NBTG 2008

Country report for efsli
Annual General Meeting, 12th September 2008

 

Country facts:

•    Population:         16.447.392 (15.000 – 20.000 sign language Users)
•    Size of the country:     41.528 sq km

Facts on sign language interpreters:

•    Number of registered sign language interpreters: 238 (no data on part-time vs. full-time ratio).
•    Number of registered speech-to-text writers: 48 (no data on part-time vs. full-time ratio).
(source: www.stichtingrtg.nl)

Interpreter organization:
Nederlandse Beroepsvereniging Tolken Gebarentaal (NBTG)
Dutch Professional Organization of Sign Language Interpreters

NBTG Board
The board of the NBTG consists of the president, secretary, treasurer, 2 members, a student board member and a speech-to-text reporter board co-worker. The NBTG board is assisted by a policy maker, an office co-coordinator and an associate at the financial department. Since 15 November 2006, we have a speech-to-text writer on the board. He or she represents the speech-to-text writer members.

NBTG Members
The NBTG has a total number of members; 534

• 228 Interpreters
• 158 students
• 6 Sponsor Plus
• 2 Sponsor members
• 83 Newsletter subscriptions
• 28 speech-to-text writers
• 12 student speech-to-text writers
• 17 special members

Interpreter training:
Four-year Bachelors program (part-time and full-time) at the College of Utrecht. The program is in the first year a combined program for teachers and interpreters in Dutch Sign Language. After the first year the program is separated. The program officially started in 1998. The 10 pilot students of this new program graduated in August 2001. In 2002/2003 28 students graduated, in 2003/2004 32 students, in 2004/2005 20 students, in 2005/2006 25 students, in 2006/2007 28 students and in 2007/2008 33 students graduated. Main subjects in the program are Dutch Sign Language, Interpreting or Teaching Skills and Deaf Culture.
The program started a Master program Deaf Studies. Graduated interpreters with a BA degree have the opportunity to enroll in the MA program.

 

Events 2007-2008

Interpreting in educational settings
A special working group is still working on the development of a DVD with information on sign language interpreting in educational settings. We hope the DVD will be ready at the end of 2008.

Regulations
In the past year a lot of time was spent on negotiations with the government on new rates within the financial payment system of the interpreting services. The government agencies are very much focused on saving money, and have less attention for quality and an easy to use and accessible system for clients and interpreters.

Board at work
The NBTG board with the office coordinator and the policy maker are continuing to look into an efficient work flow for the NBTG. Due to many volunteers and the few paid staff, this is an ongoing task. To be more efficient the board created a daily and a general board.  As you could read above (NBTG board), the board has a speech-to-text writer co-worker on the board. Since November 2006 all speech-to-text reporters are offered a tryout membership. In November 2007 the tryout membership of the speech to text writers is extended for one year. In November 2008 the members of the NBTG will decide at the annual general meeting if the membership will become a definite membership.

Workshops
The NBTG working committee on continuing education, in co-operation with the board, organized various workshops for (student) interpreters and speech-to-text writers.

Last year the NBTG hosted the following workshops:
•    Team interpreting (for speech-to-text writers)
•    SWOT Analysis (strenghts, weaknesses, opportunities and threats)
•    Interpreting at the house doctor
•    Hand massage
•    Taxes and invoicing
•    Interpreting from English to Dutch Sign Language (NGT) and NGT to English
•    Lecture “Best Practices for Interpreting in Healthcare”
•    Voicing
•    Autocorrection program (for speech-to-text writers)
•    Make up your mind
•    Lecture about the function of the ear and hearing
•    Presentation “Sign Language Interpreters in Europe”
•    “Joining Forces: Deaf and Hearing Teams”
•    Interpreting for mentally disabled people
•    Interpreting for deafblind people

Publications
The Interpres Newsletter is published every three months and is distributed to all members. Every edition covers a theme and in addition it reports on the latest events in the field of sign language interpreting. There is also a monthly news bulletin especially for interpreter and student members. In 2008 the NBTG will publish a new leaflet about the work of the NBTG. We have also published a new book on the profession of sign language interpreting, which will be available in September 2008.

Goals of the NBTG for the coming year

From 2009 on, the NBTG envisions together with its partners in the field, the following ambitions:

• To increase the quality of sign language interpreters, matching the changing needs and wishes of the organisations of deaf, hard of hearing, late-deafened, sudden-deafened, and deaf-blind people.
• The NBTG will do this by regularly investigating the needs and wishes of users of the interpreting services, as well as of interpreters and students by organising qualitative continuing education.
• Increasing the educational possibilities for interpreters, such as post doctoral studies and specialisations.
• Increasing the knowledge on the role of the interpreter at the government, user organisations and interpreter users, in cooperation with partners in the field.
• Installing a formal cooperation-platform with all user organisations and the government.
• Stimulating social recognition of sign language interpreting as a profession.

 

NBTG 2007

Country report for EFSLI    
Annual General meeting, 14 September 2007

Country facts:

•    Population:         16.570.613 (15.000 – 25.000 sign language Users)
•    Size of the country:     33,783 sq km

Facts on sign language interpreters:

•    Number of registered sign language interpreters: 243 (no data on part-time vs. full-time ratio).
(source: www.stichtingrtg.nl)

Interpreter organization:
Nederlandse Beroepsvereniging Tolken Gebarentaal (NBTG)
Dutch Professional Organization of Sign Language Interpreters

NBTG Board
The board of the NBTG consists the president, secretary, treasurer, 1 member, a student board member, a board co-worker, and a speech-to-text reporter board co-worker. The NBTG board is assisted by a policy maker and an office co-coordinator. Since 15 November 2006, we have a speech-to-text reporter on the board. He represents the speech-to-text reporters members.

NBTG Members
The NBTG has a total number of members; 506

• 201 Interpreters
• 184 students
• 6 Sponsor Plus
• 3 Sponsor members
• 85 Newsletter subscriptions
• 21 speech-to-text reporters
• 21 student speech-to-text reporters
• 6 special members

Interpreter training:
Four-year Bachelors program (part-time and full-time) at the College of Utrecht. The program is a combined program for teachers and interpreters in Dutch Sign Language. The program officially started in 1998. The 10 pilot students of this new program graduated in August 2001. In 2002/2003 28 students graduated, in 2003/2004 32 students, in 2004/2005 20 students and in 2005/2006 25 students graduated. And in 2006/2007 28 students graduated. Main subjects in the program are Dutch Sign Language, Interpreting or Teaching Skills and Deaf Culture.
The program started a Masters program Deaf Studies. Graduated interpreters with a BA degree have the opportunity to enroll in the MA program.

 

Events 2006-2007

Interpreting in educational settings
A special working group is still working on the development of a DVD with information on sign language interpreting in educational settings. The DVD has not yet been finalized.

Research published
A publication is published on the efsli conference in Prague with a lot of information about team interpreting, deaf and hearing interpreters, the situation of deaf blind clients, and theater.

