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What level of proficiency does the Eu expect of interpreters?
Thread poster: bello82 (X)
bello82 (X)
bello82 (X)
Local time: 13:22
English to Italian
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TOPIC STARTER
4 active languages? Oct 18, 2012

that is really impressive. Congratulations to her! I guess it is possible to have 4 active languages. A speaker of Romance languages such as Romanian, Italian, Spanish etc.... is able to speak them actively becuase they are so similar with similar grammars too.

That is brilliant


 
LilianNekipelov
LilianNekipelov  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 09:22
Russian to English
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Yes, this is much different than in the US Oct 18, 2012

People usually concentrate in one language pair for interpreting purposes (both ways); some interpreters (a very low percentage) interpret from and to two or three languages. Some people do Creole, English and French, others may do Mandarin, English and Cantonese, but most really concentrate on one pair.

 
ParlInt
ParlInt
Local time: 14:22
Different ways of conveying meaning Nov 4, 2012

bello82 wrote:

But isn't interpreting supposed to mean conveying the message clearly not word for word? I mean an interpreter, from what I read, should never interpret every word but understand the gist of the speech and render it into the target language.

If you are telling me that an interpreter is to understand every single idiom, then it would humanly impossible to find the right one because nobody knows everything even in their mother tongue.


You're quite right, interpreting is all about conveying meaning rather than words. Of course we don't understand every single idiom and expression. Having said that, if you regularly hear words and/or expressions you don't understand, then your passive language needs some work. What I'm trying to say is that you need to be relied upon to understand the message. If you're unlucky, the gaps in your knowledge will be exposed in a high-vulnerability situation, if you're lucky, you can fill in the gaps with general knowledge and look it up later.


I guess that chunks of speech can be omitted as long as the message is clear and conveyed in a good way. Especially during simultaneous interpretation, an interpeter doesnt have the actual time to think of the right idiom even in his mother tongue and European Union interpreters are not an exception because nobody is perfect.



to an extent, that's true. Conveying a message is a rather subjective business. Consider a proposal being submitted to council, and the German delegate says:
"We are strongly opposed to this proposal because, in Germany, our federal structure is such that individual Länder would have to receive authorisation from federal authorities before authorising budget commitments and this would make the process lengthy and cumbersome."
Now, consider the following interpretations:
"We are opposed to the proposal"
"We are strongly against the proposal because it is too complicated"
"We are strongly against the proposal because we have a federal structure and this proposal would be difficult to implement as a result.
"We are strongly against the proposal because we have a federal structure and this proposal would cause some major budgetary difficulties because of that structure."
Now, I could go on, increasing the level of detail and accuracy each time. As far as I'm concerned, a delegate listening to the last version will have got the point...it's true that he won't know about commitments being the specific difficulty, but all of the other points are basically clear.
So when you listen to interpreters working, this is what they're doing. They're not summarising exactly, but when things get fast, or tough, or idiomatic, we drop down a level or two in specificity, and things become a bit more general. If you hear an interpreter saying "this is all very...significant" then it might be because the going is tough! It's a good fallback because if it wasn't significant, the speaker wouldn't be saying it!


 
ParlInt
ParlInt
Local time: 14:22
More than 3 passive languages Nov 4, 2012

LilianBoland wrote:

Some phrases are rephrased to save time, sometimes, but the full meaning has to be retained. Of course interpreters are human, so some skipped parts of the text are possible, but this is really what most interpreters try to avoid. Sometimes it cannot be helped, but it is not something generally acceptable. I am really surprised that some interpreters are attempting to interpret from ten languages -- I personally don't believe it is possible to interpret well from more than two or three languages (unless the languages are almost the same -- they just have different names for political reasons -- like Serbian, Bosnian, or some other languages that close). Also, the passive language notion really surprises me. If you are a professional interpreter, you are supposed to have active knowledge of both languages -- the target and the source. It is impossible in court environment to talk about passive and active languages -- you have to interpret both ways. Even the seminars in the US, usually use interpreters who can interpret both ways. How do you imagine consecutive interpreting with one language being passive?





Hi Lilian
I have heard several people express this idea that it's impossible to interpret well from more than three languages, and like Farkas, I just don't think it's true. I'd like to try and explain why I believe this, if possible.
Firstly, interpreters working from 4 languages and more tend to be concentrated around the EU institutions, as thiis is the only major set of institutions which regularly hires a large number of interpreters for meetings with 20 or so languages, where their polyvalent skills are encouraged. So, these people are often working regularly in an environment in which they can become familiar with regular terminology. I would say that many fellow colleagues with say 5 or more languages would feel much less comfortable interpreting in the wider world, where meeting topics are more unexpected, range of speakers might be more variable, the potential to be blindsided is infinitely higher. In a lot of my work, I have an agenda a few days in advance, I can swot up on fish names or banking terms, and for the most part I'm in my comfort zone. Within reason, EU interpreters are protected from the unexpected. Gaps in understanding can (sometimes) be filled with knowledge of the environment, the procedure, the routine. Within reason.
Secondly, as you mentioned it is quite rare in the major language booths to have a retour. We usually only have passive languages. This means you only have to recognise (accurately) what a word or sentence refers to, you don't have to be able to come up with it when required. You hunker down and focus on your mother tongue, as this is the language which has to trip off the tongue. I don't speak great Spanish or German, but work from them so much that I'd like to consider myself a good interpreter from thise languages.
Thirdly, it's important to have a shared understand of what is a good interpreter. I consider that to be someone who does a good job day in, day out, holding up in the face of difficult conditions. It doesn't have to be someone who sounds like Oscar Wilde even under pressure, no genius required, just a good, solid, reliable conveyer of useful information.
Lastly, some people are just exceptional. Most of my colleagues finish their careers with 4/5 languages, maybe doubling up (strong German, so adds Dutch, or strong Italian, so adds Romanian, etc.) but there are some who are just inexplicably brilliant. I know the interpreter mentioned by Farkas with 4 active languages. She's not the best ever, in my opinion (and in the two languages I have heard her work into), but she certainly isn't the worst and she definitely does the job above the required level of quality. So Respect to her. I also have a colleague with 9 passive languages...he's not even 40 yet.
I know too, that some have many languages and have obviously overreached...there are some shocking cases even in the EU. They are the exception though, and with the increasing pace of life at the Parliament, weak languages don't usually last too long.
Anyway, I hope I've convinced you. I have 4 languages myself and am working on Russian. I have already realised (5 years into my studies) that I will probably never work from Russian, but am keeping it up for fun. I will hopefully end my career with the same 4 passives I started with!


 
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What level of proficiency does the Eu expect of interpreters?







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