Ready?
Sign Language Interpreter — your shift
Interpret meaning, both directions, and stay out of the conversation. Read what this person needs, then tap the place that sorts it out.
Full screen — no distractions
What does a sign language interpreter do?
You carry meaning between two languages live, in both directions, with no time to think and no way to go back.
Also called: BSL interpreter, ASL interpreter, deaf interpreter.
A day looks like
- 1You prepare — names, jargon, the agenda — because you cannot look anything up while you are working.
- 2You interpret meaning rather than words, because sign languages are their own languages with their own grammar.
- 3You work in pairs on long assignments, swapping every twenty minutes, because accuracy degrades with fatigue.
- 4You stay out of it. You are not a participant, an advocate or an explainer.
Hardest part
You are invisible when you succeed and blamed when you do not, and the pressure to help — to soften, explain or answer on somebody's behalf — is constant and always wrong.
Best part
A deaf person and a hearing person having a real, direct argument with each other, and forgetting you are there.
How you actually become a sign language interpreter
- At schoolLearning the sign language to fluency first, which takes years and is not a course you rush.
- TrainingLanguage qualifications to the highest level, then an interpreting qualification and registration.
- How longFive to eight years from starting the language to registered interpreting.
- Your first jobTrainee or associate interpreter working under supervision.
Frequently asked questions
- Is sign language just English on the hands?
- No. BSL and ASL are complete languages with their own grammar and word order, unrelated to each other and to spoken English. Interpreting between them and English is genuine language interpreting.
- Why do interpreters work in pairs?
- Because accuracy degrades with fatigue, measurably, after around twenty minutes of continuous interpreting. Pairs swap regularly and monitor each other for errors.
- Why can't the interpreter just explain things?
- Because that removes the deaf person from their own conversation. The interpreter's neutrality is what makes them trustworthy to both parties, and abandoning it — even helpfully — undermines the whole arrangement.
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