In our Ethics & Decision-Making class, I have assigned the students to read a chapter out of Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers book. Chapter two is entitled "The 10,000 Hour Rule." The concept is that it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill or talent. Gladwell says,
"Achievement is talent plus preparation. The problem with this view is that the closer psychologists look at the careers of the gifted, the smaller the role innate talent seems to play and the bigger the role preparation seems to play." (p. 38)
He talks about the amount of hours that world-class musicians invest.
"The idea that excellence at performing a complex task requires a critical minimum level of practice surfaces again and again in studies of expertise. In fact, researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number for true expertise: ten thousand hours." (p. 39-40).
Gladwell defines practice as "purposefully and single-mindedly [practicing] with the intent to get better" (p. 39). He also goes on to add more about how the practice happens - "... the people at teh very top don't work just harder or even much harder than everyone else. They work much, MUCH harder" (p. 39).
He also goes on to talk about other master achievers, like Bill Gates and the Beatles, who were provided significant and unique opportunities that they maximized to develop their skills. Gladwell says,
"These are stories, instead, about people who were given a special opportunity to work really hard and seized it...." (p. 67)
Reading this chapter made me think about how we, as interpreters, achieve our 10,000 hours. I think it would be helpful to aspiring interpreters to hear stories about how more experienced interpreters have earned their 10,000 hours. I'll share my story and would ask that you all comment with stories of your own - how have you earned your 10,000 hours ? Acquiring ASL, developing interpreting skills or in anything?
My story
I started learning ASL at age 16 in my high school which happened to be in Northern Virginia right outside of Washington D.C. I became "hooked" to such an extent that I pursued additional practice and opportunities as much as possible. I ate lunch with my ASL teacher, looked for tutoring opportunities, volunteered in my 2nd year to be a teachers aid, etc. I seized the opportunity of location and went to Gallaudet for "field trips." I saw plays, went and hung out on campus, volunteered at Kendall and MSSD. I also started attending the mass that had interpreters, volunteered in the Deaf sunday school class with the little kids, offered to help the interpreter out on special occasions working on translating static texts (prayers, songs, etc.). Additionally, I seized the opportunity of being at the Deaf magnet school in our district where I had opportunities to have Deaf friends and observe interpreters regularly.
In my senior year of high school, I made the decision that I wanted to be an interpreter and decided to get a head start on college credits by taking an ASL class at the local community college, in addition to my high school ASL 2 class. I chose the University of New Mexico as my first college where they did not accept my ASL courses from the community college so I again took the initial coursework in ASL, AGAIN - Introduction to ASL and ASL I. I lived on campus and attended any and every opportunity to interact with the Deaf students. I attended Deaf club events and socials.
When I left UNM, I moved back to Kansas and enrolled in a Sign Language II course at the local community college, volunteered at the public schools with Deaf students in the self-contained classroom, I even did some sub interpreting for extracurricular activities at the school (after being evaluated for minimum qualifications).
Then, I started my interpreter training program at Johnson County Community College where I was in language and interpreting courses for a minimum of 4 hours on a daily basis (M-F). My coursework required additional lab (practice) hours outside of class time and attending Deaf social events. I began doing some assignments on campus (after being evaluated for minimum qualifications) with teams and gaining experience.
Between my first and second years in the program I became state certified and working on a more regular basis during the remaining year in the program. So, the interpreting hours I was working were on top of the hours I was putting into my coursework and "out of class" requirements. I took every opportunity I could to team with more experienced colleagues an get interpreting experience throughout that year.
Once I graduated, I gained more hours working at the community college and another local college. I took sub hours and additional random hours as much as possible. I just LOVED interpreting and wanted more and more opportunities to polish my skills.
That's how my story begins and it continues to this day with gaining as much experience possible ...What's YOUR story!?!
Okay, I'll post my story. Not because I think it's interesting but just because I really enjoy reading others' stories and I hope this will encourage more people to post something.
ReplyDeleteAfter I graduated with my BS in “The Arts” I was hired as an Office Specialist at WOU's TRiO program, Student Enrichment Program (SEP). We had several Deaf students in SEP at that time and I remember writing on pieces of paper to communicate with them. A year later we moved to Portland and I had the opportunity to take classes at PCC for fun and ASL was at the top of my list.
