Interpreter Resources: International Interpreters

This information is from the World Association of Sign Language Interpreters (WASLI) website. An international sign interpreter will interpret in International Sign at conferences where international Deaf people gather. International Sign (IS) is a contact variety of sign language used in a variety of different contexts, particularly at international meetings such as the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) congress, events such as the Deaflympics, in video clips produced by Deaf people and watched by other Deaf people from around the world, and informally when traveling and socializing. It can be seen as a pidgin form of sign language, which is not as conventionalized or complex as natural sign languages and has a limited lexicon (Dr. Robert Adam, WFD Sign Language Expert, April 2014).The World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) and WASLI worked together to develop this document--- International Sign Interpretation at U.N. Meetings and Interpreter Guidelines for U.N. Meetings.

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities document is available for your review.
Click on the video at left to learn more about Deaf Interpreters. WASLI supports the notion of Deaf people being able to train and work as interpreters. The welcome in International Sign is by Juan Carlos Druetta, a Deaf Interpreter from Argentina.The World Federation of the Deaf have a policy that Deaf Interpreters are part of the team that provide the International Sign service at the WFD Congress. There are many Deaf people who work as interpreters in a range of settings. More resources can be found on the WASLI website. Check out the Assessing Communicative Effectiveness and the Conventions of International Sign (IS) video.

WASLI also works with the World Federation of the Deaf-Blind. Some information about  Interpreting for DB is available at the website. Debra Russell is active in the field and shares resources. View some WASLI online publications.

We have sign language DVDs from different countries. We have British, Irish, Italian, Vietnamese, Malaysian, and more! Look up "sign language" AND name your country in the RIT Libraries Catalog.