How Interpreters Learn Languages Fast
🤯 Interpreting is one of the most challenging language jobs in the world. But it's also one of the most rewarding and well-paid language professions.
How do these linguistic magicians listen and speak at the same time? How do they keep their cool when the stakes are so high, all while working directly with world leaders and business magnates? In this video, I take a deep dive into the world of simultaneous and consecutive interpretation, uncovering how these linguistic magicians work, and sharing some expert tips on how you too can become an interpreter.
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🎤 FEATURED INTERPRETERS:
Special thanks to the three professional interpreters who spoke with us:
① Barry Olsen
VP of Communications at Kudo 👉🏼 kudoway.com
Former Associate Professor at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey 👉🏼 www.middlebury.edu/institute
② Martin Djovčoš
Interpreting professor at Univerzita Mateja Bela in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia 👉🏼 www.umb.sk/mdjovcos/
③ Andrea Millington (Tokárová)
Professional interpreter & former student of Professor Djovčoš
👉🏼 www.yaku.sk
📺 WATCH NEXT:
How U.S. Diplomats Learn Languages Fast
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Get daily language tips, comics, reels, and more on Instagram (@iwillteachyoualanguage) 👉🏼 / iwillteachyoualanguage
📚 RESOURCES:
European Union Speech Repository (with Interpretation)
👉🏼 webgate.ec.europa.eu/sr/home
Middlebury Institute Master of Arts in Translation, Translation and Interpretation & Conference Interpretation
👉🏼 www.middlebury.edu/institute/...
⏱ TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - Intro
0:25 - What is Conference Interpreting?
2:10 - The Personality of an Interpreter
5:29 - The Skills of an Interpreter
8:45 - Preparation
20:02 - The Job
27:32 - Simultaneous vs Consecutive Interpreting
30:30 - Translating vs Interpreting
31:42 - What Kind of Training Do Interpreters Do?
38:36 - Technology
40:39 - Problems
44:28 - Best Days vs Embarrassing Days
48:01 - I want this Job… What Next?
📜 SOURCES & ATTRIBUTIONS:
Wikipedia contributors. "Language interpretation." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 3 July 2022. Web. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languag...
“UN General Assembly session.jpg” by Yuryi Abramochkin is licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
“Interpreters.jpg” by IAEA Imagebank is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
“Rousseff UN General Debate.jpg” by Roberto Stuckert Filho/PR is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
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“Interpretation booth at the 2018 G7 Environment Ministers Meeting in Halifax.jpg” by Indrid is licensed under Cold CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
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“Nastupeni povstalci.jpg” by Pavel Pelech via Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Master a language through the power of story 👉🏼 bit.ly/freestorylearningkit
They have scores of translators translating all the speeches for them and they get materials in advance to prepare. Nothing super human about interpreting. Preparation and practice and whole system of how it's done.
@@QuizmasterLaw it’s hard to win here 😅 Usually people accuse me of “only trying to sell my books”
You're not wrong in selling your awesome books. You give so much for free. All these videos are not easy, nor simple to delivery with all information you've done. Keep selling them, keep your job. I appreciate your availability to do All these things.
😢
Ready to Break Camp? For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. -2 Corinthians 5:1 When you’re getting ready to go somewhere, your destination determines your outlook. For instance, if you’re going on vacation to Hawaii, you can hardly wait to get there. But if you’re going to the dentist, you’re dreading it. The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “The time of my death is near” (2 Timothy 4:6) Or, as the New King James Version renders it, “The time of my departure is at hand.” Earlier Paul had written to the believers in Philippi, “For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live” (Philippians 1:21, 23-24) Paul knew where he was going. He knew that he was going to Heaven. Granted, Paul had a marked advantage: he had already died, gone to Heaven, and returned to Earth. He wrote about the experience in 2 Corinthians 12, where he said he was “caught up to the third heaven” (verse 2) and saw things that were indescribable. Many commentators believe this probably happened after Paul preached the gospel in Antioch. The Bible tells us, “They stoned Paul and dragged him out of town, thinking he was dead. But as the believers gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe” (Acts 14:19-20) We can imagine Paul in Heaven before His Lord, before the One who had called him on the road to Damascus, before the One who had pardoned him of every sin. But then Paul came back, and ever since, he was homesick for Heaven. This reminds us that Heaven is not a place of unconscious oblivion; it’s a place of conscious existence. Death held no terror for the apostle Paul. He understood that it meant going and being with Christ. It was a beginning, not an ending. It was a promotion. The word “departure” used by Paul in 2 Timothy 4:6 comes from an interesting Greek term that also could describe breaking camp. After a few days of camping, most people are ready to break camp, go home, and enjoy the luxuries of a hot shower and clean clothes. They’re happy to break camp. When death comes, the tent called the body is laid aside as the spirit moves into a more permanent residence. As Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5, “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body) we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands” (verse 1) Does that sound depressing to you? Getting ready to break camp is good news if you’ve put your faith in Jesus Christ. It means that you’re going to a far better place. It means that you’re going to Heaven
I am Thai-Japanese simultaneous interpreter, the hardest part for being an interpreter here is everyone think our job is very very easy and we're not deserve high salary for our skill, my brain got so much loads for interpreting all day some time I start to cry in the meeting because my brain is very tired...