Regulations
A lot of time was spent on negotiations with the government on new rates within the finance system. According the government agency the rates in educational settings are not valid anymore and need to change.
The NBTG is pleased that after negotiations with the office that pays for community interpreting, team interpreting is allowed in specific situations without consultation in advance.  

Board at work
The NBTG board with the office coordinator and the policy maker are continuing to look into an efficient work flow for the NBTG. Due to many volunteers and the few paid staff, this is an on going task. To be more efficient the board created a daily and a general board.  As you could read above (NBTG board), the board has a speech-to-text reporter co-worker on the board. Since November 2006 all speech-to-text reporters are offered a trial membership. If all works out well the membership can become a definite membership.

Workshops
The NBTG working committee on continuing education, in co-operation with the board, organized various workshops for (student) interpreters and speech-to-text reporters.

Last year the NBTG hosted the following workshops:

•    Taxes and invoice 
•    Voicing
•    Interpreting in international settings
•    Assertiveness
•    Interpreting for the elderly deaf
•    Ethics
•    Interpreting with a videophone
•    Kata Kolok, a village sign language on Bali
•    New spelling (for speech-to-text reporters)
•    Abusive language in Dutch Sign Language (NGT)
•    Interpreting for the disabled

Publications
The Interpres Newsletter is published every three months and is distributed to all members. Every edition covers a theme an in addition it reports of the latest events in the field of sign language interpreting. There is also a monthly news bulletin especially for interpreter and student members.

Web site
A new website is a fact! The new site is accessible for people with a disability.
The number of visitors to the NBTG web site is still increasing, as is the number of NBTG web pages. The main web pages are accessible for every visitor and there are special web pages only accessible for interpreter and student members.

The past year
The NBTG, in cooperation with an interpreter agency and a deaf organization started with an orientation for the possibility to formulate an enabling legislation.
Until now the interpreters in the Netherlands had to deal with approximately thirty different offices for community interpreting. After intensive negotiations there is now one office dealing with the interpreting hours for community interpreting.

Goals of the NBTG for the coming year
The NBTG likes to continue the goals that were set for 2006. We have made a start on these goals, but have not yet accomplished all that we wanted.

• PR: providing information on the profession of sign language interpreters and increasing (supporting) members to the NBTG
• Continuing education: increasing the number of workshops organized by the NBTG and sharing expertise and support on an international level
• Improving the working conditions of interpreters.

 

NBTG 2006

Country report for EFSLI  
Annual General meeting, 15 September 2006

 

Country facts:

•    Population:         16.300.000 (15.000 – 25.000 sign language Users)
•    Size of the country:     33,783 sq km

 

Facts on sign language interpreters:

•    Number of registered sign language interpreters: 188 (no data on part-time vs. full-time ratio).
(source: www.stichtingrtg.nl)

Interpreter organization:
Nederlandse Beroepsvereniging Tolken Gebarentaal (NBTG)
Dutch Professional Organization of Sign Language Interpreters

NBTG Board
The board of the NBTG consists of 5 members; the president, secretary, treasurer, 4 members, and a student board member. The NBTG board is assisted by a policy maker and an office co-coordinator. Since April 1st we have a new president: Harry Bosma. Harry Bosma is not an interpreter, but an experienced volunteer in board settings. The NBTG board is very content with our new president who enthusiastically manages with the board members the NBTG towards our future goals.

NBTG Members

The NBTG has a total of 457 members;

• 183 interpreters
• 164 students
• 6 Sponsor Plus
• 4 Sponsor members
• 100 Newsletter subscriptions

Interpreter training:
Four-year Bachelors program (part-time and full-time) at the College of Utrecht. The program is a combined program for teachers and interpreters in Dutch Sign Language. The program officially started in 1998. The 10 pilot students of this new program graduated in August 2001. In 2002/2003 28 students graduated, in 2003/2004 32 students, in 2004/2005 20 students and in 2005/2006 25 students graduated. Main subjects in the program are Dutch Sign Language, Interpreting or Teaching Skills and Deaf Culture.
The program started a Masters program Deaf Studies. Graduated interpreters with a BA degree have the opportunity to enroll in the MA program.

 

Events 2005-2006

Interpreting in educational settings
A special working group was set up to develop a DVD with information on sign language interpreting in educational settings. The DVD has not yet been finalized.

Research published
In 2005 a publication of completed research on the work-rest schedules of sign language interpreters (in Dutch: www.nbtg.nl/nbtg/Onderzoeksresultaat%20werkrustschema%20tolken.PDF). In 2006 we published an English translation of the summary of this research project.

Regulations
A lot of time was spent on negotiations with the government on a new obligatory contract for interpreters. The government agency requested from the NBTG to provide advise on the contract and inform the interpreters on this new obligation.
In addition we had continuing negotiations with government agencies on the regulations and payment of sign language interpreters.

Board at work
The NBTG board with the office coordinator and the policy maker are continuing to look into an efficient work manner for the NBTG. Due to many volunteers and the few paid staff, this is an on going task.

Workshops
The NBTG working committee on continuing education, in co-operation with the board, organized various workshops for (student) interpreters.

Last year the NBTG hosted the following workshops:

-    Working and rest schedules for interpreters
-    The impossibilities of interpreting: the interpreter is not the client
-    Hearing, seeing, and interpreting (voicing for interpreters)
-    Voicing, loud and clear!
-    The psychosocial development of children wit a CI
-    Sign Language Interpreters in Jamaica (Keren Niles from Jamaica)
-    Interpreting in international settings
-    Interpreting in religious settings
-    Interpreting in mental health settings

Publications
The Interpres Newsletter is published every three months and is distributed to all members. Every edition covers a theme an in addition it reports of the latest events in the field of sign language interpreting. There is also a monthly news bulletin especially for interpreter and student members.

Web site
The number of visitors to the NBTG web site is still increasing, as is the number of NBTG web pages. The main web pages are accessible for every visitor and there are special web pages only accessible for interpreter and student members. The NBTG is looking into increasing the accessibility of the web site for people with disability. In the Netherlands a special organization (www.drempelsweg.nl) has been creating awareness on this topic. As an organization closely related to people with a disability, the NBTG thinks it is important to support accessibility.

Goals of the NBTG for the coming year
The NBTG likes to continue the goals that were set for 2005. We have made a start on these goals, but have not yet accomplished all that we wanted.

• PR: providing information on the profession of sign language interpreters and increasing (supporting) members  to the NBTG
• Continuing education: increasing the number of workshops organized by the NBTG and sharing expertise and support on an international level
• Improving the working conditions of interpreters, e.g. formal recognition of two interpreters on an assignment where this is required.

 NBTG 2005

Country report for EFSLI
Annual General meeting, 17 September 2005

Country facts:

• Population: 16.300.000 (15.000 - 25.000 sign language Users)
• Size of the country: 33,783 sq km

Facts on sign language interpreters:

• Number of sign language interpreters: 184 (no data on part-time vs. full-time ratio).
• Interpreter organization: Nederlandse Beroepsvereniging Tolken Gebarentaal (NBTG) Dutch Professional Organization of Sign Language Interpreters

NBTG Board
The board of the NBTG consists of 5 members; the president, secretary, 3 members, and a board assistant. The NBTG board is assisted by a policy maker and an office co-coordinator. In August the president resigned. We now have an interim-president.

