{"id":1603,"date":"2024-10-09T15:27:51","date_gmt":"2024-10-09T14:27:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/?p=1603"},"modified":"2024-10-09T15:59:12","modified_gmt":"2024-10-09T14:59:12","slug":"a-week-in-the-life-of-an-interpreter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/2024\/10\/09\/a-week-in-the-life-of-an-interpreter\/","title":{"rendered":"A week in the life of an interpreter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many of us aspire to learn a new language one day \u2013 to order a meal at a restaurant abroad or navigate our way around a new city (without turning to Google translate).<\/p>\n

Yet the language skills demanded of a professional interpreter go above and beyond this; they are required to interpret complex, fast-paced conversations in real time, keep on top of current affairs and continuously add to their repertoire of languages.<\/p>\n

The University of Bath\u2019s MA in Interpreting <\/span>& Translating<\/a> (MAIT) has an international reputation, with our alumni making up a considerable proportion of English-booth interpreters at the UN and the EU institutions.<\/p>\n

To understand what it\u2019s really like to interpret languages as a profession, we spoke with some of our successful MAIT alumni \u2013 uncovering the highs and challenges of this rewarding career path.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

<\/h2>\n

Day 1: <\/span><\/b>Travelling and exploring different cultures <\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n

with Zosia Krasodomska-Jones (MA Interpreting & Translating 2015)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n

Zosia was always interested in learning languages at school and knew quite quickly that she wanted to use them in her career. Later, she became drawn to the\u00a0interesting and diverse working environments, as well as the constant intellectual challenge, that conference interpreting offered, and made the leap into this profession. <\/span><\/p>\n

After completing her MAIT, Zosia spent seven years working in Brussels as a freelance interpreter, before taking on her current role<\/span> as a staff interpreter at the European Commission, working in the English booth interpreting from French, Italian and Polish.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI love the travelling element of the job, particularly as a freelancer. The best work trip I have been on was to Namibia with the European Parliament \u2013 I celebrated my 25<\/span>th<\/span> birthday on a mini-safari that I tacked onto the end of the mission! That was by far my most glamorous assignment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cAs a staff interpreter I travel two or three times per year to European cities, for instance to Santander during the Spanish presidency of the Council, and Luxembourg. These trips are still a lot of fun; the meetings are often quite different to what we do in Brussels and sometimes they take place in rather grand surroundings.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Day 2: Preparing for a multilingual meeting <\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n

with Brian Mitchell (MA Interpreting & Translating 2012)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>After spending 18 months living in Brussels as a child, Brian developed a love for<\/span>\u00a0languages. However, it wasn\u2019t until completing the MAIT course at Bath that he realised he wanted to commit to building a career in interpretation. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After graduating in 2012, Bria<\/span>n worked as a freelance interpreter with the United Nations Office in Vienna. Today, he is an interpreter for the European Commission in Brussels,<\/span> interpreting French, Spanish and Irish into English<\/span>. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeing prepared is an important part of being able to interpret well at a meeting, but it also helps to reduce my stress levels <\/span>\u2013<\/span> often it is the only aspect of the job that I have full control over. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cMost meetings have their own specific vocabulary that must be researched in advance, and interpreters are usually provided with documents that are relevant to the meeting to help with their preparation.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI go through these documents picking out the key terms in all of my languages and then create a glossary of vocabulary for the meeting using this terminology. I will keep that glossary in front of me in the interpreting booth while I work.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Day 3: Liaising with key figures <\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n