น้องคะถ้าน้องมาเห็นข้อความพี่ พี่พึ่งเริ่มทำเครียดมากเลยค่ะ อยากคุยด้วยหากมีโอกาสนะคะ อยากถามถึงประสบการณ์ผ่านมายังไงให้ได้ เลิกหรือไปต่อดีน่ะค่ะ
And how the meetings are more taxing on interpreters compared to regular participants. XD I mean I have been speaking non-stop for the past how many hours 😆
I have the same experience of not being appreciated enough by student's as an English as a foreign language teacher. I literally had a student not understand why I get tired after a 3-hour class. She didn't take the class prep, the homework check into account, as well as didn't realize that two of my weekdays are literally 12+ hours long, and the 12 academic hours is just classwork. Another day is the same, but with a 5-hour break in the middle (most of which is taken by commuting and class prep, again) and two of my other days are 3 astronomical hours of classes + an hour or two of class prep + homework checl, paperwork and extracurricular activities and work. Mondays are when I officially have a 45-minute lunch break (about half of which is taken by organisational stuff) and a 50-minute break between my two jobs which is "eaten" by the commute and me trying to eat something before I faint. Tuesday is longer because my classes start and finish a bit earlier at my first workplace but I have a small break, and Wednesday gives me a larger break. I wish they paid me enough to live in one workplace, because now I'm barely holding together
@@atriyakoller136 I have done both Interpreting and teaching English. Still doing Interpreting part time. Yes they are both tiring somehow BUT they are not rocket science, ie the barrier to entry is very low. Indeed many Interpreters and teachers of ESOL are not even qualified or certified in those. Me included. So I do not expect as much respect as professions that require years of training and experience and higher IQ levels.
@@last_samurai6690 In my experience the barrier to entry wasn't low, although I initially aimed high. Interpreting basically requires both qualifications and a very large amount of social connections, and teaching requires fewer connections but still a lot of qualifications or at least experience. But I work at a centre where they either taught us on top of what we had, and I definitely don't agree that "it's not rocket science" because it's definitely not as easy as the saying implies. Being a non-qualified teacher who doesn't care about the students' results and uses one book to teach is one thing, being a teacher who prepares for every single class, has to use multiple books and makes sure each student manages to get better at the language is a whole another thing. It's not just tiring, it's exhausting, especially if you have a lot of students.
I knew a guy from Canada whose "native language" was English--but he was from Quebec, so he grew up with French, as well. On top of that, his grandfather was Russian, and from childhood he spoke Russian exclusively with his granddad. When he first started training to be an interpreter, he was supposed to go to Cuba for negotiations in some field (I forget which field now). So, he studied Spanish intensively--but the plans for negotiations fell through. And that's why he came here to Japan to immerse himself in Japanese. Eventually, he started working as an interpreter between Japanese and Russian businessmen. His biggest headache was that the Japanese always wanted to start off with small talk about the weather--and even cherry blossoms. This infuriated the Russians, whose basic attitude was that they hadn't come all the way to Japan to make chit-chat--but rather to buy Japanese tractors! He told me that this was the most exhausting job he'd ever had. Poor guy. I wonder what he's doing now! 😒
Lol thats the most canadian shiit ever
Must be tough to always be the conduit rather than the agent.
lol very japanese indeed, amazing story.
Oh those cultural differences .... they are basic expertises while studying a language otherwise nothing makes sense ....
Really? cherry blossoms? 🤣 That's hilarious though, a hundred difficult topics with difficult technical words, but cherry blossoms and weather got into his nerves 😂 Also, the fact that Japanese were the ones trying to make small talk
It's even harder when you interpret between languages that are totally different from one another. Imagine having to wait for the sentence to end so you finally get the main verb...
Haha I am just imagining that, interpreting definitely requires a huge amount of mental agility and speed.
Imagine having to remember the verb until the end of the sentence. (SVO -> SOV). Or waiting for the whole sentence to figure out what the topic was (subject/object -> topic/comment).
I think you're talking about Korean language:))) am i right?
@@LanJEH It's also the case in hindi for example.
@@petrakov6531 oh. thank you for sharing.
Since I started interpreting, the fear of being exposed as a fraud or getting into misunderstandings because of lack of comprehension, made me learn fast. Now, I'm learning other languages intuitively, and I understand better than when I studied languages before. It is the fact that you know you'll be out there, and most certainly will encounter some new words, expressions and you must not hesitate and aim at delivering the whole message. It is not that you want to learn, you have no other choice and, believe me, they'll notice when you make a mistake.
I’ve made many videos teaching Chinese language vividly and in a humorous way. I hope somebody can recommend my videos to those who want to learn Chinese.
I’m a medical interpreter English and Russian languages. And the most stressful part is people with strong accents and fast speakers who no zero pauses. Once I was translating a Nobel prize winner in Chemistry and it was all good until a filming crew member ran into the booth and started telling something to me, distracting me and shoving some note into my face. That was such a weird experience to get distracted by someone else during such a hard moment.
I don't know how you avoid snapping at somebody doing that
as a medical interpreter I know the struggle it can be extremely difficult and only few people understand and appreciate our work!
Hallo panda
Hi, I admire interpreters so much and thanks to this video i just learned you can do it in the medical field. I would like to know more about this subject, if its possible . Do you have any recomendations on where to find usseful l related information. Thank you.
What a tricky and frustrating experience!
I've been a court interpreter for 28 years, and I must say court interpreters also cover immense amount of subjects in court rooms and simultaneous interpreting is a daily part of our jobs, but we don't have the luxury of headsets and booths, the only booth we get to stay in is the accused's box sitting next to the accused. I love what I am doing and I really appreciate this video giving the public an idea about our profession.
Ill imagine you cover really intense subjects too! Bless!
