Bogdan Stupka

The Vocation of a Public Interpreter

The article represents a brief outlook of a contemporary interpreter's duties during public events. The reader will have an insight into key features of translation trade: professionalism, skills, talent.

There are probably fewer than 10 000 conference interpreters worldwide, about 2500 of whom are members of AIIC. Most of them are freelancers and work for intergovernmental organizations such as UN agencies, the European Commission or OECD, for regional organizations, for non-governmental organizations, for government agencies, industrial corporations and the media. There are also staff interpreters who work as employees of intergovernmental organizations and some government agencies, but few are employees in the private sector (with exceptions such as broadcast interpreters in Japan). Most of their work is done in the simultaneous mode, but the consecutive mode is still used actively.

         Most conference interpreters have two or three working languages, including their A language (native or native-like), B languages (which they master well enough to interpret into them from their A language), or C languages (passive languages, from which they interpret into their A language). Over the past decade or so, the extension of Europe has induced more and more interpreters working for the European Union to add further European languages to their language combination, but in many other parts of the world, a two-language combination, generally English and the relevant country’s language, is still the most frequent.

         Interpreting assignments are billed by the day, and generally last one to five days, except for some general conferences and similar events in intergovernmental organizations, which may last several weeks. In countries where the market is active, interpreters work on average between 100 and 150 days a year, which is enough to make a decent living (and to leave interpreters exhausted). Conference interpreting can be and is a full professional occupation for many. In countries where the market is slack, many of them are part-time interpreters and also work as translators, journalists or academics.

         Although in the early days most of the speeches interpreters had to translate may have been fairly general, nowadays many are highly technical, one extreme being the (very common) written technical or scientific paper read at full speed by its author at a technical meeting with the interpreter having to interpret it simultaneously on the spot, often without even having a copy of the paper before him/her. Even less extreme cases can be very taxing, and in the simultaneous interpreting booth, interpreters generally take turns and do not interpret for more than 30 minutes at a time, meaning that they work in teams, with a minimum of two interpreters per booth.

Although the first generation of interpreters was almost exclusively masculine, the vast majority of conference interpreters nowadays are women. It has been claimed that it is easier for them to accept a career as interpreters, whereas male interpreters are frustrated by the lack of social recognition. As a result, one should note - interpreter's job is not a joy but tough vocation!

Article Tags: Conference Interpreters

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