Perspectives on Community and Conference Interpreting

International Seminar

UNIVERSIDAD DE ESPECIALIDADES ESPIRITU SANTO

INTERNATIONAL CAREERS PROGRAM

SCHOOL OF TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION International Seminar:

Perspectives on Community and Conference Interpreting

Lisette Garnica J.

October 2009

Perspectives on Community and Conference Interpreting

International Seminar

Perspectives on Community and Conference Interpreting Students from the School of Translation and Interpretation decided to attend

the 50th Annual Conference of the American Translators Association. This trip

was worthwhile for the students not only because of the conference content, but

because of the different visits made during their stay in New York City.

Thanks to the help and professional contacts of our dean, Monica Reynoso, and

our former instructor, Sara Benét, we were able to attend special tours of

important places where interpretation and translation services are needed.

I was so sorry I could not attend the first section of visits where my classmates

went to the Trading Floor of the Bank of America - Merryl Lynch and the

Translation section of the United Nations.

New York District Court

On Tuesday, October 27th, we met at the District

Court Building, Criminal Section. It was really

important and exciting to go to that building where

innumerous trials have been held throughout the

years. First, the head of the Interpretation

Department met us at the office and showed us

the equipment they use and more or less

explained their work to us.

Then, she took us to an ongoing trial. It was very exciting to know that it was a

part of a big trial on drug dealing. At the moment we sat in the courtroom, they

Perspectives on Community and Conference Interpreting

International Seminar

were interrogating someone on a crime that he was a witness of. This first

direct experience in the court was interesting. It was interesting to see how it

was physically organized.

Since the accused person was an Anglophone, there was no need for

interpretation. However, it was still a valuable visit for us.

What really got my attention at that particular visit was the fact that, since it was

forbidden to take pictures of any kind, there was a court drawer in a corner, who

was constantly drawing the faces, expressions and scenario of the trial and of

the accused. This tells me how strict they are about trials and how important is

confidentiality and secrecy for it, which are two essential aspects of our

profession.

The second visit was to a trial where the accused was a Spanish speaker who

needed an interpreter. I first noticed that we could not see the interpreter. We

were provided the equipment to hear the interpretation and we were able to

hear the proceedings and interpretation by switching from Spanish to English

and vice verse, just like translators and interpreters like to do!

At the trial, we witnessed an interrogation of an expert witness. This time the

whole interrogation was in English and it was interpreted into Spanish. We

were really lucky to have this trial at that moment. Since the witness was an

expert witness, there were very technical words. They were trying to look for

facts regarding whether a phone call had been made from the United States or

Mexico. The vocabulary used was very technical. It was all about waves, rates,

signal, positions and ranges.

The deposition of the witness was long. The interpreter was changed after

around 20 minutes of performance. The change was quick. Once there was a

pause after what looked like a paragraph, the second interpreter took over and

started with the interpretation. The change was sharp. We could not notice it

Comentario [S1]: Why was this, and the camera ban surprising to you? What did it tell you about the nature of working in court?

Perspectives on Community and Conference Interpreting

International Seminar

by the fact that the second interpreter was a woman and the first one was a

man.

I noticed that it was hard for the second interpreter to take the first’s place and

maintain the pace. The lag time she used was longer than the first interpreter

and the words did not flow as easily as they had for the first interpreter. After a

few minutes, she caught up and interpreted with the same rate and quality.

This was very important because, to me, it shows that once you are familiar and

comfortable with the dialogue and terms you can run and flow as one voice.

That is the work of an interpreter.

Then we returned to the office where they explained us that there were only a

few interpreters working permanently for the court. When they need other

specific combination of languages or just additional interpreters, they use

freelance interpreters or translators.

This showed me how important is to keep sending your CVs for further contact,

even if you are already working or if the place job is already taken. Freelance is

also a way of keeping yourself in the market.

The UN

That same day, we visited the United Nations

Organization. That was an unforgettable

experience. That day we went to the UN building

on First Avenue and we had special tour guides.

They were the Head of the Spanish Section and a

UN interpreter. Their knowledge was valuable for

us.

Perspectives on Community and Conference Interpreting

International Seminar

We spent most of our time there with the

interpreter. His name is Adrian Delgado. He is

from Mexico and has been working for the UN

for around three years as an interpreter. He

explained to us the process of becoming part of

the interpretation team at the UN and how they

grow professionally there.

