LITA’s Interpreter Training
and Seminar Series

Ilya Julian Shlepakov

Any practicing interpreter would agree that regardless of the workload, it is essential to nurture the eternal student within. While a multitude of ways exist to fine-tune skills, it is often difficult to squeeze in 30 minutes of décalage or a few quiet moments skimming through well-worn glossaries. That is why we welcome organized opportunities to perfect the skills at the core of an interpreter’s progress and success in the field.

The Legal Interpreters & Translators Association (LITA), composed of New York city legal interpreters and translators, was formed in February, 2000. In December, Sandro Tomasi, chair of its professional development committee, together with Ray Miranda, senior court interpreter for the Kings County Supreme Court, Criminal Division, both NAJIT members, started planning a seminar and training series for fellow interpreters. They enlisted the support of Jimmy Imperatrice, Chief Clerk of Kings County Supreme Court, Criminal Division, who graciously permitted them to use space on the court’s premises for professional development events. In just under two months’ time, they organized a court interpreter training and seminar series, held in February, 2001.

Many people volunteered time: as Spanish trainers, NAJIT members Carmen Barros and Daniel Sherr; as Russian trainers, Yana Agoureev and Isabelle Avrutin; as presenters, Allan Amaya, Rafael Dilonés and NAJIT member Nancy Festinger. Important behind-the-scene roles were played by Oscar Méndez, Raúl Mantilla, Ada Santiago, Fernando Parra along with NAJIT members Jan Calloway, Jen Chan and Noemi Ríos.

The first event of the series that I attended was the Russian-specific training session in simultaneous interpretation with Yana Agoureev and Isabelle Avrutin. Both are active in federal courts; Ms. Agoureev is also a UN-approved interpreter. What made the session dynamic and interactive were the speakers’ different backgrounds (one with a Master’s in translation/interpretation; the other having come to interpreting via architecture and photography). They had different insights and approaches to simultaneous interpretation and a variety of ways of overcoming common obstacles. We were given an opportunity to discuss our own experiences in court and conference interpretation.

The next seminar I could not afford to miss was entitled "History and Trends in Court Interpreting." The chief interpreter at U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, Nancy Festinger, was a superb speaker. She focused on four landmark dates that provided a firm foundation for our profession: the decline of French as the exclusive language of diplomacy in 1920, the invention of the IBM Hushaphone Filene-Finlay system in 1928, the Nuremberg trials in 1945, and the passage of the federal Court Interpreters Act in 1979.

The LITA seminar series provided concrete lessons and tools for beginning and seasoned interpreters alike. The interpreter’s task can often seem overwhelmingly solitary. In this regard, I think the greatest accomplishment of the series was in its bringing like-minded people together to share views, ponder, experiment and learn.

[Ilya Julian Shlepakov is a freelance Russian interpreter in New York.]