VISION STATEMENT

When language becomes an impediment to completing the goal before you, Pula is your collaborative team. Working with you to understand the message, we build bridges of communication and understanding. Listening for comprehension and cultural awareness is essential in that process of equitable wisdom in making decisions from both vernaculars. We are here to LISTEN.

Mission Statement

Integrity in Interpreting – on ALL levels!

Pula is committed to the integrity and accountability in providing linguistic, cultural representation. Pula attempts to provide any language preferred, and we have come close. Indigenous languages are important, and we respect the need for culturally knowable and of the same ‘tribe’ if possible. By recognizing the “Mother-Tongue” of individuals, we hire interpreters from the same community allowing for niche awareness, and empathetic collaboration, during the interpreting process.

Likewise, Pula, for 45 years, has recognized that American Sign Language (ASL) is not English, and thus provides the highest level of competence with every ASL assignment, and interpreter hired, including “Deaf Eyes” – in keeping the interpretation authentic. We know the ASL community and team with the Deaf Community, in providing the BEST.

Why Choose Pula Legal Interpreting Network?

Pula was established in 1997. The owner started interpreting in 1975. After over more than 45 years, our Pula agency understands the needs of interpreters and the interpreting community. We know what is required beyond the individual. Our agency has insight gained from the 45 years in service.

Pula is committed to all languages. Our country is a melting pot of cultures and languages. We understand the world of communication. We are here to serve your linguistic needs. We have several experts; interpreters and translators,ready to serve your language and message needs.

Highest Level of Quality!

We abide by the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) and/or National Association of the Deaf (NAD) Code of Ethics as well as the State and Federal interpreter Code of ethics. All individual interpreters are certified to meet or exceed these national standards. Interpreters are assigned based on the skill requirements of the particular case.

NAD Certification

  • Level VI - Legal
  • Level V - Master
  • Level IV - Advanced

RID Certification

  • SC:L - Specialist Certificate: Legal
  • CT - Certificate of Transliteration
  • CI - Certificate of Interpretation

** Certifications are important. However, a certification alone does not reflect the interpreter’s ability to understand or communicate in a culturally specific environment. In addition, interpreters usually have specialties. **

It is the Law

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination based on disability in any program or activity operated by recipients of federal funds. It states: “No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States…shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance…”

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) prohibits discrimination based on disability by public entities, regardless of whether they receive federal financial assistance. Title II states: “[N]o qualified individual with a disability shall, by reason of such disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination by any such entity.”

ASL IS NOT ENGLISH

ASL is a recognized language in and of itself, and is nothing like English. Language is based on culture, and the Deaf culture is uniquely different than the hearing world. In 1965 William Stokoe, a renown linguist, published research that led to a widespread recognition that sign languages are true languages, exhibiting syntax and morphology, and are not only systems of gesture. Because ASL is silent, the assumption is that the verbal language is the same as the silent, however, the spoken English and silent languages (ASL) could not be more different. Due to its origin, ASL is grammatically structured more like French, than American English. And more importantly, ASL is the cultural backbone of the Deaf community.

Here is another mind blower, ASL is not universal. Every country has their own culture and thus, their own Sign Language. Foreign Language Sign systems are nothing like American Sign Language. For example, in England, their alphabet is a two-handed fingerspelling system, while America’s ASL is a one handed fingerspelling system.

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