How do you interpret inclusion and belonging? Take a second look…

When interpreting at a diplomatic/governmental level, we must show discretion, avoid photography, be as invisible as possible, be mindful of eating/non-eating and be seated behind Heads of States. 

As interpreters, we must be familiar with dress codes, etiquette, demeanour, correct forms of address for dignitaries, tact, and savoir-faire. We will always interpret what the speaker has to say in the best possible way and refrain from adding our own comments. Like all professionals, we must abide by the Code of Ethics for interpreters and that includes remaining impartial, regardless of our own opinion.

Our opinions are never heard and at times, it’s a good job. We interpreters can be extremely opinionated outside the booths, stages and conference centres. Trust me, it’s better to have us on your side.

The other day I was completely amazed by Amir Kabel’s approach to diversity, inclusion and belonging.

Did you know that he is ranked as an accomplished Diversity & Inclusion leader with over 10 years of delivering pioneering diversity programs? He has also been listed in the global Top 50 Diversity Professionals for the last two years.

He was the facilitator of a Change, Culture and Inclusion workshop in London a couple of weeks ago, intended for a number of HR Leaders from various countries.

I was lucky enough to be there and interpret Amir and his thought-provoking messages into Italian/English. Can you believe that he involved me in the activities/breakout sessions? For once I was also part of an HR community discussing and learning how inclusive and diversified teams (in particular to age and gender) can make better decisions (80% of the time!) and factors such as demographics, race, and different education levels can contribute to more innovation and better business results.

We explored who we are and how we can become more balanced leaders by practising a quick self-scan method. All in all, the more balanced we are as leaders, the more balanced and inclusive a company and society can be. His highly interactive workshop was the bee’s knees. It really got us all thinking and definitely made us pledge to take a second look.

Enjoy the video and let me know what you think. Feel free to share too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alt4r56lOLw

100 years of conference interpreting — from Paris to Nuremberg to the 3rd revolution!

This year marks the 100-year anniversary of conference interpreting, which officially dates back to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919! To celebrate the centenary, the FTI and ILO are co-hosting an event on the theme ‘Looking back and looking forward!’ in Geneva this October.

It will include presentations and debates on the history and future of conference interpreting, including talks by a number of renowned experts. It sounds truly enthralling, and I’m sure it would be every interpreter’s dream to attend! https://www.unige.ch/fti/conf1nt100/conference-theme/ 

Reading about the event got me thinking about how conference interpreting has changed since its inception — and it is absolutely incredible. Just think about it — back in 1919, we still used consecutive interpreting for conferences. The technology for simultaneous hadn’t even been invented yet!

That wasn’t available until the 1920s, and even then it was rarely put to use. There are a few historical mentions of what they called ‘telephone interpreting’, but it wasn’t until the Nuremberg Trials that simultaneous interpretation was really used at a large scale.

To interpret the entire Nuremberg proceedings between French, English, Russian, and German was an incredible linguistic and technical feat — if you’re at all interested, I highly recommend listening to this fascinating interview with one of the interpreters, who was only 22 years old during the trials. And here is some live footage of the interpreting, starting at the two-minute mark: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn1002410.

The ground-breaking interpreting system they used was devised by a visionary linguist, French-born Col. Leon Dostert, who worked together with IBM to make it a reality. Then, with a group of carefully selected interpreters, he worked out a way to routinely do something that seemed nearly impossible: interpret from one language to another practically without pause. His work ultimately changed the face of conference interpreting forever.

Image credits: National Archives and Records Administration [Public domain]

So we are, in many ways, the successors to the Nuremberg interpreters. They invented large-scale simultaneous interpreting, and it has been expanded and improved on ever since then. The techniques have advanced, the technology has advanced, the teaching methods have advanced — all in a relatively short time frame. If you think about it, the whole industry has been in a near-constant state of change from the very beginning!

And the changes continue. Language technology and artificial intelligence will likely play an important role in the future of interpreting — something that experts are calling the 3^rd revolution, after the invention of writing and the printing press. And that has many linguists worried. But I think that, if technology is used appropriately, it can be a boon to our industry. After all, aren’t we all thrilled that we no longer need to lug around paper dictionaries when travelling to our assignments? I know I am!

There is no doubt that the coming decades will bring new challenges and innovations, but that is nothing new for us. I’m confident that interpreters will do what we’ve always done: find creative solutions and continue to thrive.

Is your industry new, or more established? How has it changed in the last few decades?

#ConferenceInterpreting #SimultaneousInterpreting #Interpreting #History