Can we contact each other, i need your advice and recommendations, cuz im going to get hired as a russian english interpreter
I am an English Spanish Interpreter and, as Olly said, apart from being proficient in your working languages, the journey to become an interpreter involves building and strengthening a lot of essential skills that are usually not taken into consideration, even though they are really important. It is difficult but super worth it ♥ Wonderful video!!!!
Wow! This is a really cool profession! 🙌🏾
How did you learn spanish?
Thanks for your comment Rocio!
@@keniabernard Thank you very much 🤭!!! I am from Latinamerica so I am a native Spanish speaker and I had to learn English. I started in what we call a “language institute” or “instituto de idiomas” in Spanish, and then studied translation and interpreting at University 🥰
@@storylearning Thanks to you Olly! You always provide amazing content, I love your videos!
I speak 4 languages. Until now I found it difficult to switch from language A to B followed by C to D .... Interpreters are super human in my opinion because they just translate an exclusively phase native into a foreign language which others could understand.
I am a student of American Sign Language Interpreting! It's one of the most difficult journeys I've been on but it's going to be so worth it! Immersion and conscious effort is key!
I have an aunt and uncle who are deaf. They are also quite old and their cognitive abilities are in sharp decline. They still use translation services for all their phone calls. They've never adapted to mobile phone texting, email or webcam calling. So we are all very familiar with translators like yourself. But i will also say that it's an especially difficult job in cases like this one. Translating sometime with dementia from ASL to spoken English.... Not easy! Translating those family spats between elderly siblings between ASL and English. Definitely not easy! Probably not entirely pleasant either, to be honest. I'll never understand why her family didn't learn to sign. But i suppose attitudes towards deafness were different in the 1940s/50s. In any event, know that your hard work is far more appreciated than you'll ever know.
How did you start learning?
Hi! I'm learning ASL too, and want to ask, how do you find good quality study materials in a wide variety of topics? When I was studying Spanish in the past, I read novels with English and Spanish side by side for comparison, watch movies with Spanish subtitles or KZhead explainer videos in Spanish etc. to boost my knowledge base. However with ASL now, I find that quality learning resources beyond basic textbook level are few and sparse. I've even thought of hiring an interpreter to follow me around to help with translating everything I see and read in English (like the electricity bill example in this video!) to ASL and teach me; but that's financially unsustainable. How do you do it?
I've been an ASL/English interpreter for more than 35 years. It's all simultaneous. I mostly work in education settings and I've worked from pre-school to college. No one really understands the mental exhaustion that comes from interpreting. But I love, love, love my job!
It's so inspirational to find kind words in the translation/interpretation wold. I'm studying to become a translator and an interpreter, I love studying this but I'm anxious about the opportunities in this field. So reading these comments, warms my heart and makes me feel better :)
Simultaneous interpreting can be stressful, especially when audiences in over 25 countries are listening in. I’ve been the live English to Spanish interpreter for all Live From The Red Carpet and Live From E! on E! Entertainment Television for all Latin America for almost 10 years now. Sometimes, our audio also gets used as SAP En Español for E! Domestic. It’s pretty interesting because we must be up to date on all things Pop Culture, Music, Television and general Entertainment, Fashion and Social Media, as we interpret any and all types of live interviews on the red carpets for the Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, Billboards, MET Gala, People’s Choice Awards, etc. It’s fun, though. I feel like I’m literally spitting whatever phrase I get in my ear piece out through my mouth in Spanish, including tone, emotions, and reactions. It’s not just “translating” word-for-word, but also acting like the subject speaking at that time. P.S.: that drill noise used in one of the trainings is definitely a great strategy. Red carpets are usually so loud! Sometimes fans’ screams drown out interviews and we must literally read the artist’s lips to decipher what they’re saying.
I totally agree with you and Barry. I interpreted between Mandarin and English for a while many years ago, and I realise cultural awareness is very important. The technical jargons are also pitfalls that can easily trip you. Martin is absolutely right that you have to have a broad knowledge base.
I have interpreted English-German simultaneously and consecutevily in court and in business. I found it actually very relaxing. At some point of time you get into some ZEN mode, where you can think of other things while your brain and voice function automatically. My biggest job was 8 hour shifts in a chemical plant where German operators learned the Acrylic Acid and Butylacrylate production plants. Whenever I could I took double shifts, and I didn't find that problematic. My "technique" was always to look at the person that talked, and of course speak in the first person. You lose your personality and drift more and more into the background. After a short time the English and German teams got used to it and looked at each other when they had a conversation. I loved every minute of it. German vocabulary is simple in the way that it's always compounded words. US English is very idiomatic. There is a nickname for every single piece of equipment in the plant. If I was stuck because I was not familiar with that particular word, I just asked questions until I knew what it was. In court it's much more difficult since you are not allowed to explain any legal issues in your translation. E.g. the concept of "no contest" in the guilty plea doesn't have an equivalent in German law, so every now and then I had to call a quick timeout (I actually made the timeout sign since the judge and the attorneys are familiar with that) and explained in very modest and polite words that it might be valuable to explain what consequences this specfic plea has. For the interested, even though you don't plead guilty it means you don't contest the charges, and any appeal becomes very difficult. Compared to written translations it's much better paid, and in my mind much easier, once you hit Zen mode. Unfortunately the market in the Southern US is very small, so I have a different day job. :)
What an interesting comment. Thank you!
Where would you say is the bigger market for English and German in the US, if any?
I fully understand your difficulties with legal translation. I practiced law in a civil law country and then moved to Canada, where I am reviewing and negotiating the contracts in English governed by common law and the contracts in French governed by Quebec civil law. I always have to remember that not only I am switching from one language to the other but from one legal system to the other.
