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Sign language interpreters meet in Tacoma - Northwest McClatchy - bellinghamherald.com
Math teacher Paul Glaser demonstrated and explained signs for math terms Saturday in Tacoma to a room filled with sign language interpreters.
Glaser, who is deaf, swept his index finger in a U-shape curve, showing the sign for a parabola.
The coaching in math is one way sign language interpreters honed their skills at a three- day conference at the Hotel Murano.
At another workshop, they learned how to deal with performance anxiety about interpreting for those who are deaf or hard of hearing.
“Anytime we work as interpreters, we are performing,” Cyndi Brown told the group. “We are on” – just like a performer on stage, she said.
About 140 sign language interpreters from around the state are attending the annual conference, which concludes today. It’s sponsored by the Washington State Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.
The conference is a place for sign language interpreters to learn and connect with others in their profession, said Jan Humphrey, president of the 240-member organization. They also earn continuing-education credits to keep their certification current.
Some of the interpreters work in school districts or for colleges, while others are freelancers who interpret in a wide variety of situations, including for visits to doctors’ offices by people who are deaf or partially deaf.
“We don’t have a lot of opportunities to get together and talk about our work and figure out how to become better practitioners,” Humphrey said.
The conference is conducted almost entirely in sign language.
“That is the common language that we all share,” Humphrey said.
At this conference, the lack of noise and the motion of hands stand out.
People communicate using American Sign Language, moving their hands rapidly instead of raising their voices. Some of the sign language interpreters are deaf.
Brown’s workshop broke the silence; she said she spoke to communicate the internal process of self-talk and anxiety.
Teresea Smith, a sign language interpreter for the School of the Arts in Tacoma, said she enjoyed attending the conference for the first time. She singled out Glaser’s session on math as a way to gain insight on what amounts to a foreign language vocabulary.
“It was really special that it was right here (in Tacoma) and so accessible,” Smith, 52, said.
Jason Allen, a sign language interpreter at colleges and on a freelance basis, also said he found the coaching on American Sign Language terms for math helpful. Allen, 35, who is interpreting a calculus class at Pierce College, said he learned one term he was interpreting correctly and another he could improve upon.
“This is a place we can ask other people who work in the same field,” said Allen, who also is attending the conference for the first time. “For me, it’s a good place to see people in my area that I might bump into.”
The Tacoma man trained for eight years to become a sign language interpreter.
Allen said he likes the profession because he can pick and choose where he works.
“I get to use my brain,” Allen said. “I don’t have to wear a uniform.”
Math teacher Paul Glaser demonstrated and explained signs for math terms Saturday in Tacoma to a room filled with sign language interpreters.
Glaser, who is deaf, swept his index finger in a U-shape curve, showing the sign for a parabola.
The coaching in math is one way sign language interpreters honed their skills at a three- day conference at the Hotel Murano.
At another workshop, they learned how to deal with performance anxiety about interpreting for those who are deaf or hard of hearing.
“Anytime we work as interpreters, we are performing,” Cyndi Brown told the group. “We are on” – just like a performer on stage, she said.
About 140 sign language interpreters from around the state are attending the annual conference, which concludes today. It’s sponsored by the Washington State Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.
The conference is a place for sign language interpreters to learn and connect with others in their profession, said Jan Humphrey, president of the 240-member organization. They also earn continuing-education credits to keep their certification current.
Some of the interpreters work in school districts or for colleges, while others are freelancers who interpret in a wide variety of situations, including for visits to doctors’ offices by people who are deaf or partially deaf.
“We don’t have a lot of opportunities to get together and talk about our work and figure out how to become better practitioners,” Humphrey said.
The conference is conducted almost entirely in sign language.
“That is the common language that we all share,” Humphrey said.
At this conference, the lack of noise and the motion of hands stand out.
People communicate using American Sign Language, moving their hands rapidly instead of raising their voices. Some of the sign language interpreters are deaf.
Brown’s workshop broke the silence; she said she spoke to communicate the internal process of self-talk and anxiety.
Teresea Smith, a sign language interpreter for the School of the Arts in Tacoma, said she enjoyed attending the conference for the first time. She singled out Glaser’s session on math as a way to gain insight on what amounts to a foreign language vocabulary.
“It was really special that it was right here (in Tacoma) and so accessible,” Smith, 52, said.
Jason Allen, a sign language interpreter at colleges and on a freelance basis, also said he found the coaching on American Sign Language terms for math helpful. Allen, 35, who is interpreting a calculus class at Pierce College, said he learned one term he was interpreting correctly and another he could improve upon.
“This is a place we can ask other people who work in the same field,” said Allen, who also is attending the conference for the first time. “For me, it’s a good place to see people in my area that I might bump into.”
The Tacoma man trained for eight years to become a sign language interpreter.
Allen said he likes the profession because he can pick and choose where he works.
“I get to use my brain,” Allen said. “I don’t have to wear a uniform.”