Interpreting, Process & Practice

Centre of Attention (But not really)

After 35 years in the world of BSL/English interpreting—three and a half decades of navigating languages, cultures, and the occasional existential crisis—I’ve decided it’s time to start writing some of it down. Not as a grand legacy project (though if someone wants to knit a commemorative wall-hanging, I won’t stop them), but as a reflective space. A place to think out loud, share experience, and invite others into the conversation.

Because let’s be honest—interpreting is a strange and wonderful profession. It demands a lot from us: mentally, emotionally, linguistically, ethically. And after this long in the field, I’ve come to appreciate just how much of the work lives below the surface. The choices we make in a split second. The cultural fluency we carry without naming it. The emotional labour we perform while appearing neutral.

This blog is a space to explore that hidden work. To capture the insights that come from experience, the questions that still won’t go away, and the learning that never really stops.

Over time, I’ll be returning to six core themes that have shaped—and continue to shape—my practice:

Process

Interpreting isn’t just about what comes out of our hands, faces and mouths—it’s about what’s happening internally. The moment-to-moment processing, the cognitive load, the juggling of meaning, memory, and message. It’s complex, often invisible work that demands constant mental agility and emotional regulation. I’ll be unpacking what this process actually involves, and how it shifts across contexts and over time.

Language

Working between BSL and English is a constant exercise in nuance. It’s not just vocabulary and grammar—it’s register, rhythm, metaphor, intent. Language moves, and we move with it (sometimes reluctantly, sometimes joyfully). I’ll be reflecting on how we engage with language as living, changing material—and what that means for our practice.

Knowledge

Some of what we know can be taught. But much of it is absorbed—through experience, reflection, and, yes, the occasional blunder. This is the kind of knowledge that’s hard to explain but essential to the work. It’s often deeply domain-specific—the kind that builds slowly as we move through different settings, communities, and contexts.

Ethics

The heart of the job, really. Every decision we make has ethical weight, whether it’s about boundaries, disclosure, advocacy, or neutrality. Ethics isn’t static—it shifts with context, evolves with experience, and often shows up disguised as a split-second judgment call. I won’t pretend to have all the answers, but I do want to ask the questions. And keep asking them.

—interpreting: the job where you’re meant to be invisible while standing in full view of absolutely everyone. It’s public, performative, and paradoxical.

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There are two further topics that never seem to leave an interpreter alone: CPD and dilemmas. One we plan for with good intentions and slightly chaotic filing systems; the other tends to appear uninvited, usually at 3am when your brain decides it’s time for a moral debrief.

CPD keeps us sharp, curious, and (mostly) up to date in a field that never stops shifting. Dilemmas keep us honest—reminding us that interpreting isn’t just about skill, but judgment, values, and the odd moment of what just happened? Both, in their own way, are signs that we’re still growing.

So, welcome. Whether you’re a fellow interpreter, a student, a Deaf professional, or someone with a healthy curiosity about what we actually do—this blog is for you. A living, growing space for reflection, conversation, and the occasional well-placed rant.

Let’s see where it takes us.