Interpreting
I am a trained and certified interpreted with a strong sense of professional ethics and years of experience in Spain and in the United Kingdom. I am currently based in Galicia, Spain.
My main working areas are the following:
- In conference, international relations, politics and commerce; culture and literature, the video game industry and the scientific and academic field.
- In community interpreting and social services, my top working areas are medical interpreting, migration and cultural mediation.
There is more.
You can check my qualifications in detail in the “Who am I?” section. If what you need is not on this list, let us please discuss it. An interpreter’s skills are always evolving, and if I accept a task you can have the assurance that I will be up to it.
I believe an interpreter must have three qualities: technique, documentation skills and etiquette
Technique
Technique is acquired after years of training and experience, and comprises mental discipline, memory training, the ability to split attention and process information while monitoring the output and reformulating it. In certain modes, a clear, personal and efficient note-taking technique is also required, in order to guarantee an ideal level of information recall.
Documentation skills
Documentation skills are what allows a professional interpreter to prepare for an assignment. Hiring a professional interpreter does not only involve the time spent interpreting itself. The interpreter, in many cases, is going to spend a significant amount of time, even weeks, seeking and processing documentation for the topic at hand. This preparation is fundamental. Improvisation is part of the technical skillset, but the days spent studying beforehand are essential, and they help reduce the cognitive load.
Etiquette, presentation and procedures
When we discuss etiquette, we are not referring to what fork to use at a formal dinner, but rather a series of questions of practice and deontology that are central to the communicative event. In a face to face or bilateral setting, for example, an interpreter ought to introduce himself in both languages and give a small set of instructions to the parties. To bring up another example: in a community interpreting setting, confidence is crucial, so all the parties should have the certainty that they are aware of everything being said, including the interpreters’ greetings to the other party.
In the Who am I section you can see why I meet these requirements.
If you are not familiar with interpreting, or if you’re not sure of what organising a multilingual event will require, I will be happy to advise you.
A final word of advice: Multilingual communication is always nuanced and complex. It is always better that you avoid the risk of grave errors in communication happening at your event by hiring professional interpreters.