Two "bêtes noires" of conference interpreters: ambiguity and humor. Excellent and most informative video. Kudoz to Olly :) !
I finally passed a masters entry exam for conference interpreting! I am so excited for it! The interpreters inspired me to keep working on the goal of becoming an interpreter 😃 thanks for such a video
Most challenging scenarios I sometimes have to face as a telephone interpreter: 1) the speaker of my own native language speaks my language in a very broken way, so much so it is difficult to understand their pronunciation and/or what they mean to say. They are not native to my language, they just learned it by living in my country for some time as immigrants. It sometimes feels like they’re translating in their mind word by-word idioms from their own native language, which I don’t speak. That requires me to ask for clarification, with the service user’s permission. Obviously, the agency has usually tried to get them an interpreter for their native language first but with no luck so the end user asks for an Italian interpreter. 2) one speaker speaks over you while you are interpreting without listening to the interpretation of what the other speaker has said. 3) end-user answers in a way that is not appropriate to what the service-user has said despite the correct interpretation, which can lead to the service-user thinking that you haven’t interpreted their message correctly. Unfortunately, some people are stubborn or won’t listen even in their own language, it won’t be otherwise with an interpreter. 4) spelling in one language is different in another. Some people don’t understand this. The client I had yesterday, being impatient, kept interrupting the spelling of the other speaker assuming that he had guessed the letter before I could interpret it. 5) impatient speaker who speaks over the interpreter, asking the next question without listening to the interpretation of the other speaker’s answer 6) in telephone interpreting, background noises. Particularly obnoxious: the speaker unexpectedly puts their high-pitch screaming baby on the phone while you are listening attentively to hear them speaking.
I feel you so much, especially bad are number 3 and 6 which happens all the time
Although I must say in scenario 1, if it's really bad, I suggest they try to get hold of an interpreter who can undetstand that person's native language
@Lena Yes, we always try that first but it's usually some rare language for which there is no available interpreter.
This sounds like a nightmare, kudos to you guys for doing such a tiring and hard job ❤
Great points. I work as an interpreter, both in-person and over the phone, and all of your points are spot on. The interruptions by inpatient users and background noise kill me. In my experience, they also treat phone interpreters almost as robot-like things...so many people lacking common sense and basic manners.
When I was a Language & Translation student, we had this one event where people from other universities around Europe were visiting our school in Belgium. For our English Translation course we had to work in pairs to do consecutive interpreting, where we would listen to the speakers in Dutch, take some quick notes and when the speech was done, we would get about 5 min to rehearse before we would tell the speech to the other visitors in English. It was our first taste of real time in person translating and it was super exciting and insightful! We met a lot of new people, heard stories and had a few different topics. Something totally different from our exercises in a book or online, I can see why these people love their job!
I am an interpreter and feel sometimes overwhelemed when people talk fast and expect to interpret like a machine Or explain their ideas when they dont even create sentences, is like they expect us to read their minds.
You learn the cut and paste technique and chunking of the information. These help to deal with fast speakers and if it is being read you say 'the interpreter does not have the text'. If it is still impossibly fast you say 'the speaker is reading too fast, the interpreter apologises; it is not possible to provide interpretation' and switch off your mic. No one can understand the original either, when it's too fast
Your videos are precious gems for the learning languages community!! Thank you so much!
Lovely comment thank you!
Thank you Olly for covering my profession! Conference interpreters often work behind the scenes, so very few people know what exactly we do and how we work. I always find it hard to explain my profession, but now I can send people the link to your video.
I’m so glad you liked it!
Thank you for this very thorough video, Olly! To me, being an interpreter has always been the pinnacle of proficiency in a foreign language. I've always been in great awe of the work interpreters do, it seems almost unreal. I recently managed to get my diploma in conference interpreting and passed the EU accreditation test, so I guess sooner or later I'll find myself in one of those important meetings. I'm excited and terrified at the same time 😅 Wish me luck!
Good luck !
What a fantastic achievement - congratulations!
Ive been a simultaneous interpreter for decades. Anticipation, true. After working one on one with my boss for months, I was finishing his sentences. The staff called me his avatar. As an in-house interpreter, the job becomes natural and easy. Freelancing is much harder as you’re dealing with new fields and terminology each time. Either way, it’s an incredibly physical, demanding job.
Another excellent video, Olly!! I got my Masters Degree in Conference Interpretation in 1989 and have been a freelance professional ever since. I also taught in that same Masters program for 20 years. I fully share the views expressed by the colleagues you’ve interviewed and gained some new insights from their experiences. I’ll add that interpreting on Zoom or other online platforms, even when the sound is at its best, requires greater concentration than when using a fully hardwired system in a conference room. Certain consonants, notably fricatives, can take just a few milliseconds longer to decipher. When the sound is less than optimal, which happens at every meeting I service at some point(s), the effort required to understand the speaker winds up taxing the interpreter’s energy even more quickly. It also takes longer to recover after your turn on mic. One other thing your interviews didn’t mention is how this very challenging mental task becomes palpably more so when people are reading prepared texts instead of speaking freely. Semantic density and complex sentence structure make for great reading - to oneself!! But when speakers read a carefully crafted text, often at a very quick pace, we interpeters have to turn on the afterburners and keep them on until the whole ordeal ends. (That’s when the Chair gives the floor to the next delegate, and it’s off to the races again…) Anyhoo, thanks again, man, for taking a deep dive into our world, then telling the story of what you’ve learned so simply and clearly!!
