| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4] > | URGENT: been asked to interpret, zero experience Thread poster: blahdibla (X)
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| Everybody will be rooting for you | Feb 4, 2012 |
You got plenty of different opinions here. One thing I didn't notice mentioned is the fact that everybody will be rooting for your success.
Compare that to a seasoned, high-priced, hired simultaneous interpreter. They would be be demanding top performance. You will just be a goodwilled friend who is there to help the communication they all want so much to happen. Some of... See more You got plenty of different opinions here. One thing I didn't notice mentioned is the fact that everybody will be rooting for your success.
Compare that to a seasoned, high-priced, hired simultaneous interpreter. They would be be demanding top performance. You will just be a goodwilled friend who is there to help the communication they all want so much to happen. Some of them may come to your rescue if they know occasional words you don't in the other language, even if they can't pronounce them properly. The foreign (?) visitor will be interested in getting their messages across, so s/he might restate/rephrase ideas that may be hard for you to grasp.
Keep in mind that their goal is to get communication across two different languages out of your goodwill, and not their money's worth from professional interpreting services. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Katza
Local time: 22:16
English to Romanian
+ ...
| You're welcome | Feb 4, 2012 |
blahdibla wrote:
Thank you that is brilliant advice. I'm now leaning 80% towards doing it...and will be sure to report back if I do. I have one final question: have you ever been in a situation where you interpret something, and one of the people present who knows both languages stops you and says ''actually, that's not right'', or some sort of similar situation? (I'm trying to imagine the absolute worst case scenario possible).
You're very welcome
The situation you mentioned happens more often than you think, actually, even with seasoned interpreters. Some participants are trying to show off and they don't care if they embarrass you. Sometimes they will stop you in the middle of the sentence to tell you that you're wrong. The important thing then is to keep your cool. If you know that you are right, smile politely and tell them that you haven't finished the sentence yet. If you're not sure whether you are right, just smile politely Whenever you don't understand something, ask for clarification - there's no shame in that, it just shows that you are trying to be as professional as possible. If you can't ask for clarification - and in whispering you rarely get the chance - just mention to your audience that you're not absolutely sure that you got it right.
I can't even remember how many times I've been "corrected" in the middle of a sentence by people who just paid attention to the words, not to the whole idea. Most of the times the audience came to my rescue before I even had the chance to defend myself
Worst-case scenario is not them correcting you - it's them blaming you for a misunderstanding, even though it wasn't your fault. Even that happens a lot more often than you think, but it's not the end of the world, though it may seem like that at the time
One last piece of advice - stop trying to imagine the worst, it's just a waste of energy Most of the time it's not going to be as bad as you imagined it. Just keep thinking you can do it, prepare in advance by reading every piece of material they have, and whatever happens keep your cool. To paraphrase a well-known saying, be prepared for the worst, but expect the best.
Fingers crossed
| | | | | You deserve this opportunity | Feb 4, 2012 |
Do it.
You deserve this opportunity that those who know you offer to you and believe you can do. Nothing but good can come out of it.
Just do your best. That is all that is expected from you.
Just trust yourself, then you will know how to live.
Goethe, Fausto
Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, start doing it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Start doing it now.
Goethe, Fausto<... See more Do it.
You deserve this opportunity that those who know you offer to you and believe you can do. Nothing but good can come out of it.
Just do your best. That is all that is expected from you.
Just trust yourself, then you will know how to live.
Goethe, Fausto
Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, start doing it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Start doing it now.
Goethe, Fausto
[Edited at 2012-02-04 17:41 GMT]
[Edited at 2012-02-04 19:32 GMT]
[Edited at 2012-02-04 20:52 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | The big shots might rescue you from a fix | Feb 4, 2012 |
Katza wrote:
blahdibla wrote:
Thank you that is brilliant advice. I'm now leaning 80% towards doing it...and will be sure to report back if I do. I have one final question: have you ever been in a situation where you interpret something, and one of the people present who knows both languages stops you and says ''actually, that's not right'', or some sort of similar situation? (I'm trying to imagine the absolute worst case scenario possible).
