Jack Riley

Creative activities have always been the animating force in my life. I've enjoyed multiple iterations, including writing (novels, poetry, short stories), music, and acting (repertory theater). I've often been complimented on my voice and ability to reproduce various regional and national accents. My voice and ability with accents (probably partly genetic, as it runs in my family) has been enabled by a musical ear and my exposure to different languages and accents. Growing up in Puerto Rico and Europe, as well as living in various areas of the U.S., I speak several languages (at least at a conversational level) and I have studied diverse dialects and idiosyncrasies of speech. I am also a nationally-certified medical interpreter (English-Spanish) and trainer of fledgling interpreters. As part of this training, I work on helping interpreters with strong foreign accents recognize and modify these so that they are not difficult to understand during medical encounters.