Last weekend I had the pleasure of speaking at the annual meeting of the Colorado Association of Professional Interpreters. The morning portion of the meeting was a professional development session, and I presented some tips for working with premium clients and ways to use Web 2.0 tools to market your freelance services.
I made some tentative and best-forgotten forays into the world of interpreting when I first started freelancing and was actively looking for work. Oddly enough there are very few French interpreters in Colorado and it wasn’t that hard to find interpreting clients, but it didn’t take me very long to figure out that a) my personality is much better suited to translation than to interpreting and b) my spoken French is not strong enough to do simultaneous interpreting from English into French. Since then I’ve found less stressful ways to channel my verbal energy (such as podcasting about translation) but interpreting still intrigues me. Certainly, translation has its moments of glory; when I’ve translated a book or seen my work on a client’s website, it’s definitely been gratifying. However, it was a humbling moment to find myself seated next to an interpreter who talked about his recent work like “when I was at the Democratic Convention, interpreting Obama’s acceptance speech…” (this was Tony Rosado, a high-level Spanish conference interpreter). Wow!
Translators and interpreters really are different breeds of people. At the recent Colorado Translators Association marketing workshop, Judy Jenner asked us to get into small groups and discuss the selling points of our freelance businesses. There was a moment of terrified silence, and then a small voice in the front of the room said “Can’t I just post it to the CTA e-mail list?” Talking…selling…groups of people…all things that many translators are terrified of. By contrast, many of the interpreters I met at the CAPI meeting could charmingly chat up a potted palm tree and pass it a few business cards in the course of the conversation. It was a really interesting chance to “cross the aisle” of the language profession and get a sense of what many interpreters’ daily work consists of.
Fortunately or unfortunately, every time I’m around a group of interpreters, I start fantasizing all over again about how fun it would be to be one of them… like many translators, I’m a naturally cautious and risk-averse person. I drive below the speed limit, wear those nerdy velcro straps that keep my pant legs from getting caught in my bike chain, get my teeth cleaned four times a year, check my credit card statements for unusual transactions, you get the picture. When I’m around interpreters, I often get the impression that many of them live just a little more on the edge than we translators do, and sometimes when I’m tapping away at the keyboard it’s fun to imagine, just for a minute, what it would be like to interpret for Obama!
You are so right, my hat is off to all interpreters, especially linguists who work in high-profile, high-stress situations. Interpreting a live press conference for the global media? Scary! I have a lot of respect for anyone who can think and react that fast — I like to take time and resarch, which of course you can’t do when you have no more than a split second. My twin, Dagy, is actually getting a master’s degree in conference interpreting (“for fun”) and she’s loving it, so maybe I should give it a shot. I have interpreted for a few informal business meetings, and actually experienced that thrill of enabling communications.
Love your observation about “chatting up a potted palm tree”, too funny. And I remember that initial hestitation when I asked folks to talk about their competitive advantages and the “Can I just post it on the CTA list?” — that was very interesting. However, after a few minutes, people were deep in conversation and couldn’t step. Sometimes we just need a bit of a nudge to come out of our translator shells!
If you look at interpreters, they are always handling real-time situations. These situations will warrant a lot of presence of mind and courage.
There is no doubt that interpreters are always on the edge. I surely do not want to be an interpreter for sure.
I can totally relate, too! The introverted geeky me has hated group activities ever since kindergarten. At the time I was launching my translation career, it felt intimidating when so many people just assumed that I was going to interpret as well.
On the other hand, I too have a dirty secret, since both the colleague I look up to who interprets for the European Parliament AND Nicole Kindman’s character in _The Interpreter_ kind of make want to try simultaneous interpreting as well. (Shouldn’t be too hard when you sit in the cabin all by yourself..?)
Chiming in as someone who mostly translates but also interprets…
For me, doing both brings a great balance to my life. I think in general I am better equipped for translation – I like to take my time, get it right, double check, check again, turn it in knowing it’s right.
At first, interpreting was a huge challenge. But I feel it’s been very good for me to learn to think on my feet and work on those social skills you mentioned and speaking skills, as well. Just a few weeks ago someone paid me a great compliment: “When I first heard you interpret six years ago, you were totally monotone. But now you have a great speaking voice.” I was elated! That change came through practice.
If it still intrigues you, maybe you could do some pro bono French>English interpreting to develop that skill set?
Here is a great online resource with some exercises to develop interpreting skills:
http://interpreters.free.fr/language/langacquis.htm
I agree that interpreters and translators are of different species. : ) Could one theorize that interpreters tend to be extroverts and translators introverts? I like translation because it allows me to work on my own, uninterrupted, in front of a computer. It’s hard to imagine myself interacting and speaking in front of a public.
I write about translation over at mondragonluis.wordpress.com, in case you want to read about the point of view of a mexican translator.
Thanks for this post, Corinne. I found it really interesting.
Personally I am on the extrovert end of the scale and I would love to interpret, though I have not yet taken the plunge. A colleague of mine was strongly recommending that I do, and I found listening to her experiences very inspiring. The main reason I haven’t taken the plunge yet is due to difficulty in finding training opportunities. I am from Australia, I live in Mexico and I also work as a musician. At one stage I did look into formal training in interpreting at the masters level in Australia, but it wasn’t really viable for me, because of (a) cost factors, and (b)because I move around a lot with the music work and the courses were only offered internally. If anyone knew of online/external training for Spanish-English interpreting, or of a course offered in Mexico, I would really appreciate the heads-up!
Despite this, I also really enjoy translating. So far I have found it to be an excellent way to complement my other activities and I find it rather fascinating. And the best thing about it is that it is very portable. I only really need my laptop and an internet connection.
Oh my God, you get your teeth cleaned FOUR times a year?! And here I thought I was excessive at three!!!
I like the introvert/extrovert theory. It fits for me. I’m sure there must be plenty of exceptions… but I’m not one of them.
Another big difference is that you have to be really bilingual and dynamic in your second language to interpret. Also there has to be a market for interpreting in that direction (not much market for some of the smaller languages)…
Good essay, as usual.
Actually, interpreting and translating are two very different skill sets. Where I got my translation degree, in Germany, we had a fully separate interpreter education and degree, and the skills and training required are very different.
Many thanks for your interesting post Corinne.
I think a major problem here is that most people are convinced there is absolutely no difference between translating and interpreting, whereas we know these two activities require quite different skills.
As far as the introvert/extrovert theory is concerned, I’d rather say that translating is more about being collected and patient, two qualities which aren’t incompatible with extraversion. As MT was saying, there are exceptions to every rule! (and this also applies to interpreters of course!)
I have the same self doubts about moving into the field of interpretation, though it seems to be my dream job…my main problem (at this stage) would be my mumbling!