with Neil Cumming (MA Interpreting & Translating 2012)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Neil grew up monolingual, and it was only towards the end of school that he began to take an interest in languages. All these years later, Neil still loves learning languages, describing the process as a puzzle to be cracked and a key that unlocks new experiences.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After taking on freelance work for a couple of years after graduation, Neil has spent the last ten years working in the English booth at the United Nations <\/span>\u2013<\/span> first in Geneva, and for the past six years at the UN headquarters in New York <\/span>\u2013 where the<\/span> bulk of his work is simultaneous interpreting for multilingual meetings.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cInterpreting is all about communication, and communication is all about people, and one of the great things about this job is meeting so many smart, interesting people from all over the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are about 120 people working in the UN interpretation service in New York across six languages, and the standard setup for a multilingual meeting here involves a team of 14 interpreters that all have to coordinate and support one another.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen interpreting any speaker, empathy is important if you want to understand why someone is saying something, rather than just the words they\u2019re saying. A lot of world leaders \u2013 and the odd celebrity \u2013 pass through the UN, but the most memorable interpreting experience I\u2019ve had was interpreting for a holocaust survivor. His life could not have been more different from mine, so I had more emotional distance to cover to effectively convey what he was saying. It was a real privilege.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cAt the other end of the spectrum, I recently interpreted a group of French teenagers. They were lovely but it was honestly one of the hardest things I\u2019ve done for a long time; I\u2019m not really used to talking to teenagers, in any language!\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Day 4: Navigating the interpretation booth <\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n

with Phoebe Murray (MA Interpreting & Translating 2012)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>As Phoebe approached graduation for her bachelor's degree, she wasn't too sure what career path she wanted to venture down. She <\/span>was, <\/span><\/i>however<\/span>, <\/span><\/i>certain that languages had to be front and centre of her future profession. After a visit from the MAIT Course Director at Bath, she knew what step to take next.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After graduating from the MAIT, Phoebe moved to Milan and worked as a translator at a law firm for a year, before passing an accreditation test to become an interpreter for the European institutions. She freelanced and started to work regularly in Brussels, mainly for the European Commission. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A few years after completing an interpreting internship at the Court of Justice in 2014, a staff post became available, and Phoebe jumped at the opportunity to move to Luxembourg where she now holds the position of Staff Interpreter at the Court of Justice of the European Union.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery meeting (or hearing, if you work at the Court of Justice) is different, both in terms of subject matter and the team. That\u2019s one of the best things about being an interpreter <\/span>\u2013<\/span> the variety.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cPractically speaking, you usually work two or three to a booth, taking it in turns to provide interpretation from the language being spoken in the meeting into English (in my case) in real time. Sometimes you work with spontaneous interventions, other times you may be working with a pre-prepared text, so we\u2019re constantly switching up our technique.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I enjoy most about the practical side of interpretation is knowing that I\u2019ve facilitated communication between two people who may be experts in their subject areas but can\u2019t understand a word the other one says. Being that bridge is extremely satisfying, and my favourite moment is always when a delegate who\u2019s listening to you repeats your exact words or a specific phrase you\u2019ve used in subsequent interventions.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Day 5: Life-long learning <\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n

with Louise Jarvis (MA Interpreting & Translating 1996)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Even as a teenager growing up in a monolingual household in rural North Yorkshire, Louise knew she wanted to be an interpreter. Thanks to inspiring language lessons at her comprehensive school, she was able to pursue her ambition \u2013 first by taking a BA in French and German at the University of Oxford, and then by studying interpreting and translating at the University of Bath. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, Louise is a freelance conference interpreter, working for a range of international organisations including the EU institutions, the European Patent Office and the International Court of Justice. She interprets from French, German and Spanish into English. This year, Louise is taking over as Coordinator of the MAIT European course at Bath.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the most important tasks of a professional interpreter is to maintain our passive and active languages and keep up with current affairs in the countries in which our languages are spoken. This means reading the press or listening to podcasts in both our foreign languages and our mother tongue, expanding both our general knowledge and our vocabulary.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to career development, many interpreters take the opportunity to add to their portfolio of languages throughout their career. Often, they\u2019ll make a strategic choice to add a language that is in particularly high demand, perhaps because of political developments such as a new country joining the EU, or perhaps their personal circumstances mean that a new language becomes a major part of their lives and it\u2019s possible to develop that language for work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cFreelance interpreters, like myself, may also develop specialisms by studying finance, law or medicine, or broaden their range by applying to work for international organisations which are active in different fields. And it's also important for us to keep up with technological advances, including the advent of AI-supported tools.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Many of the alumni featured in this article, and more, are available as Alumni Experts on our e-networking platform <\/span>Bath Connection<\/span><\/a> to answer your queries about building a career in the interpreting and translation industry. To speak with our Experts, make sure to sign up to Bath Connection and join the MAIT discussion board. \u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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