The first "sim"

Last Friday I had the opportunity to interpret as a trainee at a one-day conference. Applying for it was quite daring because according to preliminary information it would have been whispered interpreting from Hungarian into English, for two British guests. I've never done this before, simultaneous interpreting is not part of the MA course, we've only learned consecutive. However, I didn't want to miss any opportunity for practice. The organizers were aware of the fact that students are not as professional as experienced interpreters. This way we were less stressed but striving for excellence anyway. The conference room turned out to be a well equipped one with booths, we were pleased to use one of them. This was a more convenient way of working and the guests got headsets, nobody was disturbed by persistent whispering.

Fortunately there was no need for English-Hungarian translation, we could use the time during the first presentation to warm up and our teacher gave us some advice. We alternated every 10 minutes (pros can work for 20 minutes but we are not pros yet) and we managed to share the work optimally: I didn't have to talk about theoretical linguistics, which is not my cup of tea (I'm an economist) but the software demo was meant for me. It didn't pose a challenge, I've used Trados before.

The whole conference was a great experience, much more fun than I expected, pure flow! During lunch break, one of the British guests listening to us complimented on our work. I think it's a great recognition! All day long I felt that I've found my place in the world. :)