Sometimes we don’t realize how difficult a job can be until we see someone in action or we do it ourselves. This happened to me with live interpretation, I thought it was an easy job until I did it myself.
Interpretation vs. Translation: Understanding the Difference
Translation and Interpretation are different and let me explain why. Many people confuse the terms and you can see that on movies and on a daily basis where people ask: Is there any translator?
Translation refers to the process of converting written text from one language to another while maintaining the original meaning style and context. Interpretation on the other hand, is real-time conversion of spoken or signed language into another.
So, we can say that the primary distinction between the two is the medium: translation deals with written language, while interpretation focuses on spoken or signed language.
My First Live Interpretation Job
Understanding the meaning and difference, I was convinced that interpretation was easy because I listened to interpreters at events or TV shows. They do it so naturally that sometimes I was even doing it myself and comparing what I said to what the interpreter said.
It was not until I had my first interpretation job where I almost lost all the vocabulary in both languages. I was contacted by Pastor Jeremiah Wacker from La Puerta Church and he asked if I could do a live interpretation of his preaching, of course I said yes.
He provided me with a well detailed script of what he was going to talk about, not exactly his words, but at least for me to have an idea of what he was going to preach.
I had everything on my mind ready to start, I used my phone to have a guidance of where he was going and in case I needed to remember a word, I had some notes on it too. It was very helpful to have those notes because I was looking at them before beginning.
Was I nervous? Yes, it was the first time I was doing a live interpretation and mostly for a very important event such as his first sermon in El Salvador. I had to do it properly so he thought well of me and to give a good impression and to keep working with him.
When the preach started, I was focused, I was nervous too, but understood that I had to keep it together if I wanted it to go well. And indeed, in the end, it all went well. He helped me using easy vocabulary in English so I would not get lost and interpret that easily.
The Stress and Satisfaction of Real-Time Interpretation
The stress I felt during the live interpretation of praying for him not to use complex words, for me to understand everything he said and for me not to get stuck, was intense, but I was able to do it properly and the satisfaction that I got at the end was priceless.
Ever since that day I take my job more and more seriously, because I understand that people place their trust in me to do a good job, and I don’t like to disappoint people. Sometimes we don’t value the work others do because we don’t understand how difficult it may be for them and we only think: Oh! They are charging a lot for something easy.
Being a teacher is not stressful for me because I already know what I have to do, but the sensation of live interpretation is at another level and I love it. The fact that I have to prepare for something new is just enough for me to start craving for more.
It is not easy, but it is fun. Nowadays I was hired to attend a weekly meeting of a developers group where I translate from english to spanish and viceversa. Do you know how much vocabulary I had to learn? So much tech jargon that I didn’t know, now it is normal for me.
Embracing the Challenge
My point is that live interpretation is something that I didn’t think I was going to do and that it was going to be difficult every time. Nowadays, If I know about the topic, I am more confident, but if it is something I have never talked about, i like it because it creates that sensation of “this is a challenge for me”.
This article was not to talk about how the interpreters work and how much they earn, but mostly to appreciate their job and value the effort every single person puts into their jobs.
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