You're very welcome
The situation you mentioned happens more often than you think, actually, even with seasoned interpreters. Some participants are trying to show off and they don't care if they embarrass you. Sometimes they will stop you in the middle of the sentence to tell you that you're wrong. The important thing then is to keep your cool.
Once I was in court, as a sworn interpreter. After the foreign witness finished his testimony, which I interpreted, the plaintiff's lawyer made a motion to add to the record several things that the witness had allegedly said, but the interpreter failed to translate. And she made a long rant about it. While I was getting ready for a long quibble in both languages (that lawyer obviously didn't understand English at all), the judge interrupted her, and said, "Motion denied. Incidentally, I speak English fluently, and this witness said nothing of the sort. This interpreter has been doing a fine job of translating everything the witness has stated so far".
So you can count on some support from the more senior people there, those who really don't need to assert their position by trying to outperform you in your endeavor.
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blahdibla (X)
TOPIC STARTER | To you and José Henrique | Feb 4, 2012 |
Katza wrote:
blahdibla wrote:
Thank you that is brilliant advice. I'm now leaning 80% towards doing it...and will be sure to report back if I do. I have one final question: have you ever been in a situation where you interpret something, and one of the people present who knows both languages stops you and says ''actually, that's not right'', or some sort of similar situation? (I'm trying to imagine the absolute worst case scenario possible).
You're very welcome
The situation you mentioned happens more often than you think, actually, even with seasoned interpreters. Some participants are trying to show off and they don't care if they embarrass you. Sometimes they will stop you in the middle of the sentence to tell you that you're wrong. The important thing then is to keep your cool. If you know that you are right, smile politely and tell them that you haven't finished the sentence yet. If you're not sure whether you are right, just smile politely Whenever you don't understand something, ask for clarification - there's no shame in that, it just shows that you are trying to be as professional as possible. If you can't ask for clarification - and in whispering you rarely get the chance - just mention to your audience that you're not absolutely sure that you got it right.
I can't even remember how many times I've been "corrected" in the middle of a sentence by people who just paid attention to the words, not to the whole idea. Most of the times the audience came to my rescue before I even had the chance to defend myself
Worst-case scenario is not them correcting you - it's them blaming you for a misunderstanding, even though it wasn't your fault. Even that happens a lot more often than you think, but it's not the end of the world, though it may seem like that at the time
One last piece of advice - stop trying to imagine the worst, it's just a waste of energy Most of the time it's not going to be as bad as you imagined it. Just keep thinking you can do it, prepare in advance by reading every piece of material they have, and whatever happens keep your cool. To paraphrase a well-known saying, be prepared for the worst, but expect the best.
Fingers crossed
Thanks for sharing your experiences! I'm interpreting from my B language into my A language (which is English), so I'm 100% sure there are going to be a few anglophones (or at least, 'Globish' speakers, hehe) there who might be fairly quick to correct me. God, I wish my languages were Greek and Russian, for example. English is spoken by so many people, it must open you up to so much more criticism, whereas if you were working with Russian, for example, you perhaps could afford tripping up a little, because there are less people present ''in the know''. Out of interest, would you agree with that?
