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Decoding the World of Remote Interpreting: A Deep Dive into the Remote Interpreter Textbook with the Authors

• Mireya Perez • Season 6 • Episode 103

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Imagine living in a world where technological advancements have revolutionized the profession of interpreting. This tantalizing episode features an enlightening conversation with the authors of a groundbreaking textbook on remote interpreting. We uncover how digital technology has not only modified the profession but also introduced a spectrum of competency levels among interpreters. The authors share their personal stories of collaboration on the textbook, and we take you on a tour through the diverse platforms employed for remote interpreting.

This episode then takes a technological deep dive, exploring the multiple types of technology wielded for various interpreting services. Put on your explorer's hat as we navigate through the different settings and specializations these technologies cater to. Our discussion illuminates the ever-evolving role of technology in service delivery and guides interpreters on staying relevant amidst these changes. We also demystify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on technology usage in this field.

Finally, we thread together all the essentials required for successful remote interpreting, underlining the significance of protocols, standards, and ethics in the profession. Brace yourselves for a thorough discourse on the unique challenges that remote interpreting presents. The textbook's role in establishing these standards and best practices is also brought to light.

Only on the podcast that shares your stories about our profession. Brand the Interpreter!
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Connect with the authors!
Katharine Allen
Danielle Meder
Caroline Remer
Tatiana González-Cestari
Sarah Stockler
Dieter Runge
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👉The Remote Interpreter Textbook📚

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Connect with Mireya PĂ©rez, Host
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Speaker 1:

Welcome back language professionals to another episode of the Brandy Interpreter podcast. This is Mireya, your host. On the eve of Translator's Day, I am excited to bring you today's episode. I'm always excited to bring you all the different episodes. You know, the advent of digital technology has had a profound impact on the interpreting profession. Today, remote interpreting has evolved into a sophisticated field driven by advanced technology and shaped by a complex set of legal, ethical and professional considerations. This transformation forms the basis of today's podcast featuring the authors of the groundbreaking textbook on remote interpreting.

Speaker 1:

Today, the authors will provide us an in-depth exploration of the world of remote interpreting, highlighting the vital role technology has played. They'll discuss the vast spectrum of technology competency among interpreters, the diverse platforms used for remote interpreting and how improvements in resolution, quality and immediacy have influenced the profession. But, of course, I wasn't going to let them get away without sharing their personal stories on them working together on such a robust textbook. So, without further ado, please help me welcome the authors of the remote interpreter textbook. Only on the podcast that shares your stories about our profession. Let's dive in. Today I have the privilege of speaking with the authors of a very much awaited for and needed textbook in the field and I'd like to welcome them by order of textbook appearance. We have several guests here today and I'd like to name each one of them, beginning with Mr Dieter Rungi Dieter, welcome.

Speaker 2:

Good to see you.

Speaker 1:

Thanks, maria, thank you, I'm so happy to have you here. And then Catherine Allen, returning guest. Hi Catherine.

Speaker 3:

I'm excited to be here, especially for this reason.

Speaker 1:

I'm so excited to start the conversation around this. Next we go with Caroline Riemer.

Speaker 4:

Hey everybody. Thanks, mireya for having us, really appreciate it.

Speaker 1:

Excited to have you. Thank you for being here, caroline. Followed by Tatiana Gonzalez Estari, which again a returning guest. Hi, taty, hi everyone, thanks for having us. Mireya, absolutely. And then next is Daniel Meeder, another returning guest. Hi, daniel, hey there, happy to be here, happy to have you. And, last but not least, we have Sarah Stockler. Sarah, welcome, thank you so much, I'm so happy to be here. Oh, my gosh, I'm so excited for this conversation, you guys.

Speaker 1:

So let's go ahead and get started, because there's going to be a lot of learning, I'm hoping, today. So I'm going to begin. I'd like to open up our conversation with a quote, and this quote is from a leading expert of the Blue Ocean Strategy and a Global Authority on Creative Transformation. His name is Gabor Georgebert and he's quoted in saying meaningful innovation does not need to be based on outright invention. Rather, there is an exhilarating shortcut. It is based on bold new combinations of already existing components that simultaneously unlock heightened levels of consumer value and reduce costs. And today we will be speaking about not just innovation, but these intersections of innovation that are helping to just increase the standards of remote interpreting, and I have the authors of the book, the remote interpreter, as you can see in our backgrounds and excited to begin the conversation with Dieter. Dieter, if you would help our audience get a feel or understand the setting prior to this textbook coming out, what was the landscape like out there in the remote interpreting world and with technology?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, thanks so much, maria. That's a really great question. The inspiration for this book I have to go back a few years. We started the Booslingo organization. One of the challenges that we had was product was very focused on connecting multilingual access to professional interpreters globally and in the process of onboarding the first thousand or so interpreters into our network, one of the challenges we had was the spectrum of, let's say, technology ability and also technology setup with interpreters everywhere. It was still largely face to face, was still largely the main way that interpreting was delivered. At that point, 70 or 80% of interpreting was still based in the face to face world. Again, this is very much still pre-pandemic era Saw that there was quite a spectrum of capability and experience and familiarity with using remote interpreting technologies and it occurred to me that maybe there was some way we could direct folks to some online training or to some textbooks or what have you, and, quite frankly, there was a dearth of books and information out of that I was able to find.

Speaker 2:

I mean there were. Certainly there were some programs out there that touched on it, but on a fateful afternoon I believe I was with Catherine actually back in the day at an ATA conference and we were talking about this and she said oh well, there's Marjorie standing over at the bar over there I think it was the Lopi bar, you should talk to her about that. And so I think it went something like this I moseyed over to the bars and said hi, marjorie, my name is Dieter and I would love to talk to you about perhaps cross-cultural communications, considering putting together a program, a training program and a book, around remote interpreting. I think it's a reasonably important thing to do. And then, marjorie's usual fashion, she turned me and said that's great. When are you starting on the first chapter? Which wasn't what I had in my initial week. But I'll bite.

