The Conversation
I. Choosing Languages
Faulty assumptions and different sides
HB: To begin, perhaps we can talk about how weâre doing this, and some of the difficulties that you were mentioning earlier about the decisions that have to be made when you sit down to do an interview or talk to somebodyâthe âpolitical issuesâ, as it were.
CP: [Speaking] Right. Every time I go into an interview, or if Iâm giving a talk, or if I do something spontaneously, I have to decide which language to use. In some situations, if there are a lot of deaf people, I prefer to use American Sign Language.
So, I would just sign [begins signing] like this and allow Mala, my interpreter, to speak for me. This is the most comfortable thing for me. I donât have to think about how Iâm pronouncing a particular word or how Iâm going to state certain things because I grew up with American Sign Language, and itâs my first language, my home language. Iâm very comfortable with it.
[Speaking] But if Iâm in a different situation where, maybe, there arenât any deaf people there, then I prefer to just speak English without signing, like I did with you when we first met.
However, this means that Iâm not available if deaf people are watching the video or watching the event. I have to weigh, Do I use the language Iâm most comfortable with? But the voice is not me; itâs somebody else with issues like Well, thatâs what other people might be more comfortable with, or might work best in that particular situation. Another issue is that a lot of people have the idea that if you know sign language, then you must use it, because you canât speak English.
Thatâs not the case though. So Iâd like to switch back and forth so you can hear what I sound like when Iâm speaking myself and then hear what I sound like if somebody else is speaking for me.
Mala has worked for me for 12 years, and she knows what words and sentences I like to use, and so forth. So this is the closest thing to me actually speaking, but it has the feeling of a different voice, a different person talking while Iâm signing. So Iâm just going to switch between these two ways of speaking.
If a topic is perhaps more personal, then I may want to use American Sign Language for that. If weâre talking about technical thingsâlike spoken language and sign languageâthen maybe Iâll switch to English.
Sometimes there will be a person using American Sign Language and that person doesnât speak. Sometimes youâre fortunate to have a great interpreter like Mala, but sometimes you donât have a very good one.
You may think, Does this person really sound like that? You have to remember that the process is one step removed. So I want to illustrate how the same person can sound different, or just slightly a little bit different, depending on what medium sheâs speaking in.
I grew up using American Sign Language. Both of my parents are signers, I have an older deaf brother and my parents are deaf, so sign language was completely natural to me. Iâve used it my entire lifeâso, for me, switching between languages is a natural thing to do. They both feel like theyâre me, but theyâre different sides of me. Youâll see that when I start signing, I might express myself a little differently than I do when Iâm using English.
HB: Iâd like to probe you a bit more on this idea of different sides of you. Iâve heard that said by many people who have command of two or more languages. They feel like they are somewhat different people when they speak a different language. But before I do that, and before I go into your personal background, I want to ask a question about what you just said with respect to Mala.
You mentioned how Mala is an excellent interpreter and how youâve been working with her for 12 years. When you first started working with her, was there this sense of a connection with her that you might not have with other people? Has she changed very much in those 12 years? Did it take 2 or 3 years before you really felt you were on the same wavelength?
CP: Honestly, I canât remember. I began working with Mala because sheâs one of the best interpreters I know. Sheâs highly qualified and has very good training. I think what happens in the relationship of working with an interpreter, in a job like this, is she understands when I want to sign or use spoken English, when I talk with a person one-on-one or use an interpreter, and so forth. Weâve become accustomed to being in many different situations, so we know what to do and at what time.
But sheâs also a linguist by training, so she knows a lot of my vocabulary if Iâm signing about something technical. If I have to give a large, keynote talk, I prefer to sign, if I can. I just donât have to think about it. I feel like I can be more spontaneous.
Whereas if Iâm speaking English, I feel like Iâm more guarded. It feels like I need to think what the next word will beâmaybe not subconsciously, but I feel more protective if Iâm doing it in English. I feel like Iâm a little bit looser, a little bit more spontaneous, if Iâm signing.
But Mala just knowsâsheâs heard all of my jokes, for example, ten times over. She knows the joke, so she can time it exactly, almost all the time. Itâs really about that comfortâwhen you walk into a situation where people really donât know anything about signers, or donât know anything about me, then having the confidence of working with an interpreter I know very well is one less thing to worry about.
HB: What happens when you want to come up with a new joke?
CP: Maybe you should ask Mala.
Mala: I freak out a little bit.
CP: Mala likes to be thoroughly prepared. If I have notes, she wants to read them in advance. But sometimes, in situations like this, we donât have notes, so weâre flying a little blind here.
HB (To Mala): So you are out of your comfort zone now?
Mala: A little bit.
- If you see someone signing do you naturally assume that she canât speak?
- What do you think makes âa great interpreterâ? To what extent does it involve more than knowing how the person likes to express herself? Do you think that thereâs an objective difference between the act of interpreting from a sign language to a spoken language and interpreting from one spoken language to another?
- Do you feel somewhat like a different person when you are speaking another language?
II. Distance Education
A formative experience
HB: You mentioned having deaf parents and a deaf older brother. My understanding is that you didnât go into an English-speaking environment until grade 3 or thereabouts. Iâd like you to tell me not only how that experience was for you and the impact that it had on you, but Iâd also like to get some general understanding of the circumstances. Why did your parents do that at that particular time? What were their motivations, and were they pleased by the result?
CP: My parents are both academics. Theyâre retired now, but they were both on the faculty at Gallaudet University in Washington D.C. They both graduated from there and then they both became professors. My father was an athlete, so he became a professor of physical education, and my mother was a professor of English literature. As a result, I grew up in a home talking about ideas, talking about teaching, talking about university. Now that Iâm working in one, it feels like an extension of my childhood.
But my parentsâ life was very different from mine. They both went to boarding schools for deaf children, which was the norm at the time. My dad graduated from Gallaudet in 1945, my mom in 1947. They both went to schools where they lived year-round and only came home on holidays. They grew up in a segregated environment. Deaf people went to special schools and hearing people went to what were called publi...