This interpreter support group is a safe space for medical interpreters to share their experiences.

Every Third Wednesday of the month, 5:30-6:30pm. RSVP for Zoom link. Registration is free.

We recognize the unique challenges you face in delivering crucial medical information and interpreting complex, emotionally challenging discussions. We hope to create a supportive community for you all in this challenging and rewarding profession.

This group is facilitated by Jamie Newell, LCSW, palliative care social worker at Providence with years of experience working with interpreters.

Sponsored by Providence, open to all interpreters.

Not an OSTI-sponsored event.

​Lisbon, 1938: Pereira, an aging, reclusive journalist who writes obituaries of famous writers and translates 19th-century French stories for the cultural section of an evening paper, is forced to​ confront, and ultimately denounce, the crimes of Salazar’s regime.

This, very succinctly, is the plot​ of Sostiene Pereira (Eng: Pereira Maintains), a short novel (136 pp.) by the Italian writer Antonio Tabucchi (1943-2012), first published in 1994 and translated into multiple languages.

Join OSTI on Saturday, March 7, for a discussion of this unforgettable work and its timeless themes.

We will discuss the book’s translation into English and other​ languages, as well as social and political considerations for translators, publishers, and​ journalists in times of government crackdowns on freedom of expression.

Feel free to read Sostiene Pereira in any of your working languages.

Everyone is welcome. Bring your questions and comments for​ discussion.

​About the discussion hosts

Marella Feltrin-Morris has published articles on translation, paratext, and pedagogy, as well as on modern and contemporary Italian literature. Among her most recent publications are the article “The Representation of Pain in Pirandello’s Short Stories: Towards an Ethics of Translatability” (2023) and the book chapter “Diego Marani’s Interpreters, Linguists, Lawbreakers and Loonies” (2023). Her translations of short stories by Luigi Pirandello, Paola Masino and Massimo Bontempelli have appeared in North American Review, Two Lines, Exchanges and Green Mountains Review. She is a contributor to the collaborative digital edition, Stories for a Year, an ongoing project that will provide the first complete English translation of Pirandello’s short stories. To date, over twenty of her translations of Pirandello’s short stories have appeared in Stories for a Year.She is Professor of Italian and coordinator of the Translation Studies Minor at Ithaca College.

A​llison deFreese is president of the Oregon Society of Translators and Interpreters (OSTI). Her book-length translations, into English, include works by María Negroni​, Karla Marrufo, and David Anuar. Her work also appears in The Harvard Review, The New England Review, Latin American Literature Today, and Poetry Northwest. She teaches in the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley's MA in Spanish Translation and Interpreting (TIP) Program.

Free Q&A for Students and Career-changers Interested in Translation/Interpreting Careers

The Oregon Society of Translators and Interpreters is pleased to announce a free panel discussion for anyone interested in gaining more knowledge about T&I fields!

Are you thinking about pursuing a career in translation or interpreting and need more information about what it's like in the field? This panel is for you!

Are you a program coordinator, college instructor, or interpreter trainer?

Bring your class to this Friday panel and invite students.

On April 10 (at 12:00 PM PDT/Pacific), OSTI is offering a panel on careers in translation and interpreting.

Please share this event with your friends, students, and with others interested in learning more about translation or interpreting. We hope to see you there!

Metafóricamente el maaya t’aan es una semilla y como tal, en su interior encapsula la forma de vida de los mayas, la identidad cultural, el pensamiento y una forma distinta de mirar al mundo. Una semilla que anhela ser plantada, que ansía germinar, crecer, dar frutos y producir nuevas plantas; sobre todo desea preservar la encomienda que los yuumtsiles le otorgaron: “Que su sonido retumbe por los cuatro puntos cardinales de su nación”.

Metaphorically speaking, maaya t'aan (the Mayan language) is a seed and as such, it encapsulates the Mayan way of life, Maya cultural identity, and thought. It represents different ways of seeing the world. It is a seed that longs to be planted, that wants to germinate, grow, bear fruit, and produce new plants. Above all, the seeds of Mayan language and culture wish to preserve the commendation with the ancestors and to offer a bridge between ancient traditions and the present. This presentation will introduce translators and interpreters to many unique aspects of Mayan language and culture to facilitate communication with clients of Mayan background. It will build mutual understanding between interpreters working with those of Mayan heritage and their clients. May the Mayan language and culture resound through the four cardinal points of the world. 

About the presenter

Originally from Peto (Yucatán, México), Lizbeth Carrillo Can is a native Mayan speaker, a Spanish-Mayan/Mayan-Spanish translator, a promoter of the Mayan language, and a Mayan language teacher. She holds a Bachelor of Education in Social Sciences. From 2002 to the present, she has taught courses to promote the acquisition of the Mayan language at various levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced, as well as teaching Mayan literacy and grammar in collaboration with the Institutions: Directorate of Indigenous Education; Itzamná Municipal Academy of Mayan Language, at the institution's COEEST, CECIDHY's sites. She teaches "Spoken Yucatec Mayan" at the Yucatec Mayan Institute and at the UADY's (Autonomous University of the Yucatán) Language Institute Center. She has also been involved in several publication, translation and transcription projects, including: developing literary materials for Mayan-speaking communities published by El Instituto Nacional de Educación para Adultos (2004); voicing one of the characters in the audiobook "Kan maaya yéetel mejen tsikbalo'ob'' published by CEPHCIS, UNAM, Mérida (2009); creating a transcription and translation for the piece "Hispanic Linguistic Symposium" of Blooming, Indiana, E.E.U.U.; editing the book Elementos Esenciales del idioma Maya, published by the Ayuntamiento de Mérida (2015); translating of essays included in the 6th volume of the 2nd edition of the Yucatan Encyclopedia by the State of Yucatán’s Government (2018), publishing the text “U ch'a tuukulil u yúuchil ts'íib yéetel xook ich maayáaj t'aan”/ “Reflections on reading and writing in the Mayan language” (2019), and translating, into Spanish, the Mayan sections of the the Spanish-English-Mayan trilingual book Mar, Arena y Música:, Three Family Tales, written by Carlos Martínez Bolio (2020).

About the host

Allison deFreese is president of the Oregon Society of Translators and Interpreters and has been collaborating on translations with writers from the Yucatan including Janil Uc Tun, Karla Marrufo, Nidia Cuan, and David Anuar. Becuase leanring is a lifelong process and every language is important, even those of lesser diffusion, Allison has been studying Yucatec Maya since 2021.

*Note: This workshop will be presented in Spanish

​This presentation will cover trauma-informed strategies for working with those who have experienced domestic violence and also introduce key vocabulary (in Spanish and in English) for interpreters and translators in medical, court, or educational settings. We will examine trauma-informed approaches to serving clients who have experienced violence, explore cultural considerations in language access provider/patient interactions, and build a glossary of core terminology. 

About the presenter

Leocadia Montero-Hainley is an Afro-Latina woman who helps people use a trauma-informed approach to address conflicts. She facilitates dialogues on the subjects of forgiveness, reconciliation, and restorative justice. Leocadia works with organizations, government agencies, and families, helping them navigate compassionate conversations when addressing difficult relationships. She is a psychotherapist, trained in the Cognitive Behavior Therapy Model from Pacific University, where she earned her Master of Arts. She is the principal of Leocadia Consulting and an Associate with LACE Oregon. Leocadia is from the Dominican Republic, where she earned a law degree and served as a prosecutor. Leocadia is a published author and enjoys spending time with her husband and their three boys.