Speaker 2:

And that's how the conversation started around the need for this book. Never could I have imagined at that time that it would become 630-plus page volume one In the wings. We have volume two waiting, which will be another 600-plus pages at some point, and there's just a lot of material out there. And it expanded to really encompass all the important aspects of being a professional remote interpreter right across the spectrum of topics, whether that's technology-based information and learning or just self-help, self-improvement, professional development, legal and compliance considerations all sorts of things that we determined needed to be included in a book of this sort and argued fortune that the folks from Marty Up Health were also looking to do something like this, and we managed to put together this amazing team of authors from all sorts of walks of life from the interpreting space and, yeah, it took a while to get off the ground but when it did we really took inventory of things that needed to be in a book like this for professional development and career trajectory of interpreters that want to get involved in remote interpreting.

Speaker 1:

Remote interpreting wasn't a new concept, of course, right, this wasn't like the new innovation that we were talking about. You were looking, or at least it sounds like your idea was to centralize the information in a textbook, or what was that vision that you initially had, which sounds like it evolved after that and took a life of its own right, a form of its own. Yeah, what was that initial vision?

Speaker 2:

So the thing I mean you're absolutely right.

Speaker 2:

I mean telephonic interpreting has existed since the 70s, right?

Speaker 2:

And I believe it started in Australia, I believe, initially with their telephonic interpreting programs and then in the 80s it took off in the US and also in Europe and it eventually evolved into video remote interpreting as well, and we touch on some of that history in the book, of course.

Speaker 2:

But one of the things to notice when we started Boost Lingo was that there was quite a again, quite a spectrum of technologies that were being used, lots of different hacks and different software programs that folks were using to try to connect interpreters to end users, to support language access, and we felt that there was really a need to consolidate some of these technologies and create a place where a consistent experience for interpreters, so that when you walk into a booth or you join a particular call, that there is some familiarity and some ease of use of this technology but also a process around it.

Speaker 2:

There just seemed to be a lot of different ways that people were approaching this out there and definitely a need to consolidate the information that's out there and provide some guidance to folks that want to become more actively engaged and involved in interpreting remotely, and the challenge really was that some people were using web conferencing software or Skype or combination of who knows what, and so for the end user, the experience also ran the gamut. It could be wildly disorienting and awful, or it could be pleasantly and surprisingly good and productive and helpful. And those are the moments that we all like to live in, is seeing that someone is quickly, efficiently and clearly being helped out in an interpreting session through technology.

Speaker 1:

Yes, the good old days of when we didn't know what to use in order to provide our language services to our LEP community. I remember those good old days Well, thank you so much, dieter. I think that definitely sets the stage in terms of why the need for such a book. I do remember at one point hearing, oh, we're going to roll out remote interpreter textbook, and it was like this excitement behind it, because I absolutely was one that needed more support.

Speaker 1:

I did not come from the remote interpreter world, nor did I have any practice or tools, and the best thing that and it was indeed the best thing out there at the time at least that resonated with us interpreters in public education was a standards of practice document that was created by back then it was the AITE work group and where individuals came together, and so it was like this one pager compared to volumes of a textbook, and this was a document that I utilized in order to inform our district administrators on the proper procedures and equipment that was needed for us interpreters to be able to provide.

Speaker 1:

If this handy dandy book would have been available, of course I would have thrown this book at them instead, but so it took quite some time, and we know why. Obviously, now, with all the resources that are included, I'd like to jump into the very first part of the textbook, which chapter one, by the way of this textbook gives us an overview of landscapes, sort of what Dieter just shared with us with regards to the remote interpreting and the profession. But chapter two, that is also co-authored by Dieter and Catherine Allen, talks about the remote interpreting technology. So I'd like to have both Catherine and Dieter sort of chime in in what we can find in this first chapter and why the need to begin with this type of information first for this particular audience.

Speaker 3:

Want me to start Dieter, or do you want to dive in?

Speaker 2:

I'll just start and then I'll pass the baton. Chapter two starts with a historical overview of the beginnings of remote interpreting and sort of the history there, and I think it's always important to know where you came from, to know where you're going. So there's a very quick overview of the growth of the industry and the thing about it and, Catherine, I'll let you take it from here, sort of thing. But we started writing this book just shortly before the global pandemic began and even at that time technology was a moving target. A lot of things were changing in the RSI world very quickly in terms of technologies and certainly in the general interpreting technology world there were advances almost on a monthly basis. So to write a technology chapter as it's evolving in front of your eyes, it's also super, super challenging. But, Catherine, I'll take it forward from there. This was part of the fun that we had writing that chapter, right.

Speaker 3:

Well, I think one way to look at it is if you think there's sort of two main modalities of delivering interpreting, it's on site and remote. So just think about what, if you think about that, that means that remote interpreting, just as on site interpreting, is happening in every setting and every specialization for every purpose. So when some people, when they hear remote interpreting, may think oh, you're talking about on demand healthcare interpreting with telephonic or video in a hospital, right? Another person would hear remote interpreting and think, oh, you're talking about when they call me, when I have to do a, you know, like as a conference interpreter, I'm on Skype or I'm on Zoom, right. So we can't really approach the topic until we get a handle around that frame, like it's a modality that allows interpreting services to be delivered through technology in any kind of specials in our setting. So that second chapter really tries to categorize you know what are the different kinds of technology used for different kinds of interpreting services in different settings and for different specializations. So for on demand, where you have a pool of interpreters in the background and a technology platform that's allowing somebody to press a button and get immediate access. You know, for the purposes of providing language access, you know, to immigrant communities. I mean it's that plays out differently in different countries, but that's one kind of remote interpreting technology.

Speaker 3:

And then you have, as Dieter mentioned, right before COVID and then of course, during COVID, the remote simultaneous interpreting. You know, dedicated platforms trying to tackle. How do we do, you know team interpreting with simultaneous interpreting for meetings and conferences. You know what does that look like and that's still ever evolving. And then you also just have a lot of interpreting that happens that I don't think anybody ever tracks or captures, but which many interpreters work for. When you get called to do the deposition and they do it on a Zoom call. Or you get called to do, you know, the business meeting and you're doing that over teams. I mean, there's a remote interpreting is happening both in a very formal, scheduled, intentional service market demand delivery, and it's also happening more ad hoc, right. So that's what that second chapter tries to categorize and capture. You know, like, how can we think about this? These are the different categories, these are the different kinds of platforms. Here's where they you know where they're delivering services and then the reader can decide where they fit in.

