While over-the-phone interpreting 和 video remote interpreting have been great solutions for courts that have to conduct daily business online, these solutions still come with the pitfalls associated with always providing professional interpreting services.
有时,参与语言获取决策的人认为,首次露面的听力——或者, 就像永利登录网址在德克萨斯所说的那样, 行政听证会——对于口译员来说是一项简单的任务. 这可能是因为尽管这些听证会是快节奏的,但它们也是重复的. 一旦你在地方法院做过一阵子口译,你就知道该怎么做了. 法官总是会提到四件事:1)对被拘留者的指控, 2)处罚范围, (三)被拘留人的权利, 和, 如果被拘留者符合条件, (四)保释的保释金和条件.g.(他们不能犯下或被判犯有某种严重罪行).
But stakeholders who believe that these hearings are an easy task for interpreters overlook the fact that it can be difficult to adjust to the speech patterns of the various speakers involved. 被拘留者提出的问题和评论可能很长,而且语无伦次, 法庭上的谈话, 在提供信息或回答问题时, 冗长和复杂吗. 和, 如果在线口译, 再加上扭曲的声音, 冰冻的屏幕, 人们通过智能手机说话, 外科口罩(有时甚至是透明的面罩)掩盖了声音, 声音重叠, 对话者通过电脑麦克风而不是耳机说话. 这里你有一个完美的方法来解决不准确的口译, 误解, 以及不准确的诉讼记录.
Over-the-phone interpreting (OPI) 和 video remote interpreting (VRI) have been great solutions for courts that have to conduct daily business online, 它们对德克萨斯州的地方法院来说确实很有帮助. 话虽如此, these solutions still come with the pitfalls associated with always providing professional interpreting services.
The Texas Office of Court Administration (OCA) played an important role in helping courts transition to conducting business online 和 providing language access remotely. OCA provided free Zoom licenses for courts across the state that included the option of a simultaneous interpreting channel. 对亚奥理事会来说,提供远程口译服务并不是什么新鲜事. They had been offering free over-the-phone 和 VRI services to courts across Texas through their 德克萨斯州法院远程口译服务项目1 近十年来. 这使他们能够很好地协助熟悉VRI的法院. The challenge was when two counties would request assistance with court interpreting for magistration hearings taking place at a prison or detention center three times a day, 一周七天.
亚奥理事会的语言获取部门很乐意提供这项服务, 但这是一个简称, non-contested, 以及无证据听证会. 工作人员口译员很快发现他们主要为行政听证会工作, 所以他们知道他们无法长期提供服务, 至少没有帮助是不行的. They presented the arguments not only to justify hiring a few contract interpreters to assist them, but to also provide team interpreting whenever dockets had more than five detainees that required the services of a Spanish interpreter.
这些服务超出了预期, 这在一定程度上要感谢负责这个项目的首席口译员, 感谢一直以来对口译人员非常支持的行政人员. The program complies with the state’s government judicial code requiring master licensed court interpreters2因为法律不允许基本执照持有人为担任地方法官的法官做口译. 翻译s in the program have developed a methodology (discussed below) that allows them to minimize delays due to technical difficulties or lack of interpreters on-site. They also have convinced judges 和 staff that having a backup interpreter can always come in h和y. I’m happy to be part of this interpreting team 和 would like to share some highlights of the program.
与你的团队翻译一起工作和沟通
当我的翻译搭档和我加入这个团队的时候, the two staff interpreters had already established a method to communicate with each other while working. 随着项目的发展, 永利登录网址每个人都对如何改进这个系统提出了意见和想法. 以下是该方法的要点.
以连续模式解译. 这是这种听力类型的最佳口译模式, 因为被拘留者通常以五到八人一组出现, 及行政警告, 也被称为权利顾问, 是作为一个群体读给他们听的吗. 随后,法官举行单独的会议(在线听证会),并讨论每个案件的细节.
使用Microsoft Teams Channel与团队成员进行沟通. 这段对话让永利登录网址可以通过输入每个被拘留者的名字来跟踪记录, 这也是永利登录网址需要解释的会话. 当永利登录网址在每个小组的最后一个环节时, we let our team interpreter know so they can join 和 be ready to start interpreting for the next group. This chat also allows us to provide support if one of us is stuck on a word or having technical issues 和 needs the other one to take over immediately.
使用微软团队频道与法庭工作人员沟通. This chat allows us to communicate with the rest of the team if we’re experiencing audio or video problems that can impact our performance (e.g.(监狱里的噪音或麦克风或扬声器产生的反馈).
多任务处理一开始可能会很有挑战性, especially if you’re not computer savvy 和 on top of using the delay feature with the regular headaches of VRI (e.g.(不得不专注于在聊天中输入东西). 一旦你习惯了这个系统, 然而, 这些步骤成为你日常生活的一部分,你甚至不再去想它们.
