Gobae

Is it considered ok or rude to spell out (verbally) specialized terminology the interpreter may not readily know the spelling for, so they can correctly fingerspell it? (Same with a relay operator?)

Deafness

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Reba

Sometimes the Relay operator asks me to spell names when I make a call.

Interpretrator

In an educational setting I simply assume the spelling is for the benefit of all the students and never take offense. If it were a one-to-one thing and the hearing person were CONSTANTLY spelling stuff I might start to wonder if he thought I knew anything at all. You never know, that interpreter might have a degree in electrical engineering! (Um, I don't.)

Generally I'd say it isn't rude, but now I am curious about the setting you mention. Why is it necessary for the deaf person to know the exact spelling of the term? Will they be writing it themselves?

My usual AD disclaimer: I'm not challenging you, I'm just interested to know more information.

Gobae

I was thinking specifically about specialized words that are homonyms for non-technical stuff. "Byte" and "bite" come to mind right away.

But even if I'm talking about something like "baud", while the deaf person might not be writing that word, if it doesn't get fingerspelled correctly how will they know what I mean if it get's fingerspelled "bawed"?

And the final situation I was thinking of was the spelling of proper names.

Interpretrator

But again, what is the context? Are you teaching these terms to someone for the first time, or is this someone who is well familiar with the term? If the former, then it would be perfectly natural to spell it out for the first time. If you're using certain technical signs over and over, you should consider working with the deaf client(s) and the interpreter to set up "nonce signs," which are signs that are used in a very specific context but aren't necessarily the "official" signs, especially if none exist for that word. It's usually easier for a deaf person to recognize sign+concept (even if the sign exists only for the specific class or job or whatever) than fingerspelling+concept.

Also you might consider making a word list for the interpreter so that they don't fingerspell "bawed"; maybe it would be useful for the deaf client(s) as well.

Is it of vital importance that the deaf person know the exact spelling of the person's name? Meaning, will they be tested on it or will they be asked to use it themselves frequently? If not, then I'd say let it go. If it is very important that they know the exact spelling, then yes, spell it out but not "at" the interpreter; if you spell it slowly, she should know that the spelling is important without you telling her. If this is a teaching situation I assume that it's of the same importance that deaf and hearing alike know the spelling.

These are good questions and thanks for asking them; it would be nice if more hearing people who use interpreters thought more about this kind of stuff.

Gobae

Well, the time this situation arose was in my "Implications of Deafness" class. A Deaf teacher was talking about TTY's and other technology (he had a technological background in this area too). Interested in learning how to get a modem to talk to a TTY I waited til after class and with the assistance of the interpreter (I had only limited signing abilities at the time) started asking technical questions.

I could tell that the teacher was clearly not fully understanding my questions and that the interpreter wasn't getting the spelling of some technical words right. And going the other direction the interpreter would try to pronounce fingerspelled anachronyms that are just generally left as letters (like "IP").

In the end the teacher and I wound up bypassing the interpreter and writing/drawing critical terms and concepts on the white board and I used what limited signing I could.

But this seemed kinda rude (even though it wasn't meant that way) and I was thinking that simply spelling out many of the technical terms (at least the first time) would have helped remove a layer of confusion.

Gobae

Duplicate post - Sorry

LMM

Gobae
I'm answering this for LMM ! Yes, I'm LMM private terp. Some people here on the board was confuse who I was & who LMM is. Yes, sometimes when I'm typing LMM hands are just flying away. She will tell me "tell them this or that". Then I type exactly what she is saying in ASL. As same as now.
I have terp every reply here for her. She say's " Gobae is learning the gap's of two worlds. Your teacher isn't frustrated with you fingerspelling words. That's normal when you just start learning ASL in the frist year. Maybe even your second year. Depends on your class & teacher."
LMM would like to offer you more help, but she afraid that maybe someone
will go yelling to alex...
I do hope what "LMM" say helps. I know she didn't give you a much of an answer, But she did let you know that what you learn in your last class is frist step of learning, "Gapping two worlds together!"
Good luck in your class, Have great day.

LMM
BTW, "LMM" does have me sign her name to all relpys!

Interpretrator

Gobae: I see, that clears up my questions. That is kind of a hard situation because you can't really set up signs ahead of time with the interpreter, nor is there any reason to since they won't be recurring. (For some reason I was under the impression that you were the teacher.)

Hmm, you're right, this can be touchy. Clearly the interpreter was not well educated in technical jargon, but she probably wasn't required to be for a class called "Implications of Deafness" so I don't blame her. I'm trying to put myself into her shoes and think what you could have done to avoid offending anyone.

You could say in advance "I need to ask the teacher something. Are you familiar with terms like..." and then give a few example. If she isn't and she has a good ethical background, she will admit that she isn't, at which point you could suggest that you and the teacher simply write back and forth and she could join you in case of communication difficulties that she CAN help with.

