Working As An Interpreter
I have worked for some time as an interpreter for the deaf and hard of hearing
. I grew up with a cousin who was considered completely deaf and learned to sign from a very young age. In the actual field I only have about 2 years of experience but I have 20 years of sign language experience.
Using only three adjectives I would describe myself as friendly, eager, and patient. These qualities have helped me greatly in my career because they allow me to build relationships with those I am interpreting to and for more quickly so as to facilitate communication.
I am a caucasian female and it has helped me because I do most of my work in the school system and in general most educators are females. I have not felt discriminated against in anyway other than occasionally being ignored but I am ignored generally because people don't know how to handle an interpreter in the room than out of meanness or anything else. In general I tend to ignore those people as well and once I get into the flow of signing I don't really notice them anymore.
Signing is very hard work as well as an inexact language. I get behind when teachers or other people talk to quickly because there are very often words that don't have signs for them yet or there aren't signs myself or the student have learned. There are a large number of people in this world who don't know what onomatopoeia is but I have to spell it, then describe it, then come up with a sign for the word because one does not exist in the dialect of sign language my students use. People also believe that all sign language is the same but there are three main types of sign in America and each one of them is slightly different depending on the region. Working with people from different parts of the country is often extremely challenging.
I would rate the job satisfaction at an 8 on a 10 point scale. It is difficult to keep up with the teachers sometimes and on days when teachers are providing most of the information designed as the building blocks for the weeks lessons my arms, wrists, and fingers often hurt. The only thing I would change about my job is the speed at which the teachers and other people talking to my students speak. Sometimes it is just too fast for how quickly I can translate the words into a movement.
I love it when I meet my students for the year and they realize that they're going to be able to communicate and interact more fully with the environment in which they spend a large percentage of their day. It also moves me when I am able to help my students learn new words and terms by being able to explain them fully in the language they're comfortable with rather than just reading something. Hearing people are able to provide verbal inflections to the things we read but people who have been deaf or hard of hearing their entire lives miss out on tone, inflection, and variations when reading. I enjoy being able to help make reading more palatable by explaining the meaning behind the words. I have not felt as thought I have found my calling in life mostly because I have always desired to be the teacher instead of the interpreter. One of these days I will find a school district who will realize the importance of saving the dual salary by paying me to sign and teach at the same time.
Learning to sign from a book or during a class from someone who learned to sign from a book is not the same as learning to sign like it is a second language as you grow up. So many times I find teachers who have taken one class want to try to sign their lessons and it is a struggle to help them understand signing the ten words in the lesson they do know is only a distraction for the student instead of helpful. If I'm there to provide a full translation, don't pull the students attention because then I have to remember what I signed, resign it and all the while try to remember what you're saying so I can sign it too. Visual languages do not layer like spoken languages do. You can hear two people talking at once because your ears pick up the sound without causing problems but it is nearly impossible for one eye to look at and understand me while the other eye is looking at and understanding the teacher.
I started as a substitute teacher right out of college but it quickly became apparent there was a need for interpreters and it paid better than subbing. I became an interpreter for my school district because I could pass the required sign language exam with a local branch of disability services.
I learned that even though our country is considered enlightened these days, there are still ignorant and rude people in this world. Sometimes people say or do really insensitive things towards my students and it really makes being professional difficult. The hard lesson was that no matter how bad you want to smack someone, all that will gain is you a lack of a job and the other person a deeper ingrained sense of dislike for those who are deaf or hard of hearing.
The single most important thing I have learned outside of my education is that a smile will go a million miles father in almost every situation than anything else.
I believe the strangest thing that has ever happened to me in this job is when I had to interpret for a student during their sex education course. It was extremely awkward to participate by asking the students questions out loud as if they were my own.
I get up and go to work every day because I can imagine how difficult it would be to not be able to effectively communicate with a single other person for an entire day. The students are the reason why I go to work and every time I help them overcome a situation they were not prepared for or capable of handling before hand I feel proud to be a part of that moment.
When people are rude to my students, or they are disrespectful of my position it is difficult to keep wanting to go to work. One parent attempted to demand an "aide" for their child because the student I was working with at the time had one and their kid should get one too. I was not, however, an aide for that student and it really irritates me that people act like I'm nothing better than a glorified babysitter for a child with special needs as most aides have been forced to be these days.
On days when there are a lot of new vocabulary specific words and the teacher hasn't helped prepare me for the onslaught my day is extremely stressful but on days when things go smoothly my job is fairly stress free. Maintaining a healthy work and life balance is relatively easy because I literally have a job I can't really bring home. Other than occasionally looking for or creating signs for some vocabulary words my work stays at the school building.
Depending on where you work, your salary is typically between $20 and $35. The salary also depends on education, skills, and experience. Your total salary depends on if you work full time, part time, freelance or just for one job.
Due to the fact that I work with students in the education system I only work approximately 9 months out of the year and I rarely take any vacation during those 9 months. It is extremely difficult to find substitute interpreters and with the exceptions of medical emergencies I do not take time off.
Job requirements depends on where you would like to work. Most school districts ask for an associates degree in sign language or deaf studies but because of the lack of interpreters in my area, my experience with sign language and my ability to pass the disability services test I was allowed to interpret with a bachelors in education but no deaf studies certificate. Almost anything outside of an education setting will require at least an associates degree if not more.
If you're considering becoming an interpreter start practicing now and don't stop using your sign language during holidays and summers or your hands will be in severe pain at the start of the school year. It's like running marathons then being bed ridden for 3 months and thinking you're still in shape to run, it doesn't happen.
In 5 years I would like to have my own classroom of students who are hard of hearing or deaf and be both the teacher and the interpreter. I believe this situation would facilitate a much easier line of communication during the lessons as well as keep my students interested in their lessons because they aren't dealing with the delay of speech to sign.
by: Eric Shanman
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