I had decided that I wanted to pursue a career in college student services and it was important to me that all students feel welcomed in my office and I thought if I learned some ASL , Deaf students would feel like they could approach me and chat with me if they needed (without having to use a pen and paper). I took my first class at PCC and I loved it. I kept taking ASL and at the same time preparing to get a graduate degree in Student Services. I finished taking the whole series of ASL at PCC, never with the intention of becoming an interpreter. After I finished taking the accelerated ASL classes at PCC, I was employed back at SEP but now as an Educational Advisor. As an advisor I had the opportunity to practice my ASL skills with a few (very patient) Deaf students that were on my case load. While working as an advisor I decided to continue taking ASL at WOU (they had just opened up the 300 level ASL classes to students outside of the interpreting program). I took ASL 6, then ASL 7, still with the intention of improving my language skills for my advising work. I also took a couple of graduate level classes in Student Services at that time at PSU. While taking ASL 7, I seriously started to think about my future and considering interpreting as a profession. After a lot of thought and discussions with my husband, we decided I should go for it and get a second Bachelor's degree in ASL/English Interpreting. I went through the first year of the program as a part-time student, continuing the work at SEP full-time. The second year in the program I was a full-time student and part-time at SEP.
As a non-traditional, post-baccalaureate student I felt like the two years in the program were precious and I wanted to get the most out of my studies as possible. I knew the harder I worked as a student the more prepared I’d be to enter the field with the skills and confidence I wanted. I was dedicated to my class work. I seized any appropriate opportunity to practice interpreting. During the summer a few us even set up our own study group to continue or ‘lab’ practice while we were on vacation. That summer before my last year in the program I also was a volunteer SSP at a Deaf-Blind camp for a week. I quit advising right before I went on internship because I wanted to graduate my classmates and that meant I would need to do a full-time internship. I was hugely fortunate to be placed a local community college for my internship. Since graduating most of my work has been in post-secondary settings (which I love) and I have recently started feeling brave enough to try some freelance work. I also had my daughter this summer and I am now trying to find the balance between being a mom while still pursuing my professional development and accumulate my 10,000 hours.
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ReplyDeleteMy name is Elisa Maroney. I grew up in Washington, D.C. I ended up at Oregon College of Education. I met a Deaf man from Nigeria on a bus in Boise, Idaho after Thanksgiving with my relatives. I had seen him around OCE and it was clear that he was asking the bus driver to tell him where to get off and change buses. I wrote him a note asking if he was going back to school at OCE and he said yes. We sat next to each other for 8 hours writing notes – he didn’t teach me a single sign!
ReplyDeleteWe happened to be in the same science class winter term and the instructor asked for a volunteer note taker. I volunteered. During that term, I watched the interpreter. I learned that there was an ASL class one-hour per week for 10 weeks at Central High School through Chemeketa Community College. I took that class during spring term and learned that there was a one-year interpreter preparation program at OCE. I had already planned to go to Japan for a year that next fall, so I applied for the program for the following year. I got in! Astonishing, because at that point I had not signed for an entire year! I went through the program, classes meeting from 8-5, I went to events, ORID meetings, parties. I mostly “lurked,” because I was too afraid to talk to real Deaf people.
I knew I was not going to be ready for interpreting, so I applied to Gallaudet University and spent a year living on campus, working in the library media center (we used videotapes back then, so I had to watch them all and make sure that they were re-wound – developing those receptive skills!), living in the dorms with Deaf and Deaf Blind roommates, taking classes in and about ASL. I had lunch with my professors. I taught in the Adult Basic Education program, I worked in group homes with developmentally delayed Deaf adults. I occasionally interpreted.
I lived in San Franscisco for 4 months. I visited the Salk Institute in San Diego and dabbled in a few Deaf Community events for a few months. I knew I needed to get my Bachelor’s, so I went home, lived with my parents, and went to the University of DC. While there, I actually interpreted and began tutoring Deaf students. I also worked at those same group homes with developmentally delayed Deaf adults and got a job in the English Tutorial Service at Gallaudet. When I graduated from UDC, I got a full time job in the English Tutorial Service and then began work on my MA in Linguistics at Gallaudet. I worked as a research assistant, transcribing hours and hours of ASL.
