Interpreting to Support Queer Youth Like Me
Guest blog by Respond volunteer Eric Espinoza
Serving as an English to Spanish simultaneous interpreter for the It Gets Better Project Global Summit 2020 was an amazing experience. It allowed me to be involved in something global designed to help people like me, LGBTQ+ youth. And it was an opportunity to exercise my skills as an interpreter. I first heard about the opportunity to volunteer as a simultaneous interpreter for the It Gets Better Project Global Summit 2020 through Respond Crisis Translation, I lept at the opportunity. I was connected through Respond via my ‘Medical Interpreting’ course at Knox College, taught by Professor Robin Ragan.
To prepare for the summit, I reached out to Professor Ragan who agreed to help me prepare for the event. We met through Zoom everyday to practice for at least an hour. She would have videos for me, so that I could interpret them. She would also bring in people into our Zoom meeting so that they could talk about anything for 10-15 minutes, and she would have me interpret for them. Our goal was to be able to feel comfortable interpreting for at least 15-20 minutes, as 20 minutes is the about maximum amount of time an interpreter could handle. There was improvement everyday; at first I would only be able to do a few seconds then I continuously did more, one minute, five minutes, seven minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes. Besides meeting with my professor for an hour I would spend two to three hours everyday working on my interpretation skills. I watched interviews and I interpreted for the person being interviewed. I also searched up some of the people that I was going to be interpreting for just so that I could make sure I knew a bit about what they do. After having this information, I felt more confident in doing this.
Before the summit started we had several meetings, some of those were rehearsals. During our first meeting we all introduced ourselves, and one of the things that I noticed was that I was the youngest person there. Everyone else had years of experience within the interpreting area, and it made me feel a bit overwhelmed knowing that I was just a sophomore in college with a ‘Medical Interpreting’ course as interpretation experience. This motivated me to practice daily. Our other meetings were rehearsals in which everyone who was a part of the panel would be there, including the interpreters and the facilitators of the event. We used Zoom’s interpretation function, and everything was great; however, the interpretation function on Zoom does not work when we go into breakout rooms, so I had to do consecutive interpretation instead of simultaneous interpretation. Because of that, the speakers had to shorten their presentations a bit just so that there can be enough time to incorporate the interpretation.
The first event I was an interpreter for was the ‘Affiliate Showcase’ in which the representatives of It Gets Better Brasil, It Gets Better Mexico, It Gets Better Espana, It Gets Better Colombia, and It Gets Better UK, were going to give a presentation on the work they’ve done to empower LGBTQ+ youth. I was an interpreter for It Gets Better UK; the representative was the director of the It Gets Better Project UK, Alex Rhys. He had shared his presentation prior to the ‘Affiliate Showcase’ just so that I could have an idea of what he was going to talk about--in a way allowing me to do a better job at interpreting. The ‘Affiliate Showcase’ was a success! I really enjoyed interpreting for Alex Rhys and for those who put this even together. It was such an amazing experience being a part of something beautiful. Being an interpreter for this first event allowed me to feel more comfortable for the last event I had to be an interpreter for, the ‘Drag Talk’ with Chelsea Piers and Jackie Cox.
Being an interpreter for Chelsea Piers and Jackie Cox was such an honor specially because I’ve watched them on TV shows. For the ‘Drag Talk’ event it was simultaneous interpreting. I guess one of the toughest parts was interpreting for two people as there were times in which both overlapped a bit, and there would be times in which they spoke a bit fast. However, the part about them talking fast was something that I managed to get better at through practicing--as I watched videos of them being interviewed which allowed me to familiarize myself with their voices. Being a part of this specifically allowed me to learn more about Drag. I was always curious to know more about it, but at the same time I didn’t do anything to actually learn what it was about. Interpreting for these two amazing people was what allowed me to do research on Drag. I looked at Drag in the United States and then I looked at the Drag culture in Spanish speaking countries as a means to find a translation to some phrases that are used in the Drag world. I think that I did an amazing job, and my professor was there to tell me how she thought it went, and in her opinion she thought I did a great job.
Overall, I really enjoyed being a part of this event. Volunteering as an interpreter without much experience and then making it my mission to practice daily to be a good interpreter was my highlight. I learned so much about being an interpreter but I also learned about the LGBTQ+ community, about Drag, and about the many resources that It Gets Better in different countries gives to the LGBTQ+ youth. Working alongside the It Gets Better Project as an interpreter was very enjoyable and very rewarding.
