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Considered a subject matter expert in translation and interpreting, Claudia's career spans more than 35 years in Latin America and the USA, logging over 15,000 hours of interpreting assignments in a large diversity of venues and fields of knowledge, and translating more than 10 million words.
Claudia became a trainer of translators and interpreters in 2010 and is the sole proprietor of BrauerTraining: http://brauertraining.com, creating proprietary content for more than 250 hours of language-neutral training in the form of webinars and workshops. She is also a blogger and speaker on the changes that are occurring in the industry and that directly impact translators and interpreters.
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I'm a freelance interpreter and need some information on how to get more experience in the courts. The only way to gain experience and confidence is to continue working in the courts. I find it difficult to get court jobs, how can I make myself available to those types of assignments?
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Claudia Brauer United States Local time: 11:48 Member (2011) English to Spanish + ...
Continued education
Nov 29, 2016
Very interesting question because it also happens, for example, in the medical field. I would suggest two alternatives. One, offer to shadow a court interpreter by helping with their load, for example reading and summarizing documents or helping prepare, or just being there to help for free. You gain experience with them (even if you do not interpret at the time, you will acquire a "mentor" that will help you in the future). Your help has to be sincere and has to be valuable and reliable. Off... See more
Very interesting question because it also happens, for example, in the medical field. I would suggest two alternatives. One, offer to shadow a court interpreter by helping with their load, for example reading and summarizing documents or helping prepare, or just being there to help for free. You gain experience with them (even if you do not interpret at the time, you will acquire a "mentor" that will help you in the future). Your help has to be sincere and has to be valuable and reliable. Offer the same at Legal centers where lawyers work pro-bono. Many lawyers who work pro-bono also work in lawyers offices or know others in the profession. Again, help for real, not just make-believe. You have to make it an "investment" (of your time) to have access to what you want. Make it known in Facebook and Linkedin, for example, that you are available for free to go with/accompany individuals. And do it. Sometimes, for example, you can work for free for immigration lawyers.... many cases end up in immigration court.... just as an example. Once you acquire experience and contacts, you will be ok. Also, a good way to get to the courts is by studying/presenting the court interpreting tests to become certified. That will give you a lot of credibility. Good luck. ▲ Collapse
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Vitals Lithuania Local time: 18:48 English to Lithuanian + ...
Good advice
Nov 29, 2016
Very good and valuable advice given by Claudia.
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Claudia Brauer United States Local time: 11:48 Member (2011) English to Spanish + ...
Participant Q1 - Landline
Dec 1, 2016
Question: Why do LSPs want you to use a landline instead of VOIP connections that are standard today? Response: “Landline is seen as a more reliable option compared to VOIP. VOIP completely depends on your internet connection, and that's not always reliable and consistent in its performance. Then there are always those issues that could abruptly hamper your VOIP call, like someone turning off the internet switch; going out of range (in case of WiFi); and others.” “VOIP su... See more
Question: Why do LSPs want you to use a landline instead of VOIP connections that are standard today? Response: “Landline is seen as a more reliable option compared to VOIP. VOIP completely depends on your internet connection, and that's not always reliable and consistent in its performance. Then there are always those issues that could abruptly hamper your VOIP call, like someone turning off the internet switch; going out of range (in case of WiFi); and others.” “VOIP suffers from mutliple points of failure or degradation: 1 Internet connection could be dropped (connection, modem or router) 2 Power to the internet connection to the premises could be lost 3 Computer reliability 4 Power to the computer 5 Multiple processes running on the computer can interfere 6 Congestion on the network 7 Location of the computer in the house (if wireless) 8 “Dead zones” where you don’t get service." Finally, the above is so true, that most "business" are still expected to have at least one landline. ▲ Collapse
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Claudia Brauer United States Local time: 11:48 Member (2011) English to Spanish + ...
Participant Q2 - UK/Australia
Dec 1, 2016
Question: If I live in the UK is it a smart move for me to register with LSPs in Australia to provide cover for their night shift? Yes, if you want, but you don't really have to. You can register with an Australian LSP, for example http://oncallinterpreters.com.au/contact-us/expression-of-interest/ and choose the "Abroad" (interpreter) option. But you could also register with any UK L... See more
Question: If I live in the UK is it a smart move for me to register with LSPs in Australia to provide cover for their night shift? Yes, if you want, but you don't really have to. You can register with an Australian LSP, for example http://oncallinterpreters.com.au/contact-us/expression-of-interest/ and choose the "Abroad" (interpreter) option. But you could also register with any UK LSP because almost all LSP provide their clients with 24/7 services, which means that if you are looking to work the night shift, they will most probably have it available. The issue of course will be the "amount of traffic" at night (in your location) as compared to the amount of traffic you would receive at night in your location when it is daytime in the client's location. Many LSP are international operations and although they mainly service "out of" one market, they serve clients who in turn have customers or patients all over the world. In the US and UK the local night shifts mainly deal with emergency service and hospital operations. So, yes, if what you want is a "full shift" workload during the night shift, what you propose might be a good option, provided the LSP hires abroad teleinterpreters for their local market. You can only know by going to each LSP's website where you would want to apply.