Also, I just randomly decided to try myself out, and tried ''interpreting'' from some radio panel discussions, in both my B and A languages. I found that I was equally appalling in both BUT - I found that listening in English (my native tongue) and interpreting into my B proved easier than the reverse...which I find baffling, as I expected the opposite. Is that normal? Is it perhaps easier to ''keep up''listening to your native language, because if you get distracted interpreting what was said before you can tune back in more easily? I find listening to the B and talking in the A more energy-draining, perhaps because I need to concentrate more to follow the B?
| | | | Katza
Local time: 22:16
English to Romanian
+ ...
| Isn't it great when other people come to your defense? | Feb 4, 2012 |
José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote:
Once I was in court, as a sworn interpreter. After the foreign witness finished his testimony, which I interpreted, the plaintiff's lawyer made a motion to add to the record several things that the witness had allegedly said, but the interpreter failed to translate. And she made a long rant about it. While I was getting ready for a long quibble in both languages (that lawyer obviously didn't understand English at all), the judge interrupted her, and said, "Motion denied. Incidentally, I speak English fluently, and this witness said nothing of the sort. This interpreter has been doing a fine job of translating everything the witness has stated so far".
So you can count on some support from the more senior people there, those who really don't need to assert their position by trying to outperform you in your endeavor.
I know what you mean, it happened to me countless times and I always feel so vindicated I love it when someone from the audience says "No, you fool, she said exactly what you meant" (not in those exact words, of course). It takes all my strength not to grin and gloat - but of course I don't, because that would be "unprofessional". I'm just doing the happy dance on the inside
| | | | Katza
Local time: 22:16
English to Romanian
+ ...
| Food for thought... | Feb 4, 2012 |
blahdibla wrote:
Thanks for sharing your experiences! I'm interpreting from my B language into my A language (which is English), so I'm 100% sure there are going to be a few anglophones (or at least, 'Globish' speakers, hehe) there who might be fairly quick to correct me. God, I wish my languages were Greek and Russian, for example. English is spoken by so many people, it must open you up to so much more criticism, whereas if you were working with Russian, for example, you perhaps could afford tripping up a little, because there are less people present ''in the know''. Out of interest, would you agree with that?
Also, I just randomly decided to try myself out, and tried ''interpreting'' from some radio panel discussions, in both my B and A languages. I found that I was equally appalling in both BUT - I found that listening in English (my native tongue) and interpreting into my B proved easier than the reverse...which I find baffling, as I expected the opposite. Is that normal? Is it perhaps easier to ''keep up''listening to your native language, because if you get distracted interpreting what was said before you can tune back in more easily? I find listening to the B and talking in the A more energy-draining, perhaps because I need to concentrate more to follow the B?
On point 1, I don't know, since I have English and French as B, and in my country there are plenty of people who speak them both - not necessarily very well, but well enough to "correct" me, if they are so inclined. It used to bother me, but not anymore. I found that people who want to "correct" you so they can impress the rest of the audience will always find a reason to correct you, because they're gunning for it. Even if they only speak basic English, they will still correct your interpretation, because they "know better", so why waste the energy?
On point 2, I have to put my professional hat on and say that normally the AIIC and the European Institutions only accept interpreting into your mother tongue - the exception being "rare" languages, such as my own, where they will accept a "retour". I must say your experience is baffling for me too, as most people find it easier to interpret into their mother tongue, not the other way around. While it is indeed easier to keep up with what's being said in your native tongue, it's not as easy to render it into your B language, unless that B language is "near-native". In which case, you shouldn't have trouble following it. Sort of a Catch-22. I really don't know - you got me here It's certainly worth exploring more.
Keep practicing with panel discussions, talk-shows and the like and don't think of your performance as "appalling" - better think of it as "needs improving" or something equally positive. It's good to be critical of your performance, but it doesn't help to go overboard with the criticism - just try and evaluate as objectively as you can if you managed to get the point across. If you did, you did a good job. If you didn't, try and do better next time. It could help if you recorded your performance (that's how they do it at Uni), so you can see where you're going wrong and what you need to change.
Anyway, it looks like you're taking a real interest in interpretation - you should consider training for it, you might find you like it
Good luck!
[Edited at 2012-02-04 21:34 GMT]
| | | | Parrot 
Spain
Local time: 21:16
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Catch 22 indeed | Feb 4, 2012 |
Katza wrote:
I must say your experience is baffling for me too, as most people find it easier to interpret into their mother tongue, not the other way around. While it is indeed easier to keep up with what's being said in your native tongue, it's not as easy to render it into your B language, unless that B language is "near-native".