Speaker 1:

That I can't even imagine what it's like having to feel like you've completed a part of the chapter only to find out, as Dieter said, that something new had changed. How are you tackling these ever evolving changes as you were working on this topic?

Speaker 3:

I would say I'll answer. Then you go, dieter. What is that? There's obvious caveats right written into any of these technology chapters. Like as of this publication. This was the norm. So you have to help people understand that obviously some of that specific information may be outdated, but the overall you know kinds and categories of those modalities isn't going to change. I mean, that category is still there. So we did our very best to create writing that would allow give someone guidance. Even if the specific technology has advanced or changed, the guidance will still get you to where you need to go. That was how we tried to approach that.

Speaker 2:

I would agree because foundationally you know the way that you deliver telephonic or mini remote interpreting. The general process stays pretty stable. What has improved, obviously, is the fidelity of the experience, the quality of the video, the resolution of the video, the immediacy of the technology and you know the user interfaces have become a little more efficient, a little more elegant, a little easier to handle. You know always. You know iterative, gradual improvements on the technologies. But also, you know, contained within that chapter is definitely some guidance to interpreters to make sure that they are keeping pace with the technology a little bit and being poised for what's coming next. You know, as an interpreter, especially as a remote interpreter, you are an IT worker to some extent. So it's important you know no one's expecting an interpreter to become a programmer or a you know deeply technical IT networking professional. I mean it can't hurt.

Speaker 4:

But I felt like I was.

Speaker 2:

Sometimes you are, and sometimes, as an interpreter, you find yourself troubleshooting for clients and end users. It's a fact. But you know, the rally is that the tools are getting easier to use, the experience is getting better, both for interpreters and for end users. But it's incumbent upon you, know, the interpreter, to just poke your head out of the go-for-hole every once in a while and see what's going on in our technology space and just keep abreast of what's changing. I think it's important just from a professional development perspective and also just allows interpreters to take stock of where things are headed and maybe where they need to put some energies in terms of additional IT training or just information gathering.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think that one of those things in the first chapter for me and the first couple of chapters excuse me for me was definitely getting a feel for how big, you know, this specific modality is and it's global, it's not just for us here in the States and you know, even seeing the difference between pre-COVID you know that beautiful graph that is included in there and the pre-COVID use of technology, and then in the midst of COVID, but then after, to see that that number remained spiked, it didn't go back to what it was before. I think that says something and it gave just this perfect visual of what occurred in such a short amount of time.

Speaker 5:

Welcome to the Turn Yourself into a Booked Out Freelance Translator Podcast, a mix of both solo episodes and expert interviews. Our ideal listener is an early career, ambitious and passionate online language services provider. She is committed to professional growth and achieving success in the fiercely competitive translation and interpreting industry. Technology balances multiple responsibilities with resourcefulness, values, mentorship, is open to learning and investing in her professional development journey. She embraces technology and seeks to optimize workflow. Eager to connect with like-minded peers and build out her professional network, she is determined to overcome challenges and become a sought-after freelance translator. In the meantime, why not head over to wwwentrepreneurialtranslatorcom to access all our tools and resources to monetize and future-proof your freelance translation business? And don't forget to hit the plus button in Apple Podcasts or iTunes, or subscribe and Spotify to be notified when new episodes drop. For regular tips and insights, business strategy or marketing techniques straight to your inbox, please sign up at wwwentrepreneurialtranslatorcom.

Speaker 2:

It really put the spotlight.

Speaker 2:

You know, the technology existed up to the lead up to the global pandemic. The global pandemic really put the spotlight in the fact that, hey, this technology is here, it can be used and we all need to continue to communicate and provide language access. And guess what? We're ready for it. So during the pandemic, people became accustomed to communicating via the various different web conferencing applications and video apps out there, and so, when things kind of restored back a little bit, folks were comfortable with it now and it became more part of the day-to-day life, let's say for the end user population and also for interpreters. And let's face it, this technology has opened up opportunities for interpreters in ways that you know. You can be supporting a as an Australian interpreter, an overnight medical interpreting for a US-based hospital or vice versa. You know US-based interpreters or European interpreters supporting Asia Pacific, and you can effectively do your job from any remote location, and so it expands the opportunities multi-fold. You just you don't know where your next gig could come from, but it could be literally anywhere on the planet.

Speaker 1:

And wearing literally anything. If your camera was off, including slippers, right, I could just do my job in slippers. That was phenomenal, sarah.

Speaker 6:

No, I just wanted to include with the slippers. We have some fun Easter eggs and stories that are based on real facts, but no identifying information included of some you know interpreters who think they're not going to be on video but are so definitely check out the book if you want a fun story about that.

Speaker 1:

And that's a great segue actually to the very next chapter with, which was authored by Caroline, in setting yourself up to perform remote interpreting. I think one of the biggest questions, aside from what technology do I need and equipment, is just getting a feel or an understanding of how to appropriately set up, and there were a lot of misconceptions out there when it came to remote interpreting, including that you could interpret with your phone while you're driving right.

Speaker 4:

Caroline, oh yeah, and I won't name any names either, but definitely seen it all when it comes to what people think they can get away with in a remote setting. But it's from those stories, from those experiences, personal experiences, that we created this really nuts and bolts, hands on chapter on how to set yourself up for remote interpreting, and so a lot of it is based on you know needs and demands, and also based on the interpreter's perspective, like from their perspective, what is going to be the easiest and most efficient way to get your setup solid for whatever job you're trying to do.

Speaker 1:

So for the individual that is listening, let's say, and perhaps hasn't yet experienced remote interpreting, what would you say would be those key things that they would need to have just in the forefront and have that knowledge and an understanding, because maybe they don't have an understanding of how you can set yourself up.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, so in this, in the chapter three, we do have a pretty robust checklist that goes through in detail. We go through that now and list off everything. But some of what we review is you know, the equipment, how to maintain the equipment, the quality of the audio, the equipment, the management of the audio equipment. It really does sound like remote interpreters are IT technicians at this point. And then, of course, for video, you know you want to make sure that you have a high definition web camera. We tell you what we recommend and what to avoid as well, and of course these things, like the technology chapter, are changing very quickly or updating very quickly.