I worked at Gallaudet for 6 years, continued to dabble in interpreting, but was afraid to take the test. Fortunately, RID stopped offering after awhile, so I didn’t have to take it! In 1992, I went to the Conference of Interpreter Trainers in Denver. I found an open position at Western Oregon State College, applied and got the job.
I have been in Monmouth for 17 years. I gave workshops, taught courses, continued to dabble in interpreting. I took the RID CI and CT and failed them. I met Sherman Wilcox who convinced me to go back to school for my PhD at UNM. In order to work in Albuquerque, I needed certification, so I worked with a mentor and passed the CT. I worked as an interpreter while I got my PhD in linguistics. My dissertation committee chair and fellow students are Deaf. There were international students who knew other signed languages, too. I taught fingerspelling and ASL 1 and 2.
When I came back to Oregon, I knew that I had to take the CI again. I finally did in December 2008 before they stopped giving it all together. I passed it. I continued teaching interpreting and linguistics and interpreting sometimes. I took the EIPA and the NIC. I work with Deaf people and fluent ASL users on the national, state, and local level. I have no idea how many hours I have put into this. I am an expert in many things related, but I feel that I still need some hours in actual interpreting so that I can become an expert there! This is a life-long journey!
Hi! Antonio here.
ReplyDeleteI'm encouraging folks to boost their voicing practice. We interpreters tend to get literally seconds of that per interpreting gig, if any at all. With video relay, the number of minutes increases, but it's still short bursts.
Malcom Gladwell's OUTLIERS is a fantastic book demystifying good success. Applying its explored concepts to interpreting is extremely beneficial -- vis a vis the 10,000 hours of practice. I'm working on upping mine because I figure albeit 12 years of interpreting, 7 being professional, I'm not at my 10k with voicing. Very few voicing moments to during most interpreting gigs.
Since speaking is my thing, voicing is my game!
So, developed a plan for more voicing time to up those practicing hours, even if it does come "naturally."
Antonio
Thanks for the post, CM!
I'm so behind in my race to ASL goal.
ReplyDeleteTook last half of a community signing course and then got a job that took all my time to keep. I practice with my textbook, video, and Net resources o try to remember the basics.
Good news: as part of my current job I am able to facilitate the production of an ASL translation of my business' program. The end result will be a DVD version that is ASL and captioned and makes the program available to the Deaf Community.
I may not be able to say much beyond "hello" and my name, but I can make something useful.
Still hoping to acquire basic (really basic) skills after a lot of practice.
Betsy
My journey is short, but I'll share:
ReplyDeleteIn 2001 I gave birth to twins. I had absolutly no experience with Deaf Culture or ASL, but I had read about how it could help my hearing children develope early communication skills. So I began with a few videos targeted to parents of hearing children. There were the nay-sayers who told me if I taught them ASL they would have delays in speech. But my girls picked up signs so quickly and verbal skills too!
For the next couple of years we shared our passion for ASL with our friends and family, and that was as far as it went.
When my girls were about three years old I was given the opportunity to go to a women's retreat with our Church (military chapel). There was an interpreter there during the conference sessions and my best friend and I were captivated. Later I took a workshop at the conference focusing on interpreting songs in the church setting. I was hooked! We went home and told our Chaplain that if he could find someone to teach us ASL we would love to interpret for the Chapel. (little did we know just how much work went into becoming an interpreter!).
Well we never found a place close enough to that military duty station for us to gain the skills needed. We continued to teach our children ASL from books and videos, and promised each other that if our husbands where ever stationed somewhere that we had the opportunity to gain a formal education in ASL we would do it....
Here we are, 2010 and we are now stationed together again and in a location where we have access to an excellent program. So after dabbling in it for nearly 10 years we are FINALLY persuing our dreams of becoming interpreters together.
We are attending Austin Community College in Texas where we will earn our AAS in Interpreting Preparation and then plan to continue our education with Troy University's e-campus program, they offer a B.S. in Interpreting Training completely online using a live video feed.
I know I have a long way to go to get to my 10,000 hours, and the hour drive each way for classes, lab times, and Deaf tutoring are a sacrifice but I am emensly enjoying the process of learning ASL and fulfilling my dreams!
