Interview with an Expert: the Challenges and Rewards of Interpreting

专家访谈:口译的挑战与回报

2020-08-18 15:40 RWS Moravia Insights

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Interpretation is a highly specialized skill; it takes far more than simply being able to speak two languages at once. To get a better understanding of what life is like for an expert in the field, we sat down for a video chat with Ewa Jasinska-Davidson. With degrees in both English and Spanish, Ewa also holds a DPSI (Diploma in Public Service Interpreting) in English and Polish Law and a Master’s degree in Conference Interpreting. She splits her time between interpreting conferences in three different languages and teaching the next generation of interpreters at London Metropolitan University. We chatted with Ewa about her experience and her thoughts about the future of the profession. Before becoming a conference interpreter, you spent many years interpreting for the police, courts, hospitals and solicitors. Why did you switch to conference interpreting? I absolutely loved that job. I really enjoyed bridging the communication gap and helping people communicate, especially in such difficult circumstances for some of them. Then it was an obvious choice that another progression would be to start doing conference interpreting. How do you prepare for a conference? In my typical working day for a conference, I try to start with following the news in all three working languages, which is a very important aspect for conference interpreting because you never know what they will start talking about at the beginning. My preparation for the conference would need to happen beforehand; sometimes it takes more than a day. Maybe a week or the weekend before, I revise all the materials and prepare glossaries so that on the day of the assignment, I am up to speed and know the vocabulary. If you're going back to do a job that you have done already, so you know that terminology, you know the sector, that would be an easier job in a way. But if you're being asked to do a medical or pharmaceutical conference, this will involve a lot of preparation that you need to factor in to your schedule. What does a typical conference look like for you? You spend the whole day in the booth; you alternate with your booth partner. According to some research, your focus and concentration are worse after a certain time, so that's why it's very good to alternate. It doesn't mean that whenever you're not interpreting, you're not working. You will still be listening, following what's happening on the floor and sometimes writing down numbers or maybe new terms that will pop up. How do you manage your schedule and travel? Pre COVID-19 times, February to June and September to December would be busy months for conference interpreting. When it's busy, it's very busy. As a freelance interpreter, you are in charge of your own diary or agenda, so you need to be quite sensible. I only agree to a number of jobs for which I can physically be present and travel. As much as I love travelling, sometimes it can be challenging for me—spending time on the trains and then at the airports. But I like going to new places. It's a great bonus if I can extend my stay and do some sightseeing. Last year, I had a job in Budapest for the first time and I had an afternoon off, so I had a nice stroll, saw cultural sights and tasted some new food. What do you like best about being a conference interpreter? Probably my very best aspect—and this is something I discovered many, many years ago that I always wanted—is that no two days are ever the same. This is true even if you go back to the same conference or if you're working for the same client. Every time, you learn something new, and it's amazing that all of a sudden, you are interested in topics like polymers or meat hygiene. Another aspect is that I am interacting with my very experienced colleagues and, you know, that interaction is amazing. I like talking to people and I like building those