It can "feel" easy. But afterwards, compare your performance with that of a habitual native interpreter, or get some critical comments from one (the "I would've said" type). You'll find yours may be satisfactory, but native self-correction functions another way (which may be what exhausts you).
"Near-native" can be a REAL catch-22. You have to be very aware of keeping both languages separated, and cognates won't help.
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EllaZhe (X)
Poland
Local time: 21:16
Italian to Russian
+ ...
Oh, come on!
If it is just experience that you need, then it is a great opportunity to grab. If they know you are not professional, everything else should be their problem.
I once was asked to interpret for a group of 10 people at a psycho-therapist conference. It was a 'psychological group' and I'd had no idea how it worked. I made it clear teaching a language was different from interpreting it and inquired about professional vocabulary. They promised no professional vocabula... See more Oh, come on!
If it is just experience that you need, then it is a great opportunity to grab. If they know you are not professional, everything else should be their problem.
I once was asked to interpret for a group of 10 people at a psycho-therapist conference. It was a 'psychological group' and I'd had no idea how it worked. I made it clear teaching a language was different from interpreting it and inquired about professional vocabulary. They promised no professional vocabulary, only consecutive translation and said they thought I would be fine. It was a complete disaster because people were all speaking at the same time, yelling at and insulting each other, someone was crying, and there was plenty of vocabulary in the end. I lasted for 1.5 days instead of 3, but it was such a great experience that my fear level of interpreting reduced for the rest of my life. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | ...a total disaster | Feb 5, 2012 |
EllaZhe wrote:
... It was a complete disaster because people were all speaking at the same time, yelling at and insulting each other, someone was crying, and there was plenty of vocabulary in the end.
Thanks so much for the laugh, EllaZhe!
It is Saturday, I have been working all day, and I needed something like this!
Absolutely hilarious!
| | | | Ania Heasley
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:16
English to Polish
+ ...
| No brainer, do it! | Feb 5, 2012 |
Of course you must do it!
There is nothing not to like.
A great opportunity to practise in the real world, the fact that you are volunteering should make it easier for you, no additional pressure because you are aware that you are paid to do the job. The people who offered it to you KNOW that you are inexperienced, so nobody expects a top of the profession experience.
If you do not do it, you will regret it for a long time.
Never miss an opportu... See more Of course you must do it!
There is nothing not to like.
A great opportunity to practise in the real world, the fact that you are volunteering should make it easier for you, no additional pressure because you are aware that you are paid to do the job. The people who offered it to you KNOW that you are inexperienced, so nobody expects a top of the profession experience.
If you do not do it, you will regret it for a long time.
Never miss an opportunity like this. If you are at all tempted that means you have a good feeling about it and you are only a little scared because it is all new to you.
In your profession as a translator and interpreter you will face similar challanges often, that is half the fun of the job. Go for it and good luck! ▲ Collapse
| | | | JaneD
Sweden
Local time: 21:16
Member (2009)
Swedish to English
+ ...
| There's your answer | Feb 5, 2012 |
EllaZhe wrote:
Oh, come on!
If it is just experience that you need, then it is a great opportunity to grab. If they know you are not professional, everything else should be their problem.
I once was asked to interpret for a group of 10 people at a psycho-therapist conference. It was a 'psychological group' and I'd had no idea how it worked. I made it clear teaching a language was different from interpreting it and inquired about professional vocabulary. They promised no professional vocabulary, only consecutive translation and said they thought I would be fine. It was a complete disaster because people were all speaking at the same time, yelling at and insulting each other, someone was crying, and there was plenty of vocabulary in the end. I lasted for 1.5 days instead of 3, but it was such a great experience that my fear level of interpreting reduced for the rest of my life.