Speaker 4:

We also talk about you know the actual office setup, so how close you should be to your screen, what kind of dress you should be wearing. These are all things that when you go in person it seems sort of self-explanatory to like wear the right clothing, right. You can't imagine how many interpreters I've seen wearing you know not appropriate clothing. And so it's. It's seems like these are pretty straightforward checklist items, but there's not a place where they're necessarily ironed out in detail, or there wasn't until we wrote this chapter. Of course internet and speed is really important and and also the resources that you need, so any sort of you know set up, like for printed or online resources that you might need, like for note taking and that kind of thing as well. So it really goes through everything and I won't go through all of it just because it's long.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's yeah, it's a great, actually very, very thorough checklist. That little did you know. You actually needed a checklist in order to provide appropriate services, right?

Speaker 4:

Yeah and like kind of stemmed from just actual experience with on like data was saying in the beginning, onboarding people from all different walks of technological savviness and making sure that we never assumed that somebody knew how to do something.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I recall I don't know how many times camera positioning at it being in wrong places. You know, like seeing I don't know how many dark nostrils for a long time because of camera was below, yeah, it even just something like that that you wouldn't think, oh my gosh, do I look like that when I'm? What should I, you know what should I be using? And seeing people sometimes. It was so helpful which the textbook also includes visuals, you know, for us visual learners images of different people, setups and in the beginning I remember someone sharing if you need to put big textbooks such as this one below your computer or your laptop so that the positioning of the camera is correct and do that. That way you're not interpreting with your nostrils facing to the camera. So even that was important.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, the book is even a prop for setup. Perfect, of course, we're way past that. Now we've got our little.

Speaker 1:

We're way past that now. And then, in addition to to setting yourself up for remote interpreting, the fourth chapter, which was co-authored by Tatiana and Sarah, have to do, has to do, excuse me, with essential protocols and skills. So I'd like, I'd like, to now switch it over to that. Then on, sarah, and and share with us that the Anna or Sarah and Sarah, what were some of these essential protocols and skills that you felt it necessary to include in this textbook? Well, I'm going to start with the skills and Sarah, you can.

Speaker 7:

I think you'll be perfect to talk about the protocols. Well, we, when we started writing, we realized that many of the skills come I mean, I shared, you know, when you do face to face interpreting versus remote interpreting. But we wanted to make sure people understood that at least there's certain things that are basic, that need to happen, and even though we don't maybe focus too much on learning all of these skills or preparing because it takes time to get there, we had to mention some of these and highlight the ones that were specifically important or especially important to remote interpreting compared to face to face. So we have things. Of course, you know you need to know how to have good memory skills.

Speaker 7:

Maybe no, taking skills, different type of skills to make sure that you transfer the message, you make that integration, or you can make it. But with that also comes assertiveness. The fact that you're not physically present in the session makes a huge difference. So assertiveness is a great importance in remote interpreting. So you know, you know you're not just going to be able to have a good memory skills. Maybe no, taking skills, different type of skills to make sure that you transfer the message, you make that integration of what you're listening in the processing, and all that to be able to deliver it in the other language. So that's a huge difference. So assertiveness is a great importance in remote interpreting. So we wanted to highlight different skills to make sure that not only you're transferring the message accurately, but you're also behaving in a way that you can manage the session the best way possible from a remote location. And I think Sarah can talk about protocols a lot.

Speaker 6:

They're so intertwined, right. That's why the chapter is written in the way it is. So one thing I love that we talked about in that chapter protocols of transparency, right. So if you're interpreting, let's say, in the US and a healthcare setting and you're following the code of ethics from the NCIHC, transparency and intervention are key. And you might think, okay, well, that's true of face to face interpreters as well. But the thing that you may not realize if you don't have a lot of experience in remote interpreting is you really have to manage that super well for remote interpreting because, let's say, the call could drop at any moment If you were clarifying with the patient and then you weren't transparent about what was happening. You're left with that impression of what was the conversation that was happening and then all of a sudden the interpreter left. So we go over those details and our experiences of things we've observed over the years and why it's so important that we have kind of a standardized approach right to the protocols, that and how they play out in remote.

Speaker 1:

Any other things that you might want to add with regards to this particular section, tatiana, or.

Speaker 7:

Sarah, one thing that I would add, and it goes back to what we started talking about with theater, and it's not only we didn't have standards set for technology, we also didn't have standards set for what type of protocols are we supposed to be following in remote interpreting?

Speaker 7:

And basically the industry took that and each company was training or is training, still training interpreters their own way. And for us it was important to have some sort of baseline and standard so that that we don't compete about that. And I know this is what I'm saying is it's it's tricky and it's very loaded, but I believe one of the articles Catherine wrote and some of the comments we've made we make the comparison if each company is training the interpreters their own way, that's the equivalent of each hospital educating their nurses and doctors to become nurses and doctors their own way. So to us it was very important to establish not only some standards or minimum requirements for technology, also set minimum requirements for the skills that you need to develop and utilize and the protocols you need to follow. And with that I would also say to answer the question of what kind of code of ethics or code of conduct am I supposed to follow? Because so far it's only been based on my physical location, so that's huge.

Speaker 1:

Yes, thank you, Caroline. Would you like to add to that? Are you hungry for more knowledge and eager to perfect your interpretation craft? The Academy of Interpretation offers a wide range of courses, workshops and language testing to elevate your interpreting skills. I know firsthand how challenging our job can be, but that's why Brandy Interpreter exists. And now the Academy of Interpretation is here to support your journey even further. Trust me, their resources are a game changer. I've had the pleasure of collaborating with their team on multiple occasions, so why wait? Visit their website today, AcademyofInterpretationcom, where excellence in interpretation begins.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, I just wanted to add. You know, one of the most special things I think about this work of art I can call it is that we all come from different. You know different spaces and different companies. You know, when we first started this project, it was very much a collaborative effort, you know, to create something that was going to be standardizing across the industry, and not from the perspective of one LSP, but from the perspective of all the different types of players we could engage, knowledge from guest authors, all the things yeah, that's huge.

