There’s a great facility: http://www.deafcommunityservices.org/ in downtown San Diego that have a library of resources and a lot more for motivated growing interpreters. They have all the material for taking the certification testing for cheap or free.
A very good agency in the Los Angeles area that is actively sending work out to skilled ASL Interpreters is Accommodating Ideas: http://www.ai-ada.com/. The Video Phone services like Sorenson or Purple Communications are great places to work at. You’d be surprised with the benefits sometimes as well.
Substituting interpreter/teacher’s aide for K-12 at Orange County Dept of Education is great for flexibility. It’s a bit of a process in any school district, about a month or so just to get in their system. The money is not great hourly, but it’ll give you some experience, consistently the same people and exposure to their styles of signs. It’s easy enough and you can have a life on nights and weekends.
Los Angeles & San Diego are both high demanding areas more so than Orange County. I am mostly working under my own freelancing interpreting for a large business company and for my church voluntarily. Churches are excellent for practicing if you’re comfortable with the speed. You only get better as you go. Just remember to have great posture, keep smiling, have a strong connection on the speaker’s charisma, and make eye contact. I hate to say it, but many newer interpreters lack the eye contact and enjoyable personality to watch because they are overly thinking about the signs they miss, and then you witness the frustration instead of the professionalism. If you don’t know how to sign something in particular, just spell it as accurately as possible and mouth the word while spelling. Smile!
Also, visit the deaf events that are local. Crucial, of course! There are a million things you’ll learn and you’ll never be bored of the new friends you’ll instantly connect with. The Block in Orange is a great place for socializing once a month. There’s about 300 deaf and hard-of-hearing people that get together on the Starbucks corner shop inside and out socializing. Don’t be intimidated. Dive into the culture and bring a notepad and pen if you get stuck understanding someone. Just know that sometimes their English sentencing is not perfect.
Go to your local community colleges that have ASL interpreting programs and ask what upcoming workshops are happening and find if they provide lab rooms for interpreting students. I personally went to the campuses to meet with the teachers and head of the sign language department at community colleges (El Camino College, Mount Sac and Palomar Community College) and they have a lot of people they can specifically recommend you to for work in the field. They’re the best direct links to the best instructors and potential jobs. Keep this site handy for deaf events: http://www.ohsoez.com/EventsTitle.htm
In the Riverside area, there’s a ton of deaf in that community and a famous school called California School for the Deaf there that most likely will point you in the right direction for an agency or interpreting gigs if you decide that’s where you want to focus working in.
If you want to get creative, go ahead and post youtube videos of songs you sign or fiverr.com to sign for people willing to pay you $5.00 if you’re wanting quick little jobs. They’re a bit tedious to edit and get lighting set up, but once you get it right, it’s a breeze. It’s just a matter of editing and posting. Eventually once you build your portfolio you should make a fan page with your work onto Facebook. These are fun ways to get yourself out there. If you watch other’s videos you’ll have a better idea of what you like and want to use when you film your videos and what to avoid. Usually you can get a bunch of perspectives on how they deliver lyrics or vocabulary words you never have seen before.
Enjoy the process and be open to being coached. Have a great attitude always and know that you must be quick-thinking and signing accurately, but have the patience with your clients. If you’re inspired and get some of these things going, let me know about it.
{ 0 comments }
