Russian Interpreter and French Interpreter Services
Interpreting is an extremely difficult profession. And no, not all bilinguals can interpret! Besides language mastery and interpreting techniques, a successful interpreter must know enough about practically everything; possess the will and determination to constantly study and learn; and have great communication (people) skills. The major interpretation goal is not only to preserve the meaning and style of the message, but to ensure that the speech makes the same impact on the target audience as it would in its original language, paying great attention to timing and delivery skills. Interpretation is truly a communication skill; the ability to listen, decode from one language and encode to another, and speak at the same time. Great interpreters must be good public speakers and have a pleasant and naturally flowing delivery. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Being an interpreter is a highly demanding job. It takes years of experience, skill honing, and hard work to become great, and then much more to maintain that. Moreover, in the professional interpreting world one has to deal with difficult, emotional, and sometimes wacky situations, while maintaining professionalism and adhering to the rules of ethics. A good interpreter must not only do their job as to remain a conduit in communication between two parties who don’t speak the same language, allowing each of them to be heard the same way as if they were speaking one language, but also perform this job with respect to cultural difference, specific location and settings requirements, and particular rules of conduct depending on every particular assignment.
Types of Language Interpretation
Consecutive Interpretation
Being the most popular type of interpreting, consecutive interpretation involves many different brain processes working at the same time: active listening to the speaker; comprehending and analyzing what the speaker is saying; taking useful notes that will trigger your memory of the speech as you say it back; and then being able to make the speech as if it were your own in your native language.
And all of this has to happen on the fly, with no time to research, build a glossary, consult dictionaries, or discuss issues with your fellow interpreters. Now of course if the interpreter has the luxury of knowing the subject matter of his upcoming assignment, he can definitely prepare to a certain extent. However, based on my experience I can definitely state that this is only maybe 10% of cases. The usual situation is to walk into the room just knowing the type of event: business meeting, deposition, medical appointment, immigration interview, court hearing, etc.
Simultaneous Interpretation
Simply put, simultaneous (at the same time) interpretation happens when the interpreter conveys the message from one language to another in real-time, not disturbing the natural flow of the speaker, allowing for a fairly smooth speech delivery to the listeners. Juggling two languages at the same time is already a rather demanding task, add simultaneity – and you have yourself a brain on cognitive overload. By working together, several parts of the brain make it possible to nearly simultaneously do the impossible: listen, comprehend, decode, memorize, translate and speak!
Sight Interpretation
This type of interpreting is similar to simultaneous, conveying written text orally. The interpreter reads the document in one language and orally translates it to another language as if it had been written in that language. This is mainly used in legal and business settings.
Escort/Travel
Part personal assistant, an escort or travel interpreter helps clients with their day-to-day activities while they are traveling – mainly on business trips. The interpreter not only performs the linguistic functions, but also acts as liaison and cultural advisor, responsible for a vast array of tasks from ordering take out to assisting at a real estate or business deal closing. An escort interpreter is mainly requested to assist foreign guests or delegations visiting a city or site, hosting an event, or conducting lengthy negotiations. Since it is a more informal type of client-interpreter relationship, the interpreter chooses the best method of interpreting depending on the situation, making sure the client is aware of and understands everything being said around him.
Telephone/Remote
New communication technologies make interpreting available where it previously wasn’t just a few years ago, and the pandemic has definitely shown us how useful and sometimes indispensable those technologies are. This type of interpreting is done remotely through telephone, Zoom or any other platform, allowing all parties to be present regardless of where they are physically located. This has definitely become mainstream, with courts switching to Zoom hearings and medical doctors introducing remote appointment options.
Medical/Healthcare Interpreting
Medical Interpreting is a special discipline requiring a much deeper professional training rather than a mere understanding of both spoken languages. As with court interpreting, the healthcare interpreter needs a basic understanding of medical terminology in both languages as well as a good understanding of cultural factors that could potentially influence communication between doctors and patients. Interpreters without proper training in the healthcare field are much more likely to make mistakes, compromising patient care. An American Academy of Pediatrics study found that 77% of errors committed by ad hoc interpreters were likely to be “errors of potential clinical consequence”. In a 2007 study published by the International Journal for Quality in Healthcare, 52% of the “adverse events” experienced by low English proficiency patients in US hospitals were due to communication errors. Needless to say, any mistake made by a medical interpreter can affect the care patients receive.
Court Interpreting/Legal Interpreting
As any representative of the legal system, court interpreters are bound by strict and defined responsibilities: they are to serve as a conduit between non-English speakers and English speakers, ensuring the non-English speaker has the same presence during any legal process as a normal English speaker would have. Needless to say, legal settings are heavy on terminology, therefore requiring extensive and continuous interpreter training and deep knowledge of the legal system in US and the country of the source language. Additionally, in the state of Florida a professional court interpreter has to adhere to the Code of Professional Conduct: “All interpreters shall act in a professional manner in keeping with the Code of Professional Conduct as set forth herein. Failure to adhere to the Code may lead to disciplinary action.” To sum up, it includes accuracy and completeness, impartiality and avoidance of conflict of interests, confidentiality and restriction of public comment, professional demeanor and scope of practice.
I have had the pleasure and honor of working with Ms. Polina Bloom for the last ten years. Polina has the integrity, ethics and professionalism sought by any professional in the language field. She delivers consistent exceptional quality service whether it be interpreting or translation projects. I wholeheartedly recommend Polina Bloom and wish her the very best in her present and future endeavors.
– Rose Rosario CEO, Translations USA