I really appreciate this feedback, thank you! We worked hard on this one :)
Can't agree more with your points on the difference between remote interpreting and on-site interpreting! As a Conference Interpreting student, I wrote my thesis on this topic this year. I felt research, or even articles on this topic is quite lacking given remote interpreting only got widespread recently. Your insights from the perspectives of an experienced interpreter is very enlightening!
i did translation and interpretation once, but since i has a personality of a creator, i interpret words in so many ways teehee!
Thanks for making this, it was fascinating to hear just how demanding the profession is - I could also listen to that Martin guy for hours
Thanks for the recall and in-depth explanations on how amazing, astonishing and passionate this job is.
I'm going to study translation specifically to be an interpreter in companies and such, so these videos really put in perspective how hard this job might be and helps me get ready for this life!!
I loved this video. That's exactly what I was looking for on the internet for so long. I will definitely recommend it to all of my friends. Thank you so much for this great job.
Excellent. I’ve done consecutive interpreting professionally and learned firsthand how demanding and exhausting this work is!
I’m not a professional but out of necessity had to interpret since childhood and eventually, as an adult, am able to simultaneous interpret and had to do so to help a friend out for a class that lasted several weeks. What helps is to let my mind go a bit numb and do its thing without thinking, like going into a state of flow. Strange but it works.
Cool video, Olly! This career field seems to be hellishly difficult. Bravo to those who do it.
Andrea is right that I love the part of continuous learning in this job. I am so curious on all sorts of topics and usually spend LOTS of time digging it myself. There are endless resources these days. Keep learning new things makes me feel motivated. Great job posting this, I can’t believe Olly mentioned FS in the end, I will have to watch it as I am currently teaching some FSO 😂 but still I don’t want to give up my interpretation as it’s rewarding yet helping me to learn and grow.
Thanks to this video.Because of this now I realized that this is really my dream job.Btw my mother tongue is Tagalog/Filipino and I reached the native level of speaking English after 8 years of working in customer service. Now I am currently studying nihongo (Japanese) for better opportunity.
I just read your book short storries in german and it really helped me. Your channel is awesome and I truly want to become an interpreter! Thanks a lot!
I enjoyed conference interpretations! It's kind of metaphysical condition of mind when you here two languages at the same time. 😀
I grew up within two miles of two of the most important translation and interpretation schools (DLI and MIIS) and have always been fascinated by languages, socio- and psycholinguistics, etc. Nevertheless, it wasn't until I traveled on Eurail, after having spent a university quarter in France immersed with a family (following 4 yrs of HS and 2 qtrs French instruction), that I interpreted on the fly for French, Japanese, and Dutch travelers in my train cabin. This was 1989 so English was still poorly taught in much of France, but the other travelers could speak fluently, if not necessarily proficiently. I'm fairly shy, so it exciting to realize that I got into it. It was fun. I was helpful. I've never turned back, though honestly I should have gone deeper than I did and become an interpreter. I'm also intellectually stimulated by nearly any topic, enjoy immersing myself in a subject, and fascinated by the diversity of the human race. Hindsight is twenty twenty, as they say.
I am an American Sign Interpreter/English and it's astonishing to see how similar the challenges and aspects are to spoken language. I learned so much from this video because rather spoken or signed, interpreting is interpreting.
Hi! I'm learning ASL, and want to ask, how do you find good quality study materials in a wide variety of topics? When I was studying Spanish in the past, I read novels with English and Spanish side by side for comparison, watch movies with Spanish subtitles or KZhead explainer videos in Spanish etc. to boost my knowledge base. However with ASL now, I find that quality learning resources beyond basic textbook level are few and sparse. I've even thought of hiring an interpreter to follow me around to help with translating everything I see and read in English (like the electricity bill example in this video!) to ASL and teach me; but that's financially impossible for me. How did you do it when you were learning?
I'm a native speaker of 2 languages and learned a 3rd language while living in my native country, which really helped me understand the language learning process and the intricacies of translating/interpreting codes and colloquial speech. I absolutely have a great deal of curiosity and empathy. The issues discussed here are absolutely spot on. I used to be a medical interpreter. It was really fun and easy.
I loved hearing the examples of how the trainee interpreters learn to listen and translate at the same time, the mental gymnastics skills. This has a parallel in basic language learning skills that are missing (or badly done) in language classes. I'm referring to the skill of navigating around a message you want to convey when you don't have all the vocabulary. There are techniques like using generalized words ("pass me the fruit" or "pass me the thing/pass me the stuff"), using a description of the word, ("pass me the long, yellow fruit", "pass me the food-thing beside the apple"! "pass me the food in the bag") using comparisons ("pass me the sausage-like fruit", I don't know the word for sharp, so I say "my fingernails are like knives"), using negatives, ("pass me the food that isn't outside of your bag yet") and a million other variations. Once I started being able to navigate around meanings without having to always know the right word, I became less anxious about engaging in a conversation, I was able to converse more quickly, was more confident to communicate slightly more involved topics, which lead to more practice, plus my conversation partners would usually reply with the correct word (un-paid tutoring, hehe). I really feel that these kinds of skills are real language skills could be triggered in the classroom early in learning another language so that around intermediate level, the language learner can transition to extended conversations quicker.
"I'm referring to the skill of navigating around a message you want to convey when you don't have all the vocabulary." -> That´s what teachers always asked us to to. Until we used the word "thing", they didn´t like that much, so it ended in reprimations ^^"
I wasn't looking at doing this as a skill, but rather an embarassment for not knowing the word. Seeing the point of view in your comment is very reassuring to me. Thank you
I’m a consecutive interpreter and this video was very interesting and fun to watch
Well done job in this video mate. Congratulations !
