What can be more enjoyable and useful than meeting colleague interpreters for pre-Christmas networking? That’s exactly what we did on a Sunday afternoon at Church Keys in Boston, Lincolnshire. It wasn’t strictly a meeting of Russian interpreters: we had Lithuanian, Latvian and Polish colleagues taking part too, and not just from Lincolnshire, but from neighbouring Cambridgeshire as well! You could surely describe us as an Eastern European party.
Apart from chatting about how we were going to spend this Christmas, who’s been more organised with Christmas presents and which tree is better – a real or a fake one – we talked shop. We recalled and discussed challenges of some types of projects we had the pleasure of working on this year, from interpreting for officials to translating props for blockbusters. Incidentally, if you haven’t yet watched Paddington 2, there are scenes with Cyrillic writing and it’s encouraging to see the producers got it right. A wonderful family film with a tiny Russian twist to it!
As well as looking back, we looked forward. There are a few events to consider attending. The Chartered Institute of Linguists are organising an event on voice management next April. Maximising our voice as interpreters is something we should all learn to do. Our voice is our vital tool, without it we can’t function, unlike sign language interpreters! Just as translators should be good writers, interpreters need to be good public speakers.
I also floated an idea of doing a talk and lunch with Stamford Counselling Service about the emotional support service they offer to interpreters. This type of event could be arranged via the newly established Interpreters’ Development Network under the Institute of Translation and Interpreting.
Lots to think about, do and work on, so with this in mind we made our New Year plans and agreed to keep each other posted.
[Tip: If you need to book an interpreter, call us on 0207 0436940 or email enquiry@talkrussian.com]
Comments