European Parliament - DG Interpretation and Conferences - Preparing the Future
Summary
TLDRThe speaker fondly recalls their experience as a student in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, marveling at the simultaneous interpretation process. They emphasize the importance of interpreters having a deep understanding of multiple languages and perfect command of their mother tongue. The video script discusses the challenges and rewards of the interpreting profession, the need for technical skills in simultaneous and consecutive interpreting, and the role of the European Masters in Conference Interpreting (EMCI) in setting standards for interpreter training. The speaker highlights the interpreter's role in history and the importance of continuous learning and adaptation in an ever-changing global landscape.
Takeaways
- 🎓 The speaker was a student who visited the parliament in Strasbourg and was amazed by the simultaneous interpretation services.
- 🌐 The speaker emphasizes the importance of the moment when one realizes the magic of interpreting and the desire to pursue it as a career.
- 👂 The speaker describes the experience of listening to speeches in one's own language through headphones, highlighting the seamless nature of interpretation.
- 💬 The speaker explains the technical and mental challenges interpreters face, such as handling stress, switching between languages, and maintaining accuracy.
- 🏛 The speaker discusses the importance of interpreters having an excellent command of both their source and target languages, especially their mother tongue.
- 🎓 The speaker mentions the training of interpreters in universities, focusing on the techniques of simultaneous and consecutive interpreting.
- 🌟 The speaker praises the use of e-learning and virtual master classes, which allow for the sharing of expertise and training across different institutions.
- 🤝 The speaker highlights the need for collaboration between foreign ministries, national education ministries, universities, and European institutions to produce high-quality interpreters.
- 🏆 The speaker describes the European Masters in Conference Interpreting (EMCI) as a network that ensures a uniform standard of training for interpreters.
- 🚫 The speaker notes the principle of professional secrecy that interpreters must adhere to, akin to a priest not revealing confessions.
- 🌍 The speaker reflects on the rewarding nature of the job, the passion interpreters have for their work, and the continuous learning required to stay current with new subjects and languages.
Q & A
What was the speaker's experience at the parliament in Strasburg?
-The speaker visited the parliament in Strasburg as a student and sat in the public gallery listening to multiple languages through headphones, which gave them goosebumps and made them feel that interpreting is a magical and amazing profession.
What does the speaker stress to visitor groups about the interpreting experience?
-The speaker emphasizes the importance of putting on headphones in the parliament to hear everything being said in one's own language, highlighting the magic of interpreting.
What challenges does an interpreter face in their job?
-Interpreters face challenges such as handling stress, quickly switching between speakers and languages, and maintaining performance for extended periods, which can be exhausting.
Why is it important for interpreters to have a perfect command of their mother tongue?
-Interpreters need a perfect command of their mother tongue because it is the language that the members of parliament and delegates in committees hear, and it must remain strong even under pressure.
What are the technical skills that interpreters are trained in at universities?
-Interpreters are trained in techniques such as simultaneous and consecutive interpreting, which are essential for their profession.
What is the purpose of the virtual Master Class mentioned in the script?
-The virtual Master Class is a training session where interpreters from different universities practice their interpretation skills and are assessed by expert staff interpreters.
How does e-learning contribute to the training of interpreters?
-E-learning is a valuable addition that showcases the European institutions' expertise and helps students train for a qualification with tremendous opportunities, making the training more accessible.
What is the role of the European Masters in Conference Interpreting (EMCI)?
-The EMCI is a network of universities created by the European Commission and the European Parliament to ensure that interpreters are trained to a required standard based on the same set of standards.
Why is it essential for interpreters to keep up with information and language knowledge?
-Interpreters need to stay updated with information and language knowledge to avoid being surprised or left behind in meetings, ensuring they can interpret faithfully and accurately.
What is the significance of professional secrecy for interpreters?
-Professional secrecy is crucial as interpreters are bound by it, similar to a priest not revealing confessions, ensuring the confidentiality of all meetings they work in.
How does the speaker describe the job of an interpreter?
-The speaker describes the job of an interpreter as demanding yet rewarding, something they do out of love and passion, and a job that can be done as long as they still feel the buzz.
Outlines
🌍 The Magic of Multilingual Interpretation
This paragraph narrates the speaker's awe-inspiring experience as a student in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, witnessing the magic of simultaneous interpretation. The speaker emphasizes the importance of interpreters having excellent language skills, particularly in their mother tongue, to convey the message effectively under pressure. The interpreter's job is described as challenging, requiring quick switches between languages and handling stressful situations. The speaker also discusses the technical skills involved in simultaneous and consecutive interpreting, the importance of training, and the role of e-learning in enhancing interpreter education across Europe.
