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Fátima Cornwall, a Portuguese and Spanish federally and state certified court interpreter, Spanish certified medical interpreter (National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters), and full-time Spanish teacher at Boise State University in Idaho, won the 2023 ATA School Outreach Contest. She received a free registration to ATA’s 64th Annual Conference in Miami, Florida, for submitting a story and photo she took with students who were visiting Boise State University for a field trip.

Serving Idaho High School Students

When a teacher from Rigby High School in Rigby, Idaho, was contemplating taking her 10th grade Spanish students on a field trip to Boise State and asked for an activity for her students, Fátima immediately had an idea. She prepared a special presentation that revolved around using Spanish for specific purposes, and more specifically medical interpreting.

The teacher said yes and the field trip was planned. The Spanish 202 students that visited Fátima at Boise State were part of concurrent enrollment, which allows high school students in Idaho to earn both college and high school credit for college courses offered at their high school. High school concurrent enrollment instructors use Boise State curriculum, books, and grading scales.

The day the students visited Fátima, they also got a tour of campus, received their student IDs, and more. “We gave them the experience of what it’s like to be a university student,” Fátima said.

An Interactive Presentation on Medical Interpreting

When asked about the presentation, Fátima’s first reaction was, “It was so much fun!” Fátima had invited a fellow interpreter to help her with the presentation, saying “Two heads are better than one!”

The presentation highlighted the shortage of certified interpreters in Idaho, interpreting as a career, the skills needed to be an interpreter, and how to work with an interpreter. The students also practiced consecutive interpreting using a short script.

“The students had to catch the bus at 6:00 a.m. for the four-hour ride to Boise, so we really had to keep things upbeat.” Fátima and her colleague started with questions along the lines of “Guess how many interpreters…?” and brought chocolate for all who volunteered their answers.

Then, they explained and modeled consecutive interpreting. Once the students had a general idea of what interpreting entailed, they were allowed to use their phones to research vocabulary and create a glossary. With glossaries in hand, students paired up for practice.

“To end on a fun note, we asked for three volunteers to play the role of doctor, patient, and interpreter and to wear the props we brought: a lab coat, stethoscope, Band-Aids, notepad, and name tags.” The students used the script to redo the activity in front of the class and Fátima and her colleague gave them some feedback.

The presentation wrapped up with an awards ceremony, where students selected the best actor. “The interpreter won!” Fátima exclaimed. The winner got a statuette similar to those given out at the Oscars for their best performance.

When asked what the students thought, Fátima was happy to report that “Some students thanked us at the end, and the teacher was very pleased with the full immersion experience.”

Inspiration for Participating in School Outreach

Fátima says her reasons for giving a School Outreach presentation were quite personal. “When I look back at my formative years, I remember people always asking, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ In college, the question turned to ‘What is your major and what are you going to do with it?’” Fátima never had the opportunity to attend any type of career exploration class. When she was in school, there was no such thing as take your children to work day or internships to expose students to possible careers.

“Thankfully, things have changed,” she said. “I really enjoy talking about being an interpreter. And although many students will not follow that path, they may one day have to work with an interpreter as future attorneys, nurses, doctors, etc. So maybe, just maybe, they will remember to speak slowly and clearly, use the first person when addressing the person with limited language proficiency, cut back on the jargon—you know, little things that make interpreters’ lives much easier.”

A Cross-Continental Life that Led to a Career in Languages

Fátima’s parents immigrated from the Azores Islands in Portugal to the U.S. during the Salazar regime. “My sisters and I were born in the U.S., but in 1974 we all moved back to the Azores.”

“And in 1992, I came back to the U.S., where I now live.” She got her BA in Spanish and her MA in Spanish in the U.S., and then stumbled into interpreting by chance. “Like many of my students, I was pursuing a major in Spanish and had no clue what I could do with it as far as a profession.”

Fátima recalls the exact moment when interpreting entered her life. Her college graduation was fast approaching, and one day her husband was reading the newspaper and saw that the Idaho Supreme Court was offering free interpreter training. “I had never heard of translation or interpreting but thought, ‘Why not?’” Fátima loved everything about the training, especially the instructors Holly Mikkelson and Alee Alger Robbins. “I knew then that I was being taught by our professions’ giants! The rest is history.”

Fátima is now a federally and state certified court interpreter in Spanish and Portuguese and is also a certified Spanish medical interpreter (National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters). While she doesn’t necessarily think of it as a specialization, her knowledge of European Portuguese is what often gets her hired for specific jobs.

In her current position at Boise State University, her focus is on teaching Elementary Spanish I, Introduction to Court Interpretation, and Spanish for Healthcare. This job keeps her busy, which means she mostly interprets part-time during school breaks. Since the pandemic, she’s had the opportunity to interpret remotely for court hearings. “This is especially nice because there aren’t that many certified Portuguese court interpreters. That means I can help remotely with hearing while colleagues can team up for trials, for example.”

When asked what she loves best about the art of interpreting, she said she loves to learn, and the learning never ends when you work as an interpreter. “Idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms are a big challenge for me because I’m neither a native English nor a native Spanish speaker.

But then that is how I justify all my online book purchases!” She loves having the excuse to buy books and justify it by saying it’s “professional development” rather than her guilty pleasure.

But the learning doesn’t stop at new terms. “I’ve been lucky to work with amazing colleagues, judges, and attorneys who have taught me a lot.” She explained further by giving this example: “I met a public defender who spoke Spanish rather well and, while waiting for a client at the jail, he started pitching the idea of a mock trial for my students at the Ada County Courthouse, our local courthouse.” Fátima was immediately interested. “The public defender created fake documents we could use, including indictments, opening statements, direct examinations, and more. We invited another attorney to play the role of prosecutor and a uniformed police officer to come and testify.” As a result, her students had the opportunity to interpret for school administrators and guests, and the attorneys, judge, and police officer learned about the obstacles interpreters face while interpreting, including the rate of speech, acronyms, police jargon, and more. Fátima said it was really a unique and enriching learning experience for everyone involved.

School Outreach Contest

By sharing your story and photo, you could win a free registration to the ATA Annual Conference!