Speaker 1:

That's huge. And actually, one thing is standards, and then another thing is the evaluation of whether or not we're following these standards right. How are we to determine that we are doing a good job if there is no sense of maybe, like we call it in, well, in our school district, the rating rubric? Right, how do we know how we're performing? And for that, actually, there is a chapter, chapter five, which Danielle Meadar is the author of, the Remote Interpreter Evaluation, and I'd like to give Danielle now the opportunity to sort of expand on, you know, what were those things that you felt it necessary to include, particularly coming from your particular background, sure.

Speaker 8:

Thank you, and so I'll, just before I get to that piece, I'll expand on what Caroline said. You know we had different players at the table writing this book. One we had never met each other in person. I think I've met Dieter twice, catherine twice, caroline once, taty and Sarah, who I actually work with currently a handful of times right. So a four-year project with virtual friends and in-person strangers, really. And then the language diversity that's represented.

Speaker 8:

I'm a sign language interpreter and you don't often see sign language and spoken language and lockstep together and it was really important to us to show that what's good for the goose is probably good for the gander in a lot of ways, and the self-evaluation tool is kind of the marriage of that. I've had the incredible, incredible honor to work with Rosario Trevino she's a now she's certified Spanish interpreter for many, many years and with her support, guidance and that of several other people, livona, andrew, a sign language interpreter out of Utah, and several others with their experience to help create the self-evaluation tool. And to what Taty was saying if one hospital trains their doctors how to do one thing and you go to a hospital and you do it differently, it doesn't work and that's kind of how self-evaluation is or if or QA even exists. And then I get to meet Sarah through this textbook and then Sarah and I work together and then she gets to be a huge part of this process and really fine tuning and bringing it across the finish line. And it really is a language neutral baseline for all interpreters to do peer evaluation, self-evaluation, so that it's not just finger in the air that's kind of what went well or what didn't, but really give interpreters language and a framework for evaluating themselves.

Speaker 8:

But, much like the rest of the book, the book is a framework of guidelines and best practices and recommendations to how to do the job, because if you look at it at the end of the day, who's depending on it? And if every interpreter is doing it a very drastically different way, then it only hurts the folks who are most dependent on it. And that was a real important priority for us, as we wrote that the interpreters and the people we serve were at the forefront, so that everything we were doing was about that and being really sensitive to that piece. And so chapter five is my baby and something that I'm really, really proud of, and we'll talk about that and communicative autonomy until I'm blue in the face and it'll end up on my headstone.

Speaker 8:

I'm sure she died supporting the communicative autonomy of all and self-evaluation of interpreters Period done. But it really is a nice way for interpreters to talk about the work and talk about best practice on how to move forward, and I it's often lived behind the curtain of a lot of providers, or some LSP's probably don't even have anything to help interpreters know where to go and improve and it kind of puts it out there in the open for everybody to follow without bias.

Speaker 1:

You have several chapters in the textbook. Actually, Danielle, you have chapters.

Speaker 6:

I do yes.

Speaker 1:

A guide to ethics and remote interpreting, co-authored with Marjorie. And then you have chapter nine and chapter 10 as well. Anything that you'd like to highlight about those specific chapters for the audience.

Speaker 8:

I would say the one that I was able to write about the laws that impact interpreters is that you and Dieter said this in the being in Australia and your fuzzy slippers Right. You have a global client list and it is your responsibility to know what's tolerated, allowed and expected. So, as a sign language interpreter in the United States, there are over a dozen states with state licensure requirements and if you are an independent practitioner or you work for an agency, that chapter really just helps set the tone about responsibility to know. You know there's GDPR, there's the ADA and HIPAA and all those things. So it's not exhaustive but it really does give a look and we cover lots of laws in lots of countries.

Speaker 8:

While most of us are permanent residents of the United States, there's that one guy from Down Under who goes back and forth. We really tried to make sure that the book was for a global audience, because it is a global workforce and a global client list. And then there's this lady I know, maria. She has a podcast, you might know it. She helped with a portfolio chapter and it's pretty good. Now check it out on how to have a digital presence and footprint and kind of what to do.

Speaker 1:

So that was fun. Thank you, danielle Catherine. Would you like to add anything?

Speaker 3:

to that. Yeah, I did. I wanted to. Well, first of all, yes, we have to. Danielle will indeed go to the grave Shouting out the fact that the communication is supposed to be in the hands of the people communicating and not all the other things that can get in the way, and so that's one thing I love best about you.

Speaker 3:

But what I wanted to add to those chapters one of the biggest challenges that the remote interpreting world has is the fact that people are working. It's not geographically located right, and so you have interpreted before. When we come up and we get trained and we're healthcare interpreters in the US and OK, great, we've got this development of our profession, and now we have standards and a code of ethics and standards of practice that tell us how we're supposed to behave, and the court interpreters have very specific ethics for how they are supposed to behave. Well, can I guess what? Canada has that and Australia has that, and the UK has that, and parts of Africa have that and Asia has that Right? So, if you're an interpreter who is getting, you know, not bounced, but are working across these kind of geographic lines, we actually have this. It's it's on us, as well as the, I think, the companies that we work for, or that you know whoever our clients are, to actually make sure that we don't forget. Ok, how are we going to provide a frame, how can we make sure that we're following those ethic, those ethical standards, and how and how they differ and how they change? And this is something that I think is very new in the space, but it's. But I am very, very, very proud of this.

Speaker 3:

These, the ethics chapter, and as well as the law laws chapter, because it's not just about listing what the different laws are in a few of the countries and with the ethics oh, here, look at all these different ethics. It's more about, hey, what, what is a fairly standardized ethical approach If you have no code of conduct to follow? And if you are an interpreter working in these different areas, here's guidance for how you can make sure you know which ethics you should be aware of and find out whether you're expected to follow them. Or if you know, you know, you know that, ok, well, I'm Canada, I'm, you know, I may be working between Canada and the US.

Speaker 3:

Well, they've got differences in the way of the health care ethics apply, so I better have a handle on it, right? So it does put more, it does, it tries to standardize that, but it is a new thing, it is something that's legitimately different. It's a different challenge than on site interpreters face right, and so this is a first attempt at really providing some robust, standardized guidance which I hope people will pay attention to, because we need to tackle these topics and actually have a lot more awareness and strategies for them, for the interpreter and for the companies that are working with the interpreters and hiring them right, absolutely.

