One Trial – Four Languages

Exhibition and Conference on the birth of Simultaneous Interpretation in the Nuremberg Trial 

Friday, November 20, 2015

“All about Interpreting”

The exhibition on the ground floor of Goethe-Institut is actually an installation featuring the biographies of the interpreters who worked at the Nuremberg Trial (written in German and in Greek). It is an interesting exhibition in a beautiful, cozy space.

The conference started with an introduction of AIIC’s role and operation. The International Association of Conference Interpreters is the only international association of interpreters. So, why would anyone join AIIC and how has the sector evolved throughout AIIC’s history? AIIC’s members are based in different regions; there are currently 54 of them in our region including Greece and Cyprus. Reference was made to AIIC’s Code of Professional Ethics and Professional Standards.

The presentation on booth manners was accompanied by some inventively funny cartoons, while the audience was also informed about AIIC’s own system for the classification of languages, divided briefly into active and passive languages. Later on, after having elaborated on the professional evolution and certification of conference interpreters, Stefano Marrone reminded the audience of the need to train interpreters and their educators not only in interpreting, but also in fields that extend beyond their cultural and language knowledge. He also explained the new Italian law on professional associations and their obligations.

This was followed by a presentation on community interpreting by Konstantinos Gofas, who works for NGO METAction. He spoke about METAction’s role and the work of community interpreters, especially regarding the issue of refugees and asylum seekers. This type of interpreting has many of the characteristics of common interpreting, but also many unique special requirements, due to the hard conditions the interpreters often find themselves in (working with exhausted refugees close to the borders, interpreting in mortuaries after shipwrecks, interpreting for victims’ relatives). In addition, he stressed the difficulty of finding interpreters working with “exotic” languages or dialects, but also of verifying their language proficiency in order to ensure the high quality of interpreting services. Interpreters are sometimes required to travel to the place where interpretation is needed, but if this is not possible, teleconference has proven to be very useful (skype calls, phone calls, depending on the signal). Interpreters in this case work mainly at the Asylum Service, at various Temporary Hosting Structures and at various Reception and Identification Centers, where they help with the recording of the refugees’ personal information, while explaining to them the content of the application for asylum and the relevant process.

Probably the most captivating presentation of the day was the one regarding sign language interpreting (Association of Interpreters of Greek Sign Language). The following points were made (after making clear that sign language interpreters work in front of the audience and not in a cabin in the back): sign language users must never be handcuffed, kids must never be asked to interpret for their parents, hiring anyone who purports to be a sign language interpreter should be avoided, the spelling of a sign name is difficult to be verified, interpreters must never be asked to speak for the sign language user, i.e. do more than just interpreting, a state cannot be considered just if it lacks a university training sign language interpreters and professional sign language interpreters should not be deprived of a (fair) remuneration.

Finally, Dr. Alexis Hervais-Adelman enlightened the audience as to the neurophysiology of interpreting, a new, different approach to the profession, combining knowledge from many scientific fields and the use of various technologies.

An important conclusion was that the recognition of the interpreters’ professional rights has not been fully achieved yet, as is the case with translators too. However, collective action and participation in professional associations can ensure the required quality of services and a fair remuneration for professionals.

Gallery:

For more information:
General information about AIIC: http://aiic.net/
The book about the history of AIIC and interpreting:
AIIC’S Code of Professional Ethics
AIIC’s Professional Standards
Personal website of Dr. Alexis Hervais-Adelman