The Judiciary Translator

CONTENTS

1 THE TRANSLATION PROCESS 

2 GROWING OUR LANGUAGES 

3 ACQUIRING TERMINOLOGY 

4 SIGHT (ORAL) TRANSLATION 

5 WRITTEN TRANSLATION STRATEGIES 

6 DOCUMENTS TO TRANSLATE 

7 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS 

8 PROFESSIONAL GROWTH 

9 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES 

You are bilingual, a Spanish language major, or perhaps already an interpreter. Congratulations! Multiple studies have proven the benefits of being bilingual. From increasing your brain power to even looking more attractive, according to a survey by Rocket Languages. You certainly also have a competitive advantage in the job market.

Job boards, translation agencies, companies, and law firms from coast to coast advertise for translators. Finding a job with two working languages will be easier for you, and you should be paid higher than monolingual staff members.

Yes, being a bilingual gives you an advantage in the hiring process and, in most cases, higher pay. But if you are not a trained professional translator, it may also put you, and the clients for whom you work, at risk. Translation errors are costly. Look what happened at Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

Translation and interpreting require our brains to be multitasking between meanings, vocabulary and register choices, different grammar systems, and cultural contexts. If not trained, bilinguals most probably lack the revision processes needed to insure the rendition of an accurate translation.

Jose L. Varela-Ibarra, PhD, US Courts Certified, founder and director of the Translation and Interpreting Programs at The University of Texas at Brownsville and San Diego State University’s Imperial Valley Campus. Editor & Publisher of Translation Challenges. Spanish Shield Language Services owner. Former standards setter and examiner for the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators. ATA, Translation Company Division, Leadership Council member.