Meet interpreters working for the European Institutions

[Music] interpreters work in the booth but there's an awful lot of work that goes on before we get to the booth that's preparation there's two types of preparation that we do in general terms we need to know about politics and the current affairs of the countries in which our languages are spoken and we need to know how economics work and how the European institutions and the European Parliament works following the news and all of the different language is seeing how all these people different backgrounds coming together talking about the things that you see on the

headlines every day you're really a part of history in the making so you're kind of like a fly on the wall you have this front seat to see all of these things happening here we are in the European Council where heads of state or government of European Union countries meet to define the priorities of the EU and to discuss complex and sensitive issues as an interpreter you really get to see behind the scenes in the making of European history I love this job because no two days are the same we cover such a variety of

topics that interpreting really is exciting you can say for interpreting that it's many things but warring is definitely that's one of them the different languages bring within different challenges in the booth as well in terms of the structure of the language the way that people naturally express themselves in that language and then you have to think about how that translates into English and how that would come across well and in a comprehensible manner to an English customer listening at the other end there are three things you need if you want to be a simultaneous interpreter

first of all you need an excellent command of your native language you need to be able to speak confidently and articulately about a wide range of subjects some technical in a wide range of registers of language secondly you need to be able to think on your feet because the speed is dictated by the person speaking and we translate in real-time and thirdly you need to be very good under pressure for the same reason plus the work is fast and furious which really gets the adrenaline pumping as soon as you pass your credit Asian test you

can go straight into the booth and start working you work alongside colleagues who have been doing it for years and years and that's really valuable too because it means that you never stop learning from other people you're part of a team and they're always there to help you out interpreters are team players and teamwork is especially important here at the court to begin with we help one another prepare for our cases and then when it comes to the hearing itself we know we can always rely on one another in the booth when the pressures really

on for example if there are a lot of numbers that have to be written down or if the speaker is very fast or just particularly difficult I really like working here and I've learnt a lot from my fellow colleagues I don't really think there's any age limit to becoming an interpreter I trained and accredited with the institutions when I was 46 it was quite a challenging career change but it's been a great success and I've loved every moment of it so if you think you want to be an interpreter I would contact one of the

universities which offer postgraduate interpreting training and get their advice that's what I did and Here I am I started here with just French and Italian as my two languages but I was lucky enough to go to Poland for a couple of months and it was Parliament that sent me there so that I could practice my Polish that meant that when I came back I could take another test to add Polish to my combination and now I work with those three languages really it's a case of lifelong learning you never stop learning as an interpreter you

really are always on the move you turn up at your meeting it could be in one room then you've got to go to another building for your next meeting sometimes those meeting other even in Brussels you can go to Strasbourg my first mission was actually to Namibia so the world is really your oyster I've been interpreting for 35 years and I've never wanted to do anything else so it must be a good job to do I love interpreting because I can get to use all my languages which I adore it's interesting challenging and you're always

learning if you have a passion for languages you are interested in learning things about the world and you'd like a little bit of excitement in your career then I definitely think that being a conference interpreter is something that could really be for you and of course UK Nationals will still be eligible to work as freelancers in the future you