Based on what you have done for your senior project so far, answer the following questions. Be specific and use examples.
1. Mentorship Question: Describe your experience in how you found your mentorship. If you haven't found one yet, describe your experience so far in the search for a mentor.
Unfortunately, I am still working on finding a mentor. The thing is that the number of contacts I have who are currently working as interpreters is ZERO. Someone I know from my church who used to be an interpreter put me in touch with my interviewee, who was very helpful and whom I liked very much. However she cannot mentor me because she interprets for therapy sessions at a family center, and due to the confidential nature of these sessions, I would not be able to shadow her. In the interview I asked her if she knew any other interpreters I could talk to, and she said no.
This past Friday I also contacted a social worker friend of my family who works in the foster care system and who often interacts with court interpreters to see if she knew of anyone who would be willing to mentor me. She did not reply, but I'm going to follow up with her. However, she is very slow at replying to any form of communication so I'm honestly not sure if I can get ahold of her before the find-a-mentor deadline.
Really the only sort-of lead I have at the moment is through a family friend who works for corporate Taco Bell. My dad emailed him to see if they use interpreters in any areas of their business. As of tonight he had not replied with any information.
It frustrates me that the only potential mentorship contacts I have are friends of friends of friends of friends who I have never met or even heard of. This makes me a little nervous about whether they would make good mentors, assuming they are willing and able to. I currently feel like I am/will be treading water on my project until I find a mentorship. Every day and week that goes by I get more nervous about not having a mentor yet. I hope I find one soon so I can stop thinking about it and get on with my project.
2. Research Question: What has been the most important article you have read so far and why?
The most important article I have read so far is entitled "Interpreting China, Interpreting Chinese" by Robin Setton. Chinese is one of the languages I am plan to someday interpret in, and I learned some fascinating things about Chinese interpretation from this article. I chose it as most important because it deals with a specific area of my topic that I know will be of great importance to me in my career.
The interpretation field in China has grown a ton in recent times because of China's "spectacular re-engagement with the world" as the article puts it. Also, the writer described how interpreter training in China is undergoing some changes to adapt to the great demand. However, in China, interpreter training and straight English proficiency are sometimes used interchangeably or confused with each other. The article also talked about cultural differences between English and Chinese and how, if an interpreter is not aware of the language culturally, they have the potential to make some offensive mistakes without meaning to. The information in this article gave me a greater understanding of the atmosphere I will be dealing with as I progress into the interpretation world. Another fact I learned: Only two percent of Chinese language interpreters are not native speakers!
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