Barry S. is a such eloquent speaker and teacher. Thanks for sharing this video.
I'm a mandarin - English medical interpreter. I'm doing consecutive interpreting.
And sign language interpreters perform simultaneous interpreting not only at these high levels but in every domain, and are always visible, so can’t hide in a booth or behind a stack of papers or glossaries.
Simultaneous interpreting is a fucking nightmare, not only do you have to study everything talked and agreed upon beforehand... You basically have to become an expert in the damn meeting too!
A high bar indeed!
@@storylearning I've done it numerous times beforehand, I used to be a production and drilling operations interpreter, having to deal with rudimentary methods such as keeping tabs on the radio channels and fling back and forth between them to help each and everyone of the teams to communicate was fun. The best part of the job was when we rested, the teams asked me to interpret in order to help them connect and befriend each other in better ways. That's the only gig in which I've had to assume all the roles an interpreter can have: Simultaneous interpretation Sequential interpretation And community interpretation I miss working offshore, I miss my coworkers but the money and the risks were not worth it anymore, at least not in Mexico. :(
I agree with you, I need to understand the topic or situation for better interpretation.
Soy hispano y me gusta tu contenido. Es verdad que no entiendo todo pero, hago el intento de saber que es lo que dices, así aprendo más.
I used to want to be an interpreter and still do; but never really had that opportunity or felt smart enough, so those dreams were dashed.
I am a germanturkish translator and I can just say that I believe there is no other job where you have to act so spontaneously than by interpreting…
Hangi üniversitede okuduğunuzu ve ortalama ne kadar kazandığınızı söyleyebilir misiniz mahsuru yoksa
@@beyza6247 Marmara üniversitesi fakat getirisi yok, üzgünüm. Tercümanlik Türkiye‘de tamamen kabul görmüs bir meslek dali degil, o yüzden isverenler tarafindan sömürülüyorsunuz.
@@minnoshbusra peki sizce yurt dışında yapılabilecek bir meslek mi veya da ingilizce öğretmenliği okusam daha mı iyi dil sınıfı öğrencisiyim de
Yes, indeed. I am an interpreter in Mexico and it's amazing and challenging.
I studied Medical Interpreting back in 2015 and now I'm a court interpreter and coach for those who wants to become court interpreters. Let me tell yah that been an interpreter is not as easy as it may sound you have to put your brain to function in multiple ways.
Hi! I'm nearly eligible to become a medical interpreter, but I'm considering going into court interpretation instead, though it's more difficult to get started since this specialty seems to be much more regulated in my state. Mind sharing how you crossed over?
I want to become interpreter but what kind of fields exist?,
I am a Trinidadian native English speaker, currently bilingual in Spanish with an intermediate - advanced fluency. And this video has truly opened my mind to the prospect of becoming a professional interpreter some day.
Yes it is very hard. I knew a girl, Agnès who worked at the European Commission (44 years ago). She was a simultaneous interpreter English & French. One weekend I saw her and she needed to go home early to revise vocabulary and phrases for an agriculture policy meeting. Abstruse stuff. They work 30 minutes on and rest for 30 minutes, alternating with someone else. She took me on a visit to the building we all see on TV and also to the top floor where the VIPs go. We were not allowed to leave the lift, because security clearance did not permit it. These videos are always interesting! Thanks! All the best, Rob in Switzerland
Many thanks Rob!!
I’ve done this for years as a volunteer, I’ve been told I have a great skill/talent. My brain just thinks ahead and my mouth speaks and I flow. I’ve done simultaneous interpretation and even panel interviews where people are speaking back to back. I’d love to do this as a career but have no degrees or paid job experience. I’m wondering if becoming certified would be enough credibility…
Yes,you should definitely become a certified interpreter because with your skills and talent you'll become a top interpreter which will lead you to better opportunities and making decent money.especially if you do medical or legal,there's a high demand in that field..so go for it and give it your best.I'm actually looking for a legit company where I can take an online training to become a certified interpreter as I already work as one (OPI) but still need to get my certificate..🙏
@@rachelsuarez5996 Do you need university?
@@amandai.1334 I'm actually wanting to become a certified interpreter,but still hesitating which company to choose from.I can only do it online and is the reason why I'm looking for something legit.
As I swahili to English interpreter I love the job I find it interesting
Love this video!! Thanks for sharing this!!
What an amazing video! really enjoyed it!
I am a Chiense english interpreter and ESL teacher. I have noticed language teaching also helps me to understand both languages.
Really interesting! Thanks for this Olly
If I knew I was being interpreted it would only benefit me to speak clearer and slower. It's crazy how so many people don't even consider they're being interpreted, and that whatever they're saying will be better interpreted the easier they make it to interpret
Gosh I’m leaving comments as I am watching… I love when Barry mentioned about the deep sense of justice and fairness. I can’t agree anymore! My most rewarding feeling is to facilitate positive exchanges, in the end, people with barriers or even conflicts understand and respect each other.
Very cool video. I am learning about linguistics right now to go along with my Spanish language skills.
As a Slovak, it's always a joy to find Slovaks in random videos I'm watching for completely different reasons! There's pretty few of us but it really feels like we make quite the impact despite that :D.
Slovaks have been excellent members of the European community!
It's such a very stressful job especially if the conference is very important. I worked as a sworn translator's assistant and she tried to assign me the task of interpreting in an international conference. I simply declined because I knew I needed more experience to do such job 😭
I always thought this must be (depending on what you’re translating as well) one of THE most mentally exhausting jobs ever. Hours of speeches or presentations and possibly military/research level vocab? I mean, I’m assuming they all have specialties, but still 🥵
I met him at Middlebury, I be his program is awesome!