📚 The Evolution and Challenges of Interpreting
The second paragraph delves into the evolution of interpreting from post-World War II to the present, highlighting the transition from consecutive to simultaneous interpreting and the absence of technical equipment in the past. It discusses the unique note-taking techniques used by interpreters, the principle of professional secrecy they adhere to, and the demanding yet rewarding nature of the job. The speaker also touches on the necessity for interpreters to stay updated with changing information and maintain their language proficiency. The paragraph concludes by emphasizing the importance of communication, the interpreter's role in contributing to history, and the enriching experience of working in a multilingual environment.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Interpreting
💡Simultaneous Interpreting
💡Consecutive Interpreting
💡Language Booth
💡Professional Secrecy
💡Mother Tongue
💡Technical Skills
💡e-Learning
💡EMCI
💡Synergies
💡Active Languages
Highlights
Experience of listening to multiple languages in the European Parliament in Strasbourg evokes a sense of magic and wonder.
The importance of having a moment of realization about the amazing potential of language interpretation as a career.
The role of interpreters in handling stressful situations and switching quickly between languages during sessions.
The demanding nature of the interpreting job, requiring excellent knowledge of multiple languages and perfect command of one's mother tongue.
The need for interpreters to perform under pressure and adapt to the speed and rhythm of the speakers.
The lack of control interpreters have over their work environment and the challenges it presents.
The necessity for interpreters to have a sound knowledge of interpretation techniques, including simultaneous and consecutive interpreting.
The virtual Master Class linking Geneva, Paris, and Prague for interpreter training and assessment.
The value of e-learning in showcasing European institutions and their know-how to civil society and students.
The role of the European institutions in assisting member states by filling gaps in interpreter training.
The establishment of the EMCI (European Masters in Conference Interpreting) to create a network of universities with shared standards.
The difficulty of learning simultaneous interpreting compared to consecutive interpreting.
The historical context of interpreting before the Second World War and the evolution of techniques.
The professional secrecy that interpreters are bound by, similar to a priest-confessor relationship.
The rewarding nature of the interpreting job despite its demanding and draining aspects.
The need for interpreters to keep up with changing information, new subjects, and maintaining language proficiency.
The importance of being curious and having an open mind to adapt to various topics and interests in interpreting.
The impact of language and cultural diversity on interpreters and the enrichment it brings to their work.
The passion and commitment interpreters have for their work and the desire to communicate effectively.
Transcripts
I was a student and I was in the
parliament in Strasburg just on a on a
visit and I sat in the public Gallery
with the headphones on and just turn the
button and listen to these languages and
I still get goosebumps just thinking
about it now and thought this is Magic
it's absolutely amazing and and that you
need that that that moment when you
think this is an amazing thing to do and
I want to do it I stress it a lot with
the visitor groups that we get I set
them down in the planery and I say put
on your headphones and what you'll find
is that everything that's being said
down there you can hear it in your
language and and then somebody comes up
and says but how can this be there's a
gentleman down there speaking and what I
hear is a woman's voice telling me what
he's saying and I say no look what's
happening is he's speaking Estonian and
there's a lady interpreter who's
translating into Spanish what he's
saying interpreting is a job which you
do in an atmosphere where there may be a
lot of stress so The Interpreter has to
be able to handle that kind of
situation you also switch very fast from
one speaker to the next and you switch
languages too from Finnish to Greek to
Portuguese to German to Lithuanian but I
adore it and I find it's difficult but
you're pumped full of adrenaline and you
do that for two hours and afterwards
you're exhausted it's a hard job it's an
odd job in lots of ways as well it's a
strange thing to do to to be all these
different people and not to have any
control over where you work when you
work how fast how slow if you're feeling
tired it's it's too bad you can't think
well today I'll close the office door
and just do a few emails you know you're
in the booth you have to perform to
their speed and their Rhythm and that
that can be very frustrating that that
lack of control we need people with an
excellent knowledge of their of the
languages they work from but perhaps
even more important an totally perfect
command of their main language of their
mother tongue because that's what what
people hear the the members of
parliament sitting in the meetings the
delegates in the Committees all they
hear is the output they hear the mother
tongue and that has to be so strong that
even under the greatest pressure it
won't crack obviously our interpreters
need a very sound knowledge of the
techniques of interpretation of
simultaneous interpreting consecutive
interpreting and that's what they're
doing in The Universities at the moment
and that's what's happening here they're
