The University of Arizona National Center for Interpretation is pleased to present
Legal INTERPRETAPES©
The INTERPRETAPES© are Spanish-English practice materials developed to provide individuals an opportunity to enhance their interpreting skills and have language laboratory-type practice with basic home equipment (a CD player). They are sold as a complete 3-volume set.
Volume I is an introductory set that includes six lessons providing practice in both simultaneous and consecutive interpreting as well as in sight translation. Texts for simultaneous interpretation are recorded at two speeds to allow users to improve their interpreting skills and techniques.
Volume II is dedicated to expert testimony, and offers six texts for simultaneous interpretation practice and two written texts for sight translation. Topics covered include DNA fingerprinting, serology, hair analysis, firearms, sign cutting, police reporting, and tax documentation.
Volume III is dedicated to the formulaic “boilerplate” language of the courts. The exercises for practice in simultaneous interpreting include initial appearances and arraignments, plea agreement hearings, sentencings and jury instructions. Attorney/client interviews and complaints are covered in the consecutive mode and sight translation exercises.
Each volume consists of a source CD and a master key CD. The key CD contains interpreted renditions of all of the practice exercises done by federally certified court interpreters. Additional study aids include both a spoken glossary on the source CD and a printed glossary for reference purposes. Scripts of the texts and suggestions for appropriate use of all of the materials are also provided. Individuals interested in developing their interpreting skills or in preparing for state and federal written and/or oral examinations will find Legal INTERPRETAPES© beneficial.
This volume of INTERPRETAPES© includes six different practice texts closely based on authentic legal proceedings. The first four texts are meant to be used for practice in simultaneous interpreting and consist of the following: an opening statement in a drug case; a rebuttal in an armed robbery case; testimony relating to a motion to suppress in a drug case; and testimony relating to a motion to suppress in a case involving electronic surveillance. The source language for all of these texts is English, since court interpreters in the United States are rarely, if ever, called upon to do simultaneous from Spanish into English. Each text is recorded at two speeds giving the interpreter an opportunity to focus on language and content at a comfortable speed (110-130 words/minute), followed by an opportunity to perfect technique once content has been mastered (160 words/ minute).
Spoken glossaries are provided between the two versions to provide some acceptable (and point out a few unacceptable) alternatives to lexical items and phraseology that might present some difficulties. They are meant to be used as guides and the choices given should not be construed as the “correct” or definitive ways to render a word or phrase.
Following the four simultaneous practice texts are two consecutive texts. The first is testimony in a child abuse case and the second consists of expert testimony given by a medical examiner. These texts were chosen to provide interpreters an opportunity to deal with both high and low register speech and to practice consecutive interpreting both from English into Spanish and vice versa. This reflects actual legal proceedings. Each of the texts is recorded only once, and pauses are included in the recording that reflect approximately the time a competent interpreter would take to render an adequate version of the passages in the target language. However, if a practice interpreter needs or desires longer pauses, the pause button on the CD player can be used.
The second CD in the set is the key. Federally Certified Court Interpreters were asked to give a working rendition of these texts in real time. There are two renditions of each of the simultaneous texts, one at each recorded speed. It is important to remember that these renditions were recorded in real time and are meant to provide examples of authentic interpreting as opposed to an ideal model version. As stated above in regard to the glossaries, they are not to be taken as “correct” or error-free versions, but simply as real-life versions. Only one rendition is given for the two consecutive texts, but the same concepts apply.
Written Materials
The written support materials supplied with the CDs include the scripts of all six texts transcribed verbatim from the CDs and paper copies of the glossaries.
