By Aleyna Maria Tusa Could you tell us a bit about yourself and your background as an interpreter? My name is Anna Vianna. I’m 52 years old and live in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I have two children, ages 22 and 18. I am also an avid cyclist and wine and food enthusiast. I trained as an interpreter at the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, … [Read more...]
FIT Congress
XXI International Federation of Translators (FIT) World Congress August 3-5, 2017 – Brisbane, Australia By Marsel de Souza Edited on October 24, 2017 to reflect the removal of a bad link. Approximately 800 delegates from all four corners of the world convened in Brisbane – a city where nearly one‑third of the population is from overseas – for this memorable congress themed … [Read more...]
Preparing to Interpret at a Conference: Lessons Learned from a Healthcare and Court Interpreter
By Liz Essary During my training as a conference interpreter, some of the most important advice I got was this: Don’t crush your listener with a wall of sound. But what does that mean? It took me a while to figure it out. Rather than parroting a word-for-word monotone (and likely meaningless) rendition of what the speaker’s saying, you must process the message … [Read more...]
A Tale of Two Fields: Doing Research on Interpreting
By Deborah Giustini For most interpreters, whether they work in healthcare, media, asylums, international conferences, business meetings and so forth, the very idea of research – and doing research – on interpreting may be nebulous. The life of interpreters is a notably practical, hands-on and real-time occupation, and our training focuses mainly on acquiring the necessary … [Read more...]
United Nations: The Language Competitive Examination (LCE)
By Maha El-Metwally To become a staff interpreter at the United Nations, one must pass the Language Competitive Examination (LCE). This exam has always had a low pass rate that seldom exceeded 20%. With many staff interpreters retiring by 2018, a shortage of qualified interpreters in certain language combinations exists and needs to be addressed. This led the UN to … [Read more...]