The members of the Deaf Community and their friends know very well the fact that most of them cannot afford to pay for un authorized interpreter every time they need one, for economic reasons. So, in many and various situations the members of their own families, friends, teachers, social workers etc., play the role of interpreter. For these friends, who are a bridge between the world of the deaf and the world of the hearing, was implemented this project.
Any person (hearing or deaf) who plays the role of interpreter in communication between deaf and hearing people needs to establish and maintain relationships with the people who take part in the communication setting, in a manner that is honest and fair. So, it’s important to mention from the beginning that, if a person who have knowledge and skills in sign language accept to play the role of interpreter, pro bono or for a lower remuneration, doesn’t matter if she/he has specific training, must to behave in an ethical manner, based on respect and honor. We will name all these friends of Deaf Community in this project, sign language interpreters without specific certification. The fact that they don’t have the certification, doesn’t make them any less important to members of Deaf Community, on the one hand, and doesn’t absolve them of the duty to respect the principles of honor and professional ethics in interpreting situations, on the other hand.
The project “Bridge between two worlds (BBTW)”, contributes to the improvement of communication between deaf and hearing people by mediators, who are involved in the interpretation of spoken, written and signed messages between deaf and hearing people. People consisting of the main target group regarding this project, e.g. mediators like Codas , teachers for deaf, friends and other family members, in general are not professionally qualified as sign language interpreters, but are playing the role of sign language interpreters, they act as “Ambassadors of the Deaf Community to the World of Hearers” and vice versa.
The main barrier for deaf people’s integration into a hearing society is communication, due to different languages, including a visual-gestural language only known by a few hearing people. This leads to a lack of communication and social participation for deaf people. Addressing this issue, our project was developed to reduce communication barriers by creating of self-improvement tools and training for non-professional adult interpreters.
The project “Bridge between two worlds” (BBTW), with number 2021-2-RO01-KA210-ADU-000049514, under Erasmus+ Programme, was funded with support from the European Commission.
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Bridge between two worlds 