A1 Assessor
I only started to learn BSL when I was 38 after a trip to the theatre, I didn’t know anyone Deaf, but I fell in love with the language after watching the interpreter on stage; I started learning BSL from a Deaf tutor a week later.
I Qualified 7 years later as RSLI, along the way I also did Deaf Awareness, Deafblind awareness , communication tactics and additional linguistics course. I followed the NVQ route and found it challenging like everyone else but I did enjoy building my portfolio and recording my learning curve.
Alongside this I was co-opted on to the ASLI board and undertook a 2 year research project for them, eventually becoming ASLI national secretary, a post I held for 4 years until I decided to step down.
I specialise in theological and theatrical interpreting, I have interpreted many different plays but I especially enjoy translating Shakespeare into BSL for Deaf audiences.
A few years after becoming qualified I trained to become an assessor and registered supervisor.
I take my job as an assessor seriously and make sure that I give comprehensive and detailed feedback where necessary; I find it rewarding to be able to guide candidates through their learning and be a part of their journey to becoming a professional RSLI.