It is kind of overwhelming to think about this now that I am in year 22 of my interpreting career, but if anyone is interested, here is my story.
ReplyDeleteI started learning to sign when I was 16 years old because my high school did the play, "Children of a Lesser God." A Deaf person was recruited, along with an interpreter, to teach the cast sign language for the play. LONG story short, I later married that Deaf person, Patrick Fischer.
Patrick and I were together for 13 years (married for 10) and while we are now divorced, we remain close friends. Without knowing him, and the people and language to which he exposed me, I would never have become involved in this amazing and highly fulfilling career. To this day I owe him much of the credit for my involvement in the field of interpreting, and for that I am forever grateful.
Needless to say, while dating Patrick I had a crash course in the immersion way of learning sign language through all of the events and clubs and sporting activities we attended, and while learning ASL in this way was very daunting, the Deaf community was very patient and welcoming to me.
My first "interpreting" gig was during my junior year of high school (I was 17 years old) when I was paid a "signer's" rate to interpret play rehearsals for a Deaf college student (the certified interpreter coordinator acted as my mentor at the time). I later "interpreted" that play as well - entirely by myself - all 17 characters - thank GOD those days are over, I am much wiser, and the field much more advanced.
While I was still in high school, I took the pre-requisites for the PCC ITP which at the time was simply one "Current Issues in Deafness" class. That's right, there were NO language pre-requisites back when I went into the program in 1990. I was lucky enough to get both an educational internship locally as well as a week-long internship through SLA (Sign Language Associates) in Washington, D.C. where I worked with professional mentor interpreters on the Closeup government studies program for Deaf high school students. This was an incredible experience for me at such a young age (20). It was the hallmark for me as to what true "Team" interpreting should really be.
Patrick and I were married between my first and second years of the ITP and I graduated in 1992. From there I went on to get NAD IV certification in 1993, CI certification in 1994 and CT certification in 1995. Finally, I managed to get my SC:L in 2004.
Throughout this time I participated in ORID (two terms as President), wrote a book on Freelance Interpretation practice, and for 5 years owned an interpreter referral agency with much help and support from Deaf community members and fellow interpreting colleagues. Without their mentorship and guidance, I wouldn't have been able to do any of this.
I have been extremely fortunate to have participated in the Juilliard Interpreting for Theatre Program where I received invaluable training from Deaf and hearing mentors who have great skill in theatrical interpreting, and have spent even more time with Deaf consultants who have been willing to give me hours of feedback so I can provide the best possible access when working in local theatre venues.
The number of incredible educators we have access to in our field makes me feel so fortunate. There is ALWAYS something new that I can learn which makes me continually engaged in this field. I STILL have passion for what I do after 20 years. There is something to be said for that.
I can't list the hundreds of Deaf people and fellow interpreters who have been willing to listen to me and mentor me, teach me, correct me, tell it to me straight, and encourage me. There have been so many. Thank you to all of you!
Tammy Richards
Thank you very much for posting this. I'll be reading this book and will start counting my hours! I really like this concept. If this was calculated according to "http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_calculate_work_hours_for_a_year" and doing interp-ing for 20 hours a week (part-time), it would take aprox. 10 years to reach the 10,000 hour goal. Apparently, I've only scratched the surface. Please, more stories. It really helps to discourage the isolation many people feel in small towns, myself included. Thank you for this!
ReplyDeleteAnna
I'm very pleased to discover that other terps are talking about Gladwell's book. He's got a very nice presentation on Ted.com which I show to my students (not about this topic... it's about Spaghetti Sauce!)
ReplyDeleteHere's a Prezi that I made on this topic this past summer.
http://prezi.com/ej1vkswmjcoy/ten-thousand-hours/
Thank you for your postings, they are inspiring! I am up to level 6 in ASL and going to Gallaudet University for a trip. I would love to interpret, it's so fascinating!
ReplyDeleteJaclyn Simoneau
I had just started reading "The Outliers" and found myself contemplating how the 10,000 hour applies to my interpreting- this blog corresponded to my own self-reflection perfectly! In August, I decided to document my own journey in the interpreting. After four years in a BA ITP, one year in a MA program, and 3+ years of professional interpreting in a wide variety of settings (from high school to federal government work), I feel that I have come along way, yet there is so much further to go before I reach my 10,000 hours. To follow me on my journey, visit signing-on.blogspot.com.