I suppose it depends on the interpreter but this wouldn't offend me. I would much rather have the clients communicating together in a case like this, as long as both of them are okay with it! However, some people could take this personally, I guess. It's the chance you take but realize that a good interpreter knows her limits and is willing to be flexible in cases like these. It doesn't do anyone any good if the interpreter is HINDERING communication and she should know that.

If you don't have the opportunity to set it up in advance -- for example, you find yourself in a situation like you describe where it starts to dawn on you that the interpreter isn't helping, I would simply say, to both interpreter and teacher, something like "Do you mind if we write back and forth? This technical jargon is a little confusing." Again, a good interpreter will not take offense at this.

Does this help answer your question?

ismi

I'm not sure whether to address this to LMM or her interpreter. Given that the primary language on this board is English, not ASL, why is your writing style more ASL-ish? I would have assumed the function of an interpreter would be to produce language that is clearly understandable on both ends ... please don't take this the wrong way, I'm just trying to understand.

Reba

An interpreter is supposed to produce communication in the target language. In this case, written English.

An interpreter should always produce a naturally flowing, clear to understand, appropriate register interpretation, in the first person. Interpreters should not include personal opinions or side statements within the interpretation. If interpreters have something additional to say for themselves, they need to clearly seperate the roles.

I hope this helps.

Gobae

Interpretrator - You're right on the money. I agree the interpreter shouldn't have known technical terms because my questions really were more detailed than the class normally would have been.

Also, good examples for letting the terp know that my questions would be ranging outside the scope of the class and into technical areas. Thanks!

Reba, ismi or others - Would LMM's interpreter's style be considered "transliteration"?

All - Finally, I'd like to mention that the interpreter didn't take offense, but it seemed like it could have been a situation where it could have gone much worse.

ismi

That's what I don't understand. The "appropriate register" on this forum, I would think, would be standard written English, rather than ASL transliterated. What I'm wondering is why that's not the case - is what we're seeing the result of the interpreter's ability, or a request by LMM for whatever reason, or something completely different?

vrsterp

I think you mean nuance, not nonce.

And spelling IS important. The deaf person should know how to spell the person's name so when they use it in the future, the interpreter will actually know how to pronounce it. When someone has to voice it, "brian" is different than "brain" (a VERY common mistake.)

It's hard to voice something for someone when they say "Um..S-P..a;skldfasdf I don't know the rest." Or when they completely misspell it to where the interpreter can't figure it out or even guess. Interpreters aren't mind readers. We need at least a close semblance of the word. Sometimes we can figure it out by context, if you're CLOSE to the spelling. But names? You should try to be as close as possible. The names people have nowadays could be anything!

Interpretrator

In fact, I don't.

nonce
n : the present occasion; "for the nonce" [syn: time being]

A quick Google search turns this up from a paper about interpreting, since my ITP notes aren't close at hand:

Omission is, in our work, only justified when the term is not understood but will be explained. In that case we may still choose to transliterate the term, interpret the explanation, then develop a "nonce sign", one which both we and the consumer understand is non-standard but temporary.

Hence why I asked about the context. In this case it would not have been necessary for the interpreter to know the spelling of all the terminology for the future. (You could argue that she would then be better educated when encountering similar situations but it's not the job of clients to educate the interpreter; she ideally would have looked up some of these terms she wasn't familiar with and learned them herself.) Lots and lots of fingerspelling would probably have interfered with the message getting through, and interference with communication appears to be why Gobae chose not to use the interpreter in the first place.

I do not at all think spelling is unimportant but there's a time and a place to emphasize it.

Reba

Only LMM and her "interpreter" know the answer to that one.

Etoile

I admit it's something I've wondered about too...ismi, I definitely understand what you're saying. *nods*

Etoile

Ah, this reminds me of a story...and I was just telling ayala920 this story yesterday!

I was interpreting in a psychiatric hospital setting. The deaf client was being prepped to leave the next morning, so she was asking for the items that had been taken away when she had entered the facility. Nail clippers...Sidekick...that kind of thing. And then she asked for her P-R-E-M. I had no idea what she meant and asked her to repeat. Again, P-R-E-M. We went back and forth, and she got more frustrated while I got more confused. The nurse she was talking to had no idea what she was asking for, either. I finally asked the client "could you describe it for me?" She said "you know, for your hair!" Ummm...that was no help, I still didn't know! Again she spelled it P-R-E-M. And then she said: It makes your hair curly. I almost jumped for joy and asked the nurse for the PERM. The client wanted her home permanent kit! I finally explained to the client, "you were spelling it wrong!" We all had a good laugh about it. I don't think I will ever forget the P-R-E-M story.

signer16

I don't know what is up with them, and it's true, only they can answer this question. It seems, however, that LMM's interpreter doesn't have a great grasp on English, because countless times she has misunderstood questions or posts! Maybe her typing ASL comes from simply a lack of English fluency.