I have no advice, but more power to ya!

Yes! its hard work :) but well worth it.

are you in school?

I strongly reccomend you going to a good school for your ITP- i have resources depending on where you live.

make sure you go for a BA degree..

You will need to become Nationally Certified- or if you w ork in the schools go for your EIPA Certification.

A lot of your questions can probably be answered on rid.org

Interpreters are in demand thus they make a good income. All depends on education, certification, location :) Some places you will earn 10 bucks an hour.. rual country bumpkin places that may be a lot. Other places you can earn 60 per hour.

I work as a Freelance Interpreter in DC. I usually charge an initial fee of 110-120 for the first 2 hours.. and then its 45 per hour after that. But peoples rates are different.

let me know your specific questions happy to help

ASL is a hard language to learn!! Have you taken any classes yet?

Wayne wrote:
Any tips for me? Is it hard work? Is it hard to find a job? How much do you usually get paid?

Nope :) For National Certification you must have your BA degree to sit for the test. I can't remember the date that starts but check out the RID website for that. ASL in highschool is usually different expectations in college. I went from ASL 1 at the college level *while in high school* to ASL 2 at the high school. I retook ASL 2 at the college and wow- it was soo much different ! much better. Then I took ASL 3 and 4. From there I took Interpreting 1 2 3 4 and all of the classes that work for the AA degree. I then transfered for my BA and took a BA Level interpreter training program. Once you graduate your AD program you will not be completly ready as an interpreter you will need a mentor and much more work. Please don't think it will be a peace of cake. I too dated a deaf person for a couple of years and although that relationship really helped my language skills develop that doesn't mean that I was proficient enough to be an interpreter. The worst thing you could do would be think your ready and your not. So let me know if you have any other questions. I am very active in the field and love helping new interpreters. I actually began a program specifically designed for that- called Support the Gap. I can explain more later on that if you would like.

work is easy to find depending on location- the more close to a city youlive the better. I answered the salary stuff already in my above post.

my hands do hurt after an 8 hour day even when working with a team. I sleep with braces on so that it prevents CT. when i sleep without them i curl m y hands up in wierd positions and so they don't get rested.. so the braces help my hands sleep. Sometimes your hands arms and shoulders feel like you do when you have been walking on your feet all day and you just want to sit down and rest them.

Wayne wrote:
I was wondering how hard it is to find a job. I live in Columbus, OH area. Also, what salary do u make? And how about the average interpretor(IM me this if you don't want to publically say)

Also, do your hands ever hurt?

2 years in high school is like first half of sign 101

...plus most places want SEE interpreters, especially in school systems.
yea have to learn a lot of sign names, and just the vocab will blow your mind. im not even in it yet, but i've seen the lesson plan ...hell in a classroom

SEE? most ppl don't want SEE what planet are you from?

Some places do still encourage SEE. In general though, I think most places want ASL. RID either currently does, or soon will require you to have a 4-year degree before you can become a certified interpreter. An AA would not be a bad introduction though and you could always transfer to a 4-year college after finishing your AA. It's not a bad idea to at least be familiar with SEE, because there are some deaf people, young and old, who use SEE to one degree or another.

I once worked with a woman who told me she had gone to a deaf school I'm familiar with. That school currently teaches strictly ASL, so I expected that my deaf friend would use ASL -- but she doesn't. Much of what she uses is SEE, and I think she learned most of her sign language before going to the deaf school. In a degree program of any kind, you're very likely to be taught strictly ASL (I was), but in the real world, you're more likely to see a combination of both.

Check out ohsoez.com and deafcoffeechat.com to find deaf events near you and get to know people in the deaf community. No matter how well you do in school, your greatest education will come from your deaf friends. You may also want to look for a church that has regularly interpreted services. Whether or not you belong to that church, and whether or not you regularly attend any church at all, this is a great way to get regular exposure to ASL in action and to meet members of the deaf community. Many deaf people will drive even long distances to go to a church they don't even belong to, solely because it's an interpreted service and it's another opportunity to be with other members of the deaf community. Also, some churches with regularly interpreted services will often sponsor other deaf events as well. There's a Lutheran church near me that frequently sponsors deaf events.

If you're not already in an ASL class or program, you could also think about finding an instructor through your local college and asking them about local deaf events. When I was in college, my ASL instructors regularly gave us flyers about upcoming deaf events.

Anyway, good luck!

Someone people explain SEE!

SEE is Signing Exact English.


SE: refers to Signed English (in general) (Some people say that it is the other way around--SEE 1 refers to Signing Exact English and SEE 2 refers to Seeing Essential English) They are invented sign systems intended to represent English on the hands and thereby assist deaf children in the acquisition of English. In general SEE 1 is (was) based on syllables. The word always would be signed ALL + WAY + S. In general SEE 2 is based on a 2 out of three rule. If two words share two out of three characteristics: spelling, meaning, and/or pronunciation then you sign them the same. Also you have a number of affixes and initialized signs.

It is a man made system :)

PSE is pigeon signed english// also known as contact sign.. its the mix of SE with ASL..


now yes- it is used here and there in school systems- and maybe useful for some people- HOWEVER. these school systems/parents are not making a good decision when teaching their children language. I do think it is important to be familiar with SEE and to be able to use it off and on. However you want to have your foundation in ASL first. It is much harder to learn SEE then go to ASL then it is to go to ASL then SEE. ASL is a true native language.. SEE is man made.. So once you have the language down then begin looking at the SEE. Some will naturally start signing through classes in a PSE mode and the ASL will develop over time. Because English is the first language if you learn to sign SEE first you will depend on the ENGLISH mode more often then the correct ASL grammar