ReplyDeleteHello, my name is Peter. My post is long (requires two posts), sorry.
ReplyDeleteSo, my story doesn’t start out with an epiphanous episode. I don’t have a cool inspirational story about meeting a deaf child when I was five and knowing it was my destiny to become an interpreter. I honestly don’t even know if I knew about deaf people at the age of five. Well, I probably did. I’m sure when I was about five years old my dad sat me down and explained:
“Son, there are people in the world who don’t use their ears like we do. They communicate using their hands.”
Me, “Word? Well…. I’m gonna go hit up the sandbox for the afternoon. Let me know if you find anymore grape juice boxes. Good talk, peace. “
I not sure we ever had that kind of conversation, but I’m sure if it did happen, that is how it went down.
Life ensued.
In high school I was required to take a language class. All of my friends were taking Spanish and I, being of strong will and individuality, followed like a sheep. It’s like that old adage, “If everyone else jumps off a bridge you should too, cuz maybe they know something you don’t.” I may have that wrong.
So I took Spanish. It did not go well; bad experience with the teacher. My options were limited and I really did want another class with that teacher (students called her “The Dragon”).
My best friend was thinking about taking sign language at the local community college. He had a severe stutter and was looking at sign language as a way to deal with the language class requirement. He didn’t want to do it alone so I decided I’d join. Win, win: no more Dragon and get language requirement done.
So I signed up at the local community college and my friend decided he’d rather take Spanish. Punk. I decided to stick it out. An unknown college class was preferred to the alternative, plus I got to be a little pompous because I was taking college classes. Win, win.
I really enjoyed the class. My ASL teacher told me how well I was doing and said I should think about it as a career. That felt a little forced considering it was ASL 1, but I accepted the compliment and took ASL 2 the next term. The teacher again had only nice things to say and suggested, if I was so inclined, to check out Western Oregon University. The idea was intriguing but I was a sophomore in high school and college wasn’t a concept I was prepared to care about. The two ASL classes satisfied my language requirement so I didn’t get to take anymore ASL during high school.
Life ensued.
I was taking an English class of some kind. We were reading Shakespeare; the one about the two kids who kill themselves because of love. Epic stuff. The writing, plot aside, was great. Even though I couldn’t understand all the words I was still caught up in the ability of language to be so well put together. When it was read out loud in class it sounded beautiful (when the teacher read it, us student’s didn’t know what we were doing). I started thinking about how I used language; more of a struggle instead of an opportunity for expression, interesting concept. I started thinking about spoken language and signed language and wondered what kind of potential was within language that I’d never thought about. I felt a door had just opened. So what did I do with this shiny new vision? Go explore it? Nope, cuz it was the weekend and there was a party going on. I’d heard the girl I was enamored with would be there. I thought maybe if I was in the same area she would maybe forget how out of my league she was and come talk to me. So language use was put on hold so I could go sit near a wall and hope. Ain’t high school grand?
Life trudged on.
I decided to go to Western Oregon University. I thought I’d become a writer, or an English teacher, or (if pigs flew) an interpreter. At that time it seemed like an impossible thought that I’d one day have the skills to actually do interpreting effectively.
Peter (Second part)
ReplyDeleteAfter the first term of taking general requirement classes, I dropped out. Maybe college wasn’t for me. But I was still thrilled about language. I read, wrote, watched ASL videos.
I went and found a job as a night janitor. Kind of my own version of going to Walden Pond (I think Thoreau just rolled over). Eventually I found my way back to WOU and had interpreting as a goal.
I took ASL classes. I had some classes with Deaf people in them. We chatted. Turned out we had similar interests. We hung out, watched movies, ate pizza, became friends. I started to get invited to events. I was hesitant to join. My language skill wasn’t stellar and I felt like an uninvited guest even though I was invited. My friends assured me I was fine. So I went, but sparingly. It took a very long time before I didn’t feel like an intruder (still do some times).