Volume II of the INTERPRETAPES© series is dedicated to expert testimony. The set includes eight different texts that have been specially prepared to provide practice not only in rendering specific terminology, but also in expressing concepts that frequently arise when an expert witness or specialist takes the stand. The general areas that are covered include medicine and laboratory sciences, ballistics and firearms, tracking and sign cutting, and finance. There are six simultaneous exercises recorded at a moderate speed (approximately 130 words a minute) and two sight translations. The simultaneous exercises are all recorded in English, as an informal survey of staff court interpreters showed that expert testimony given by non-English speaking experts is quite rare. This means that most testimony of this type is interpreted in the simultaneous mode for a non-English speaking defendant. Written documents that are used in the course of a court proceeding, however, sometimes do originate in a Spanish speaking country and must be translated into English for the benefit of the Court. For this reason, one of the texts provided for sight translation practice is a Spanish-language document.
Each of the texts developed for this volume is meant to introduce general concepts related to an area of testimony that might also be applicable to other related areas of expertise, as well as some specialized vocabulary limited to the specific topic involved. For example, there are three texts related to forensic science. That section includes a text on hair analysis, one on serology and one on DNA. While these texts do contain some terms and phrases specific to the topic at hand, they also include phraseology and contexts that would appear in testimony related to other types of laboratory studies such as fiber analysis. In this way, practicing interpreters can become familiar with the framework of testimony in a specific area and then be able to “plug in” the specific terminology needed for a particular case.
Graded texts have been provided in two areas in order to introduce specialized vocabulary and concepts in a manageable way in an introductory text and then reiterate and build on these concepts in a subsequent text. This was the approach taken for DNA analysis and firearms testimony, two frequent but very challenging areas of expert witness testimony.
Perhaps the most unusual selection in this volume is the text on sign cutting, a term many people may not have encountered before. This text was written by Laura Murphy, a federally certified staff interpreter at U.S. District Court in Tucson, Arizona, and is based on her personal experience interpreting in cases in which this type of testimony has been pivotal. It is a text that may seem less challenging at first glance than it truly is. An initial listening of the text or a precursory reading of the script produces only a few technical or specialized words; however, an attempt at interpreting the text will prove that it is quite dense and not at all easy to tackle the first time round. A text such as this one clearly shows that in expert testimony, it is not always the specialized jargon that presents the most difficulty.
A spoken glossary is provided at the beginning of each of the texts for simultaneous practice. This glossary is meant to provide some options for specialized terminology even an experienced interpreter would have to prepare. Additionally, possible renditions are offered for some phrases for which a literal interpretation would be tempting, but not entirely accurate or appropriate. It is important to remember that these glossary items are meant as suggestions, and except for very specific, specialized terms, should not be considered the only correct version. The actual rendition of the text provided by the interpreter on the key CD often offers yet another possibility.
In addition to the six texts for simultaneous interpreting practice, the set includes two texts for sight translation. The Spanish to English text is a document from Mexico concerning possibly fraudulent financial documents, and the text from English to Spanish is a police report on a homicide case. A facsimile of these documents is included in the written materials for use when practicing. One suggestion for these sight translation exercises is to record several attempts at offering a rendering and analyze them before consulting the version provided on the key CD.
WRITTEN MATERIALS AND THE KEY CD
The accompanying written materials include both a script of the texts themselves and a copy of the glossaries. The authors recommend that these written back-up materials not be used until after several attempts have been made to render the texts using the source CD. Scripts should be used to clarify doubts related to text comprehension and to verify the completeness of an interpreted rendition.
To reproduce language laboratory practice at home, listen to the source CD through earphones and use a tape recorder to record the interpreted version as it is being produced. The recorded version can then be listened to and critiqued in order to improve subsequent attempts. Remember, some tape equipment require an external microphone for recording.
The master key is a two-track CD that has both the original text and the certified interpreter’s rendition on it. This allows the practice interpreter to listen to both the original and the interpreted version at once or to listen to each separately. To hear only the interpreted version, simply reposition one side of the earphones away from the ear.
