What constitutes a qualified interpreter ?
This is a question that garners a broad range of responses and reveals a number of misconceptions that often exit about interpreters. At the most fundamental level, a qualified sign language interpreter is a professional who facilitates communication between deaf and hard of hearing individuals who do not share a common way of communicating. The role of an interpreter is to accurately convey all messages between the individuals involved in a communication event. Interviews, classes, lectures, meetings, and other human communication interactions can proceed at a normal pace, transitioning fluently from one language to another, with the aid of a qualified interpreter A qualified interpreter has demonstrated proficient bilingual and bicultural competence in the languages with which she works, can apply this competence to the complex cognitive process of interpreting, and has the ethical and intellectual maturity necessary for functioning in a professional capacity. Achieving qualified sta
