Meet interpreters working for the European Institutions — Transcript

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1. 0:01[Music]
2. 0:23interpreters work in the booth but
3. 0:26there's an awful lot of work that goes
4. 0:27on before we get to the booth that's
5. 0:30preparation there's two types of
6. 0:32preparation that we do in general terms
7. 0:34we need to know about politics and the
8. 0:37current affairs of the countries in
9. 0:38which our languages are spoken and we
10. 0:41need to know how economics work and how
11. 0:43the European institutions and the
12. 0:44European Parliament works following the
13. 0:47news and all of the different language
14. 0:48is seeing how all these people different
15. 0:51backgrounds coming together talking
16. 0:54about the things that you see on the
17. 0:56headlines every day you're really a part
18. 0:58of history in the making so you're kind
19. 1:01of like a fly on the wall you have this
20. 1:02front seat to see all of these things
21. 1:05happening here we are in the European
22. 1:06Council where heads of state or
23. 1:08government of European Union countries
24. 1:11meet to define the priorities of the EU
25. 1:13and to discuss complex and sensitive
26. 1:16issues as an interpreter you really get
27. 1:19to see behind the scenes in the making
28. 1:21of European history I love this job
29. 1:23because no two days are the same we
30. 1:26cover such a variety of topics that
31. 1:27interpreting really is exciting you can
32. 1:30say for interpreting that it's many
33. 1:32things but warring is definitely that's
34. 1:35one of them the different languages
35. 1:36bring within different challenges in the
36. 1:38booth as well in terms of the structure
37. 1:41of the language the way that people
38. 1:43naturally express themselves in that
39. 1:45language and then you have to think
40. 1:47about how that translates into English
41. 1:50and how that would come across well and
42. 1:52in a comprehensible manner to an English
43. 1:56customer listening at the other end
44. 1:58there are three things you need if you
45. 2:00want to be a simultaneous interpreter
46. 2:03first of all you need an excellent
47. 2:06command of your native language you need
48. 2:08to be able to speak confidently and
49. 2:10articulately about a wide range of
50. 2:12subjects some technical in a wide range
51. 2:15of registers of language secondly you
52. 2:18need to be able to think on your feet
53. 2:19because the speed is dictated by the
54. 2:22person speaking and we translate in
55. 2:24real-time and thirdly you need to be
56. 2:27very good under pressure for the same
57. 2:30reason plus the work is fast and furious
58. 2:32which really gets the adrenaline pumping
59. 2:34as soon as you pass your credit Asian
60. 2:37test you can go straight into the booth
61. 2:38and start working you work alongside
62. 2:40colleagues who have been doing it for
63. 2:42years and years and that's really
64. 2:44valuable too because it means that you
65. 2:45never stop learning from other people
66. 2:47you're part of a team and they're always
67. 2:50there to help you out interpreters are
68. 2:52team players and teamwork is especially
69. 2:54important here at the court to begin
70. 2:56with we help one another prepare for our
71. 2:58cases and then when it comes to the
72. 3:01hearing itself we know we can always
73. 3:03rely on one another in the booth when
74. 3:05the pressures really on for example if
75. 3:07there are a lot of numbers that have to
76. 3:09be written down or if the speaker is
77. 3:11very fast or just particularly difficult
78. 3:14I really like working here
79. 3:17and I've learnt a lot from my fellow
80. 3:19colleagues I don't really think there's
81. 3:21any age limit to becoming an interpreter
82. 3:23I trained and accredited with the
83. 3:25institutions when I was 46 it was quite
84. 3:28a challenging career change but it's
85. 3:31been a great success and I've loved
86. 3:32every moment of it so if you think you
87. 3:35want to be an interpreter I would
88. 3:37contact one of the universities which
89. 3:39offer postgraduate interpreting training
90. 3:42and get their advice that's what I did
91. 3:44and Here I am I started here with just
92. 3:48French and Italian as my two languages
93. 3:49but I was lucky enough to go to Poland
94. 3:52for a couple of months and it was
95. 3:53Parliament that sent me there so that I
96. 3:55could practice my Polish that meant that
97. 3:57when I came back I could take another
98. 3:59test to add Polish to my combination and
99. 4:02now I work with those three languages
100. 4:04really it's a case of lifelong learning
101. 4:06you never stop learning as an
102. 4:09interpreter you really are always on the
103. 4:11move
104. 4:11you turn up at your meeting it could be
105. 4:14in one room then you've got to go to
106. 4:15another building for your next meeting
107. 4:18sometimes those meeting other even in
108. 4:20Brussels you can go to Strasbourg
109. 4:22my first mission was actually to Namibia
110. 4:24so the world is really your oyster I've
111. 4:28been interpreting for 35 years and I've
112. 4:30never wanted to do anything else so it
113. 4:33must be a good job to do I love
114. 4:36interpreting because I can get to use
115. 4:38all my languages which I adore it's
116. 4:40interesting challenging and you're
117. 4:43always learning if you have a passion
118. 4:46for languages
119. 4:47you are interested in learning things
120. 4:50about the world and you'd like a little
121. 4:53bit of excitement in your career then I
122. 4:55definitely think that being a conference
123. 4:57interpreter is something that could
124. 4:58really be for you and of course UK
125. 5:02Nationals will still be eligible to work
126. 5:03as freelancers in the future
127. 5:14you