NBTG Members
The NBTG has a total of 463 members;

• 172 interpreters
• 163 students
• 6 Sponsor Plus
• 5 Sponsor members
• 117 Newsletter subscriptions

Interpreter training: Four-year Bachelors program (part-time and full-time) at the College of Utrecht. The program is a combined program for teachers and interpreters in Dutch Sign Language. The program officially started in 1998. The 10 pilot students of this new program graduated in August 2001. In 2002/2003 28 students graduated and in 2003/2004 32 students graduated. In 2004/2005 20 students graduated. Main subjects in the program are Dutch Sign Language, Interpreting or Teaching Skills and Deaf Culture.

Events 2004-2005

Cooperative working day
Cooperative working day for all parties in the field of Sign Language interpreting: topic was the continuing lack of interpreters in the Netherlands. All parties presented their view on the (non)existence of the lack of interpreters. The presentations were then discussed in a forum and with the audience. This resulted in an extensive report and a plan of action on how to resolve the issues in relation to the lack of interpreters. The NBTG held a survey amongst its members as a basis for their presentation. The survey questioned the interpreters on the number of hours they had available to work and how many hours they in fact did work.

Research published
Publication of completed research on the work-rest schedules of sign language interpreters (in Dutch: NBTG 2004)

Country report for EFSLI
Annual General meeting, 24 October 2004 - Vantaa, Finland

Country facts:

• Population: 16.300.000 (15.000 sign language Users)
• Size of the country: 33,783 sq km

Facts on sign language interpreters:

• Number of sign language interpreters: 162 (no data on part-time vs. full-time ratio).
• Interpreter organisation: Nederlandse Beroepsvereniging Tolken Gebarentaal (NBTG) Dutch Professional Organisation of Sign Language Interpreters

NBTG Board
The board of the NBTG consists of 11 members; the president, a treasurer, a policy maker, 5 members, a student member, a board assistant and an office co-ordinator. On January the first our treasurer resigned and a new one started. In October the president will resign after almost 6 years of chairmanship. We are still looking for a new president.

NBTG Members
The NBTG has a total of 420 members;

• 147 Sign language interpreters
• 136 Student members
• 12 Sponsor Plus members
• 3 Sponsor members
• 114 Newsletter subscriptions
• 8 Honorary/special members

Interpreter training:
Four-year Bachelors program (part-time and full-time) at the College of Utrecht. The program is a combined program for teachers and interpreters in Dutch Sign Language. The program officially started in 1998. The 10 pilot students of this new program graduated in August 2001. In 2002/2003 28 students graduated and in 2003/2004 32 students graduated. Main subjects in the program are Dutch Sign Language, Interpreting or Teaching Skills and Deaf Culture.

Events 2002-2003

Referral centre
The first half year of 2004 the NBTG has been involved in searching for a solution concerning the problems with the main referral centre. It had financial and organisational problems and it resulted in a chaotic situation for interpreters and clients. On the first of July the referral centre changed its status. Now it only mediates assessments, there is no possibility for interpreters anymore to enter into a contract with the centre. It now is a government supported organisation. Interpreters are working on a freelance base for the centre. The NBTG had been looking after the interest of the interpreters during this whole procedure. The government decided on one referral centre in The Netherlands on the first of January 2005. This will mean that the smaller referral centres will have to work together with the main centre.

Payment
Due to the changes within the referral centre the government has decided on a new payment system to pay the interpreters. The ministry of Welfare & Health and the ministry of social Affairs & Employment have come up with a new system where they pay the interpreter for the number of interpreting hours and the travelling time and expenses. Payment for the administration of the assessment is now included in the interpreting hours.

Registry of Sign Language Interpreters
Interpreters who are registered in the Registry of Sign Language Interpreters will receive payment from the government for interpreted hours. Being registered obliges the interpreter to keep up the professional standards by following courses, seminars, etc. After the first of July, when the referral centre changed its status, the government decided to open the web site of the Registry to the public. All data of the interpreters is now freely accessible.

Workshops
The NBTG working committee on continuing education, in co-operation with the board, organised various workshops for (student) interpreters. Last year the NBTG hosted the following workshops:

• Interpreting for teenagers and young children
• Deaf blind interpreting
• The interpreter in a regular educational setting
• To be an interpreter on television
• The code of ethics, how to use it
• Workshops in co-operation with the Dutch Sign Centre on "New Dutch Signs"
• Assertiveness training
• Interpreting from Dutch Sign Language in to a second language
• The interpreter and taxation

Publications
The NBTG has published the following publications in 2003/2004:

• EFSLI Conference 2003 proceedings (in Dutch)
• Medical Interpreting
• Interpreter accounting 1.0 in Excel (CD-ROM)
• Document on team interpreting - recommendation on working in teams
• Document on the complaints commission to be

The Interpres Newsletter is published every three months and is distributed to all members. It reports of the latest events in the field of Sign Language Interpreters. There is also a monthly news bulletin especially for interpreter and student members.

Web site
The number of visitors to the NBTG web site is still increasing, as is the number of NBTG web pages. In 1998 we had 1159 visitors, in 2002 6396 and in 2004 so far we had 10.583 visitors. The main web pages are accessible for every visitor and there are special web pages only accessible for interpreter and student members.

Goals of the NBTG for the coming year

• The NBTG wants to draw more attention to the increasing need of having two or more interpreters on an assignment and hopes to convince the government of the need of a fair payment in these situations.
• The NBTG also keeps an eye on the developments concerning the new referral centre.
• In co-operation with The Organisation of the Deaf the NBTG wants to set up a complaints commission. Right now both organisations are making an inventory on needs on both sides.
• Together with the close captionists the NBTG is looking for a way to work together. If the close captionists will join the NBTG, changing the articles of the association will be necessary.
• Two months ago the NBTG came in contact with a physiotherapist who wants to devote her final thesis to Interpreters and Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). The NBTG is very pleased she wants to gain more in-depth knowledge on this subject. She will do research on the length of interpreting and the RSI-consequences.

NBTG 2003

Country report for EFSLI
Annual General meeting, 4 October '03 - Brighton, UK

Facts on sign language interpreters:
Number of sign language interpreters: 133 (no data on part-time vs. full-time ratio).

Interpreter organisation:
Nederlandse Beroepsvereniging Tolken Gebarentaal (NBTG) Dutch Professional Organisation of Sign Language Interpreters Members*:

• 109 Sign language interpreters
• 131 Student members
• 14 Sponsor Plus members
• 3 Sponsor members
• 99 Newsletter subscriptions
• 8 Honorary/special members
• Total 364

* please note that currently we are holding our annual membership drive and we receive new members daily.

