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Being a translator and studying more L2s

 Language Learning Forum : Languages & Work Post Reply
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Iwwersetzerin
Bilingual Heptaglot
Senior Member
Luxembourg
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Speaks: French*, Luxembourgish*, GermanC2, EnglishC2, SpanishC2, DutchC1, ItalianC1
Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin

 
 Message 17 of 31
23 November 2012 at 8:26pm | IP Logged 
Journeyer wrote:
What is meant by A, AA, B, or C languages? You certainly don't mean language levels, do you? I can't imagine a professional interpreter working with only an A or B level.


This terminology is specific to conference (simultaneous) interpreting:
A language = mother tongue, the language you interpret into
B language = a language you master perfectly and interpret out of (B->A), but also sometimes into (A->B, sometimes C->B)
C language = a language you understand perfectly, but only interpret out of, not into (C->A, sometimes C->B)

So A = mother tongue and active language, B = active language, C = passive language

See International association of conference interpreters (AIIC)
7 persons have voted this message useful



Julie
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Senior Member
PolandRegistered users can see my Skype Name
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Speaks: Polish*, EnglishB2, GermanC2, SpanishB2, Dutch, Swedish, French

 
 Message 18 of 31
25 November 2012 at 3:01pm | IP Logged 
Iwwersetzerin, how often C->B interpreting is, based on your experience?

From what I've heard, it is frowned upon by quite a few interpreters.

Some people also say that if an interpreter works into his/her B from all Cs, it
practically makes it an A language.
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Iwwersetzerin
Bilingual Heptaglot
Senior Member
Luxembourg
Joined 5449 days ago

259 posts - 513 votes 
Speaks: French*, Luxembourgish*, GermanC2, EnglishC2, SpanishC2, DutchC1, ItalianC1
Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin

 
 Message 19 of 31
25 November 2012 at 6:11pm | IP Logged 
Julie wrote:
Iwwersetzerin, how often C->B interpreting is, based on your experience?

From what I've heard, it is frowned upon by quite a few interpreters.

Some people also say that if an interpreter works into his/her B from all Cs, it
practically makes it an A language.


Good question. I'm not an interpreter myself, I work exclusively as a translator, so I don't have any first-hand experience in this area. I agree that it would practically be an A language if you interpret into it from various C languages. I believe AIIC doesn't sanction C-B interpreting either. In practice, I would think that it depends on the language. If you have a B language that few people have as A, there may be a greater need for you to do C-B in same cases. It's certainly not ideal, that's for sure. Just as in translation, it's always better to work exclusively into your mother tongue.
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Serpent
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Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
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 Message 20 of 31
26 November 2012 at 1:00am | IP Logged 
Julie wrote:
Quote:
It will take years before any new language will be useful for your job as a translator.
Actually, some EU interpreters (and I suppose this applies to translators as well) add a new C language every couple of years. There're many interpreters who work from 5-6 languages into their A, especially in the "old" booths.
Well, maybe I should've said "as useful as the language(s) you've been learning since childhood". It might be relatively easy to add a language as a C, but not as a B, let alone A.
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Julie
Heptaglot
Senior Member
PolandRegistered users can see my Skype Name
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 Message 21 of 31
26 November 2012 at 10:01pm | IP Logged 
In conference interpreting you don't "add" an A language. An A language is simply the
strongest language of the interpreter (usually the native one).

You don't usually add new B languages either. There aren't more than a few, if any,
professional interpreters who have more than two working B languages, with 1 B language
or none being the standard.
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bela_lugosi
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Finland
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Speaks: English, Finnish*, Italian, Spanish, German, Swedish
Studies: Russian, Estonian, Sámi, Latin

 
 Message 22 of 31
30 November 2012 at 11:59pm | IP Logged 
^True. I work as an interpreter and I can guarantee that most interpreters have got only one language combination (C->A). My working languages are:
A: Finnish
B: English, Italian

Simultaneous interpreting in particular is an extremely demanding thing to do and even if you do it into your own mother tongue, it is nearly impossible to go on after 20-30 minutes. In that case I would strongly advise against C->B interpreting.

Consecutive interpreting is a totally different thing. There you have got time to think and jot down some notes. I have managed A->B, and I think many others can do it, too. Nowadays consecutive is rarely used in conferences, simultaneous being the standard since the Nürnberg trials, but it is still a relevant option in most other situations where an interpreter is needed.

If you want to become an interpreter, you need to have a massive vocabulary in your working languages and you must be able to cope with stress. Oh, did I already mention that it is definitely an advantage if you have a pleasantly soft voice and a very clear pronunciation? ;)

Edited by bela_lugosi on 01 December 2012 at 12:10am

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Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6377 days ago

9753 posts - 15779 votes 
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Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish

 
 Message 23 of 31
01 December 2012 at 12:16am | IP Logged 
OK now it's clearer what the letters mean. But you're both confirming my doubts essentially:)
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Julie
Heptaglot
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PolandRegistered users can see my Skype Name
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1251 posts - 1733 votes 
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 Message 24 of 31
01 December 2012 at 1:15am | IP Logged 
Serpent wrote:
OK now it's clearer what the letters mean. But you're both confirming
my doubts essentially:)

Share your doubts, and I'll try to convince you it is not all that bad :)

But seriously, some people love it, whereas others (including some of those who have
managed to graduate from a conference interpreting program) end up hating it or feeling
it's just not something for them.

I think it's definitely worth trying. Personally, I love inteprreting, and I believe
that, apart from being difficult and exhausting, as bela_lugosi has pointed out, it is
a really enjoyable and satisfying activity.

@bela_lugosi: just wondering, is it common for Finnish interpreters to work into
Finnish only? From what I've heard, the Finnish booth in the EU still provides often
interpreting from Finnish, as there aren't enough interpreters with Finnish B/C. What
is the situation on the Finnish market like?


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