UMassGives 2021

The Translation Center is raising funds to support a book project featuring the autobiographical stories and self-portraits of bilingual school employees throughout Massachusetts who serve as interpreters and translators in their respective schools. Funds raised will offset publishing costs, cover stipends for the storytelling and self-portrait workshop leaders, and provide copies of the book to the contributors. The University of Massachusetts Press has already expressed interest in publishing this book!

More about the project:

Bilingual school employees make communication possible between school personnel and families in need of language services to access information about the school community and their children’s education. They translate written documents and interpret orally at school meetings and events. These individuals often go unsung because of the general lack of understanding about the complexities of translation and interpreting.

What is more, due to widespread misconceptions that translation and interpreting are easy and automatic tasks for bilingual people to perform, initial and ongoing professional development opportunities for these school employees have been scarce. Specialized skills and knowledge are required to efficiently and effectively carry out these tasks. When unprepared or untrained individuals provide these services, they can feel stressed and disappointed while doing so impacting the quality of translation and interpretation.

For the past few years, the Translation Center has been working with partners throughout Massachusetts to establish and provide educational and professional opportunities to bilingual school employees so that they are better equipped to serve families who depend on translators and interpreters for greater inclusion in school communities. Since Fall 2018, the Translation Center has provided training to over 250 bilingual employees, representing almost a dozen languages from over 30 districts. Along the way, participants have shared stories about their lives and work. Their experiences are a fascinating part of the cultural fabric of Massachusetts, while their contributions to the Commonwealth fulfill a specific need in our schools.

We would like to expand our dedication to these efforts by celebrating these individuals through a book project that will feature their autobiographical stories and self-portraits. Participants will take two workshops on storytelling and self-portraits to aid in the preparation of their submissions. Then they will write their stories in the language of their choice and submit them together with self-portraits. Non-English submissions will be published with English translations. Since improving language access in schools is not just the work of the interpreters and translators, but of everyone in the community, the book will also include texts by UMass faculty, and school and district leaders, among others.

For more information about the project, please contact: translate@umass.edu