Conference Interpreting

The presence of an interpreter during the meeting of two powerful individuals / groups who do not know each other’s languages is actually not a modern phenomenon. This goes way back into history. Think of all the foreign invasions ancient India had had, starting with the Aryan one to Alexander and the Mughals. Language must have been an issue. However, the role of the interpreter was formally acknowledged in the west with the World War I. Till then, French was the language for international meetings, but a few British and American people who attended the post-war negotiations did not know French. So they needed to have somebody who knew both languages. Interpreters became very necessary after the World War II also, especially for the Nuremberg trials where the Nazi criminals who were on trial,knew only German.  So, conference interpreting is not really a practice that takes place only at conference venues; today it takes place in situations outside high level state meetings, like classroom lectures. The interpreter here acts as the link, the person who listens to the speech in a particular language and translates it immediately for the speaker of another language.

The translation/interpretation can be done in three ways – consecutive, simultaneous and whispered (Daniel Gile, 41). In consecutive interpreting, the interpreter listens to the speech for a while, makes notes, and then translates that segment of speech for the benefit of the listener. You must have seen this process with the speeches made by our political leaders. For instance, our leaders who know only Hindi make use of interpreters when they address political rallies in Kerala or Tamil Nadu where the public cannot follow the language. Simultaneous interpreting takes place usually in conference settings. Here the interpreter sits in a booth, listens to the speech and translates simultaneously. The listener listens to this translated version through a headset. This is a common sight at UN meetings where speeches are made in most languages of the world. Whispered interpretation is when the interpreter is physically present beside the delegate and does simultaneous interpreting, by whispering the translation to the delegate while the speech is being made.