Conference interpreters and their importance

Back in the earlier centuries, the world wasn’t the way it is today. Most countries had a power struggle going on between them. As a result, if they ever met, it was definitely not in boardrooms, rather on the battlefield. But times have changed and all those countries today are promoting a harmonically balanced alliance among them, however fragile that may be. This demands, peace gatherings, international amnesty meetings, conventions, and conferences.

Unbeknownst to most, all these changes in the world’s political scene have given rise to a new breed of workforce-conference interpreters. The first recorded instance of the use of conference interpreters was during the Nuremberg Trials of 1945-46 for the international war crimes committed during the Second World War. Since then, the need for interpreters has increased exponentially.

Interpretation is the practice of orally communicating a message from one language to another with crisp efficiency, while inheriting the style and tone of the speaker in first person. Interpreters are very versatile people. Along with an excellent command of their native language, they have a mastery of different languages, with superb reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. They possess a great memory and the ability to carry out several tasks at once. Since most of their interaction will be through speech, most of these interpreters have a strong voice and diction. Aside from having extremely well-rounded knowledge, they must understand the different cultures they work with and be sensitive to them when interpreting messages.

As mentioned earlier, we come to hear about international conferences very often. These conferences are attended by delegates from various cultural, ethnical and linguistic backgrounds. Interpreters are necessary to convey the meaning, objective and spirit of the gatherings. Most Conference Interpreters, and language interpreters in general, specialize in more than one type of interpreting, either community interpreting, consecutive interpreting or simultaneous interpreting, among others. A good interpreter, adapts to every kind of situation.

Most interpreters are freelancers. But only a specialized language company can ensure consistent quality of types of interpretation and languages across the board. This brings us to Verbatim Languages-A world leader in the simultaneous interpretation scene. For many years, Verbatim Languages has provided state-of-the-art interpretation equipment and high-quality services for people, companies, entities and governments in need of interpretation. In addition to interpreters, Verbatim Languages provides experienced technicians and project managers and support staff for all conference needs. Boasting an experienced team of seasoned interpreting professionals, the company caters to local, national and international clients.

This article is written by Vanessa C. Wagenknecht. Her current certifications as Medical Interpreter, conference interpreters, Federal Court Interpreter, simultaneous interpretation and Translator.