Interpreter training:
Four-year program (part-time and full-time) at the College of Utrecht. The program is a combined program for teachers and interpreters in Dutch Sign Language. The program officially started in 1998. The 10 pilot students of this new program graduated in August 2001. In 2002/2003 28 students graduated. This year the training has officially been changed into a Bachelors program.

Events 2002-2003

Requirements
At the request of its members, the NBTG board has developed a set of contractual conditions for the provision of interpreting services. Freelance interpreters can use these conditions when accepting assignments. At the AGM in November '03 interpreter members will vote on these new conditions.

Registry of Sign Language Interpreters
The government has now decided that only those interpreters who are registered in the Registry of Sign Language Interpreters will receive payment for interpreted hours. This decision is a big step forward towards the recognition of the profession of sign language interpreters.

Payment
As in the past few years, the NBTG has had several meetings with government officials on a new payment scale for sign language interpreters. The ministry of Welfare & Health and the ministry of Social Affairs & Employment have now both implemented a new payment system. The new system pays the interpreter for the number of interpreting hours, the travelling time, the travelling expenses, and a set amount for the referral and administration of the assignment. The result is that interpreters can now also work on the shorter assignments without losing income.

Continuing education
The NBTG working committee on continuing education, in co-operation with the board, organised various workshops for (student) sign language interpreters. In January a two day workshop was organised on Medical Interpreting. The presenter of the workshop was Marty Barnum, an American Sign Language Interpreter and previously the director of the only Health Care Interpreting Program in the United States. In addition workshops on International Sign, new signs in Dutch Sign Language, freelance interpreting, and an ethical forum. To enhance the interpreting skills and professionalism among the interpreters, workshops will be held In the coming months on Visual Music, deafblind interpreting, and interpreting for teenagers.

PR & Membership
For several years now the NBTG has held a large membership campaign, especially among the new students in the interpreter-training program. Membership is growing fast thanks to our current membership drive.

Publications
The NBTG has published the following publications in 2002/2003: EFSLI Conference 2002 proceedings (in Dutch) Running a freelance interpreter business Interpreting for foreign Deaf people Project folder (a specially developed folder with 18 pages of information on the profession, sign language, addresses, etc.) The monthly news bulletin for interpreter and student members is now being distributed by one of the interpreter members, which takes a lot of work away from the NBTG office.

New office
Starting January 1st the NBTG has a new office co-ordinator, Reggie Donkers. Which means that the NBTG office is now located in Nijmegen. The NBTG has also increased the number of paid hours of the secretariat, which is now 10 hours per week. The number of hours of the policy maker has been increased to 8 hours per week. The secretariat is running very well, and has proved to be an essential central point within the NBTG.

Web site
The number of visitors to the NBTG web site has been increasing over the past few years, as is the number of NBTG web pages. In 1998 we had 1159 visitors; in 2003 we had so far 8318 visitors. The NBTG has now a special members section where members can access published information and documents (newsletters, government announcements, etc).

Goals of the NBTG for the coming year
The NBTG intends to continue negotiations with the government with regard to the payment system of sign language interpreters. In addition, the NBTG wants to draw attention to the increasing need of having two or more interpreters on an assignment, in order to improve the quality of the interpretation and the working conditions of the interpreters.

NBTG 2002

Country facts:

• Population: 16.000.000 (15.000 Sign Language Users)
• Size of the country: 33,873 sq km

Facts on Sign Language Interpreters:

• Number of Sign Language interpreters: 105 (no data on part-time vs. full-time ratio).
• Interpreter organisation:
  Members*:
• 83 Sign Language interpreters
• 148 Student members
• 16 Sponsor Plus members
• 5 Sponsor members
• 103 Newsletter subscriptions
• 7 Honorary/special members
• Total 363

* please note that currently we are holding our annual membership drive and we receive new members daily.

Interpreter training:
Four-year program (part-time and full-time) at the College of Utrecht. The program is a combined program of teachers and interpreters in Dutch Sign Language. The program officially started in 1998. The 10 pilot students of this new program graduated in August 2001. In August 2002 24 students graduated.

Events 2001-2002

EFSLI 2001 Conference
The NBTG thrived on the successful EFSLI 2001 Conference that the NBTG hosted in Ede. Over 260 participants from 23 countries attended the conference. All participants received the conference proceedings by mail in the spring of 2002. The conference proceedings are now for sale at the NBTG or EFSLI. The Congrestolken co-operative in Amsterdam provided, free of charge, ten spoken-language interpreters working in five spoken languages. This made the EFSLI 2001 conference accessible to participants from all over Europe. Registry of Sign Language Interpreters On 6 July 2001 the Registry was officially established. The office of the Registry opened on 4 September 2001. An official festive opening is planned on October 12th '02. Deaf people in the Netherlands are entitled to 18 hours a year for interpreting services in the area of spare time (doctor appointments, meetings with a real estate agent, parent night at the school of their children, etc). The government has now decided that only those interpreters will receive payment for interpreted hours who are registered in the Registry of Sign Language interpreters. This decision by the government is huge step forward for the recognition of the profession of Sign Language interpreters.

Working conditions
The Dutch government demanded in 2001 a better and more efficient payment of Sign Language interpreters in the Netherlands. The ministries of Social Affairs & Employment and Welfare & Health have asked the departments responsible for the payments of the interpreters to look into a restructuring of the payment system. Since then the NBTG has had several meetings with government officials and almost came to a complete new proposal. The ministry of Welfare & Health implemented the new payment system, but the NBTG is still negotiating with the ministry of Social Affairs & Employment. The new system pays the interpreter for the exact number of interpreting hours, the travelling time, travelling expenses, and a set amount for the referral of the assignment.

Continuing education
The NBTG set up a new working committee on continuing education. In co-operation with the board the committee organises workshops, seminars, and conferences in the area of Sign Language interpreting. The last year the NBTG hosted the following workshops:

• The Sign Language Interpreter & taxes
• Interpreting in religious settings
• Memory training for Sign Language interpreters
• The robot-interpreter (Sign Language Research at the RWTH in Aachen, Germany)
• Retirement for Sign Language interpreters In the upcoming months seminars and workshops will be held on interpreting for foreign Deaf people, Interpreting in medical settings, interpreting for children, and interpreting in mental health settings.

PR & Membership
For several years now the NBTG has held a large membership campaign, especially among the new students in the interpreter-training program. Membership has again grown from 316 members to the current 363 members. The NBTG receives many requests from external parties on the profession of Sign Language interpreting and Sign Language. To foresee in that demand we are currently developing an extensive informative flyer with information on these subjects. The published flyer will be for sale. The profession of Sign Language interpreting and the NBTG have been in the news frequently due to the attention that was drawn to the RSI risks of Sign Language interpreters.