Speaker 8:

Danielle, I'll just add, we are not lawyers and we are not professing to be ethical experts top to bottom. So we gave really strong chapters and dedicated a lot to that, and then to make sure that interpreters still have that responsibility to pursue. And just like the technology has continued to grow and evolve since we even started this, laws and all sorts of things continue to change. But it gives you a place to start.

Speaker 1:

Most definitely a place to start. So this particular volume has a total of 10 chapters. Both Danielle and Sarah actually do have a couple of more chapters that they contributed to, addressing communication breakdowns and also professionalism in remote interpreting. But I'm also curious as to the experience of so many authors coming together to put something so robust out in the community. What was that like? Anybody care to share that experience? What was your most memorable experience let's share with the audience about working with so many authors to put something like this together?

Speaker 8:

If I could go, interpreters are super eclectic and we all are weird, so when you put all of us in a virtual room together, it's like I don't know.

Speaker 8:

I just feel like it could be right for strong personalities and opinions and passions.

Speaker 8:

But and I can't say I've ever written a book with other people before, but I've never done a four year group project and I will profess I hate group projects Like I'll do the work by myself. But this was the one group in my life and career and education that I just there was a synergy and deep, profound respect for the corners of the industry we came through and there's overlap, but there was never. We truly made space at the table and we shared the spotlight across the board and that, I think, is really rare in general and I just it's been so cool and as the non spoken language interpreter, I was super anxious because I'm also the only one who doesn't have fancy letters behind my name for the record. But it just was like just so cool and weird and fun. And when we all met each other at Gala in Dublin, it just was like the strangest reunion because we've all not met in person together and it was like we've worked 20 years together instead of four.

Speaker 1:

It's just the shortest. What's the?

Speaker 4:

shortest? Oh, I'm most definitely the shortest. There's a picture of us at the Gala book launch that will illustrate that quite well.

Speaker 8:

That's always me. That's always me. I'm just tall. He's tall, but like taller than I expected.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, but I'll take that, I'll take tall.

Speaker 4:

The Gala was. Gala was really special. I will just echo that, danielle. Like it really felt, like you know how you your friends with someone for a long time and then you are nervous to see them, and then you see them and it feels like you saw him yesterday. That's what it felt like.

Speaker 2:

I think you know I would absolutely echo that there's a lot of love amongst this group of authors, a lot of love for the industry, a lot for interpreters and a real level of love for each, the entire author team. It really was special for us, for us to actually meet in Ireland together like that was just, you know, unprecedented and amazing and it felt like, you know, we've known each other for 20 years. Running this book felt like 20 years, but it's important, you know, and it is, and you know I hope some folks read the forward in the book because it really is a love letter to the interpreting community. We really, I think we all feel very, very passionate about interpreting and and remote interpreting and the technology and the process and the people and this book really is for for for, by interpreters, for interpreters. You know it really is a love letter to the interpreting community.

Speaker 1:

I love that. I love letter to the interpreting community. I also really love the fact that both the spoken language interpreters and the sign language interpreters came together in this case Daniel meter, with everyone else being able to, just so that we can see firsthand that there's actually more similarities perhaps and there are differences, and I'm not saying this is the first time this occurs, but this is the first time in my experience that I've experienced, finally seen a collaboration between these two specializations and it's, it's beautiful.

Speaker 2:

Something I'll just make a little shorter note that at the beginning of a boost lingo and as we were onboarding interpreters I love working with with ASL interpreting companies, because ASL interpreters came to the party relatively prepared because they've been using, you know, various forms of video interpreting technology, struggling through various forms of video interpreting technologies for years, and so it was some of the bet much, much better experiences initially, just from a technology perspective. Everybody I think it's, you know, super keen to to learn how to be a professional video remote interpreter. But it was something that we noticed right out of the gate is that the ASL community had done a lot of the like, been in the war is for a while and done a lot of that heavy lifting for the rest of us in the interpreting world. So I think you know that was that was very special for us.

Speaker 1:

No kidding, yeah, and I I shake my head, I nod, because I feel like that's one of the communities that I went to and sought out assistance this was before the whole remote thing and everything just in creating some structure for educational interpreting, and this is when I first came across. Oh, they've already got this down for you know, sign language interpreters and education, and there was a lot of things that I was able to pull and utilize in the creation of our own systems in education. So I completely agree with that.

Speaker 8:

Yes, I mean, I'll say I've been a sign language interpreter for 17 years and have worked remotely on video for 16. So to Deeders point we've. There were those days in the early days that were quite interesting. Snap, snap, tatiana.

Speaker 7:

Yeah. So I wanted to go back to like the stories or what has kept us together. So to me, a big part of this is the trust that that we have the transparency that we have kept as much as possible. You know, through this project Of course there were ups and downs and you know, very early morning meetings for Deeders, pre-coffee meetings, very late meetings for some of us. To you know, life was happening, of course, but we try to keep it very transparent or as much as possible.

Speaker 7:

We understood early on that we needed to trust each other, even though we barely knew each other. But we knew about each other, we knew about our work and, yes, we had a glue that brought us together at first, which was Marjorie Bancroft and cross-culture communications, and also the trust that we had on her and in her team, at least to me, was something important. Like, okay, I think I can trust this guy, deeders, this lady in California or the other one in Texas or whatever. So, and then people who talked to me about Danielle Meadier I already knew Sarah, so that was, that was that one was easy. But you know, hey, how about you talk to this other person? This is the person's background and all that kind of stuff. So that that's pretty much what we knew about each other. But then as we started working, and especially when you have to work on things that are tedious for a textbook like because if you tell me, if you tell me talk to me about protocols If Jackie is the best.

Speaker 8:

if anyone needs to get citations done, she's open for contract.

Speaker 7:

So it's probably a very expensive contract. But so when you know, if you tell any of us, oh, tell me about technology, tell me about protocols, self-evaluation, how do you do this? Or you know and or how to work in an educational setting or healthcare, we're all happy. We all jump at the opportunity to save things right. But when it comes to putting together a glossary, a list of citations and bibliography, making sure that the images were attractive and cool enough for this textbook, and designing all that and I'm missing one, all the checklists, making sure that we have enough tools to give to people so that they can use different ways to learn we started to realize that we were truly learning who each person was, what our strengths were and what our areas of improvement were too. But we took all that and we distributed work in a way that it was good for everyone. We were really taking the opportunity to leverage our strengths. I wanted to mention all that because I think that has been key in this project.

