Last week, this blog presented an overview of a 10-minute video released on YouTube that focuses on the job of interpreting for the European Parliament and other European Union structures. The video provides a wealth of fascinating information about not only European Union interpreting, but language interpretation in general.

For example, the short film emphasizes the importance of both language skills and technical skills. Interpreters need to master their target and native languages, of course, but also the techniques and technology used in their field. For that reason, specific training and practice is a crucial factor in their professional development.

In the video, we have the opportunity to see new interpreters training on-site and receiving commentary from professors and experienced interpreters. “It was a good performance,” comments one trainer. “I think you rendered the message very well.”

To make sure to have the supply of qualified language interpreters its structures need, the European Union involves itself actively in training programs, such as the “European Master’s in Conference Interpreting.” This Master’s course was designed by the E.U. and is now offered in a number of European universities.

E-learning is also used to reinforce skills and give future European interpreters all of the practice they need. Language Translation, Inc. in San Diego, California, provides translation and interpretation services in over forty languages, including 24 European languages. “We speak your language – and theirs.”

Betty Carlson

A 10-minute video released on YouTube offers an inside look at what it’s like to interpret in the multi-lingual framework of the European Parliament. Language interpreters there work in many different kinds of situations. And it’s not all about government proceedings: they “can find themselves working for their Prime Minister one day, for a group of schoolchildren the next.”

In the video, we are able to see European interpreters at work and hear their opinions about what they do every day. The interpreters interviewed love their jobs, but point out that it can be stressful. Although all of them interpret into their mother tongue, many interpret from two or three languages, so they are constantly switching languages -- and mindsets.

One interpreter points out the key importance of perfect mastery of one’s own language – something that many native speakers don’t necessarily possess. Prime Ministers and other speakers at the European Parliament generally master their own language very well, so E.U. interpreters must interpret to a level of eloquence that not every native speaker can achieve.

Language Translation, Inc. in San Diego, California, provides translation and interpretation services in over forty languages, including 24 European languages. “We speak your language – and theirs.”

Betty Carlson