Publications
The NBTG has published the following publications in 2001/2002:

• Proceedings of EFSLI 2001 (English)
• Sign Language Interpreter & taxes
• Flyer "Sign Language Interpreter" (colour)

Web site
The NBTG web site has received a new lay out: http://www.nbtg.nl The number of visitors to the NBTG web site is still increasing, as is the number of NBTG web pages. In 1998 we had 1159 visitors; in 2002 we had so far 6396 visitors. The NBTG has now published documents on the NBTG (newsletters, government announcements, etc) for members to be accessed on the NBTG web site.

Goals of the NBTG for the coming year
The NBTG intends to continue the negotiations with the government in regard to the payment system of Sign Language interpreters. In addition, the NBTG wants to draw attention to the working conditions of Sign Language interpreters in the Netherlands. We also hope to draft guidelines for the working conditions of Sign Language interpreters.

NBTG 2001

Country facts:

• Population: 16.000.000 (15.000 Sign Language Users)
• Size of the country: 541.532 sq. Miles or 3.387.325 ha

Facts on Sign Language Interpreters:

• Number of Sign Language interpreters: 65 (no data on part-time vs. full-time ration)
• Interpreter organization:
  Members:
• 55 Sign Language interpreters
• 116 Student members
• 19 Sponsor Plus members
• 6 Sponsor members
• 112 Newsletter subscriptions
• 8 Honorary/special members

Interpreter training:
Four-year program (part-time and full-time) at the College of Utrecht. The program is a combined program of teachers and interpreters in Dutch Sign Language.

Events 2000-2001

EFSLI 2001 Conference
The NBTG hosted the EFSLI 2001 Conference in Ede. The EFSLI organizing committee worked for over a year planning the conference. Important part of the planning was central registration at the NBTG secretariat and the conference web site where prospective participants could obtain information on the conference. Over 260 participants from 23 countries attended the conference. The Congrestolken cooperative in Amsterdam provided, free of charge, ten spoken-language interpreters working in five spoken languages. This made the EFSLI 2001 conference accessible to participants form all over Europe.

Registry of Sign Language Interpreters
In May 2000, the NBTG received government funding to set up a Registry of Sign Language Interpreters. The funding was based on a project plan that was developed by the NBTG in the previous years. With the funding the NBTG hired two project managers who, together with a working group, worked out all the details and informational documents of the new Registry. On 6 July 2001 the Registry was officially established. The office of the Registry opened on 4 September 2001.

Working conditions
The Dutch government has demanded a better and more efficient payment of Sign Language interpreters in the Netherlands. The ministries of Social Affairs and Welfare & Health have asked the departments responsible for the payments of the interpreters to look into a restructuring of the payment system. The national organization of the Deaf (Deafship), the referral centers, and the NBTG were asked to be part of the special task force in these negotiations. The task force had several meetings with government officials and almost came to complete new proposal. Due to the summer holidays the negotiations were temporarily delayed.

Sign Language interpreters & taxes
Starting 2002, the Netherlands will have a new tax system. To give something extra to our membership we asked a professional specialized in tax laws to write an overview of the implications of these new laws for Sign Language Interpreters. All the NBTG members will receive a free copy of this report.

PR & Membership
For the last three years the NBTG has held a large membership campaign, especially among the new students in the interpreter-training program. Membership has again grown from 246 members to the current 316 members.

Publications
The NBTG delegates to the EFSLI seminar on Ethics in Denmark in 2000 wrote a report on the presentations in Dutch. Members of the NBTG have found this very helpful having access to this information in their native language.

Web site
The NBTG has had a web site since 1997. Starting June 2001 the NBTG has its own web address: http://www.nbtg.nl The number of visitors to the NBTG web site is still increasing, as is the number of NBTG web pages. In 1998 we had 1159 visitors; in 2001 we had so far 4174 visitors.

Goals of the NBTG for the coming year
The NBTG wants to provide more opportunities for Sign Language interpreters to improve their skills and increase their professional expertise. In addition, the NBTG intends to continue the negotiations with the government in regard to the payment system of Sign Language interpreters, together with the task force.

NBTG activities 2000

New board
Following the biannual meeting of the NBTG in March two students announced that they were willing to serve as board members. The NBTG board is very excited to have two new members, especially since there is a lack of interpreters who are willing and able to serve on the board.

Board issues
The NBTG put in a request to the government to raise the hourly fee for Sign Language interpreters. The request was honored and the hourly fee was raised as of January first. Interpreters working for the referral agency Randstad were not satisfied with the way that Randstad paid the interpreters. It was unclear if Randstad actually paid the raise in the hourly fee to the interpreters. The NBTG asked for clarification at the government office in charge. As a result, the NBTG received an overview of all the components of the hourly fee. Till July it was still unclear if the payments made by Randstad were correct. At the end of July though Randstad decided after one year to end the referral service. This did not come completely unexpectedly, since the agency was receiving many complaints on their business. However it was a big blow to the interpreters who had only worked for them for a year and were out of an agency again. The NBTG participated in talks between Randstad and other organizations concerning the matter. A letter was sent by the NBTG board to all members to inform them about the closing of Randstad. The NBTG also had a meeting with the other referral service TC VisiNet. The talks concerned the current situation of the interpreters in the Netherlands and how TC VisiNet and the NBTG can work together on specific points.
Deafship, the organization of the Deaf in the Netherlands, secured government funding to conduct an assessment of the interpreting of the news on television. Assessing the interpreting of the news is one of the many parts of a major research into services for the Deaf. The NBTG takes part in the meetings concerning the assessments of the interpreting of the news. The NBTG in addition looked into the (copy)rights of the interpreters and the interpretations of the news.
A paper with the results was published in the monthly newsbulletin. In order to have more efficient talks and meetings with governmental organizations, the NBTG felt it was important to have a clear view on the working situation of the interpreters. The interpreters are currently under large mental and physical stress due to the enormous lack of interpreters, the lack of mentors for students in training, continuing education for the current interpreters, and the constant fight for recognition of the profession. More interpreters than before are having physical and mental problems and some are even quitting the profession. Therefor the NBTG conducted a survey among its members on the working situation of Sign Language interpreters. The NBTG board also had their annual meeting with the interpreter training program at the college of Utrecht. Mentoring, continuing education, and internships were the main topics that were discussed. A press release was sent out to all parties of interest. The press release was to inform the reader of the commonly used term deaf interpreter (doventolk) versus the preferred term Sign Language Interpreter (tolk Gebarentaal).

Public Relations & Membership
The NBTG has 242 members and just launched a membership campaign again. Every new member receives an interpreted movie on video for free. This special offer along with a free copy of our quarterly newsletter was also handed to all the new students at the interpreter training program.

