On Saturday, March 24, Ms. Izumi Suzuki and Ms. Hiromi Fujii of Suzuki-Myers jointly presented “Interpreting for Depositions” at the Michigan Translators Interpreters Network’s monthly workshop.
At the event, they shared their knowledge of depositions and the role of the interpreter, as well as what an interpreter should know before taking deposition assignments.

On Saturday, February 24, the Consulate General of Japan in Detroit hosted the 2018 Michigan Japanese Language Speech Contest at the Novi Civic Center.
Seven Michigan high school students and 11 university students, all non-native speakers of Japanese, competed for prizes by presenting original speeches in Japanese.
Dr. Anne Hooghart of Suzuki-Myers served on the panel of judges again this year, by invitation of the Japan-America Society of Michigan and Southwestern Ontario.

On Friday, October 13, 2017, a reception for returnees from the Japan Exchange in Teaching (JET) Programme was held at the home of the Consul-General of Japan in Detroit.

Dr. Anne Hooghart of Suzuki-Myers was the featured speaker, encouraging the former JET participants to discover and follow their “ikigai,” or personal passion in life.

Suzuki Myers And Associates will hold its annual BBQ party, rain or shine, on Sunday, July 16, 2017 2:00 – 7:00 p.m. Click here for more details.

An article by veteran interpreter/translator Izumi Suzuki, President of Suzuki Myers & Associates, was recently published in the Spring 2017 edition of the Japanese-language journal, “Tsuyaku Honyaku” [Interpretation & Translation]. In the article, Suzuki discusses strategies for enhancing an interpreter’s short-term memory capacity. For more information, please visit the IKAROS Publications website.

The November 25, 2016 issue of the Yomiuri Shinbun carried an article entitled “The Jakarta Case – 200 Court Interpreting Errors,” which discussed interpreting issues that arose during a trial in Indonesia in which Japanese were involved. The article included information from a brief interview that the reporter conducted with Izumi Suzuki about how court interpreters are certified in the U.S., the importance of having certified interpreters, and the challenges faced by courts in having qualified interpreters available. The part of the article reporting the interview with Ms. Suzuki reads as follows:

Article in Yomiuri Shinbun, 11/25/2016

Overseas, some countries have established qualification systems for court interpreters to ensure quality.  In the immigrant nation of the United States, the federal court holds certification examinations, primarily for Spanish.  In state courts, there also are various other examinations for languages such as Arabic, Cantonese, Khmer, Portuguese, and Vietnamese.

Lists of qualified interpreters are made public on the state court websites, etc., and remuneration varies according to whether or not they are certified and at what level, making it easier to find high-quality interpreters.  Federal courts and some states also have detailed, logical regulations stating, “Do not omit words when translating.”

According to Ms. Izumi Suzuki, who holds certification as a Japanese-language court interpreter in California, the examination is divided into written and oral portions, and there is also a test based on interpreting an audio recording of a judge or attorney interacting with a witness.  In order to maintain certification, interpreters must complete at least 30 hours of professional development and 40 hours of interpreting work every two years.

In Australia, there is also an interpreter qualification examination, on which one must attain a certain level in order to work as a court interpreter.

In any country, however, there are few interpreters in less-common languages for which there is little demand, so the reality is that ensuring their quality is difficult. Ms. Suzuki points out, “To ensure some minimum level of quality, simply establishing sensible regulations for interpreters can be helpful.”

[translated in-house at Suzuki-Myers and Associates]

We are pleased to announce that our Director of Translation and Conference Interpreter, Hiromi Fujii, has successfully completed the requirements for English-into-Japanese Translation Certification by the American Translators Association (ATA).  She will proudly take part in this year’s national ATA Conference in San Francisco in November.

Beyond the Words:  2016 Japanese Automotive Translators & Interpreters Seminar

On September 1, 2016, Suzuki Myers & Associates President Izumi Suzuki served as a co-facilitator of this year’s Japanese Automotive Translators & Interpreters Seminar at the OCLC Conference Center in Dublin, Ohio.  Ms. Suzuki led a workshop on interpreting in the automotive industry, and Mr. Jim Davis led a presentation about translating automotive industry technical documents.

Izumi Suzuki, President of Suzuki Myers & Associates and a certified court interpreter in the U.S., contributed a chapter entitled “The Accreditation System for Court Interpreters in the United States” to the volume Court Interpreters in the Age of Jury Trials published by Osaka University Press in February, 2016. For more information, please visit the Osaka University Press website.  

Please join our annual BBQ party on Sunday, July 24 from 2pm to 7pm at Suzuki-Myers. For details please click on this flyer.  If you are planning to join us, please email or contact us at (248) 344-0909.