Interpreter? What do you mean, interpreter? The interpreter is a species of translators who deal with translating one language into another in real-time. Be it from inside a booth, or literally into someone’s ear, her mission is noble: to make it so that two people who can’t speak a word of each other’s languages can talk perfectly, make decisions and shake hands.
Doing interpretation means translating whatever someone says for an audience unfamiliar with their native language. For example, at the European Union, Spanish interpreters will “whisper” the statement of a parliamentarian from the Netherlands into Spanish so that all Spanish parliamentarians can understand, in real-time, what their colleague from the Land of Tulips is saying.
How to become an interpreter?
Mihaela Petro Nița, an interpreter we have been collaborating with for as long as we can remember, was in Italy when she decided to become an interpreter. While in the land of pasta with an Erasmus program, Miha was studying translations in Trieste, at one of the world’s most prestigious universities in the field.
“It was a special experience, everything being so connected to the reality of the conference translator/interpreter profession. Upon returning to our country, I was selected to provide interpretation, written translations, specialized English language courses, and communication for management transition within Mittal Steel Holding. It was a very extensive project, from which I gained an enormous amount of knowledge from all the fields involved in the market dynamics,” Mihaela Petro Nița recounts.
This first adventure into the world of interpretation opened the door for Mihaela to other major projects, congresses, summits, missions organized by national and international government institutions, conferences in the private sector and many other events.
What do you do as an interpreter?
We asked our colleague what the biggest challenges are when interpreting for important entities such as ministries, parliaments, or the United Nations. Sometimes the last-minute preparation for an event, as well as the nature of the gathering, can throw even the most organized interpreter or translator off balance. But it’s also part of the charm of the profession.
“In the case of events organized internally, the biggest challenges often represent communication and organization, because important information for preparing the interpretation is not always clearly mentioned. I’m talking mission specifics, working schedule, and agenda.
In most situations, well, of course, with the normal exceptions, there isn’t enough predictability in collaborating with ministries, working contexts (event formats: online, offline, hybrid) can significantly change compared to the initially established dates or the logistical part (technical support, sound quality, microphones) may not function properly, which makes our work much more difficult and can jeopardize the quality of delivery.”
Mihaela says that interpreters constantly train their ability to adapt, neuroplasticity, and performance to high standards in a variety of situations, even unfavourable ones. During missions, accurately conveying the message is crucial. The organization of the interpretation segment is more meticulous, and collaboration with interpreters is close.
How do you get to interpret for the United Nations?
After so much time as an interpreter, Mihaela likes to stay up to date about everything happening in the world. Why? Because you never know where you’ll have to travel tomorrow. She follows the media, podcasts, political or financial analysis shows, and so on. It might sound boring to you but for interpreters, it’s a must.
“The projects that have brought me the greatest professional satisfaction would be the UNCH (United Nations Commission on Human Rights) missions on gender-based violence, country audit missions led by the IMF (International Monetary Fund), the RAMP project (Modernization of the Romanian Tax Administration) in partnership with the World Bank, experience exchanges in Denmark in the field of education, the SLD Program – Second Line of Defense – Romanian Border Police and the Pacific NorthWest Laboratory, USA, hearings at the International Chamber of Commerce – International Court of Arbitration in Paris, OECD consultancy missions and corporate governance, and many other equally interesting projects,” Mihaela told us.
Is interpretation a stressful job?
Mihaela told us how she manages stressful situations or intense pressure during interpretation in front of a regular public or when dealing with high-ranking officials. Not with concrete examples, because often she can’t talk about exactly to whom she provides these services. Still, she did it with enough descriptive praise to give us a clear idea of what it’s like to do this job.
“I focus on the message the speakers convey, so I can render it as accurately and clearly as possible. I practice note-taking skills in advance, essential in consecutive interpretation. I rely heavily on soft skills, i.e. social skills and emotional intelligence, as well as all the standards learned in school and from work experience, skills related to performance and high-quality work.”
What would she say to young people who want to pursue a career in interpretation? To be passionate and to travel a lot. And as for the work experience with Swiss Solutions?
“The most interesting would be the MEDIST project, many conferences and seminars about medical equipment for microbiology and technologies in this field, where the level of professionalism in organization and teamwork (both among us, the interpreters, and in collaboration with Swiss Solutions’ PMs) was impeccable, as the client affirmed.”
Simultaneous or consecutive interpretation?
If you haven’t heard much about interpretation, Mihaela will briefly tell you about the two most popular forms of the job.
“Simultaneous interpretation is suitable for larger offline events, congresses, or conferences with a larger number of participants, but also online or hybrid, where there’s a fast pace and time management is extremely important. It takes place at the same pace as the speaker’s speech, in a fluid manner and without interruptions, and is more efficient regarding time and organization.
Consecutive interpretation is suitable for more private events, courses, workshops, face-to-face discussions, with a limited number of participants, or in press conferences and other high-level official missions/meetings. Its particularity is that it involves more time allocated to the respective event, time required for delivery the interpretation.”
There is also notary interpretation, used within notary offices. This is dedicated to foreign citizens who are going to sign documents in Romania when the beneficiaries do not know the Romanian language. It is therefore necessary for the signing of documents by foreign citizens at the notary public’s office, as mandated by law by the Ministry of Justice.
Mihaela arrives at an event at least an hour before it starts. She settles comfortably in the interpretation booth and organises in a dyad with her colleagues (they establish the interval when she will take over the translation – 15, 20, or 30 minutes according to standard working practices) then compares glossaries, places her devices in their spots, like a tablet or laptop, gets in touch with the technical team and performs technical tests, checks certain specific terms with experts, and so on.
Then she starts working, relying on the support of the technical team and her booth colleagues. The latter, according to Mihaela, is an extremely important aspect and often a sine-qua-non for impeccable interpretation.
In recent years, we have expanded our interpretation service due to increasing demand. We prioritize providing consultancy to clients first, in order to understand the situation and the type of interpretation required. For interpretation services, you can contact us anytime. A project manager will reply to your message within 15 minutes.
