Language courses for Interpreters- adding a C language מפרסם התגובה: Marie Safarovic
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Dear colleagues,
I have been feeding google with various keywords for a while now in order to find a really intensive language course that would be suitable for interpreting purposes, but I could not find any.
I am thinking of applying for the EU freelancing test but before doing so I would like to add another C language to my current A-B-C profile.
Does any of you know of any language courses that are specially designed for interpreters' needs, or do they ... See more Dear colleagues,
I have been feeding google with various keywords for a while now in order to find a really intensive language course that would be suitable for interpreting purposes, but I could not find any.
I am thinking of applying for the EU freelancing test but before doing so I would like to add another C language to my current A-B-C profile.
Does any of you know of any language courses that are specially designed for interpreters' needs, or do they not exist? Of course I could alsways do an ordinary course and find a job alongside, but it would take longer. Isn't there anything that's funded by the Commission or any of the other bodies employing interpreters?
I would have thought that such programmes should exist for the Eastern European or Baltic languages for which they don't have enough interpreters?
Another big question of course is which language to add and I am not asking you to answer it for me, but it would be nice to hear some opinions. I was intuitively thinking that I should consider any language of which I have prior knowledge so that I could learn it quickly'ish. Don't get me wrong, I know that just doing an intensive course isn't everything- and that we have to keep cultivating our languages for as long as we live. But it would be a start and I would feel more confident in the test if I had two Cs.
In my case I could consider FR, IT, DA or SV.
I am least tempted by FR as it is such a widely spoken language and most tempted by SV. Of course there can't ever be a guarantee for anything but what are your thoughts on the matter?
I am just not entirely sure about Swedish, as much as I like it, because maybe with a little more effort I could learn any of the Baltic languages. But then again, maybe the effort would be much higher than for any of the above mentioned languages, as I have no prior knowledge at all.
As you might already know I am a total beginner (have not even graduated yet, but will soon) so I really appreciate your advice.
thanks a lot in advance
Marie
PS: to anyone who has read my previous post about Russia- I have not given up that idea, I just think it is more likely to become a long-term project ▲ Collapse
| | | | mmihano4 (X)
Local time: 10:25
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If you are applying for the SCIC freelance test I'd recommend you apply only with your strongest language combinations, for example start with two passive languages (two C languages) into your mother tongue. Once you pass the really tough SCIC test and they put you on their list (50% of all candidates fail) you can then add other passive languages or even a retour (B-language). SCIC offers to their freelance interpreters access to their speech and language platform where one can work on adding t... See more If you are applying for the SCIC freelance test I'd recommend you apply only with your strongest language combinations, for example start with two passive languages (two C languages) into your mother tongue. Once you pass the really tough SCIC test and they put you on their list (50% of all candidates fail) you can then add other passive languages or even a retour (B-language). SCIC offers to their freelance interpreters access to their speech and language platform where one can work on adding the passive language. on top of that there are regularly summer and winter courses for people wishing to improve their languages, FASK Germersheim, Uni Mainz in Germany offers great courses for German as C or B language, Oxford offers a refresher course in English...
What's your A language? If you're the native speaker of some Germanic or Romance language then I would definitely try to add som Slavic or Baltic language end maybe ask SCIC for help. But the age of interpreters with only one or two languages is definitely over. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Time and other issues | Mar 5, 2010 |
First of all, if you think you can learn a new language from scratch (or almost) in half a year or so, I'd suggest that you think again.
As to which language to learn, there is nothing wrong with shooting off an email to the head of your booth at the Commission or even the Parliament and asking which languages would complement your current language combination best. They know best.
If you have an English A, German B and Spanish C, the best thing you can do is apply with... See more First of all, if you think you can learn a new language from scratch (or almost) in half a year or so, I'd suggest that you think again.
As to which language to learn, there is nothing wrong with shooting off an email to the head of your booth at the Commission or even the Parliament and asking which languages would complement your current language combination best. They know best.
If you have an English A, German B and Spanish C, the best thing you can do is apply with that combination double quick. The English booth is in a massive crisis. They are desperate for new interpreters... Yes, having one of the 10 new languages on top of G and S would be nice, but by the time you learn a new language (realistically, that will be a few years) the situation might be different (although they will probably only get even more desperate). Also, nothing stops you starting to learn a language, doing the test right now with your current language profile and then coming back with the new language later if you don't pass now. Telling the committee that you're learning a new language and plan to add it later doesn't hurt, either.
Expect your German B to be pretty much ignored... As a rule, people with an English mother tongue don't do retour so it's not much of a selling point to have a B. Do take the retour test though.
mmihano4 wrote:
If you are applying for the SCIC freelance test I'd recommend you apply only with your strongest language combinations, for example start with two passive languages (two C languages) into your mother tongue. Once you pass the really tough SCIC test and they put you on their list (50% of all candidates fail) you can then add other passive languages or even a retour (B-language).