Volume III of the INTERPRETAPES© includes a series of exercises that reflect routine courtroom proceedings and attorney-client exchanges in which the services of a language interpreter are frequently needed. Arraignments, initial appearances, entries and changes of plea, and sentencings comprise a large percentage of the judicial system’s daily activities. The formulaic nature of the language used in many of these proceedings is the result of the constitutional and legal requirements placed upon the Court to ensure that each and every defendant’s due process rights are respected. Benchbooks have been published which contain suggested scripts and formulae to help judges make sure that all required points are adequately covered. INTERPRETAPES© III introduces many of the “boilerplate” terms that are repeatedly used in court, offering interpreters the opportunity to achieve the accuracy that is so essential to the efficient administration of justice.
This volume includes nine exercises which offer practice in the following modes: simultaneous and consecutive interpreting, sight translation and a combined simultaneous/consecutive mode. This combined mode is used when the judge addresses one or more defendant(s) and must then solicit individual responses. In this case, the interpreter performs an on-going simultaneous interpretation of the judge’s speech, including direct questions posed to a defendant, and then renders that defendant’s response in English in the consecutive mode.
As with Volumes I and II, this set includes two source CDs and a key CD. The source CDs consist of readings of texts based on actual trial transcripts and judges’ benchbooks covering legal situations such as attorney-client interviews, plea agreements, admonishments, jury instructions, sentencings and complaints. The exercises for simultaneous interpretation are recorded at approximately 130 words per minute. The length of the exercises varies greatly, a fact which reflects the nature of each proceeding. There are two sets of related texts that represent different phases of the same court action. This is done to introduce the terminology and then reinforce it through reiteration. Spaces are provided between the utterances in the consecutive exercise; the pause button should be used to accommodate individual interpreting styles.
The spoken glossaries recorded prior to the texts themselves provide suggestions as to how one might render standard courtroom terminology into Spanish. These include the Spanish language equivalent for some terms for which a literal interpretation would be tempting, but not entirely accurate or appropriate. Please remember, however, that these are suggestions, and except for very specific, specialized terms, they should not be considered the only correct version. It is also important to realize that the denomination of certain offenses changes from state to state, so interpreters must familiarize themselves with the denominations used in the jurisdiction in which they work.
Certain items are included in more than one glossary. This is done so that interpreters can work with the texts in any order desired.
An extended glossary is also provided with INTERPRETAPESī III. The purpose of this glossary is to offer a more complete discussion of terms that merit clarification as regards either their legal definition in the source language or the complexities involved in achieving an accurate target language version. These terms are marked with an asterisk in the written script.
The key CD provides a rendition of each text done in real time by a federally certified court interpreter. Non-native and native speakers of Spanish are included among the interpreters so as to provide a diversity of regional varieties, accents, and styles. These renditions are meant to provide an example of acceptable interpreting as opposed to an ideal model and to suggest strategies that will prove useful to other practitioners.
The key is a two-track CD that has both the original text and the interpreter’s rendition on it for simultaneous exercises. This allows the interpreter to listen to both the original and the interpreted version at once or to listen to each separately. To hear only the interpreted version, simply reposition one side of the earphones away from the ear.
WRITTEN MATERIALS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR USE
The written support materials that accompany the CDs include the scripts of all of the texts and a printed copy of the glossaries. Although there are many ways in which training materials can be successfully used, the authors suggest that the scripts only be consulted after several attempts have been made to interpret the texts using only the spoken glossaries. Scripts should be used to clarify doubts related to text comprehension and to verify the completeness of an interpreted rendition.
In order to evaluate your progress and to reproduce language laboratory practice at home, listen to the source CDs through earphones and use an additional tape deck to record your interpreted version as you produce it. The taped version can then be listened to and critiqued in order to improve subsequent attempts.
To order your copy of the Legal Interpretapes©, please follow the steps below:
The University of Arizona
The University of Arizona
National Center for Interpretation
PO Box 210432
Tucson AZ 85721-0432
(520) 624-8130
Note: We cannot process checks over the phone.