Registry of Sign Language Interpreters
Late May the Dutch Association of Sign Language Interpreters (NBTG) secured government funding in order to establish a registry of Sign Language interpreters in the Netherlands. The association has been working on setting up a registry of Sign Language interpreters for many years. The registry will register all qualified Sign Language interpreters and encourage their professional development. The NBTG hopes to establish the registry within a year. It all started in 1995 when a working group within the association was established to look into the possibilities of a registry. In 1997 the working group gathered to write a proposal that would be supported by all the professionals and organizations within the field of interpreting. The group held regional meetings with all the interpreters and had meetings with all the other related organizations, such as the Deaf association, Deafblind association, the Sign Language Institute, the interpreter training program, the referral centers, the University of Amsterdam, and the parents' association. In addition, the working group contacted and researched other professional national and international registries. In October of 1997 the NBTG working group presented at the NBTG Annual General Meeting the proposal for a registry of Sign Language interpreters. The proposal was accepted unanimously. Since the NBTG is a small association (there are only 80 interpreters in the Netherlands) and lacks the time and the experience within the association, it was decided to write a project proposal in order to receive funding. For the last 2.5 years the NBTG has been negotiating with government organizations. This was not an easy task and ended in negative results. We finally decided to go higher up and send the request for funding directly to the ministries of health and social affairs. The NBTG received the good news in May that the ministries are willing to fund the establishing of the Registry of Sign Language interpreters. With the funding the NBTG has contracted two project coordinators who will coordinate the establishment of the Registry. This is a big step in the professionalism of Sign Language Interpreters in the Netherlands. It will encourage and monitor the enhancement of the quality of Sign Language Interpreters.

Support Fund (Steunfonds)
The Support Fund was officially established in January. Since then the three board members have been succesfull in establishing more funding for a variety of projects. The NBTG board and policy maker writes project proposals, which are then send in to the Support fund with a request for financial support. The first project that has been funded by the Support Fund is a new informational publication on Sign Language interpreting in the Netherlands.

EFSLI 2001
The EFSLI board has agreed that the NBTG will organize the EFSLI conference in 2001. The NBTG had a meeting with EFSLI in June concerning the organizing of the conference. Since then the NBTG has been actively making preparations and finding a good location where the conference can be held.

NBTG workshops
Report on the workshop Team Interpreting (in English)The NBTG organizes workshops twice a year following the general meeting, which is held in March and in October. This year the NBTG presented a workshop Interpreting between Cultures and a workshop on Sign Language vocabulary on computer terminology. In October there will be a workshop on Interpreting in mental health settings and Orientation of Signs in Dutch Sign Language. Additionally, NBTG hosted a workshop on Team Interpreting by Laurie Swabey (associate professor and director of the interpreting program in Minnesota, USA) on July 28th. The workshop was held at SWDA, the deaf club in Amsterdam, and right the day after the TISLR conference. Although the workshop was held on short notice, it was a great success. Students and interpreters from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany participated and all requested a follow up workshop. The NBTG has published a report of the workshop in English and can be ordered at the NBTG secretariat for 20 Euro. In March a survey was conducted among the (student)members as to which topics of interest they have for future workshops. After the workshops were held in March the NBTG handed out evaluation papers to the workshop participants. The outcome will be used to improve the information presented and to match the needs of the participants to the workshops. New book on Sign Language in Interpreting in the Netherlands (in Dutch)

New book
A new book on the profession of Sign Language interpreting in the Netherlands is being published. The NBTG had published a book in 1993 which was sold out. Decided was not to republish the old edition since it was out of date. The NBTG found a student at the school of journalism willing to be the author of the new book. Two other students at the school of industrial design made photographs and the layout of the book. The book will be officially presented on Deaf Awareness Day September 22nd '00.

Newsletter
The number of readers of the Interpres, the quarterly newsletter of the NBTG, is growing. All the members of the NBTG receive the newsletter. Every issue is dedicated to a different theme related to interpreting. Next to the newsletter the active members receive a monthly bulletin with the latest news of the association and the current events in the field. Maya de Wit who has been the editor of the Interpres for seven years, is now (September) handing over her task.

Web site NBTG
The web site of the NBTG is growing. You can find the web site at http://come.to/NBTG The web site has an average of 12 visitors a day. We have now more than 25 pages, including some in English, covering information on the NBTG and the profession.

NBTG goals 2001
One of the main goals for 2001 is establishing the Registry. The NBTG hopes that with the project coordinators and the funding the Registry will be established by the summer of 2001. The other major project will be the hosting of the EFSLI conference for September 2001. In addition the NBTG will continue working together and improve working relationships with other (governmental) organizations.

NBTG activities 1999

Office staff
At the annual general meeting in the spring of 1998, the members of the NBTG decided to terminate the contract with the sDG. The sDG, an organization that the NBTG had contracted for secretarial and policy work, did not meet the NBTG's expectations. The NBTG decided to find the required resources within their own organization, or in closely related organizations. As of September 1, 1998, the NBTG has contracted Astrid Beijnes (3 hours a week) as the new secretary and Maya de Wit (2 hours a week) as the policy maker. Soon it turned out that the office staff is working nearly 5 times more than they get paid for. A change in payment was made in April 1999. Astrid Beijnes now gets 5 hours paid and Maya de Wit 3 hours a week.

New president
In October 1998 the NBTG contacted the Registry of retired managers for non-profit organizations. Within our association we could not find a member who was willing to take on the function of president of the board. We decided on finding an independent president, who was willing and able to be the new president of the NBTG. We are very happy to say that Peter de Ruiter, one of the candidates, is now our new president. The NBTG finds it extremely helpful to have an experienced president. Peter de Ruiter, because he is retired, also has the time to attend meetings, openings, conferences, etc. Using the Registry was a good investment in trying to get the association back on its feet.

Board issues
Since the NBTG has a new staff working for the NBTG, the NBTG runs smoother than ever. The NBTG experiences, however, that the better they are organized the more we are contacted for information and other services. On the one hand, this is a very positive development since we are more involved in the field than before. On the other hand, this also means more work than ever before. The board's main focus is on becoming more actively involved and recognized in the field with related organizations and improving the status of the profession of Sign Language interpreters. We have visited all the organizations with our new president, presented our mutual objectives, and discussed where and how we could assist one another in attaining those goals. The NBTG sent in a request at the end of 1998 for a raise of the hourly fee paid by the government. The NBTG was happy to announce that the government honored the request and raised the hourly fee in order to reflect the annual cost of living increase. The continuing education program for the current interpreters at the Hogeschool van Utrecht has not met all the expectations of the interpreters involved. The NBTG board has had several meetings with the college to discuss these problems and the Hogeschool's approach to solving them. One group of 15 interpreters decided to continue their education at the Hogeschool. The second group, which was planned to start their second year in September 1999, decided not to continue due to, among others, financial concerns. Madido, the first interpreter service agency in the Netherlands, went unexpectedly bankrupt. This caused a great deal of concern and work for the interpreters as well as for the NBTG. Two thirds of all the interpreters used to work for Madido. Now, all of a sudden they were unemployed. Another large employment agency, Randstad, decided to continue the intepreter service. Some interpreters stayed with Randstad, others started working for TC VisiNet, the other interpreter service agency in the Netherlands. The NBTG spoke with all the parties involved and tried to inform their members as best as possible. The information that the NBTG had gathered was spread to the members in writing. This gave the interpreters the chance to see what the situation was, which options they had, and what the NBTG had done for them.