与团队口译员一起工作时,创造一个良好的环境
当然,作为团队翻译,并非所有事情都一帆风顺. 它需要妥协,并愿意接受与合作伙伴合作. 对于永利登录网址这些没有耐心的人来说, 习惯了独自工作, 或者当永利登录网址觉得和一个可能对永利登录网址的表现评头论足的人一起工作时感到不知所措, 以下是一些建议:
创建术语表. This helps to lay the foundation for what type of terms 和 word choices everyone feels will be clear to the majority of detainees, 因为总是有语言差异和地域差异,这可能很难理解. Having a glossary on h和 also avoids judges 和 staff speculating as to why one interpreter keeps using one term while others use a different one.
学会妥协. 记住,你是团队的一员. 你们在那里是为了互相帮助,而不是为了竞争和试图超越你的同事. 与团队翻译保持良好的关系会使工作环境更加愉快. This is important to avoid both of you feeling like you’re working with a check interpreter instead of a support interpreter.
找到自己的节奏,同时也让别人找到他们的节奏. 你可能打字速度很快,但调整耳机和相机设置的速度很慢. 你的伴侣可能是一个语速很快的人,而你不是. 没关系,因为每个人都有不同的节奏和工作程序. The important thing is to learn to be patient 和 take advantage of each other’s strengths to excel while interpreting.
限制聊天信息. 不必要的信息会分散你的注意力,给你带来压力,影响你的表现.
尊重你的同事. 记住,你们都有同等的资格. 尊重彼此的用词选择,不要试图将自己的翻译风格强加给对方. 只有当选择的术语影响到信息的含义时才进行评论, or when you notice your partner is stuck on a word they might not remember or with which they are unfamiliar.
养成召开团队会议讨论可能出现的问题的习惯. Be sure to have periodic team meetings to work through any issues that might have surfaced while working together.
一般建议
提前预测,但不要抢在法官前面. Being able to anticipate allows interpreters to start to structure utterances before the speakers are done talking. 然而, sometimes interpreters who have been working for the same judge for a while may be tempted to stop listening after the first few words because they think they know what the judge will say next. 这可能导致解释错误, as a judge might say something different than what’s expected 和 the interpreter will miss it or add something to the message that was not yet said by the judge.
避免译员疲劳. 如果你需要休息,就说出来. 有些法官忘记了翻译,要么说得很快,要么说得很长, 这给口译员带来了压力,迫使他们写更长的笔记. 如果这让你感到疲倦,要求休息一下,或者要求法官放慢速度,插入停顿. 记住,有执照的法庭口译员的职业道德准则3 要求永利登录网址揭露可能阻碍永利登录网址表现的事情,疲劳就是其中之一.
保护听力. Always use a good set of headphones 和 adjust your volume settings so the sound won’t hurt your ears. 声震4 已经成为许多VRI和会议口译员关注的问题, 因此,永利登录网址必须意识到这种风险,并保护自己免受其害. 如果你认为别人把音量调得太高或太低,让他们知道. 不要为了取悦其他利益相关者而冒不必要的风险.
穿职业装. 记住,即使你是远程工作, 你还是一名宫廷官员,应该穿职业装. 法官对此表示赞赏, 尤其是在一个人们穿运动裤和背心的时代, 因为他们使用的是平板电脑或智能手机,所以他们认为诉讼程序不那么正式.
最后, 我想说的是,虽然这篇文章的重点是VRI团队口译, the program created to provide video remote hearings for Texas magistrate courts wouldn’t have succeeded had it not been for the entire team of stakeholders. They underst和 that due process cannot be met unless magistrate judges 和 non-English 和 limited-English-proficient individuals can communicate effectively.
笔记
- 德克萨斯州法院远程口译服务项目 (法院行政办公室).
- 政府的代码 (德克萨斯州司法部门)要求有执照的法庭口译员.
- 德州法院持牌法庭口译员道德规范.
- El-Metwally,摩诃. “声学冲击:口译员需要知道什么”, ATA编年史 (2020年7月/ 8月),33.
额外的资源
巴兰坦、琳达、菲利普·富尼耶、马克·奥兰多、加布里埃拉·威尔第和克劳斯·齐格勒. “声波冲击研究计划-最终报告” (国际会议口译员协会,2020年).
萨拉查,特蕾莎和格拉迪斯·西格尔. “法庭相关程序中的团队传译”:立场文件(全国司法口译员和笔译员协会,2020).
桑德拉Dejeux 一个德州主执照法庭口译员和一个永利登录网址卫生保健口译员. She works part-time for the Texas Office of Court Administration as a contract interpreter for Operation Lone Star. She provides translation 和 interpreting services for courts 和 law firms in the Houston metro area, 以及通过她的公司为法律和医疗口译员提供在线培训, SD翻译有限公司. 她拥有国际研究学士学位和西班牙语翻译与口译硕士学位. translations@sdtranslations.org