doing his job. Another interpreter did not interpret the risks of an angiogram, Lucky I had interpreted the risks prior to my family member. If I am not present at these important appointments for family members, how do I know if the interpreter is doing their job properly? There seems to be a double standard for interpreters and those who want to be interpreters.  

Your interest and support is greatly appreciated and we hope you will join us for our events throughout 2021 and onwards.

Don’t forget to visit our training website for more information and PD opportunities: https://www.conversations-interpretingandtranslating.com.au/w/

NAATI and All Graduates have collaborated in an initiative that aims to provide information to practitioners directly from a NAATI representative. Every quarter, a panel of NAATI managers will answer questions that Interpreters and Translators have sent through using an online form. 

Questions will be picked at random and directed at the panel by Fatih at the end of each quarter.

Guest Bio: 

Ask NAATI July 2021, features Certification Policy and Development Manager, Aurelie Sheehan and National Operations Manager, Michael Nemarich on the panel.

List of Questions for Part 1:

• Are you recruiting Mandarin role players?
• Does volunteer interpreting work count for work practice for recertification?
• I have noticed that some places that offer PD don’t always offer certificates. Some places say that the registration email is proof, others send an email like "thank you for attending XYZ" and some send certificates of attendance. Why the inconsistencies between places for proof of PD? 
• Due to illness have not been able to complete my professional development points but have been working online and need the work practice criteria, what do I need to do?
• Please ask NAATI when our credentials will be recognised by ATA in the United States, by ITI in the United Kingdom, and by other authorities around the world? It's time for our credentials to be internationalised, especially considering the global nature of our profession.
• Am I able to get an extension for PD criteria for recertification?

Your interest and support is greatly appreciated and we hope you will join us for our events throughout 2021 and onwards.

Don’t forget to visit our training website for more information and PD opportunities: https://www.conversations-interpretingandtranslating.com.au/w/