INTERPRETING: THE INSIDE STORY

Talking for a living

Interpreters translate oral messages between people who do not speak each other’s languages. Our very vocation is to be the voice of someone else – conveying the sense and shape of their thoughts in another language.

Whereas translators work with written words, interpreters work with speech (or signs), and on the spot. Not for us the luxury of musing over options, choosing just the right word over a coffee, mulling myriad ways of expression. We have to act in the moment, thinking at lightning speed, straddling two (or more) languages like an expert rider.

Whether in a booth at the back of a room, or maintaining a continuous flow as two people (or more) from different languages come together face to face, we disappear into the background. Our aim is not to be centre stage, but to let the speakers’ words themselves – expressed through us in another language – do their job of explaining, educating, entertaining, arguing, defending or enlightening.

Being good at languages isn’t even the hardest part – more than that, we need to be adept at listening, understanding, analysing and conveying what’s been said. We need to be able to pick up on non-verbal cues as much as spoken words. That’s where the real skill lies. And it goes without saying that the message we deliver has to be not only linguistically but also culturally appropriate.

That’s why it’s called “interpreting” rather than “translating” even though, in the public mind, the two are sometimes confused. But that will one day be a thing of the past, if this document does its work!

Getting down to work

So, let’s look at what we actually do when we arrive at our workplaces – which may be very varied, as you’ll see later on!

We might interpret as the speakers are actually talking (simultaneous). This may be aloud, if we’re in the booth, or whispering– if we’re right behind our client. Both require intense concentration, but the latter means you have to tune out background noise and lean in towards the person – all in all quite a strenuous activity. Besides which you’re constantly anticipating where the speaker is going with their own thoughts, adjusting your delivery, and improvising, without notes, almost without thinking, on autopilot.

Alternatively, each interlocutor will pause to let us interpret after they have spoken (consecutive). This often requires both the skill of rapid note-taking, and a feat of memory – we might be interpreting the equivalent of a written paragraph. Not to mention the fact that all eyes are now on us! But on the positive side, we have a little extra time to organise our thoughts and find effective solutions.

Meanwhile, sign language interpreters communicate just as expressively with their face and hands – think of it as soundless or visual speech. But it has all the same characteristics of conveying a message in all its nuances, to listeners who cannot make sense of the original – either because they can’t hear or don’t speak the language being used.

We’re not the message, we’re the medium.

The end goal

For both spoken and sign language interpreters, the aim is to create an experience that’s both effective and seamless, which requires plenty of groundwork beforehand. Studying documents (when we’re lucky enough to receive them in time), building glossaries (vocabulary lists related to a given field), and making sure we’re as perfectly prepared as possible.

The irony is, the more naturally we do it, the easier it looks to those around. Or, to put it another way, the easier it looks, the better the interpreter. But in reality, it’s easy only in the sense that painting a beautiful picture is easy for an accomplished artist.

Our objective is to provide both speakers with the comfort of a conversation that could be taking place in their preferred language.

Naturally, that doesn’t eliminate all possibility of the odd mistake, as this is taking place in real time. But unlike an actor, if you fluff a line, you can always repair it later in a myriad ways.

Speakers may also make mistakes of course. If someone says the capital of France is Berlin, then we reflect what they’ve said – our job is to interpret, not to edit.

Whatever happens, the show must go on.

Willing to work anywhere!

Whereas most translators work at their desks, either at home or in co-working spaces, with the occasional adventurous jaunt to a café, interpreters really can and do work anywhere. Beyond the conference halls and congress centres with their rows of booths, we have been known to work in hospitals, swimming pools, tyre factories, coal mines, weddings, food shows, book launches, prisons, and yoga retreats. You get the picture?

Basically, it’s wherever two people from different language backgrounds can come face to face (or voice-to-voice). Which means just about anywhere on the planet and in just about any context. And since the start of the 2020 pandemic and the exponential growth of remote interpreting, those varying locations have only multiplied, even if they are often now virtual.

Not surprisingly, it’s interpreting’s best-kept secret that some locations are – shall we say – slightly preferable to others. Such as interpreting for a pizza chef, or a cocktail masterclass, or the tasting of seven excellent Italian wines at a wine show. At times like this, we simply have to take part, in order to fully convey the speakers’ intentions.

All in the interests of professionalism of course…

Time is relative

So, what sort of hours do we work?