So working as a freelancer on my own would I have to sign a nondisclosure agreement with all the clients? I think that is not possible for all 3 minute phone calls...? No
How can you get paid if you open your own landline for this work without an LSP? How does it work?
Regarding pace of speaking: does this mean that if the speaker is talking in a quick/panicky manner the interpreter should mirror that; and if the speaker is talking in a slow/deliberate manner the interpreter should mirror that? ▲ Collapse
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Claudia Brauer United States Local time: 11:48 Member (2011) English to Spanish + ...
Participant Q3 - Nondisclosure agreement
Dec 1, 2016
Question - "So working as a freelancer on my own, would I have to sign a nondisclosure agreement with all the clients? I think that is not possible for all 3 minute phone calls...?" You would need to sign a nondisclosure agreement for any client who asks for it. Most of the time you will have a "stable" client or several "stable" clients if you are working on your own and then you would sign the NDA when you agree the terms of your contract, so you would do it one time at the beginning an... See more
Question - "So working as a freelancer on my own, would I have to sign a nondisclosure agreement with all the clients? I think that is not possible for all 3 minute phone calls...?" You would need to sign a nondisclosure agreement for any client who asks for it. Most of the time you will have a "stable" client or several "stable" clients if you are working on your own and then you would sign the NDA when you agree the terms of your contract, so you would do it one time at the beginning and not for each call. Now, if you are going to render your services directly to Joe out from the street, and he does not ask for a NDA, then you do not have to sign one. But even most freelancers working as OPI have only a "certain" number of clients and should sign a contract at the beginning of their relationship, even if it is only a small two sentence, mostly to ensure payment! ▲ Collapse
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Claudia Brauer United States Local time: 11:48 Member (2011) English to Spanish + ...
Participant Q4 - Going Solo
Dec 1, 2016
Question: "How can you get paid if you open your own landline for this work without an LSP? How does it work?" You need: Technical know-how; adequate equipment, impeccable scheduling, marketing and logistics and entrepreneurial spirit. I covered this topic in the OPI Session 1. If you are even thinking of opening your own OPI service without going through an LSP, the first steps are to understand all the technical (physical) aspects of phone servicing (call it "phone customer servic... See more
Question: "How can you get paid if you open your own landline for this work without an LSP? How does it work?" You need: Technical know-how; adequate equipment, impeccable scheduling, marketing and logistics and entrepreneurial spirit. I covered this topic in the OPI Session 1. If you are even thinking of opening your own OPI service without going through an LSP, the first steps are to understand all the technical (physical) aspects of phone servicing (call it "phone customer service" and understand all the many technical issues involved); second, understand the laws about rendering services over the phone, including the handling of confidential information and personal health information in your area of the world; make sure you have adequate insurance to guarantee your work and not be vulnerable to claims; and then understand the complications of logistics, marketing and business issues involved in putting a micro business in the market. If after all the above, you are still interested in going solo, you may check the website http://www.dualia.es/ and other similar to it.
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Claudia Brauer United States Local time: 11:48 Member (2011) English to Spanish + ...
Participant Q5 - Pace of speaking
Dec 1, 2016
Question: "Regarding pace of speaking: does this mean that if the speaker is talking in a quick/panicky manner the interpreter should mirror that; and if the speaker is talking in a slow/deliberate manner the interpreter should mirror that?" Answer: I believe that the slide you refer to may be the one that states "Find YOUR pace (the pace of the speaker you lend your voice to)". What that means is NOT that you will talk in a "panicky" manner or a deliberately slow mode. Remember that the ot... See more
Question: "Regarding pace of speaking: does this mean that if the speaker is talking in a quick/panicky manner the interpreter should mirror that; and if the speaker is talking in a slow/deliberate manner the interpreter should mirror that?" Answer: I believe that the slide you refer to may be the one that states "Find YOUR pace (the pace of the speaker you lend your voice to)". What that means is NOT that you will talk in a "panicky" manner or a deliberately slow mode. Remember that the other party is ON the phone, they are hearing these inflections, pitch, tone, speed and volume of the speaker's voice. You do not need to MIRROR that. You do, however, need to make sure that the other party understands the "state of mind" of the person while you may have a more calm rendering. For example, I work a lot with hispanics and many of us talk very loud, which sounds to milder cultures as if we were shouting or mad. Many times we are not, we might be just placing emphasis. Or just using that register out of doing it forever. It does not necessarily mean one way or another. But when we are upset, it is most of the time obvious. So, you could say, "your party sounds a little upset and I will render the information to the best of my ability" and then proceed with a more calmer rendition, if that is what you need to do. You do not want to be shouting on the phone if the other party is shouting. All parties on the call are hearing that. ▲ Collapse
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