What element is crucial to being an effective interpreter? Answer: Strong English skills. Only when students have strengthened their use and understanding of English can they transfer messages effectively to ASL. So says leading interpreter educator Carol Patrie, who promises that students will gain assurance and increase linguistic capacity once their English skills are fully developed with the aid of English Skills Development.
Even for those for whom English is a first language, it's important to develop English skills with a conscious effort in order to build confidence and improve versatility as an interpreter. Too often, students neglect this critical area, weakening their ability to master the complex tasks involved in interpreting between two languages. Effective interpreters shift more easily between English and ASL, enjoy translating, consecutive interpreting, and simultaneous interpreting more, and have more satisfied clients.
Designed for interpreting students and working interpreters, English Skills Development is full of challenging exercises with video recorded source materials to build strong English skills and trigger the kind of linguistic quickness that is essential to the interpreting process. Give your students a comprehensive, powerful learning tool with helpful theoretical Introductions for each topic, Study Questions, and a structured Five-Step Follow-Up. Give yourself a powerful teaching tool with Information for Teachers and Sample Answers.
Topics include:
- Visual Form and Meaning
- Meaning and Visual Form
- Lexical Substitution
- Paraphrasing Propositions
- Paraphrasing Discourse
- Main Idea Identification
- Summarizing
Use this innovative step-by-step approach in the classroom to improve students' English skills and turn out effective, confident interpreters. The importance of developing and refining skills in English is often overlooked in interpreter education. English Skills Development answers this need.
Video Library access FREE for all teachers, contact us today to get started!
The Effective Interpreting Series is a multi-installment series offering five sets of source materials in English to use with any other language in a language pair, and five sets of source materials in American Sign Language (ASL). The series takes the complex skill of simultaneous interpreting and breaks it down into manageable components, allowing interpreters to increase the individual skills that lead to effective simultaneous interpreting.
Seminars on using The Effective Interpreting Series in your classroom or your mentoring sessions are now available! If you are interested in hosting a seminar for your college or university, please send an email to Joe Seifrid at effectiveinterpreting@dawnsign.com for complete details.
About the author:
Carol J. Patrie, Ph.D., was instrumental in designing and implementing the Master of Arts in Interpretation at Gallaudet University. An author of many National and International publications and a sought-after speaker and trainer, Patrie is one of the foremost professionals in the field of Interpretation and Education.