Public Relations & Membership
In 1997 the NBTG had raised the membership fee to DFL 500,-- (227,--) Euro) in order to be able to pay for the office staff. After two years, several members decided to cancel their membership, due to their personal financial situation. The NBTG realizes that DFL 500,-- (227,-- Euro) a year is a great amount to ask as a membership fee. One of the main focuses of the NBTG was, therefore, to work hard on keeping the current members, while trying to find new members as well. All through the year we have held several special offers to become a member of the NBTG. The NBTG not only has interpreters and students as a member, but also sponsors and supportive members. Sponsors and supportive members are people who are involved in the field of interpreting or of the Deaf, as well as family members or acquaintances of interpreters. The best offer we had so far was made in September. Every new member received an interpreted movie on video for free. This special offer along with a free copy of our quarterly newsletter was also handed to all the students at the interpreter-training program. In January 1999 we had 172 members. Now, 11 months later, we have 240 members.

Registry of Sign Language Interpreters
The NBTG is still working on setting up the Registry of Sign Language Interpreters. The project plan is still ready to be initiated, but up till now we had no success in finding the financial resources to fund the Registry. We have had lengthy negotiations with one of the governmental departments with a negative result. The NBTG has now, with formal endorsements of several organizations of the deaf and the interpreter referral centers, sent a letter to the respective Ministry with a request for funding.

Support Fund (Steunfonds)
In the past few years we have experienced that it is very difficult as a professional organization to receive funding from other organizations. For the members (interpreters) it is becoming more difficult to pay the annual membership fee of DFL 500,-- (227,27 Euro). At the last general meeting in September 1999 the members unanimously decided to lower the fee to DFL 380,-- (172,72 Euro) a year. Still it will be difficult for the NBTG to execute all the projects and plans, due to financial constraints. In order to solve these financial difficulties we are now in the process of setting up a special Support Fund. This is a small association that has the task to find funding for the NBTG and special NBTG projects. We are very fortunate to have found three excellent and experienced board members, who themselves are not interpreters, but are willing to take on the challenge to collect financial support for the NBTG. The NBTG is very hopeful that this association will be successful in their work.

The Union, CFO
The NBTG has had full support of their Union CFO all through the year. The main issues the CFO and the NBTG have been collaborating on are the employment of the interpreters that used to work for Madido, the continuation of the education program for the current interpreters at the Hogeschool van Utrecht and supporting the requests for funding of the Registry of Sign Language Interpreters.

EFSLI seminar on interpreter training
On behalf of the NBTG, Nicoline de Pater attended the EFSLI seminar in Barcelona. In comparison to the other participating countries, the Netherlands is on the right track in regard to their new interpreter training program and the continuing education program for interpreters. On the other hand their are still many questions and concerns that were raise at the seminar, that need a follow up. Nicoline de Pater stated upon return that she felt that it was most important that students at the interpreting training program are already taught how to evaluate their own interpreting skills. In addition students need to learn how to interact with other interpreters and how to set up a network among interpreters.

Video Remote Interpreting
A lot of attention by the media was also drawn to a new product: Video Remote Interpreting (Teletolken). A business in the Netherlands has developed a special device (that is hooked up to a TV) with which the interpreter, the deaf and the hearing person can communicate. The deaf and the hearing person are on one end of the (ISDN)line, the interpreter on the other end. The device has been presented as one of the solution to the lack of interpreters. The NBTG finds Video Remote Interpreting a good product that might need some adjustments, but does not see it as the solution to the shortage of qualified interpreters.

Newsletter
The number of readers of the Interpres, the quarterly newsletter of the NBTG, is growing. All the members of the NBTG receive the newsletter. Every issue is dedicated to a different theme related to interpreting. Next to the newsletter the active members receive a monthly bulletin with the latest news of the association and the current events in the field.

Web site NBTG
The web site of the NBTG is growing. You can find the web site at http://come.to/NBTG We have now more than 17 pages covering information on the NBTG and the profession. The page with links to related sites has now more than 100 links. Through the Internet we have now also established a mailing list. The NBTG uses this mailing list to inform members of upcoming events and of the latest developments. To become registered on the list you have to be a member of the NBTG.

NBTG goals 2000
One of the main goals of the association is to establish good working relationships with the related organizations and to become a strong association that is respected and consulted whenever the interpreters' interests are at stake. The Recognition of Sign Language in the Netherlands is also high on the list of the NBTG. And setting up a Registry remains one of our priorities. Especially now that we have the full support of other organizations, we hope we can achieve that goal soon.

The presentation below was given at the EFSLI annual general meeting on 20th of November 1998 in Stockholm. The NBTG is a member of EFSLI.

NBTG activities 1998

New structure of the NBTG
The NBTG holds its general assembly twice a year. In March 1998 the president, Nicoline de Pater, withdrew from her post. The members then voted for a new structure for the association and decided to try to appoint 2 members as paid staff. This guarantees continuation for all the work that needs to be done. After a period of intense preparations for this new structure and several rounds of applications the board has appointed two members of the NBTG in September 1998. It concerns one secretary, Astrid Beijnes, and one staff member, Maya de Wit, for the general policy.

From November 1998 onwards, an independent president, Peter de Ruiter, will co-ordinate the different activities of the board. The NBTG chose for an independent president since we wanted a person with management and board experience, who would be able to help the association to become stronger.

The NBTG currently has 182 members, of which 67 are interpreters, 14 sponsors, and 86 supportive members. We are happy to announce that the new college training for interpreters has started and 15 students are members of the association.

In October 1998 the Association had its tenth anniversary which has been briefly commemorated. The Association will widely celebrate her twelve and a half years anniversary in May 2001.

Web site NBTG
The Web site of the NBTG has been renewed with additional information on the working groups of the association and with links to different organisations. The address of the web site is: http://home.wxs.nl/~euroterp/nbtg.htm

Code of Ethics
A special working group has revised the new code of Ethics. It is also published on the web site of the NBTG, being: http://home.wxs.nl/~euroterp/nbtg/codeofethics.html

Interpreter training
In the new training program for Sign Language interpreters and teachers of Sign Language, 98 students enrolled (preceded by a pilot group of 16 students). This takes place in Utrecht at the School for Higher Education. The students will graduate in the year 2001. For the current interpreters there is a special training (one day a week) to ensure the same level as the new students. This training started in February 1998 and is also given by the School of Higher Education in Utrecht. Upon the request of its members, the NBTG has inquired their members about the quality of this training. The response showed that the curriculum does not always correspond to the needs and the level of the current interpreters. Interpreters are seeking better correspondence with their daily practice in the different interpreting situations. The interpreters requested the board to look into this matter.

NBTG objectives 1999
The NBTG has inquired its members about priorities for 1999. The outcome of this inquiry is as follows:

• Training for Sign Language interpreters
• Registry of Sign Language interpreters
• Working conditions
• Shortage of Sign Language interpreters
• Public Relations
• International affairs

New brochure of Sign Language interpreters
The old brochure of the NBTG has been revised. The brochure informs the reader of what a Sign Language interpreter does. The new brochure now contains additional information on the profession Sign Language interpreters: the ways of interpreting, the application procedure and information of the NBTG.

