Language

Listen to and speak two different languages at once? It’s all in a day’s work for simultaneous interpreters. A profession that always demands the highest standards and a perfect command of both languages.

In his inaugural speech, the new US President Barack Obama encourages the Americans to face up to the major and difficult tasks of the years ahead. In her thank-you speech, Oscar award winner Kate Winslet says that she practised for this moment in front of the mirror when she was a child. In the European Parliament, MEPs are arguing about suitable means to combat the world economic crisis. While the speakers are talking, television viewers around the world and MEPS from many different countries can hear what is being said in their mother tongue. That is the job of simultaneous interpreters. They interpret speeches almost simultaneously into another language. This immediate interpretation is the key difference between simultaneous and consecutive interpretation, where shorter speech segments are delivered in the desired language during a subsequent break in the speech.

More women than men

An estimate by the Federal Association of Interpreters and Translators in Deutschland puts the number of conference interpreters, who interpret from or into German at approximately 1,000. The largest international employer for simultaneous interpreters whose native language is German is the European Commission’s Directorate General for Interpretation, which works with a total of 550 permanently employed and 2,000 freelance interpreters. Of these, 60 permanent and 267 freelance conference interpreters are native speakers of German. Business provides much of their work. Conference interpreters work for companies, federations and international organisations at their annual general meetings, specialist technical conferences and press conferences. There is a high proportion of women in this job. Aleksandra Kwasnik, Press Spokeswoman of the Association of Conference Interpreters, puts the proportion of women to men at between 3:1 and 4:1.

“A constant challenge”

Simultaneous interpretation demands a perfect command of both languages and complete concentration, as listening and speaking are done in parallel. Usually simultaneous interpreters work with at least one other interpreter. They listen to the speech through headphones in a soundproof booth and speak their interpretation into a microphone. During the speech, they alternate and help each other out if necessary. At the same time, simultaneous interpreters try to have a clear view of the speaker. Non-verbal communication, i.e. gestures and facial expressions, provides important information, particularly in the case of speeches and negotiations. “The interpreter should be able to follow the ever more popular PowerPoint presentations, too, for example, the figures at a press conference on the balance of accounts. And what is taking place on stage at an award ceremony or gala,” says Aleksandra Kwasnik.

The key to working successfully is preparation. The more familiar an interpreter is with the subject of the speech, and the more flexible he is in the specialist field of the presentation, the smaller the risk of making mistakes. “This job is a constant challenge,” says Isabelle Raskin, aged 30. She has been working as a conference interpreter, among other things, for seven years using German and French and covering the specialist fields of business, law and technology. “As a conference interpreter, one is constantly confronted with new subject areas and situations. But my basic task is also very interesting - facilitating communication between people who would not understand one another without me. It is a good feeling to be needed and to be able to contribute to mutual understanding.”

The urge to listen

Complex subjects, specialist terminology, and unclear pronunciation – many hurdles are in store for a simultaneous interpreter. Problems also arise when the grammar of different languages is very different. For example, in English, the predicate of a sentence, the verb, comes very early on in a sentence, while in German it often comes at the end. The interpreter has to anticipate the content of the sentence before the speaker has got that far. “Of course, interpreting from German is an exercise in itself, which, with regular practice, sets off the relevant reflexes,” says Isabelle Raskin. “Long sentences are divided up, and endlessly long-winded introductions without a verb are transformed into whole sentences with a verb. Unlike what is generally believed, I wait only very rarely for the end of a relative clause. With a bit of experience, you can anticipate the verb – it becomes clear from the context and from the expressions preceding it.”

A vocation of this kind makes its mark on one’s private life. Someone who at work is constantly trying to understand even the smallest linguistic detail and also understands several languages is inevitably inundated with information outside the soundproof booth as well, on the street, and in supermarkets and cafés. “My job has actually changed the way I listen,” says Isabelle Raskin. “I can't help listening to conversations at the next table in a restaurant or in the underground. My brain is programmed to want to understand every piece of linguistic information – consciously or unconsciously.” She sometimes asks her friends to put off the television or radio in the background so that she does not have to listen to two things at once. Is the urge to listen an occupational disease? Yes, but Isabelle Raskin prefers to use the French term “déformation professionnelle”. “That doesn’t sound as bad.”