If, like Ella, you are the kind of person who would go through such an experience and find it exhilarating, then you should definitely do it. I'd have been reduced to jelly, I think!
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| Think about it... | Feb 5, 2012 |
There are some things you must take into account before saying "YES". First of all, you should consider if you have time study, that is to say, to know the names and at least a brief biography of the people concerned, what is the main subject matter to discuss, etc.
Then, you should ask if its going to be simultaneous or consecutive; that is highly important!!!
You must read a lot about the job itself. I´m an interpreter and I can tell you this is not an easy job and you must be ve... See more There are some things you must take into account before saying "YES". First of all, you should consider if you have time study, that is to say, to know the names and at least a brief biography of the people concerned, what is the main subject matter to discuss, etc.
Then, you should ask if its going to be simultaneous or consecutive; that is highly important!!!
You must read a lot about the job itself. I´m an interpreter and I can tell you this is not an easy job and you must be very responsible. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | You are doing them a favour | Feb 5, 2012 |
From what you said, their "professional" has let them down. They are asking you to step in and fill the breach. The least the chairperson (or whatever) can do is to tell the 15 people present all that. In fairness to you. The presentation should be something along the lines of : as you know we are an association and we rely on volunteers when we need translations/interpreting. XXX, who should have been here today cannot be present and YYY (you) has kindly agreed to step in. He/she is not an expe... See more From what you said, their "professional" has let them down. They are asking you to step in and fill the breach. The least the chairperson (or whatever) can do is to tell the 15 people present all that. In fairness to you. The presentation should be something along the lines of : as you know we are an association and we rely on volunteers when we need translations/interpreting. XXX, who should have been here today cannot be present and YYY (you) has kindly agreed to step in. He/she is not an experienced interpreter so I would ask you to try not all to speak at once.... If the chairperson does not do this (though I would specifically ask him/her to), then talk to your sole client and explain your position. 99 times out of 100 you should get maximum cooperation and comprehension this way.
As to the actual task of "chuchotage" (whispering) (sort of like simultaneous but without the silence and isolation of booth + headphones), it is best to start by translating as much as you can but, as soon as you understand what is going on, only translate the ideas. You can even take short cuts since people, on balance, tend to repeat themselves.
Pen and pad are vital to note figures and names, etc. Write them where your lone client can see them - he/she will appreciate that in my experience.
Try to seem confident. Smile and be pleasant. The "social" aspect should help you feel more at home. And, most of all, if you miss something vital or just don't understand, stop the meeting and ASK. Nobody will kill you. You can always say: sorry, you were all talking at the same time and I didn't catch what x or y said. So would he or she mind repeating. Or if you get on well with your client, you can get him or her to ask a question to clear matters up. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:16
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| In at the deep end | Feb 5, 2012 |
Go for it!
THere's no easy way to begin as an interpreter. You have to rise to the occasion. This meeting is probably very typical of the kind of meeting where you'll be asked to interpret.
If you do a good job here, you'll have made a brilliant start on your career as an interpreter (which is one of the best-paid and interesting jobs in the world).
I only have three recommendations:
1. Be absolutely accurate and comprehensive in what you inte... See more Go for it!
THere's no easy way to begin as an interpreter. You have to rise to the occasion. This meeting is probably very typical of the kind of meeting where you'll be asked to interpret.
If you do a good job here, you'll have made a brilliant start on your career as an interpreter (which is one of the best-paid and interesting jobs in the world).
I only have three recommendations:
1. Be absolutely accurate and comprehensive in what you interpret
2. Have a large bottle of water and a glass in front of you (you'll need them!)
3. Make sure you know the terminology that's likely to be used
Plus
If you are interpreting to/from both languages, you'll be talking continuously. Ask everyone not to smoke !
This is your chance. Don't screw up.
Good luck.
Oh- and if they like you, next time charge them the full hourly rate for a professional interpreter (which you now are) + expenses.
[Edited at 2012-02-05 15:58 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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