Published in Berlin
Medium: Berliner Wirtschaft
Date: 5.1.99
Printrun: 53,000
Hired to talk, committed to silence - conference interpreters guarantee the success of any multilingual event
There is more than meets the eye to staging a successful trade fair, event, conference or exhibition, or even "simply" organizing a booth at a multinational show. The expectation of guests from abroad adds a whole extra dimension to the problems which have to be dealt with. After all, only a handful are likely to have sufficient command of the English language to be sure that every subtle reference is taken the way it was intended, and that participants are reading the right message "between the lines". The article below by Karlheinz Bredemeyer, who heads up the German Press and Information Bureau of the International Association of Conference Interpreters (aiic) in Frankfurt am Main outlines when qualified interpreters should best be deployed and how.
No substitute for professional skill
The best conference interpreters are the ones nobody notices. They go about their highly skilled business discreetly in the second row. There are some 800 to 1000 full-time interpreters working in Germany today. Integrity and confidentially are the bywords of the conference interpreter. Their function is to relay the spoken word without censorship and without adding their own slant - either of which would be equivalent to malpractice of inexcusable proportions. And yet the misconception is still widely held that interpreting is something any linguistically talented employee should be able to turn their hand to. A false economy that could cost dearly: While a qualified conference interpreter does not come cheap, this is one investment that is certain to pay dividends. Using the services of a professional gives the speaker the freedom to say exactly what he thinks is important, and the organizers the assurance it will be correctly understood by listeners in their own native language. Professional conference interpreters bring far more to the table than just exemplary language skills: they have a high standard of general education, are intimately familiar with the country and customs of their respective languages, and also acquire continuously updated expertise in their specialist subject areas. The interpreter sits in a soundproof booth, listens to the talk being delivered through headphones and translates it simultaneously into the language of the listeners, who are also linked to the loop by headphones. Consecutive interpreting is a different ball game altogether. This is the favoured method used for private meetings between high-ranking figures from the worlds of business, politics, or society involving two or no more than three languages. In this case, the interpreter takes a seat at the table. Having noted down what one speaker has said, he then translates this for those present into their own language. The German language has a reputation for being particularly difficult for interpreters because of its complex sub clause structure which places the verb and the negation at the very end of what can be an extremely long sentence. This is just one very good reason why it will be difficult if not impossible even in future to replace the flesh and blood conference interpreter by a "translation machine". Unlike the human brain, the computer is far from being able to actually think, let alone understand intimation or exercise forethought. A machine will never be able to pick up on a discrepancy between what a speaker says and what he actually means. It will simply translate the spoken word whether it makes sense or not.
Interpreter is not a protected title
Training to become a conference interpreter and gaining a foothold in the profession is certainly a lengthy and difficult process. But curiously enough no generally accepted definition has ever been established. The professional titles "Interpreter" and "Translator" are not legally protected in any way. This is where the problem lies for many clients. When organizing an international event or conference, how can they possibly judge which interpreters are better or less suited, which language combinations they need for their fair, conference, congress or symposium, and what points they need to watch out for? It is here that the International Association of Conference Interpreters (aiic) based in Geneva can help by providing a watertight assurance of quality. Worldwide, its members number around 2300 professionals from 80 countries. In Germany, around 250 conference interpreters belong to the Association. Its members work for the UNO, the EC, various international organizations, sports associations, the Federal Government, and for corporations and companies of all sizes in a whole range of different specialist areas. All aiic members are experienced conference interpreters, who after qualifying from university have earned their membership by proving their linguistic ability in a stringent selection procedure. This guarantee of outstanding quality provides clients with the assurance that they will receive the highly qualified service vital to the success of their event.