An agency just onboarded me for over-the-phone interpreting. My assignments will be lagal.
Thread poster: lundeghe Terence Keming
lundeghe Terence Keming
lundeghe Terence Keming
Cameroon
Local time: 09:19
French to English
Feb 18, 2019

An agency just onboarded me for over-the-phone interpreting. My assignments will be in the lagal. What challenges should I expect and how should I overcome them?
Note: I have mostly been working as a translator. I have translated legal documents. However, I have not interpreted in this subject field.


 
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Nikki Scott-Despaigne  Identity Verified
Local time: 09:19
French to English
Legal interpreting Feb 19, 2019

Translation and interpreting are two distinct language skills. Some can do one or the other, some can do both.
In all honesty, I would advise against starting out in legal interpreting over the phone. When you do interpreting, you use the speakers' body language and all sorts of other social signs. You obviously make use of the tone of the voice too. If you are starting out and you have none of the social cognition elements, it can become very difficult indeed. Finding out that you are in
... See more
Translation and interpreting are two distinct language skills. Some can do one or the other, some can do both.
In all honesty, I would advise against starting out in legal interpreting over the phone. When you do interpreting, you use the speakers' body language and all sorts of other social signs. You obviously make use of the tone of the voice too. If you are starting out and you have none of the social cognition elements, it can become very difficult indeed. Finding out that you are in difficulty once the job is underway is unfair on the client. I would suggest that you "test" your interpreting skills beforehand in situations where you have more of the social information. Then try in a legal environment and finally over the telephone. Step-by-step. Don't forget that interpreting means you need to have all the terminology in your brain and ready to use. Check you can do this in a real-live situation first.
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Kevin Fulton
MollyRose
Peter van der Hoek
Malika El khadhri
JIYOUNG CHOI
David Lin
Daryo
 
mariealpilles
mariealpilles  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 09:19
Member (2014)
English to French
+ ...
legal interpretation Feb 20, 2019

If you are a translator and not an interpreter, keep far away from a legal interpretation. There may be serious consequences for you if you do not really feel at ease and may get something not quite right. Interpreting is a very different job - you have to be quick in your thinking and what you communicate in your words has to be absolutely accurate. The legal field can be even more tricky. An agency asking a translator to do over-the-phone interpreting is not at all professional. When you canno... See more
If you are a translator and not an interpreter, keep far away from a legal interpretation. There may be serious consequences for you if you do not really feel at ease and may get something not quite right. Interpreting is a very different job - you have to be quick in your thinking and what you communicate in your words has to be absolutely accurate. The legal field can be even more tricky. An agency asking a translator to do over-the-phone interpreting is not at all professional. When you cannot see the people, their body languages and get the feeling, it is even more difficult. If you have never done it, it would be wiser to steer away from such a task.Collapse


Colleen Roach, PhD
Kevin Fulton
David Lin
Daryo
 


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An agency just onboarded me for over-the-phone interpreting. My assignments will be lagal.







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