Speaker 1:

Definitely. I think it demonstrates the group project and that synergy that is needed, but also that it doesn't come without its challenges and its difficulties. You still push through.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. The fact is that writing can be a very isolating experience. There were opportunities for us to edit and review each other's peer review, each other's chapters. Everybody did a really great job of just providing really constructive, engaged feedback. In all the chapters we really cared about getting the best possible book out there. That meant everybody had to spend time with each other looking over and providing thoughtful feedback across the entire book. The other thing, too, is this book is imbued with the expertise and experience from folks throughout the industry. Collectively, we go to different conferences and we know different parts of the industry. We've been so fortunate to have input from really special folks out there in the industry who have provided either anecdotal stories or a quote here or there or took a few moments to provide some information that we wouldn't ordinarily. I don't think authors always have that kind of access. Collectively, we had some pretty special access to thought, leadership and experience. That hopefully shines through in the book for the readers that do read this book.

Speaker 8:

It helped to have some heavy hitters like a Deeter and a Catherine and a Marjorie on the author team to open some of those doors for us. That's right.

Speaker 3:

Well, this is Catherine. I love that question about how the group worked because I actually the personal and individual stories are, of course, what we treasure and carry with us. But actually for me, I've been in this profession long enough to have seen some of the specializations found both get founded and then develop into what we consider developed to some degree. I came into this profession at the beginning of the Really the professionalization and the formalization of healthcare interpreting. I came in as an educational interpreter. That was where I first did most of my early Before ethics before anything. Then I spent 25 years focusing on the healthcare interpreting side of build itself, only to now see educational interpreting Be in a very similar moment, actually now have a perspective that I did not have 25 years ago. That, oh my gosh, small groups of people working really hard on these foundational pieces of a profession can make change happen fast. I would make legitimate. It really helped turn something that's, as we've been talking about, a varied mess into something more formalized and robust and credible.

Speaker 3:

I give that as framing. This is a small group of people who have a broad variety of background, the right kind of background. Our goal for me, certainly my goal for this textbook is that it be one of those foundational pieces that can get us away from language service companies having the burden of training interpreters because there is no expected norm or set of norms across the board when you're working remotely, to actually having. Hey, here's a first stab at standardization. Take it, improve it, use it, create guidelines. I hope professional associations pay attention to it, not just the people who are working in the interpreted moment. I know that's a little grandiose, but to me that's 100% what I hope this volume and what the second volume will lead to, that 10 years from now will look back and go look, we have all these training programs on remote interpreting and they all agree on the content and they have agreement about what the skill set is and what should be included in it. I love that.

Speaker 1:

You had shared pre-session too that a textbook can be transformational. I feel like that's exactly what you're saying with this and what the expectation is. It's a great segue actually to asking all of you what is your expectation or what are your hopes for this textbook.

Speaker 4:

I'll begin with Caroline my hopes are that it gets adopted widely. I'm not just trying to sell it. I really think that this is going to lend some guiding light for the industry to follow certain standards, to follow one practice or set of guidelines. I just hope that it's really adopted widely and I hope that people don't get scared by the girth of the book.

Speaker 1:

I love it. Yeah, don't be afraid, lots of great stuff in there, sarah.

Speaker 6:

Yeah, just to piggyback on what Caroline said, I really hope it's taken and just taken advantage of, highlighted, underlined. There are so many practical tips we put into this book. I think we've mentioned a couple times that most of us in the author team have been interpreters and have been remote interpreters Even. In addition to our experience and our different roles throughout the years. We put together this book to be everything we wish we could have been trained on from the get-go. Everything we wish could be just public knowledge and not kept behind secret corporate doors. We want this to be free information for everyone. This is the baseline, this is the standard.

Speaker 6:

I really hope people take advantage of it. I think it does a really good job, like all of the CCC textbooks and having very accessible language. We did that intentionally for our global audience and for people to really dive into and not feel like it's an academic manuscript or anything like that. It's very accessible, it's fun to read, very practical. I hope people take advantage of that and enjoy it. Find me on LinkedIn, ask me any questions about the chapters I wrote, if you want. I'm more than happy to talk about it, like we've seen today in this podcast. It's just a fun topic for us, as authors, to talk about.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely, danielle.

Speaker 8:

I hope they read it. I hope they take pieces of it. It really is for the new interpreter and the seasoned interpreter. Working remotely is just part of being an interpreter. I think I've talked to lots of interpreters who are, at this point, post-post. You can't see, but my quotation marks of post-pandemic are that most interpreters are working remotely.

Speaker 8:

We have an incredible responsibility as interpreters. We set the tone for what to expect from interpreters and working remotely with no standards or best practices for however long someone may have been doing that, there's not an excuse anymore. I echo what Sarah said. I'm not trying to talk the book and sell it, but really it is something that we have a responsibility. Now that we have access to information and to best practices, because as interpreters, we're the only ones who can advance the profession forward. We have a lot of power and privilege in that and in that knowledge and just expecting more of ourselves and the profession, really having to remember, at the end of the day, that it's about the people who are dependent on our language access services we can really set the tone for someone to hate working with interpreters or not expect what an interpreter should do or understand.

Speaker 8:

There's just something in the book for everybody and we really do love what we wrote and want to hear from you. Everyone should find us on LinkedIn, because we're all pretty active on there and we all have lots of things we'd love to tell you that can't fit into a podcast. We want to reach out and engage with you. It's been an absolute labor of love and it's like birth and a baby. We're happy it's in the world.

Speaker 1:

Thank you so much, Dieter.

Speaker 2:

I would echo that sentiment and that is that for interpreters that pick up this book, I would hope that, no matter where you are in your professional trajectory, where you are in your career, that there are things in this book that will be useful all the time and in perpetuity. There will be some new things in there that might be of interest, but there's value in it for interpreters, no matter where they are in their experience there, in their profession or their career, through this volume and, of course, to the sister volume that we will release following this book. But there's always something there that they can go to. Certainly, technologies are going to change and in future editions we will have to update certain things here and there, but that there's some things in there that are tried, tested and true, that will still hold true down the road.

