tips for interpreters

10 Tips for Interpreters Over the Phone

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(Last Updated On: August 10, 2020)
10 Tips for Interpreters Over the Phone

The world is scary enough as it is but it gets scarier if you try to face it on your own. Everyone remembers being nervous on the first day of school but even after getting through the years of school, the nervousness was back when we entered college. It is natural for humans to be anxious when they are dealing with something new. The first day of your job is also pretty confusing but if your company tells you that you will be trained by a senior for a short period and learn everything about the job before you start working, you will feel yourself relaxing. Because guidance can go a long way in life to making us better at things.

No matter where you are in life or what you do for a living, a little guidance from those who have made their names in the same field as you can do wonders for you. A lot of us don’t pick a new field simply because we don’t have anyone to guide us. We join the office where our friend works in the hopes that their company will help with the nervousness. All of us are always looking for something familiar in alien lands.

But times have changed and if someone doesn’t come to you offering guidance, you can go look for it yourself. The internet is the best way to connect with the people who know things and ask them for tips. If you really want to do something then it may not be that difficult once you pick the right course of action. Websites are full of suggestions for people of different fields as long as you know where to look and once you start following the suggestions, you will realize things are not as difficult as you thought they would be.

tips for interpreters

Phone Interpretation:

tips for interpreters

Although translation industry has been around for a long time and has helped numerous people over the years, the importance of interpretation still hasn’t registered in people’s minds. But with the passage of time, everyone will come to see how interpretation is more important than translation in some situations simply because it saves time and provides assistance in real time. Choosing interpretation as a field, however, is something you should do after giving it enough thought. It is not something that you can do with your eyes closed. You will have to put in effort every second. But if you have decided to join the field, there are a few suggestions that can help you.

10 Tips for Interpreters Over the Phone:

Here are ten helpful tips for over the phone interpreters:

  1. Pick a Specialty:

Interpreters are used in specific fields like healthcare or business. If you want to become good at your job, you must pick a specialty so you can focus on that. There is no such thing as a general interpreter. You will have to be proficient in the terms of the field you pick.

  1. Don’t Participate:

As an interpreter, your only job will be to translate the conversation, not participate in it. No matter how interesting it becomes and how compelled you feel to give your opinion, do not say more than what you are supposed to say.

  1. Ignore the Tone:

You only have to interpret the sentences and not convey the underlying meaning. If someone is speaking loudly while saying something, you don’t have to match their tone while translating them. You must continue to speak calmly regardless of the tone of the speaker.

  1. Confirm When Confused:

If you mishear something or don’t catch a part of a sentence, ask the speaker. Sure, they may get angry at you for not getting them the first time. But you will lose your credibility if you provide an incorrect translation because you were too afraid to ask. It is only human to be unable to hear someone properly if there is background noise. But the more time you spend working as an interpreter, the better you will get at understanding people regardless of any noises. Until then, confirm whenever you are confused.

  1. Don’t Overexplain:

The biggest reason people choose interpreters is that they want to save time. This is why you must keep your sentences concise. If you take 2 minutes to explain a sentence that took the speaker 30 seconds to say, you are not doing a good job.

  1. Avoid Difficult Terms:

No matter which language you are interpreting into, try to avoid difficult terms as much as you can. There are terms in the medical field, the legal system, and the business world that cannot be simplified. Other than them, you have the choice to use whichever words you want. And you must choose the easiest one.

  1. Improve Your Vocabulary:

Interpreting means having to come up with words at the spot and that requires you to have a good vocabulary. Read extensively to improve your vocabulary.

  1. Take Notes:

Notes will help you interpret in a better way and also protect you from forgetting parts of a sentence. You can also use abbreviations in the notes to save your time.

  1. Do Your Research:

If you have received information from the parties before the session, go through it and do your research about the topic so you are well versed in it.

  1. Know the Culture:

Keep the cultures in mind when interpreting so you don’t make any mistakes. Translation is not about changing one language into another but also finding cultural variants to aid the interpretation.

The above-mentioned tips can help you become the best interpreter as long as you are willing to put in time and effort.