Amazing video Olly!! Thank you so much! So helpful!!
I’m just starting out as a Spanish interpreter (in the training at the moment), it’s very hard and I have a lot of terminology’s that I have to learn. Making lots of mistakes and hoping to get to the point where they forget I am there. Not an easy job and my brain already hurts but I enjoy it!! It’s hard but will be worth it in the end.
Thank you for this wonderful overview, especially for those who are unfamiliar with the many intricacies and complexities of the profession. A couple of my personal challenges are empathy burnout (for me, mostly from the medical category) and the anxiety/adrenaline hangover after legal interpreting. I find remote/online sessions challenging due to sound quality and varying internet quality of the participants resulting in interruptions and repetitions.
Thank you Diana!
I believe as a speaker in international settings, it is important to make sure people could understand you easily. Be mindful of the choice of words and sentence structure.
Bravo! Thanks for highlighting such a hidden profession. 👏
So nice of you!
❤️
This work is not for everyone Talent + Practice + Will are the bare minimum.
Very interesting video! Thank you so much, Olly
Junior Indonesian-English interpreter here! And I'd say that I love this job, exhausting but satisfying at the same time. Let's be friends, interpreters! Drop your ig
AMAZING! Great video- makes me realize that even "fluency" has deeper and deeper levels.
Deeper and deeper!
I hate interpreting. I first did it as a volunteer and had a terrible experience. I took a group of French school children around a historic home in England and offered to interpret what the guide was saying. She was awful. She would talk for about five minutes and then turn to me for a translation into French. I could not have repeated what she'd said in English never mind French. It was just too much to retain. I was too young and polite and it was my first experience. I would have stopped her now and firmly explained she couldn't do that. On the other hand I did some phone interpreting for a local school not long ago when the school needed to speak to a Russian only speaking parent about a problem with their child. But the teacher phoned me beforehand explained the whole case and what he wanted to say to her and I had time to prepare. It went really well. I'd predicted all the things she might ask too and used my cultural knowledge of Russia to explain things in a way the teacher probably wouldn't have thought of.
I totally agree with you Bob. You can only remember so much, and you have to ask for a stop to translate. Glad you did really well the second time!
Being bilingual it’s not the same as being an interpreter. Being and interpreter is a learned skill.
It definitely is an acquired skill. You can train your memory and notetaking skills to help retain more information and become more confident in delivering it. But yeah, not allowing for interpretation breaks in between especially outdoors where its difficult to hear clearly to begin with seems like an aweful first time experience :(
I am a sporadic interpreter between Turkish and Japanese (and English) whom take an interpreting job once in a while. I did mainly factory interpreting where there are constant machine noise all over the place. My toughest job could be this multi-month stint where I interpreted for this South African transfer employee to this Japanese company's Turkey factory. There'd be a new product and there were trials, so that many Japanese technicians were there. One day, there I was, standing there with 3 heated conversations in Japanese and Turkish and my South African colleague wanting me to interpret what was being said and interpret his replies to some of them-with the ever-present machine noise on the background. That was impossible of course. I could just briefly explain the situation. Other than that, also there was this Japanese manager speaking English with Japanese grammar rules, it was quite a handful. Since that I'm not a specifically trained person, when I'm doing consecutive, it turns a cross between simultaneous and consecutive. Even more so on the factory environment, because of the machine noise and the fast paced nature of the factory job. Though in the meetings I kinda have time to take notes on the way and interpret with longer intervals. My most bizarre job could be this family, whom went to the parent-teacher meeting in this international school their daughter was enrolled at. Teachers are Anglophones, the family is Japanese and me Turkish. And the office told me their daughter was being just enrolled! I was not even prepared. Luckily those meetings are the same all over the world, down to the teachers' opinions ("she's a smart girl, but doesn't study enough"). But it was challenging. At the last teacher I spoke Japanese to the English teacher and Engllsh to the Japanese family, even my perception was gone. I had a headache all day. I have applied for Istanbul court's interpreter ad, we had an oath-taking ceremony with a Q & A before. One candidate asked if they have the right to reject if the person to interpret was ideologically someone against them. Well, some people do confuse this thing. After all, you're not their lawyer! Don't you think that I haven't realized you've used Turkish parliament fighting footage for the "things getting heated" example ;) I'd never be a simultaneous conference interpreter. I applause them.
I am interpreting English - Burmese, mostly in the meetings between foreign organisations and government departments and I always have some challenges in terminologies. Some government agencies use specific terms for both languages and to my experience, knowing a verity of terms will be really helpful in the interpretation job. Good Luck to you all.
I worked as a simultaneous and consecutive interpreter for many years. I stopped taking conference work because clients were so woefully unprepared - no provisions were made for the interpreters, people spoke at full speed without any prior notice of the subject, with no microphone, and made various ad hoc demands like asking me to work as a tour guide over my lunch break. I much preferred working in courts, police stations, prisons, etc.
At 35:25 ish you say it’s wrong for her to say “year 3” but that’s how we say it in British English! But not university. We say “3rd year”. Ah I see your point actually, it’s for younger like high school. Carry on.
I do consecutive interpreting over the phone. Some agents can be rude and it negatively effects my work. I think we should work like a team, I am not a servant.
Super fascinating topic!
