Tips from the Terp

Tips for ASL-English Interpreters

  • Educational Interpreting: Not Just a Rung on the Ladder

    It is rare for one to not only find her passion in the first year of college, but also to begin working in that field while still in college. During my practicum semester of my ITP, my placements were in education and religious settings where I found my niches without any real effort. I love… Read more

  • Systems to describe ASL

    William C. Stokoe was a pioneer in helping American Sign Language be recognized as a legitimate language during the 1960s. He developed a system for describing signs, but it had some issues.His system only addressed the handshape, location and movement of signs, leaving out the other parameters of palm orientation and non-manual markers (NMM). Or… Read more

  • Homework…Eeek!

    Yes, there’s homework. I’ll just give you a sampling of what’s required in each section of homework as I come to it. The first homework assignments come at the end of the first section and involves identifying the handshape, location and movement of lists of signs and identifying similarities and differences of these elements between signs.This… Read more

  • Linguistics

    An important part of becoming an interpreter, and being an experienced interpreter, is understanding the languages in which you work. Most of us already have a pretty good grasp of English and how to use it. (And if you don’t, I highly recommend doing some studying of English grammar and spelling). But we have to… Read more

  • Parameters of Sign

    Just as spoken words have rules for pronunciation, so signed languages have rules for the correct formation of words. If you bend or break these rules you change the meaning of the words.In American Sign Language, we call these particular rules the ‘Parameters of Sign.’ These are:1. Movement2. Location3. Palm Orientation4. Non-Manual Markers, and5. SpaceI… Read more

  • Fingerspelling: A Frightening Feat

    Greetings new signers! Whether you plan on becoming an interpreter or are taking ASL because you think it’s cool, I want to help you with some of the trickier aspects of the language. So I present: Tips from the Terp. I’ve been a Sign Language interpreter for 13 years, and every time I meet new… Read more