Contracts
Interpreters wanting a contract have had a possibility to apply at Madido, one of the interpreter referral centers, to work there as a full-time interpreter. The other interpreter referral center, TC Visinet, is making plans for contracts as well.

Higher salary
The government has upgraded the fee of the interpreter. The additional money goes to the referral centers. The referral centers have to use this money as a compensation to pay the interpreters for inconvenient hours and travelling time.

General Events 1998
A special commission has been set up to prepare the work for recognition of Sign Language in The Netherlands and for bilingual education in the deaf schools. On July 26 1998 the commission, the deaf schools, the organisation for parents of deaf children, the national deaf consumers' organisation and the government have signed the first draft. In the coming three years this draft will be elaborated in close co-operation with those involved in working with and for deaf people.

Two Dutch movies have been reproduced on video with a translation by Dutch Sign Language interpreters.

From August 1 until August 1998, the Gay Games were held in Amsterdam. Deaf Access enabled accessibility to all deaf participants for all shows and workshops with Sign Language interpreters into four different languages

NBTG activities 1997

The presentation below was given at the EFSLI annual general meeting on 28th of November 1997 in Dublin.

Paid staff member
In the biannual meeting in October 1996, the NBTG membership voted for employing a staff member for the NBTG. The staff member will take on part of the enormous workload that so far was been done by the NBTG board members voluntarily. This meant that the membership fees were raised from DFL 125,-- to DFL 500,-- a year, starting January 1 1997. The staff member is employed for 5 hours a week (including 1 hour secretarial assistance) by the NBTG.
In addition the NBTG now has one central secretariat where all the mail is received: NBTG secretariat, Boul. Paulus Loot 63, 2042 AE, the Netherlands. Phone: +31 23 573 3788, fax +31 23 573 3787, e-mail nbtg@worldonline.nl.

Membership
Due to the raise in membership fees we lost some members; other members changed their membership status. We currently have 169 members, of which 75 are interpreters (DFL 500,--), 8 sponsors (DFL 90,--) en 86 supportive members (DFL 30,--). There are no student interpreters member since the new interpreter training just started.

Name change
The association changed their name in March 1997. The former name was Nederlandse Vereniging van Tolken voor Doven (NVTD), which means Dutch Association of Interpreters of the Deaf. The association changed their name in regard to the possible recognition of Sign Language in the Netherlands, the international trend in Sign Language interpreting and also to positively promote sign language interpreting as a profession,. The new name is Nederlandse Beroepsvereniging Tolken Gebarentaal (NBTG), which means Dutch Professional Association of Sign Language interpreters.

Public Relations
A new NBTG logo was developed to reflect the name change and an announcement was sent out to organizations and relations.

Board issues
The NBTG board is currently engaged in a series of meetings with several associations and organizations, i.e. the deaf association and the government. Through these meetings the board hopes to improve cooperation and focus on tasks that can be shared. For example, with regard to the recognition of Sign Language. The government has just made a new decision on pay rates for Sign Language interpreters. These pay rates only concern the hours of interpreting Deaf people receive from the government (each Deaf person in the Netherlands is entitled to 18 hours of interpreting a year). The new pay rates are related to the interpreting referral services in the Netherlands. Interpreters who work for an interpreter referral service are paid DFL 93,-- or DFL 117,50 an hour. Depending on the referral service they work for. Interpreters who have their own business are paid DFL 101,-- by the government.

In addition the NBTG board is involved in talks with the government over special payment for interpreters working outside office hours and for the time spent waiting in between assignments. The board is also looking into the possibility of joining the Nederlands Genootschap van Vertalers (NGV), which is the Dutch association of translators and interpreters. Becoming a part of the NGV would mean that we would be associated with other translators and interpreters, and therefor the profession of Sign Language interpreters would get more status and recognition. In addition we would have more administrative and financial resources, since the NGV is a large organization. This will be further looked into in 1998.

Registry of Sign Language interpreters
The main goal of the NBTG for 1997 was developing an independent registry for Sign Language interpreters in the Netherlands. A working group within the NBTG, consisting of four interpreters and the staff member developed the plans for a new registry. The new registry was presented at the NBTG biannual meeting on 4 October 1997.

The plans for the registry are based on extensive national and international research done by the working group. The working group has researched materials related to registries and had talks with all the interpreters and related organizations. The plans for the new registry were unanimously approved at the biannual meeting. The working group has now written a project plan to actually set up the registry. The goal of the project plan is find funding to cover the costs of setting up a registry. The plan is currently looked at by several (government) organizations. The goal is to start the plan 1 December 1997 and to implement the registry on 1 July 1998.

Newsletter
The Interpres is the quarterly newsletter of the NBTG. Excluding interpreters and sponsors, the Interpres has gone from 41 readers to a total of 86 readers. The new readers are mainly related organizations and people interested in becoming a Sign Language interpreter. The total amount of Interpres readers is now 169, including interpreters and sponsors. The Interpres now also has an ISSN number, which means it is internationally registered.

Website NBTG
A website has been developed for the NBTG which will be launched on the Internet in December 1997. On the website information can be found about the interpreting profession and the activities of the NBTG.

RID conference
The NBTG partly sponsored an interpreter to attend the Registry of Interpreters of the Deaf (RID) convention in California, the United States. The attendee wrote a report for the NBTG on all the information gathered at the convention.

NBTG Goals 1998
Implementing the registry of Sign Language interpreters and finalizing the code of ethics.

Events 1997

New interpreter referral service
On 1 February 1997 a new interpreter referral service, TC Visinet, was set up. Until that time there was only one referral service in the Netherlands. So currently there are two referral services operating. TC Visinet is an interpreter-owned referral service that works mainly in the Northern provinces of the Netherlands. TC Visinet handles one third of all the interpreter referrals in the Netherlands.

Recognition of Sign Language
A special committee on the recognition of Sign Language was installed in March 1996. On 10 June 1997, the committee presented the report on the recognition of Sign Language in the Netherlands. The main conclusions of the committee were:

• Anyone who wants to is entitled to use Dutch Sign Language (NGT)
• There is a great need for interpreters
• The education of the Deaf has to become bilingual
• A method must be developed in which Dutch Sign Language (NGT) can be notated, standardized, and developed
• There is a need for more closed captioning on TV and a weekly series on Dutch Sign Language and Deaf culture.

New interpreter training
In September 1997 the pilot year for the new interpreting training started. The four year interpreter training program is combined with the training for the Sign Language teacher. The students are only trained in interpreting and not in transliterating. Many people, over 2000, have expressed their interest in participating in the program. In September 1998 the official training will start. This means that there will be no new interpreters till 2001, when the students from the pilot training will graduate. The new interpreter program will also offer further training and post graduate courses to the current interpreters.