What I liked the most was visiting the main hall where the General Assembly

meets and where so many things between countries had happened. We found

the place where the delegates from Ecuador sit. It was almost in front of the

podium. Adrian explained to us how these places are chosen for every country

every year. The countries seating rotates around the hall. This way, every

country has the opportunity to get closer to the president. He kept saying that it

is important to remember that the principles of the United Nations are based on

equity among every country.

Then, we visited the interpretation booths. It

was unbelievable how uncomfortable those

booths are. There was little space and no

light. However, they are a workplace for the

group of people in charge of transmitting

important information from one language to

another to the rest of the world in their work

toward peace and equality.

There were other halls as well. These halls were more private and are used for

different kinds of meetings. One of the

halls was very similar to the main one and

the interpretation booths were located in

the same way. However, they were more

uncomfortable than the first ones because

Comentario [S2]: What did you take away from this?

Perspectives on Community and Conference Interpreting

International Seminar

there were pillars in the middle of some of them. The interpreters, as in any

other profession, were complaining and requesting better work conditions that

may improve the quality of the delivered information.

Other halls were smaller and the interpretation

booths were located around the room. Adrian

said that these halls were better because that the

interpreter could see the speaker who they

interpret, more clearly. As we interpreters know,

this gives more confidence to the interpreter

during their performance. There were also small rooms where the interpretation

was done in whisper mode. These rooms were special for very private

meetings.

Adrian told us that the UN building will be undergoing a redesign process in the

following months and they will be placed temporally in another building. In this

temporary building, the interpretation booths will be modern and they will try out

high quality equipment to use in the future UN building.

Through this, I see the evolution of the profession in one of the most important

organizations in the world. This organization respects our profession and

perceives how important we are for their journey. Now that they are looking for

improvements for a better work environment and facilities for interpreters, teach

us the important role that we have to educate our clients and make them

respect us as professionals.

We were lucky to watch an assembly that was open to public at that moment.

Unfortunately, the equipment, as I mentioned before, was old and some of us

could not hear the interpretation. Besides that, it was great to observe.

Adrian encouraged us by saying that there was no age and no restrictions but

passing the exam to enter and be part of the UN team. We need to have three

Comentario [S3]: What were the interpreters attitudes regarding their booths?

Comentario [S4]: What do you mean?

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International Seminar

languages of the official languages of the UN, and one can be a C language.

The first month we are under supervision, but once you past the exam, it means

you are capable of doing it. It seems to be a remarkable experience to work for

the United Nations.

These visits and the conference sessions made me understand the wide job

market available not only in my country but around the world. It was a surprise

for me when Adrian told us that there were no interpreters from South America

and that they needed them. Now I understand and realize that it is not only

about the language but also localization. We are different from most of the

Spanish-speaker translators in the US only because we are from South

America.

Obviously, the U.S. market is different from Ecuador’s market. U.S. market is

more open to improvement because people do understand the needed

conditions to work with an interpreter and the respect for what we do is far

higher. However, this experience makes us understand that we are at the

beginning of the road. Our profession in Ecuador, in Guayaquil, is just recently

born. People who has been interpreting have a very defined market and some

of them sometimes do not educate the client on what we need for do a good

job, but now it is changing. And it was the same in the United States whereas

now interpreters have as much respect as any other profession. So we, in

Ecuador, can make the difference and help grow the profession and create our

own spaces in the market.

I really believe that all these spaces for interpretation is new or do not exist in

Ecuador. Guayaquil is a growing city where business grows exponentially and

many of these businesses are done in an international level. I think that

creating only business spaces with translation and interpretation services will be

benefit and speed up business. From my experience, medium and large

companies still are using their own staff to translate articles or documents when

it would be easier and faster to send it to a professional translator.

Comentario [S5]: Do you mean country of origin?

Comentario [S6]: What do you mean here? It seems that the UN is dominated by interpreters from Spain, but that is not the trend in the U.S. on a whole.

Comentario [S7]: Why do you believe this? Explian a bit more.

Comentario [S8]: In what way? Some people have been interpreting for 20 years in GYE. In what way is the profession just beginning?

Perspectives on Community and Conference Interpreting

International Seminar

I think that another way to make our profession grow in the market is settling it

inside the companies. We can offer projects to big companies for settling

translation departments, where professional translators are hired and fair paid.

I gained from these experiences visiting places where translation and

interpretation are needed helped me to improve my attitude toward my career.

As I said before, it made me understand that I have a whole new work to create

in my city and grow along with my T&I partners. The attitudes toward my career

have changed in a good way, making me understand that my profession is

worldly important and we are taking into account at the modernization process,

and this is coming soon also to Ecuador.