showing us their technical skills in
simultaneous and cons
behind us today there is a a virtual
Master Class happening and what we're
doing is linking in to Geneva Paris and
Prague and we have interpreters training
interpreters in those three universities
doing their interpretation exercises and
being assessed by expert staff
interpreters here in
Brussels
I think it was a very good performance
overall I think you rendered the message
very
wellar e-learning is a very valuable
addition which really puts the European
institutions Center
Stage it shows civil society that all of
the knowhow that we have hidden in the
institutions is not only use for the
benefit of the institutions
themselves but it can also help students
to train for a qualification which has
tremendous
opportunities the member states are not
always aware of just how important this
training
is and so the European institutions
assist them by filling in certain
gaps we can help for example by sending
experienced interpreters to teach young
students for a while setting the
standards very
high the universities are a bit like the
factory which produces the raw material
that we need in order to
function it's therefore vital that we
work
together the European commission and the
European Parliament have set up the emci
the European Masters in conference
interpreting in order to create a
network of univers
which work on the basis of the same set
of Standards so that they produce
interpreters at the required
level that's why it's absolutely
essential to have synergies between
foreign Ministries National Education
Ministries the heads of the major
universities and the European
institutions who are after all the
biggest recruiters of interpreters in
the
world
really simultaneous is the most
difficult skill of all to learn
consecutive has its own difficulties but
at least there you hear the entire
speech before you have to interpret it
so you know what that person has said
you know where it's going you know the
conclusion in simultaneous you just have
to follow with it and the speed in
simultaneous can often be one of the
most difficult things to keep up with
Sim before the second world war there
weren't any interpreting booths and so
the consecutive we do now it's the same
as then it doesn't require technical
equipment the speaker delivers his
speech of between five and eight or nine
minutes The Interpreter takes notes and
afterwards interprets the speech into
his language but it's a special note
taking technique it's not like the short
hand we had in the past we note down key
ideas which jog the
memory The Interpreter is bound by
professional secrecy all of the meetings
where he or she works are covered by the
principle of professional secrecy and so
the interpreters a bit like a priest who
may not reveal anything that was set to
him in confession it's very much the
same thing it is a very demanding job it
drains you but it's very
rewarding it's a job you do because you
love it there can't be many interpreters
who don't believe passionately in what
they are doing it's a job that you can
do as long as you still feel that
buzz the challenges are keeping up with
the information things change all the
time new subjects new members new people
new issues and trying to keep on top of
of what's happening and keep on top of
the information so that you're never
left behind or surprised by things that
you hear in a meeting and of course
keeping up the languages keeping up your
language knowledge you know with every
language that you work from we interpret
faithfully and accurately from the
speaker so if a speaker is insulting
vulgar swears then we have to reflect
that as a rule though we would take it
down a little bit never increase it
never make it worse and active languages
as I said earlier my active language is
English the work that each of us does
depends on the quality of the work of
our
colleagues when you go into the booth
and you've prepared everything and you
know very well that the first subject to
be discussed will be cars with green
engines let's say and then the chairman
comes in and starts to talk about
yesterday's football
match well you can't say well I didn't
read the paper yesterday so I don't know
who won the match that's just not
possible you have to be curious about
everything you have to have an open mind
and you learn to like even the things
that you don't really like can you be
certain that the parliament will give
you work
or so it depends what languages do you
have if you have uh on top of French
English Greek and malse then you can do
whatever you want first thank you thank
you
thank you get to be a part of history in
the making if you know if you want to
put it in those terms you know I feel
that I've made a contribution however
small but nonetheless I think you know
I'm a part of it and I've been to the
most amazing places seen things heard
things that I really never thought I
would no no no wait wait wait wait no
Tibetan you have to want to communicate
you've got to understand the meaning of
speech and of movement and it's that
that urge to communicate that that we
really look for that spark in a student
is is what we're looking for so at that
time we could no longer imagine to
return back to a single language
environment uh it's really enriching to
have all these different cultures
communities languages in here we learn
the one or the other as time goes by
it's a positive experience it's a
challenge to make it happen every day
but we like it we love it and I think we
couldn't imagine to go back to where we
were
before
for
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