As an ASL-English and vice versa interpreter, I am fascinated by the differences and similarities between signed and spoken interpreting. It always makes me laugh a little inside when spoken language interpreters say to not work more than 20min at a time. As an educational interpreter, I do not normally have a team and I am interpreting all day with very short breaks(if any other than lunch) throughout the day. Also, the expectations on ASL interpreters is to do as much as spoken language interpreters but with less qualifications required resulting, sadly, in unqualified interpreters in the work place. At the end of the day, however, we are all linguistic bridges and superhumans! 🦸🏼♀️ This is quite a helpful and educational video! Hats off to all of you! And thank you again for making this video!
Hi! I'm learning ASL, and want to ask, how do you find good quality study materials in a wide variety of topics? When I was studying Spanish in the past, I read novels with English and Spanish side by side for comparison, watch movies with Spanish subtitles or KZhead explainer videos in Spanish etc. to boost my knowledge base. However with ASL now, I find that quality learning resources beyond basic textbook level are few and sparse. I've even thought of hiring an interpreter to follow me around to help with translating everything I see and read in English (like the electricity bill example in this video!) to ASL and teach me; but that's financially impossible for me. How did you do it when you were learning?
Salut ! Awesome job Olly.
Loved this video! Thank you so much!
Wow! Interesting video. I really like it Thank you very much Ousmane Dieng From Senegal- Cameroun
I'm an interpreter, love the job.
All of the qualities mentioned in this video describe me perfectly...haha....and funnily enough I occasionally work as an interpreter! 😎
Many skills are interchangeable for both interpretation and translation. However, skills specific to interpreters are: excellent listening skills, eloquence and accuracy of body language and tone as well as the ability to process language and translations in their head near instantaneously. Whereas skills specific to translators are: excellent writing skills (including editing and proofing skills), time management skills and the ability to cope with the responsibility of dealing with sensitive and classified information.
The easiest Interpreting is Medical or Community Interpreting. Legal and specialized Conference Interpreting are the most difficult. Legal is a language in itself. Legal, Bible, Science and military have been my Forte in Court or Conferences ...but I love it! Could do it for free! Truly enjoy interpreting!
Very interesting video, very illustrative about this fascinating profession. I am a language specialist, and I specialize in few languages in medical, social, and legal fields in Washington state! No hay un monto de ganancia mayor o mas apreciado que todo lo que se aprende diariamente en esta profesión! E una professione molto appagante per la mente e il cuore! 🤔😉😎🍷
This was a very interesting video. I am about to graduate from a university program in English to Spanish Interpreter and Translation. It has been quite a challenge, but I am so happy that I am about to graduate with good grades and a high GPA. I agree with the people participating in this conversation. I like what I do, and I hopeful I will find a reasonable interesting job in the medical field. I mean "medical interpreter" Thank you Daniel
thanks! I'm learning
Consecutive interpreter here, English/Brazilian Portuguese. Stay positive!
I am studying to be a Korean -english interpreter .i want to be a simultaneous interpreter & oh boy forget the job even the training is so hard but it makes me practice and study even harder.i bet my life on this.😢
Yes! Interp., here 15 yrs+ Spanish/English landed this position by word of mouth and it was interesting. Given I have many interests and enjoy reading, film, traveling, meeting new people and liguistics (thanks Noam Chomsky) All of this sharpened my hearing, self-presentation, speech, focus and comprehension. A constant learning journey. I say over the phone interpretation (7.30 hrs) is most difficult due to the high volume and variety of calls🤯. Do not recommend so run away. Cheap employers over working and downsizing the interpretation profession.
Very interesting! Could you do something like this for people wanting to get into tourism interpreting?
Great job Olly Richard 👍
The languages that I want to be fluent in are French, Dutch, German, Danish, Latin, & Greek. I'm currently learning French & Dutch, and then I'll go from there, I currently speak English and a little bit of French & Dutch Edit: I want to be an international lawyer when I have the chance, I'm currently 15
Every speaker of any language has an accent, so someone who doesn't have one would be someone who is unable to speak, so I'd say *not* having an accent would be more of an obstacle.
interpreting often gives a lot of stress (emotional. mental). How do professionals cope with it? How do they recover? How do they recover during 20-minute translation sessions?
I breathe, I focus, I get into a flow state… I work in the same place often, so I know a lot about the speakers and talking points. It’s actually far less stressful for me than driving is!
@@aimeelinekar3902 Thank you, Aimee. Very interesting!
We are quite often taught techniques on how to deal with vicarious trauma and empathy fatigue, in the end, they teach us that there's times in which you NEED to rest before starting a new session and there's no shame in admitting that. Thankfully, most interpreting companies are aware of our psychological needs and they usually just respect our backgrounds and triggers.
@@josecarlossanchezmendez639 Thank you! This type of job is not for everyone, definitely
Sometimes I get 2 hours phone calls ( consecutive interpreting, Russian-English)
English ASL interpreter here 👋🏼 Martin mentioned introverted and extroverted people can interpret, especially since people can’t see you in a booth. What’s even more surprising is this extends itself to many ASL interpreters, too. I can comfortably do theatre and conference interpreting with a large audience, but I have no doubt I would freeze up if I was acting or speaking from my own agency. It really is an interesting phenomenon.
Hi! I'm learning ASL, and want to ask, how do you find good quality study materials in a wide variety of topics? When I was studying Spanish in the past, I read novels with English and Spanish side by side for comparison, watch movies with Spanish subtitles or KZhead explainer videos in Spanish etc. to boost my knowledge base. However with ASL now, I find that quality learning resources beyond basic textbook level are few and sparse. I've even thought of hiring an interpreter to follow me around to help with translating everything I see and read in English (like the electricity bill example in this video!) to ASL and teach me; but that's financially impossible for me. How did you do it when you were learning?