I'd strongly advise against doing this. Always apply with all languages you have any realistic hope of passing. If you fail the retour, you can still pass with two Cs and many many people do just that. It would be really silly to limit your options for no good reason... several people I know passed with what they considered to be their weaker or even hopeless language(s) while failing the stronger one(s). You could say I did too.
BTW more than 50% fail. I don't have figures, but probably more like 60 to 80%. In my freelance test it was 75%.
BTW EU institutions do support learning new languages, but obviously they spend their money on people that have already passed a test. I think the most you can expect is the opportunity to do 2 weeks of interpreting practice in empty booths at actual meetings in Brussels right before your test. ▲ Collapse
| | | | mmihano4 (X)
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Sorry Andras, I must disagree with you on how with many languages you should apply for a SCIC test. I've seen people taking the SCIC test in two C languages and one B and then failing nearly all combinations except for one C. The exam took nearly the whole day with the end result being nothing. If you're still attending university you might ask your teachers if they could help you assess what languages in your language combination are "sound" enough for you to pass the SCIC test. the worst thing... See more Sorry Andras, I must disagree with you on how with many languages you should apply for a SCIC test. I've seen people taking the SCIC test in two C languages and one B and then failing nearly all combinations except for one C. The exam took nearly the whole day with the end result being nothing. If you're still attending university you might ask your teachers if they could help you assess what languages in your language combination are "sound" enough for you to pass the SCIC test. the worst thing you can do is to apply for the scic test with like 4 C-languages and fail all of them.
Starting to learn a new language while you're still attending univeristy is a great thing since it would probably take you 5 to 6 years to bring a new language to the conference interpreting level.
and as andras put it, scic test really has high failure rates. ▲ Collapse
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Marie Safarovic
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Local time: 12:25
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TOPIC STARTER | interesting comments... | Mar 5, 2010 |
Dear colleagues,
I am impressed by how much support I am receiving from you in this forum; really, I can't stress this enough!
First of all, my combination is not English A, German B and Spanish C, but German A and English B. This changes the matter slightly, but not too much -
Only yesterday I read how desperate the English booth is for English mother tongue speakers- I'll add the link here in case anybody ... See more Dear colleagues,
I am impressed by how much support I am receiving from you in this forum; really, I can't stress this enough!
First of all, my combination is not English A, German B and Spanish C, but German A and English B. This changes the matter slightly, but not too much -
Only yesterday I read how desperate the English booth is for English mother tongue speakers- I'll add the link here in case anybody has not read it yet:
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/09/74&format=HT
Alas, according to the article the demand for French and German As is also on the rise so that's good news for me.
I like FarkasAndras' suggestion of addressing the German booth at the Commission or Parlament, just- how does one establish contact with them? I will definitely google them- or do you happen to know?
Mmihano4's suggestion seems sound, too and I have already discussed the matter with some of my teachers. The answer, however, tended to be "focus on improving your technique and worry about other languages later". Not all together wrong, but I can't sit still knowing that the course will be over in June without knowing what to do next. And I think I should add another C, so that I can at least apply for the freelancing test.
Another teacher said that I should definitely go to Russia and learn the language if I am that keen on it (which I am) - but then I won't start working as an interpreter until much later- and as much as I would love to study Russian I don't want to wait too long either to get established.
I will try to ask someone at SCIC, too.
At the moment my general conclusion is to invest a year in learning a Slavic or Baltic language, apply for the test, probably fail said language but at least show that I am willing to get it up to scratch- and possibly pass with my other languages. Phew, from what you tell me it seems almost impossible but one must think positive!
Shame I spent ages living in Britain before it dawned on me that I want to be an interpreter; I then added Spanish to my profile and now I am unfortunately no longer a spring chicken and should start getting a life. Means, I probably can't afford living here, working there, doing this and that for too much longer (sigh).
keep posting your thoughts and advice, they really help!
Regards and greetings from Tenerife
Marie ▲ Collapse
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mmihano4 wrote:
Sorry Andras, I must disagree with you on how with many languages you should apply for a SCIC test. I've seen people taking the SCIC test in two C languages and one B and then failing nearly all combinations except for one C. The exam took nearly the whole day with the end result being nothing. If you're still attending university you might ask your teachers if they could help you assess what languages in your language combination are "sound" enough for you to pass the SCIC test. the worst thing you can do is to apply for the scic test with like 4 C-languages and fail all of them.
Well, the worst thing is to fail when you could have passed. That could also happen because you didn't take the test in a language you could have passed with.
Of course there is no point applying with languages you just don't speak well enough, we agree on that much. However, I don't see why taking the test with an A-B-C combination should be such a strain as to have a negative impact on performance.
Of course concentrating on your best languages during preparation and just adding the weaker ones as a "bonus" could be a good idea in some cases.
| | | | mmihano4 (X)
Local time: 10:25
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go to the facebook interpreting for europe and you'll get more info there plus there is someone from scic you can contact directly there via facebook
| | | | Marie Safarovic
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Local time: 12:25
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TOPIC STARTER
thanks! I will definitely do that
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