The worst part of being an interpreter #ASL #CODA #SignLanguage #LearnSignLanguage #Interpreter

[blueturtle]

I'm deaf and use interpreters. A very awful misunderstanding happened one time. I called someone a "geek" jokingly and I guess the interpreter was still half asleep or something because they voiced a slur I did not say. Everyone kinda looked in between me and the interpreter because the slur did not fit the context of the conversation (we were talking about Dungeons and Dragons) and they were confused. I sat there smiling like a moron because I didn't realize this happened until someone asked what I just said, I repeat it and the interpreter realized their mistake and nearly quit their job on the spot. They clarified and the conversation continued like it never happened but the interpreter was visibly upset with themself for the rest of the day and apologized any time there was silence.

[bunniebby]

My VERY RELIGIOUS grandmother will use words she would NEVER use in real life while interpreting because she doesn’t feel like it’s her right to censor people, but she will politely ask them not to make her have to interpret that before she starts interpreting. From that point on, anything they said gets interpreted

[adarcus]

Although I understand basic sign language and can do base level communication I am extremely explicit at my job about not being an interpreter or translator. The only time I have done it was at the explicit request of a deaf employee who I reminded them I am not a trained interpreter and I will do my best but I am not licensed. They understood and they still insisted that I do the translation because we had no other option. I hate that the company that I work for which by the way is a multi-billion dollar company will not meet basic ADA accessibility needs for our employees.

[pulchrare]

I was a live voice captioner for 3 years and the only time I ever had to caption a slur was in front of my two best friends in the world, and they were so caught off guard. I still haven't lived that one down. "Remember that time you said a slur?"

[samh]

Me that time I had to digitize/make a transcript of an old document from the 1700s that talked about black people. It was highly uncomfortable. Necessary, it's important to not forget our history and to tell it as it happened without sugarcoating, but highly uncomfortable.

[heliotype]

I remember this comedy sketch where a comedian went to Alaska where there was a large deaf population and he’s going over the script with the interpreter and there’s a slur for little black kids and he didn’t think that there was a word for that in ASL but there was and he was so shocked

[nooneinparticular]

Okay, this is one of those stories that I think is hilarious and all my friends think is deeply concerning, but:
One of the first words I asked my OT to teach me to sign was “Fuck”. Because I grew up in a household where everyone around me would say it as a way of expressing their emotions, and I had a lot of emotions I needed to express. And in the hopes that I would be better able to communicate my needs, she taught it to me.
Anyways, when I started the 2nd grade I met my brand new translator, and it took a couple days for me to get frustrated and sign it for the first time. And this woman. Loses. Her. Shit.
Just absolutely breaks down laughing and has to go sit in the hallway to calm down. And when she came back, she told me that I could sign that if I needed to, but she needed a different word she could say out loud.
So for the rest of the year up through 5th grade, “fuck” was translated as either “really” (when it was an amplifier, as in “that fucking sucked) or “no thank you” (when used as an epithet, as in “fuck that”).

[Sethoffgrid]

Reminds me of when Donald Glover(comedian) had to ask his interpreter if she could interpret "n*glet" and was speechless when she nonchalantly did it as though it was already a word in sign language 😅

[AmyAmore]

I accidentally cussed out my Deaf professor in ASL when I was first learning 😂 luckily she just laughed and corrected me lol

[DerRotSpassvogel]

This is the exact opposite of what we all assumed would happen during the presidential debate

[taylorweems]

Something I find ironic is as a kid obviously I learned the bad words in asl, but now as an adult I use basic asl to communicate with some of my residents who are hard of hearing or have limited speech… none of them know the cuss words so I never remember them!! Since they are words I never use lol

[vuvdg]

Is nervous hand trembling while using sign language the equivalent of stuttering in verbal language?

[xaphobiamoon]

You should look at a point in Season Two I think, of Only Murders in The Building. There’s two people who do sign language there. I saw you review a few shows and one I adored once. Thought you might enjoy it! 😅

[toastalade]

It annoys the hell out of me when I'm watching something with captions and they censor something. Disabled people are not babies that you need to sugarcoat things for. If someone was interpreting for me and made the conscious choice to censor instead of doing their job, I'd be upset. People saying, "Just say, 'f-slur', " are missing the point.

[SahrivofVulcan]

I just asked this on your last video and this freaked me out when I saw it was new 😭

[Drayke-Nyc]

I love that he was signing "interpret" when he was the interpreter lol

[your_average_nerd]

I recognised the show almost immediately 😂

[tammymomoftwo]

Listen
If I ever become an interpreter
Which I likely won’t
I know a very basic level of sign language

But if I ever did
You better believe I’m not gonna miss a damn word of what they say
I don’t care if it’s a slur or insult that would make satan shiver in disgust
I’m translating it to whatever the other language is

Doesn’t matter if this is for sign language or just two spoken languages

If I hear the word
I would translate it to the best of my ability
There might be a “good” reason they’re being a total jerk
Or heck
Maybe they’re just a jerk
And in that case
The other person definitely deserves to know how much of a jerk they are

If you’re the type to use a slur
I’m gonna let the other party know that fact via translation

Saying a slur while translating isn’t actually saying a slur
Those words aren’t your own
You’re just the vessel they’re using to deliver the words

[AsadKhan-vtdn]

That one comedian making the interpreter sign nazi and Hitler multiple times

[apb.salmon]

takes me back to a time in 5th grade where they brought in a deaf man to teach “we aren’t disabled, we are differently-abled” and i was learning sign language at the time. so obviously as the average devious kid i was, i learned the asl profanity. he used one and i was like “😮😅” so that’s when i thought it was my time to sign Hello how are you? he saw it because i was in the front and he just kind of froze up a little but moved on and acted like it didn’t happen