Troublesome Terps

With Jonathan travelling to far-away lands, the two Alexanders get their tablet nerd on and chat with Andrew Belisle. He tells us how he got into interpreting, and we dive really deep into the how's and why's of consecutive interpreting. Plus, we discuss tablet interpreting.

Special Guest: Andrew Belisle.

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• Book: Consecutive Interpreting: A Short Course — a new textbook by Andrew Gillies

While Alex G is on assignment, Jonathan and Alex D sit down with renowned interpreter trainer and book author Andy Gillies to discuss his career in the profession, the ins and outs of how to train interpreters, and the books he has translated and written.

Special Guest: Andrew Gillies.

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• Andy's books for Routledge

Interpreting for the large political institutions of this world is quite separate from working on the freelance market. This is why in this episode, the Troublesome Terps take an extra close look at how working for the European Union really is. From the requirements, the scheduling, the different topics (and the lack of invoicing!), this is an episode stuffed to the brim with know how, insights and nuggets covering everything you ever wanted to know about being an interpreter at the EU.

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• Conference (London, June 8th): Interpreting for the EU and for the International Criminal Court

Everybody can English - or: a story of ELFs and BSE!

English is generally recognized as the number one language around the world, both in the world of business as well as for general communication purposes. Naturally, this begs the question, what impact does it have on the interpreting space? What is the underlying research?

Two thirds of the Troublesome Terps talk about this exact topic to Vienna based researcher and EU-accredited freelance conference interpreter Karin Reithofer-Winter - an interesting discussion worth keeping on! So let us know how English spoken by non-native speakers has impacted and/or influenced your interpreting career!

Special Guest: Karin Reithofer-Winter.

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• Karin’s thesis “Englisch als Lingua Franca und Dolmetschen”

While the Troublesome Terps have covered gender in interpreting before already (see here or here), it is a topic that will never not be relevant. For this reason, Sarah Hickey - conference interpreter and professional researcher at Nimdzi Insights - is joining us this episode to discuss the ‘feminisation’ of conference interpreting from female interpreters' perspectives.

Special Guest: Sarah Hickey.

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• Twitter conversation: Why is interpreting a (mostly) female profession?

Sometimes it feels like language professionals forget that they are just that - professionals with a business "attached" to them. While being a wordsmith or having "a way with words" is perfectly fine, the economic elements must not be forgotten.

Special Guest: Florian Faes.

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• Article: Inside the Brain of a Simultaneous Interpreter, Literally

In this "back to the roots" episode of the Troublesome Terps, Jonathan and the Alexes take a look in their crystal ball and have a discussion about what the future of the interpreting market could look like, that might be considered controversial. Ever thought about additional services interpreters could offer or where your responsibilities as interpreter start and stop? Then this is the episode for you! Let us know what you think down in the comments or on Twitter, we really want to hear from you!

Interpreting and translation are two sides to the same coin - or so they say. Joining us on this exciting crossover episode, are the two hosts of the "Speaking of Translation" podcast Corinne McKay and Eve Lindemuth Bodeux to talk about just that!

What are total interpreting and translation stereotypes and - gasp - might there be a grain of truth? How do translators stay focused on a 200 page document? How do interpreters deal with double bookings? What are the boons and banes of working from or into your second language?

Join us for this banter-filled episode with tons of insights into "the other side" (whichever one that may be for you!) and find out about these - and many more - controversial topics!

Special Guests: Corinne McKay and Eve Lindemuth Bodeux.

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• American Translators Association

2018 was truly another blockbuster year for the Troublesome Terps. Not only was our first - and certainly not last - live event in London a bona-fide hit (thanks to all the supporters and attendees!), as always we covered a wide range of different and super-interesting topics this year.

Humor in interpreting and our very best travel tips and tricks provided some levity, discussions on feelings/emotions in interpreting and why interpreting research matters, provided some serious food for thought. Our very first AMA (As Me Anything) was also a great experience thanks to the fantastic questions we received beforehand. Of course, we wouldn't want to forget the professional associations double-episode or our first ever cross-over event with The Vocal Fries.

So, thanks again for an incredible year and here's to an equally amazing 2019! As always, if you have any suggestions, feedback or anything else you would like to let us know, leave it in the comments or send us a tweet, Facebook message or email.

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• Article: Interpreter Strasbourg lock-down

It finally happened. The three Troublesome Terps got together for their very first live event at The Roebuck pub in London!

With almost 40 guests, we discussed two topics. First, we covered the topic of "Lies We Tell Clients". These "untruths" cover many different aspects, whether it's changing your quote for the umpteenth time or whether it's telling the client that "of course" you already have a team in waiting, although all your "usual suspects" are already booked. We talk about what to do and where to draw the line.

Afterwards, we started with our second topic for the day, the ever current "Don't be a Diva". As with most things in life, it does take a village. From the actual end client, to organizing interpreters, your booth partners, technicians and other event staffers - it's crucial to treat everyone like you would want to be treated. Sometimes that means taking a step back, sometimes it means having to wait a bit longer. However, we also discussed the fabled "anti-divas", so make sure to check it out!

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• Sponsor: Linguali