Speaker 2:

I think being an interpreter is an immensely important profession and this book will help folks in their careers and help in certain instances. There may be information there that is helpful and, along with everybody else, would encourage interpreters to reach out to all of us. I would rather talk to an interpreter on any day than anyone else on this planet. So interested to hear stories from the road, interested to hear if there was something useful or helpful in the book, or interested to hear if there's something that is missing or needs some expansion or additional development, something that we can chase down and improve about the book as well. So definitely want to get that feedback. We've happening.

Speaker 1:

Love it. Thank you, tatiana.

Speaker 7:

I'm sure I'm going to mention things that overlap with what everybody has said so far.

Speaker 7:

I want people to have fun with this and also be the first attempt to educate remote interpreters in a way that hasn't been done before, and also help with professionalism, of course, as we are mentioning, but I also want it to be a conversation starter.

Speaker 7:

Also, I would like it to inspire research, because many of the topics we have here are important and are very decently developed in this book, but I still consider there's a lot more to do and a lot more to study from a research perspective, not only to obtain data about what modalities be more utilized now or something like that, but there are many other things, practices that need to be tested honestly many, many of these. So I hope this book inspires research, and I want to add something to what Sarah was saying. Sarah was talking about how accessible this textbook is, and that is true, but also it's so versatile that you can use it as a tool to educate yourself, but also can be utilized by different organizations universities, colleges. It's written in a simple way, but in an also very high level that it can be utilized for developing different courses and trainings at different levels and organizations.

Speaker 8:

That's a nice way of Taty saying we all wrote to take over the world and this book will help do that.

Speaker 1:

I love it.

Speaker 7:

I wasn't sure if I could say that here, but you know.

Speaker 8:

I'll say it for you that's okay.

Speaker 1:

Any last thoughts on the experience or just on this topic of remote interpreting?

Speaker 6:

Sarah, if I may, I just want to give a shout out. So obviously this book took a village to write. We're a huge author team here today and we've made mention of a few other folks who contributed to the book, but I specifically wanted to call out contributing authors Maha Elmetwally, ana Leah Lang, leanna Mansour, gabby Maldonado and Monica McCartney. They're all folks who contributed, as well as some special contributions from Sarah, hickey and Rocio I believe Danielle mentioned as well. So special shout out to them and thank you so much.

Speaker 8:

Yes, and that is the perfect reflection of Sarah's attention to absolute detail. Perfect, Like that is who she was for sure in this whole experience. That was lovely. Thank you Sarah. Thank you Sarah.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I just would like to you know, for me, one of the hopes I you know some of the hopes I said is I hope it'd be foundational, but for me, we have fought so hard in the last 40 years to gain recognition for the interpreting profession across the board, across the settings, and we've made a huge strides, especially for onsite interpreting right.

Speaker 3:

And yet we have also developed a parallel group of interpreters working around the world who are working remotely, who are kind of the stepchild, the hated, the ugly step sister, you know. So I mean this, this just it's, it's a little bit how it felt like when, you know, when medical interpreters started going in and legal interpreters would look down there and notice that them, I mean, you just seems to be an inevitable part of human nature. But for me, this is, we have, you know, our brothers and sisters, our colleagues are working all over the world in what is arguably the most complicated kinds of interpreting interactions, you know, especially for people who are being bounced into different settings with very little ability to prepare you know, or know where they're going into. And it's a huge ask. It's critically essential work. It lives depend on it, well, being depend upon it, and I just I hope that in the end, if we, if we do anything, we help raise the profile and the respect and the credibility of the remote interpreter.

Speaker 1:

Love it. Thank you, Catherine Tatiana.

Speaker 7:

Yeah, I was going to add to the village of people. Of course you see these faces or you hear this, these voices, you heard names from Sarah. But there are many, many, many more who contributed to not just directly to the textbooks, but also indirectly. And of course, we have to mention our families, friends, colleagues, like every single person Danielle's grandma knows about this textbook my family, everybody like we, we. I even had to ask my high school friends about certain things to get some ideas for analogies that we were using in the textbook. So this was a huge collaboration, but with a lot of support, not only from a professional standpoint but also personal standpoint. And, of course, all the different organizations that we have that we worked for and we have worked for throughout these years, because if it wasn't for their flexibility, patience and support, we couldn't have done it.

Speaker 1:

Very well. Well, how many times do we get the opportunity to hear firsthand from the authors of our favorite textbooks? And today you have them all here present, willing and ready to share all of the information, some of those funny stories in the background, right of what was occurring and, of course, those challenges of working with such a dynamic group. I want to say thank you so much. Danielle says it was a sassy group. Thank you so very much for the opportunity to have you here today on the Brand, the Interpreter podcast to share your stories, your experiences and, of course, pushing out the awareness that this book exists. Now, folks, there is no excuse to keep going and doing your job blindly if you've not had the opportunity to have some sort of written information standard, Just everything that was put out in this book by these folks here today. You have the ability now to go out and find this book. Matter of fact, where can our listeners find the textbook?

Speaker 8:

So if you're watching a part of the clips on YouTube, we have a QR code. Otherwise, it's with cross-cultural communications, where you can order the print paper back copy of it as well as the e-book there Fantastic.

Speaker 1:

Thank you so much, danielle. And of course you've already heard, everyone is on LinkedIn as well, so I will make sure to include all of the LinkedIn links in the episode notes. Make sure that you go down to the episode notes to check that out, tatiana.

Speaker 7:

Yeah, I was going to say that you can also find the textbook on Amazon, so that's another way to get it.

Speaker 8:

Or you can find us at ATA, where we will gladly hold it in front of you and say here's a QR code. And look at this chapter, isn't it so pretty? You know you want one.

Speaker 1:

I love it. Thank you so very much, everyone, for the opportunity. It was a pleasure having you here today. Thank you. Thank you so much Bye everyone, thank you. As the only national on-site and online training agency in the world devoted to training interpreters, ccc, through its imprint culture and language press, also develops textbooks that have become standard in the profession. Globally, ccc is the only dedicated publisher of quality, comprehensive textbooks and workbooks for community and medical interpreting, sold to 30 countries and all 50 US states. More than 90 colleges and universities purchased CCC textbooks.

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