It all depends. We could be working full time in a hospital or a courtroom with few breaks in between encounters. Or interpreting a mere 5-minute phone call over the course of an hour. Or we might be the only interpreter during a police operation and could end up working 13 hours with just the shortest of breaks.

We have no standard shift times but rather follow a loose set of recommendations and guidelines. Some protocols call for breaks every two hours, but we may be in difficult environments, such as conflict zones, oil drills or visits to job sites, where we just have to keep on going.

Interpreting is touch-and-go. We might be just sitting in a TV studio waiting for our language pair to be needed. Or go to a 3-hour assignment and have to stay for a full day. There are times when they hire us for two full days of meetings but only call us in a couple of hours each day. Meanwhile, in remote interpreting, we are virtually available day and night and the duration of each encounter is often totally unpredictable.

The opposite is often true in conference interpreting (simultaneous), where we work in pairs, in prescribed shifts of approximately 20 or 30 minutes. Why so short, you might wonder? Regardless of what profession we do, our ability as humans to focus diminishes after 20 minutes. And given that interpreting involves intense concentration, it makes sense to stick to limited timings.

But even in the more formalised setting of conference interpreting, there’s often room for negotiation for each new assignment depending on how many interpreters are available. And timetables often overrun.

If there’s one thing that’s certain about our profession, it is that nothing is ever that certain.

The brain and other gadgets

As with any job in the 21st century, technology is a huge help in terms of productivity and facilitating what we do.

But the technology we use depends on the kind of interpreting we’re doing. At its simplest, working with two speakers in a one to-one conversation, we may only need a pad to take notes (indecipherable squiggles which mean nothing to an onlooker but are vital in helping us keep track). We may also have a phone or a tablet for lightning-quick research – although not if we’re working in a court, where such gadgetry is frowned on.

If we’re interpreting between two people down the phone, at the very least we need a headset, a dedicated line, and a computer interface which allows us to interact with the speakers without interrupting the flow of the conversation.

At the high-tech end of the spectrum, when interpreting for a conference with thousands of delegates, a glass-fronted soundproof booth is essential. It’ll be equipped with consoles, receivers, microphones and headphones – enabling us to look out over the assembled gathering and deliver our interpretation to anyone wearing a headset.

And in recent years, we’ve seen the rise of remote interpreting – given a huge boost by the 2020 pandemic. This has enabled the speakers to work with interpreters who are not physically present, but able to interact via simultaneous or consecutive interpretation platforms, configured to let each attendee at the session to speak their preferred language and hear the contributions of others translated into it in real time. Here we need the Internet of course, communications devices, a webcam and encryption tools to maintain vital confidentiality.

But clearly, all these aids and gizmos pale into insignificance compared to the highest-tech gadget of all – the human brain, enabling people to communicate new thoughts in infinitely inventive ways, and to surmount language barriers with the aid of a skilled human mediator.

What makes us tick?

While no two interpreters are alike, we share a host of character traits and passions, regardless of where in the world we are.

It goes without saying that we’re all accomplished speakers of at least two – sometimes several – languages. Besides our love of the spoken word, we relish going on the hunt for fresh knowledge, as we prepare for each new job, putting everything in place so that it all goes well on the day.

Of course, you need a certain temperament: composed, adaptable, creative, problem solver, self-starter, confident. Some might say extrovert. Plus, a natural gift for multi-tasking.

Then, once the job is underway, an amazing state of flow sets in – the thrill of being “live” like a performance artist. Or an actor, embodying the tone, intention and even emotion of the speaker.

Becoming that person. Feeling the languages surge through you, almost bypassing your brain. Losing yourself in the message.

But what really fires us is our interest in people – understanding the message and the content behind the words and channelling that into our work. Helping others communicate, creating connections and seeing instant results unfold before our eyes.

Whether it’s for the president of our country, a patient at the hospital struggling to get her point across, two people about to strike a huge business deal or a group of refugees embarking on a new life, the reward of our job lies in building bridges, helping people do things they couldn’t previously do, and making a contribution to humanity in the process.

And, needless to say, using our gift of languages every single time we go to work. What’s not to like?

Written by

Andrew Morris | Claudia Brauer | Heather Adams | Elisenda Palau | Norhan Mahmoud | Andrea Hudecz | Simona Caldera | Aktan Aydogmus | Grisel Villafaña | Joshua Parker | Jonathan Downie | Sonia Hachicha | Kamal Idkaidek | Giorgi Chkeidze

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English (Original) 

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