relationships with them, and some of my colleagues have become my friends. During the current pandemic, conferences have gone virtual. How has this affected your ability to interpret? This is an unprecedented situation that causes so many changes, and conference interpreting is actually now possible online. The International Association of Conference Interpreters has acknowledged that this is now a necessity, and there are some recommendations on what kind of equipment you should use and what the working conditions are. In the booth, you would work for up to 30 minutes and then you would swap. But in remote interpreting, the cognitive load is even higher. So, either there should be bigger teams of interpreters or you should swap more frequently with your booth partner. And obviously with the social distancing, you can’t be working with your partner next to each other because you can't observe the two-metre rule. So, it's additional effort, because your booth partner might be sitting somewhere else and you would need to help each other via computer chat. I think this present crisis might be an opportunity to adapt to future developments. I don't think when the crisis is over that everybody will move to remote interpreting, because people will still want to meet face to face. But there might actually be some companies that may decide that they will alternate—that they will meet online once a year and in person once a year. How else do you think interpreters will need to adapt in the future? Obviously, there is a lot of talk about artificial intelligence and AI interpreting. I personally think that AI could be helpful to facilitate the work of interpreters. Technology will not replace interpreters, but it will be the interpreters who embrace technology that may replace other interpreters. I think it is very important for us to not only stay up to date with the current affairs with our languages, but also with the developments in the technology.   If you are planning your next corporate event, whether remote or in-person, we can help set up the right interpreting solution for your needs.
从事口译工作需要高度专业化的技巧;要具备这一点,远不止能同时说两种语言那么简单。为更好地了解这一领域的专家的生活,我们坐下来与Ewa Jasinska-Davidson进行了视频聊天。 Ewa不仅擅长英语和西班牙语,还拥有英语和波兰法律公共服务口译文凭和会议口译硕士学位。 她同时还在伦敦城市大学(London Metropolitan University)为三种不同语言的会议做口译,并教授下一代的口译员。我们和Ewa聊了聊她的经历,以及她对这个职业未来的畅想。。 在成为一名会议口译员之前,你曾为警察,法院,医院和律师做过多年的口译工作。你为什么转做会议口译? 我非常喜欢那份工作。我真的很喜欢跨国语言的鸿沟,帮助人们沟通,尤其是在这样困难的情况下。显然,另一个发展方向就是开始做会议口译。 你是如何为会议做准备的? 在我一个日常的会议工作中,我试着从用三种工作语言跟踪新闻报道开始,这对于会议口译来说非常重要,因为你永远不知道他们一开始会谈论什么内容。 我会为会议提前做好所有的准备;这有时需要不止一天的时间。也许一周或之前的周末我就要修改所有的材料,准备词汇表,以便在翻译当天能跟上进程,熟悉词汇。 如果你回过头去做之前已经做过的工作,你就会知道这个术语,了解这个部门,在某种程度上这会更容易上手。但是,如果你去翻译医学或药学会议,这需要提前开始大量的准备工作,你需要把这些准备工作纳入日程。 日常的会议对你来说是什么样子的? 你一整天都待在同传箱里;你和你的搭档轮流翻译。研究表明,你的注意力和专注度在一段时间后会变得很差,这就是为什么要交替传译。 这并不意味着当你没有翻译任务的时候,你就没事情干。你仍然要听,观察外面会议的进展,有时还要记下数字或者可能会出现的新术语。 你是如何安排你的行程和旅行的? 在COVID-19次之前,2月至6月和9月至12月将是会议口译的繁忙月份。 忙的时候很忙。作为一名自由职业口译员,你可以规划自己的日程,所以你需要相当敏感。我只去参加一些我可以亲自参与并且有时间旅行的工作。 虽然我很喜欢旅行,但有时它对我来说也很有挑战性--在火车上和机场里都要时间。但我喜欢去新地方。我想如果能在工作的地方逗留更久,有时间游览观光,那还不错。去年,我第一次在布达佩斯工作,我有一下午的时间,因而能好好漫步,参观文化景点,品尝没吃过的美食。 作为一名会议翻译,你最喜欢什么? 也许我最棒的一面--这也是很多很多年前我发现的,也是我一直想要的--每天都过的不一样。即使回到同一个会议,或者为同一个客户工作,也是如此。每次你都会学到一些新东西,令人惊奇的是,突然之间,你会对聚合物或肉类卫生之类的话题感兴趣。 另一个方面是,我正在与我非常有经验的同事交流,你知道,这种交流往往具有魔力。我喜欢与人交谈,我喜欢与他们建立那些关系,我的一些同事已经成为我的朋友。 在目前的新冠病毒期间,线下会议已经变成了线上视频会议。这对你的口译能力有什么影响? 这一情况前所未有并引起了很多改变,会议口译实际上现在已经可以在线进行了。国际会议口译员协会(International Association of Conference interpreter)已经承认,这是一种必要的做法,并且对于应该使用何种设备以及工作条件有一些建议。 在同传箱里,你会工作30分钟,然后换作搭档翻译。但在远距离口译中,认知负荷更高。因此,要么有更大的翻译团队,要么你应该更频繁地与同传箱里的搭档交替翻译。很明显,由于远距离社交,你不能和你的搭档并排工作,因为你不能遵守两米规则。所以,这需更努力,因为你的搭档可能坐在别的地方,你们需要通过电脑聊天互相帮助。 我认为目前的危机可能是一个适应未来发展的机会。我不认为当危机结束时,每个人都会转向远程口译,因为人们仍然希望面对面地交流。但实际上可能会有一些公司决定他们将交叉进行--每年一次线上会议和一次线下会议。 你认为口译员今后还需要怎样适应工作? 显然,关于人工智能和AI口译的讨论很多。我个人认为人工智能可以帮助口译人员的工作。技术不会取代译员,但是,接受技术的口译员可能会取代其他的口译员。 我认为对我们来说,不仅要用我们的语言跟上时事,而且还要跟上科技的发展,这是至关重要的。 如果您正在计划您的下一次企业活动,无论是远程或面对面,我们可以帮助您建立正确的口译解决方案,以满足您的需要。

以上中文文本为机器翻译,存在不同程度偏差和错误,请理解并参考英文原文阅读。

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