It came time to apply to the interpreting program and I applied with no hope I’d actually get it. I got in, crazy. My copout is saying that I got in because I’m a dude. No matter the reason, I was in.
It occurred to me that I could be responsible for facilitating communication between two people in the near future. Yikes. My life became doing homework and going to class. I took breaks to eat pizza and sleep; once in a while I’d watch a movie, sometimes with friends. I was rather concerned that I’d actually be entrusted to do the job that my eventual degree would decree I had the ability to do. I practiced more, studied more, worried more.
At the end of my junior year I had no confidence that I would ever do an interpreting job. I figured I’d finish my degree and then go get a job at a gas station, work on a novel for 20 years and never get it published.
During the summer I went to a weeklong ASL immersion program. I witnessed a conversation between a 3rd generation Deaf person and her 4th generation child. I think I understood maybe 10% of what was said, but I felt like a champ. Language is so dang cool. I came back to WOU ready to figure out how to stop failing (still working on that, FYI). I studied (a lot), hung out with Deaf friends and bugged them for help, went to class, got more confused.
I was offered a “cake” interpreting job while I was finishing up my senior year. I didn’t think it was right for me to do it but I was told it was within my ability and I’d have strong support. So, against my nature, I took it. Failed epically the first few times, not good. It got better. I was asked to do some volunteer work. I made sure to inform all parties involved what my perceived skill level was before I took the work. It went well.
Studied, worked, studied some more, slept, ate pizza, fought a lion, found buried treasure, saved orphans from burning buildings… etc.
I graduated and found work. Yay!
I’ve been interpreting for four years. I’m working every day, studying and learning every day. I finally feel confident in what I do, yet I’m still no where near doing this job as well as I’d like. In an odd way that’s one of my favorite parts about interpreting; never gonna be perfect, always have more to learn, always have things to improve, always have to be vigilant. I have no idea how many hours I’ve studied and worked. Conceptually I’d say I’m at about 1,000 hours but that feels overly optimistic or maybe even arrogant. I should say I’m at about 250 hours but I can fake it to about 1,000.
Peace out Interpreters
Peter
This concept is very interesting. Off the cuff, I think I agree. I started learning at ate 18 freshman in college way back in the stone age (70's). Then, 3rd semester in college a deaf person came to the school and we who had taken the sign classes were told to interpret for the deaf student. Who me? Ok, if you say so.
ReplyDeleteDid a good bit of church interpreting, then, still before our state had any minimum qualifications, I started working at the local community college. Easy, non-lecture classes first. Worked my way up the state screening system. Half-way through that, I had the opportunity to work at our local deaf school full time (part time interpreting).
Oh, yeah! There is where I earned hours! LOL. That one year did more than anything to assist me in developing language skills. Expressive and receptive. Getup at 6:00 am and start with deaf kids. Get them off to school and go interpret for deaf college kids. Come home in time for the deaf school kids to get out of school and come back to the dorm and work with them and other deaf adults until 11 or sometimes 12 midnight. You learn. Or you leave!
I must have learned. Fast forward to today I hold NAD IV and NIC certification. And I am an instructor at a local community college in the ITP. But I think I am only up to about 5,000 hours. Gotta get some more.
My story is short because I'm just a baby interpreter - working for about 2 years.
ReplyDeleteI grew up with Deaf dad and HOH mom but didn't really learn sign language until I started my ITP. I grew up learning a mixture of SEE, ASL and home sign, thinking all the while that I was signing true ASL. Whoo! Boy was I wrong.
I initially went to university at Buffalo for Journalism and then in my third year decided I hated writing. After trying to figure out what I should do with my life a lightbulb came on in my head and I decided I should become an interpreter. I've been in love with interpreting ever since.
I struggled for about 2 years in my ASL classes in my ITP at NTID until a friend mentioned that my struggle was similar to when children learn Spanglish and then try to take a class in Catalan Spanish. After putting things into perspective I just continued to work hard and go to as many Deaf events as I could, having the added benefit of living in Rochester over the summers.
Four years later I graduated with a B.S. from RIT in interpreting. Two days later I moved to the bay area in California to be with my husband.
Last year I took the NIC but failed. I'm hoping with a little more experience and some perseverance I can pass the NIC in the summer.